Larkland Morley’s Professional Blog

This could have been titled, changing your profession without a pay cut which means be ready to hit the ground running.  I am no expert on this topic but I can give some pointers from experience and observations of best practices. This whole issue of career transitioning could be very important for lots of people at this point in time due to the economic situation that we are in.

The first step about transitioning is the whole issue of passion for what you have in mind. Now, people may pursue a new career because it pays well but that may not mean its their passion and that can be a long term time bomb. The focus of my post will be mostly on mechanics. There are many books and guides on issue of discussing passion and strengths.

There are three basic areas that I would recommend for career transition at the moment. They are Mentoring, Reading and Research. I will use the field of computer engineering for examples but it can be applied to both related fields or any other profession.

Targeting

Before I get into the mechanics of the three areas, its important to look at what you want in terms of the targeted position or profession. My simple advice is to go on the most recognized job sites and take a few job description and try to understand what are the basic skill requirements. Then you can use this as a guide for your plan.

Mentoring

This is a big one for either just starting out or transitioning in general. I am not talking about overly formalized mentoring arrangements but mostly on someone who is mature in the field and also with good hands on experience as well. You can pay someone to help with this at least to give you some pointers in the right direction but I do think its best to get someone is almost like a friend to interact and get feedback on steps along the way. This means you will need to buy coffee, dinner and lunch quiet often.

Reading

I chose the term reading as oppose to take a direct class purposefully. Classes are good especially if the transition is very radical but I do think reading the right materials can be good for someone with five or more years of experience.

There is reading of basic text books but I would say try to find the most recognized book in the field with real focused approach to solving problems and getting things done. White papers and some blogs are also good reading materials as well.

Research

This could seem like an overlap with reading but lets assume it means practice. The word research here is to do with applying the knowledge and would mean when you read and have some knowledge put it to the test. This means to experiment and correct things as you go along. In the field of software engineering for example, one big  boost is the presence of open source code for practically any field. With this in mind, setup a simple lab environment at home and focus on implementing one good challenging project.

Summary

Overall, I would say with good discipline you could be ready in six months to get positions based on your studies and guidance, the mentoring could pay a good role in getting this done really fast. You can also test your theoretical knowledge with many online resources out there such as brainbench.com and many others.

How do you advertise your new knowledge? one thing in mind, is to take on a project and complete it and add to your resume, of course you could mention the relevant keywords related to your profession. Some professions will do better with Certification or an advanced degree. An example are project management with the PMP or Business consulting with an MBA. I do think in most cases with good background experience, whats more important is your passion, mastery of the subject and ability to demonstrate your competence. The one thing I like and would recommend strongly is to start a blog on the subject and discuss your opinion on issues in the field.

Bonus Tip: If you have had patchy employment in the last few years or out of a job for awhile, I would recommend to register a business name and mention your professional research work as an employee of this business – For example if you did some relevant short term consulting, develop software, generate white papers etc. Add it to your Resume to cover the gaps.

Here is one great book to check out on the subject – Harvey Mackay