How do you jump careers and find a new job after being laid off?
Simple: Be methodical.
Take for example the story of Steve. After losing his job in the financial services sector, he realized that he had the opportunity to explore a long-standing interest: financial planning.
At GetFive, Steve’s small group coach helped him to narrow the scope of his search. “One of the first things I did was set up informational interviews with people to learn about the different areas. In financial planning, you can be a stockbroker, or somebody who sells life insurance, or a registered investment adviser. It can mean a whole lot of different things.”
As he gathered information, Steve found a job search buddy to help him to stay motivated, plan, follow through, and practice mock interviews.
One of the biggest challenges Steve faced in making a career change was in developing a whole new professional network.
Steve faced that challenge head-on. He joined the Financial Planning Association, and the National Association of Personal Finance Advisors. At the FPA he joined the committee that did pro bono work, which was important to help him build up his resume.
At each informational meeting, Steve asked for the names of two more people to contact. He also began reaching out to members of the organizations he’d just joined.
This rigorous method paid off.
One of the people he contacted happened to be looking for somebody and brought Steve in on a consulting basis. A few months later, this turned into full-time employment.
“It’s a totally different situation. Before, I worked for a large bank with 40,000-plus employees. Now, it’s just the two of us,” says Steve of the small wealth management firm where he now works.
Steve was persistent and systematic in managing the structure of his job search from the very beginning, and that’s the foundation of his success.
He gathered and processed information, used the assessment tools to establish all his targets, and networked to learn more about the industry he was interested in.
Steve increasingly refined his message and worked at his job search. That’s what you have to do. And you have to do it with a sense of urgency and passion.
