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By Donalyn Leskosek Spisak
Someone wrote in with this
question, "I'm an engineer
and wish to make a change
into a sales career. How do
I go about making this
transition successfully?"
This is a question asked
often. Transitioning from
one field to another in the
middle of your career is
difficult but not
impossible. Many people
automatically accept a
position in the field they
went to school for and don't
consider any other. Over
time they decide perhaps
their skills could be used
more effectively in another
field. Perhaps they just
feel unappreciated or under
paid. Maybe it's as simple
as wanting a change or a new
challenge. Many people seek
more of a personal sense of
accomplishment. Changing
careers isn't as difficult
as you may think-you just
have to remember to focus on
the things they require that
are similar to your skills
and attributes when
applying.
The thing to remember is to
always focus on your
employment plan. If you
don't already have a
plan-make one. Sit down and
actually map out a plan of
how to make this transition
a viable plan. The first
thing you should do is
target the type of position
you wish to pursue. Make a
list of companies in the
geographic areas you wish to
work within who offer the
type of position you are not
seeking. The next thing you
should do is make a list of
who you may know that works
for one of the companies you
wish to target. If you have
contacts or someone you know
has contacts-make networking
calls.
If you feel you don't wish
to bother your friends and
relatives with helping you
in your job search,
remember, people love to
help people and at the very
least contact them to get a
name of a decision maker.
Give them the opportunity to
be helpful. What's the worse
thing that can happen? The
best thing that could happen
is you could get a new
position and keep this
career until retirement. The
third step of this process
is to do some research on
each company you wish to
target prior to submitting
your credentials. Most
websites for large companies
contain information
pertaining to open positions
including job descriptions.
Ninety eight per cent of job
listings are not placed in
the newspaper. Websites
contain valuable information
you won't find in the
newspaper. These sites also
contain information
regarding the financial
standing of the company. If
stock is up, this would be a
good thing to bring up in a
phone or face-to-face
interview. If the company is
publicly held, you will also
be able to locate
information on their most
recent yearly and quarterly
reports. Check to see what
community involvement this
company takes part in if
any, to understand what they
regard as important. If they
invest time and dollars in a
community project, join a
similar project and list it
on your resume. This alone
will give you something
positive and pertinent to
talk about in your upcoming
interview.
Go to
www.theultimates.com/yellow
and find the location of
corporate headquarters for
each company. Also find the
exact location of each local
office so you may decide if
you are willing to travel to
this location for work prior
to doing a lot or
preparations. Do some of
what I call backward job
searching. Go to
www.google.com or
www.yahoo.com and look
up the name of the company
and the words press release.
This can help in two ways.
It could tell you about any
negative lawsuits settled or
pending and let you know
what they were filed for in
the first place. It could
also show you new products,
mergers and acquisitions,
research and development or
community service ventures
of the company. This could
be invaluable information
when searching for something
to talk about in your
upcoming interview.
Companies and their
representatives love to
speak about the positive
nature of their employees
and departments.
While you're at the
Ultimates website, get an
exact map so you will not
get lost getting to the
company. Take a ride past
the facility and note the
size and look of the
building. Look to see how
the employees dress. Go to
the lobby and pick up any
brochures available to
visitors. When asked why
you're there, take your
information and tell them
you're doing research on the
company and would like to
know if possible, the name
and exact title of the
person in charge of the
department you wish to work
within. Get the correct
spelling and pronunciation
of their name. Ask if there
is a better time of day to
reach this person on the
phone. Be careful how you
speak with the receptionist
- these people can be
extremely helpful or
extremely harmful in your
job search.
Look up the competitors of
the company you wish to work
for and determine if these
are also companies you
should be targeting. View
the job descriptions they
list for the position you
seek. Learn the terminology
utilized for this particular
position and become familiar
with it. Take this
information and make certain
the resume you submit
directly to the decision
maker includes information
and wording found on their
website which was
incorporated by you in order
to make you the person to
compete with in this
interview situation.
When you have the
opportunity, phone the
individual you've just
sourced and let them know
you're in the process of
changing careers and would
like the opportunity to
speak with them about their
department and what the
future holds for them. These
people would be happy to
accommodate you just out of
curiosity. This approach is
fresh and not used normally.
Perhaps you could be more
direct and ask for the
opportunity to meet
face-to-face to speak about
the position currently open.
The main thing you have to
do is make your name known.
If they ask for your
credentials, you may have
left a copy with the
receptionist when you
visited the company or you
may ask if you may drop it
off personally to them so
they may put a face with a
name for clarity sake.
Continue listing items you
need to cover in order to
get the position you wish
for. Put together a
professional portfolio
targeting this specific
position and use it to set
yourself up to be the person
to compete with. You can
simply answer an ad on the
internet but in that case
you would be merely one in
hundreds who have applied.
The other way, my way, you
stand out and make yourself
unique and remembered. This
is the beginning. Make a
plan, work the plan and
reach your goal. Exceed your
goals and get the job you
seek.
Donalyn Leskosek Spisak -
Job Search Training
Specialist, Motivational
Speaker, Resume & Portfolio
Writing Expert; author of
"How to Write Your
Professional Portfolio",
"Pharmaceutical Sales Prep",
"Keeping Track of
Interviews" & Job
Searching-What you Need to
Know", Owner of Recruitshop
and its two websites
www.recruitshop.com &
www.pharmaceuticalsalesprep.com
trainer and motivational
speaker. Email
Donalyn@recruitshop.com
or phone 724.446.7287.
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