1. Tips for a Successful Career Change
November 17, 2016
Pamela Weinberg ’87
Career Coach & Personal Branding Strategist
Sponsored by the Hiatt Career Center
Hi I'm pamela weinberg, career coach/personal branding based in NY and proud Brandeis alum. I speak a lot to groups like yours and also work with individuals to help them reach their career goals. I’m going to speak today about changing careers.

2. Agenda Career change readiness Identifying transferable skills
Tools for the career changer (resume, cover letter, LinkedIn profile)
Next Steps
Q&A
Take through the Agenda. You should have the necessary steps to embark on your career change by the end of the webinar.
© Pamela Weinberg Career Coaching 2016

3. Career Change Readiness
Factors to consider:
Job change vs. career change
Emotional vs. situational
Finances
Flexibility
Online assessments (SWOT analyses)
Featured resource:
Factors to consider:
-maybe job dissatisfaction, not career dissatification. Much easier to change jobs than careers
-reason for changing more emotional or situational…would you be happier doing same job in other enviroment
-how important I salary—may need to take less $ to change careers…
-how flexible are you? Commute, hours, relocation
-Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats
© Pamela Weinberg Career Coaching 2016

4. Knowing + Articulating your Transferable Skills = Career Possibilities
We all have tons of skills that we have developed throughout our careers. But it’s not always easy to access and to isolate them well enough to discuss on resumes and in job interviews. One of the goals for this presentation is to guide you through the process of categorizing your skills and making the most of them for job search.
© Pamela Weinberg Career Coaching 2016

5. Take Inventory of What YOU Offer
Top skills and abilities
Social, technical and field-specific skills
Important personal attributes (hard-working, trustworthy, results-oriented, decisive)
Ask: Where have I successfully used these abilities, skills and attributes?
All About Me
Before you set it on your job search it’s critical to know what skills you have to offer. Make a list of what you have accomplished in your career and what skills you have used to make those accomplishments a reality. Example: negotiating skills, research abilities, financial analyses. And we will ultimately think about linking these skills with RESULTS. Let’s dive into how to best categorize your transferable skills.
© Pamela Weinberg Career Coaching 2016

6. Transferable Skills Categories
Job specific
Not easily applied in other environments or situations
Technical Skills
Can be applied in most situations
Examples include: communication, planning, organizing, problem-solving
Functional Skills
How we conduct ourselves
Examples include: taking initiative, resourcefulness, reliability
People Skills
So what are transferable skills anyway? Transferable skills are skills that you can take with you from one situation to another, from one job to another. Some technical skills might be transferable, but not guaranteed (i.e creating spreadsheets yes—using industry specific software—NO
Functional skills are the most useful ones to “transfer” to whatever field you are interested in. So for the purposes of this presentation, we will focus on these.
People skills are more “soft skills” the ones more easily communicated on a job interview than in a resume (i.e Likeability)
© Pamela Weinberg Career Coaching 2016

7. The Most Marketable Candidates Know their Transferable Skills
Leverage skills for new opportunities
Target skills that will offer the greatest personal reward
Identify areas of strength and interest
Pinpoint areas of burnout or dissatisfaction
Articulate personal brand
Nice thing about changing careers is that you don’t have to bring all of your skills with you. There may be things you are good at, but that you never want to do again! Which skills do you ENJOY using (managing others, presentations) which do you not Enjoy (budgets, spreadsheets)
I’m going to use myself as an example here are as a career changer from City Baby author to career coach. What did I like: working with women, being an entrepreneur, being a resource, running groups and workshops. What did I NOT enjoy: updating the book every two to four years! So I chose a career (as a career coach) where I could utilize what I like and not do what I don’t
© Pamela Weinberg Career Coaching 2016

8. Transferable Skills Exercise
Complete a separate worksheet for each job or activity.
In the Tasks column list each function of your job or activity.
In the Skills column list the skills you use or used to complete the corresponding task.
In the Skill Level column rate yourself according to your level of competency (i.e. 1=highly skilled; 2=moderately skilled; 3=needs improvement).
This exercise will help you to link your tasks or job functions with the skills you need to succeed. After you have completed all worksheets, write a list of those skills which you both enjoy using and in which you are highly skilled [1]. And put a check to the skills you enjoy using. This will help to determine which skills you want to take with you going forward.
© Pamela Weinberg Career Coaching 2016

9. Transferable Skills Worksheet
Job or Activity
Tasks
Skills
Skill Level
Data Analysis
Utilize Excel 1
This is an example of the type of worksheet you can do for yourself. Once you do one for each job or activity you will get a real sense of which are your strongest, skills that you want to utilize for your next job—and also for the skills you feel need more attention. (i.e. if you haven’t done much public speaking at your last job, but want a job where you will need to, you may take a class to acquire public speaking skills.
© Pamela Weinberg Career Coaching 2016

10. Which Skills for Which Jobs?
Online job boards: Search for your target jobs on Indeed.com or LinkedIn, and review the skills they require.
Occupational Information Network (O*NET): Utilize the keyword search tool to search for your transferable skills and match to jobs/careers requiring those skills.
Industry Networking: Speak with professionals in your desired field, read trade publications, network at industry events and join professional associations to learn which skills are important.
Knowing which jobs require which specific skills will help to plan how you’re going to present yourself in your branding, resume, interviews, LinkedIn, etc. Here are some resources which will help you to ascertain which jobs require which skills.
© Pamela Weinberg Career Coaching 2016

11. Acquiring New Skills Class or certificate programs Volunteer
Sign up for webinars
Professional organizations
Online tutorials
Featured resource:
After doing your Skills analysis and and lining them up against potential new careers, you may find some skill gaps. Here are some ways to acquire new skills…
© Pamela Weinberg Career Coaching 2016

12. Job Search Tools Resume/cover letter LinkedIn profile
Interview preparation
Build your personal brand
Once you’ve categorized your transferable skills and figured out which ones you want to utilize in your next job or career, you can begin to create a narrative for yourself to utilize in your resume, LinkedIn profile cover letters, interviews etc.
© Pamela Weinberg Career Coaching 2016

13. Combatting Common Career Change Challenges
Know your strengths prior to your interviews
Fill in “gaps” on your resume and cover letter
Learn industry lingo to “talk the talk”
Practice talking about your transferable skills, not why your old career doesn’t suit you—focus on positives and strengths
Make sure to include your new classes and new skills on your “marketing materials”
By informational interviewing and following people on Twitter you can learn the industry lingo which will make you a stronger candidate for job interviews
© Pamela Weinberg Career Coaching 2016

14. Informational Interviews
Use your Brandeis alumni network to connect with those employed in your chosen field
Seek out contacts on LinkedIn and reach out to connect
Follow up/keep in touch
Be prepared: What’s your “ask”?
© Pamela Weinberg Career Coaching 2016

15. Craft a stand-out public profile:
Appropriate photo
Creative, descriptive headline
Professional summary
Keywords in skills section
Recommendations
Post links to relevant articles
Join groups
Make connections
* Featured resource: Join the Brandeis University Career Connections group: bit.ly/BrandeisLinkedIn
Utilize LinkedIn to show case your brand and be perceived as a thought leader in your field
© Pamela Weinberg Career Coaching 2016

16. Career Changer Resume
Include any relevant coursework to support your acquisition of new skills.
Add on any volunteer work that supports your job or career change.
Utilize industry “keywords” throughout your resume.
Reorganize bullet points to highlight those that are most relevant to your new career/industry.
© Pamela Weinberg Career Coaching 2016

17. Accomplishment Statements for Career Changer Resume
Managed five program budgets totaling $50mm
Improved production procedures to capture $50,000 in unrealized revenue
Consistently exceeded sales goals by 20%
Completed projects on time and under budget
Trained and supervised sales staff
Featured presenter at 2015 National Industry Conference
Your transferable skills are the ones you want to feature on your resume. Here are some sample statements for a pharmaceutical executive wanting to change careers to a position in money management. These statements help you to translate your skills into action st: i.e. which skills did you use to manage five program budgets—likely quite a few: technical skills (excel, financial analysis) planning skills, people management skills, etc.
© Pamela Weinberg Career Coaching 2016

18. Cover Letters for Career Changers
Focus on the transferable skills you’ve identified and utilize them in your cover letter.
Utilize job descriptions to ascertain which of your previous accomplishments are most relevant to potential employer.
“Tell your Story”: how does your past experience make you a good candidate for this position?
© Pamela Weinberg Career Coaching 2016

19. Next Steps Complete your comprehensive skills analysis
Research career areas to find your fit
Determine qualifications for specific jobs
Network and build key connections
Create a job search plan
Update your resume and LinkedIn profile
GET THE JOB YOU WANT!
I’m a big fan of setting goals, because without goals we don’t know where we are going. Set a goal for each step of your job search.
© Pamela Weinberg Career Coaching 2016

20. Questions?
© Pamela Weinberg Career Coaching 2016

21. Keep in Touch!
Website
© Pamela Weinberg Career Coaching 2016

22. Next Steps Fill out our satisfaction survey to let us know how we did
Register for our December webinar:
Ask for More: How to Negotiate a Higher Salary Wednesday, December 7, 2016, 12 – 1p.m. EST
Brandeis undergraduate students and alumni:
Call (781) to schedule a free, 1-on-1 advising appointment with a Hiatt career counselor (in-person, phone, Skype)
© Pamela Weinberg Career Coaching 2016

23. Contact the Hiatt Career Center
Alexandra Stephens, Associate Director, Alumni Career Programs & Engagement
Phone:
Website: alumni.brandeis.edu/careers
Facebook:
LinkedIn group: bit.ly/BrandeisLinkedIn
© Pamela Weinberg Career Coaching 2016