Shape Your New Career Story with These 6 Activities
Thinking about making a career pivot into an industry or role that you do not have experience in?
It can be a challenge to start a career in an area outside of your expertise because you may not have a winning story, such as: “I have 10+ years of experience in X job and I want to continue doing X job.”
Instead, your story may look a little like this: “I have done X job for a couple of years and had Y internship, and am interested in exploring Z as a career path.”
That’s not bad, but it does take a little more effort to make that cohesive from an outsider’s perspective.
So how do you start developing your winning story to get the career you want?
The key is to start small. Start with an activity with a low bar or has a short time commitment just to start developing the skills and knowledge. Once you have a good understanding of that smaller activity, you can shoot for the next step.
So where is the first small step? Below I outline 6 possible places to start.
1. Conduct Informational Interviews
An information interview is when you ask someone for information about their career.
When I first started in consulting, I conducted informational interviews with various people across the firm to understand the different aspects of my company’s services and where I, with my interests, could fit in. Before I knew it, I was both extremely connected AND I got offers to join exciting projects that complimented my strengths.
While conducting informational interviews will not give you direct job experience, they can give you sneak peeks into various careers, roles, and industries. During an informational interview, it is important to get a holistic understanding of someone’s career (e.g. how they got to where they are today), what they like (and dislike) about their job or company, and answer any outstanding questions you have. A bonus is if you can take note of anyone they recommend you connect with based on your conversation so you can grow your network.
2. Job Shadow
A job shadow is when you spend a day or a week in the shoes of another professional just to see what their day to day is like. You would also complete some work in their wheelhouse to get a taste of what their job responsibilities entail.
When I was a sophomore in college, I did a 1-day job shadow in PR. I went to the PR firm’s office, met the team, got an overview of their current projects, and completed a small task for the team. In that 1 day, I figured out that I did not like PR. But I also learned about important lessons, like the importance of understanding my audience, and added those insights to my overall career story.
3. Work at the family business
I knew for a long time that I wanted to be an entrepreneur, and for a while, I explored becoming a freelance copywriter as a possible entrepreneurial side hustle. My family does have a family business, so I started writing email copy and web copy pro bono to test the waters. After about a month, I learned that copywriting for that business was not my cup of tea and found another person who did want to do that work to replace me. But I took the lessons I learned from copywriting to my next gig.
If your family has a family business or you have a connection in your network who runs a family business, taking on a job or part-time role there can give you valuable experience and insight. Sure, it may not be as glorious as a corporate job, but there is a lot to learn from working in a small business, such as how to increase sales, decrease costs, and develop new product lines.
4. Volunteer
Nonprofit organizations, internal initiatives, and other programs do a ton of amazing work and need people to volunteer their time to keep their services going.
And the best part: Some volunteer gigs give you great experiences that can apply to your career story. For example, when I was in college, I volunteered as a Sophomore Leadership Experience Facilitator, where I facilitated conversations with sophomores about where they want to take their college experience. While I didn’t know about coaching back then, this experience has helped me develop key skills to become a coach.
5. Work the Gig Economy
The gig economy is made up of short-term or temporary jobs. Examples of these opportunities include dog walking, selling baked goods, tutoring, babysitting, graphic design support, video editing, managing social media, or bookkeeping. Some also call this becoming an independent contractor or solopreneur.
Essentially, you can provide a service based on a skill or knowledge that you already have. This is especially great if you are looking to make some extra cash on the side while gaining experience. Providing any of these services can also teach you how to sell, which is a fantastic skill for any career.
6. Get Training
Training can come in all sorts of forms, including online courses, certification programs, even grad school. Training usually has a cost, but they do provide an extra layer of credibility if you are pursuing a career in a field that is stiff with competition. Plus, it is always a great time to learn something that piques your interest!
There are many fantastic certification programs that are geared towards your schedule. If you work full-time, some certification programs will either have evening or weekend classes. If you want to get certified quickly, there are fast-paced certification programs depending on what skill you are trying to build.
And there you have it. Six activities that you can do to create a career story in the direction you are looking towards. Which one will you take on? Leave a comment on what your next step will be.
