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How Do I Change Careers?

Interview Questions, Job Hunting, Job Search, LinkedIn, Resume

The Purpose of This Article is to Give you Some Useful Tips on How to Change Careers

There comes a time in your career when either by choice or with limited options you need to switch careers. Switching careers is not an easy thing to do, and many individuals do not know where to start.

How to Think of New Career Choices

1. Consider careers based on your interests and hobbies. The most obvious place to think of when thinking of changing careers is your interests and hobbies.

2. Look at another person’s success. Do you know people who are in careers that you could see yourself doing or you have an interest in? Ask them for pointers or ideas.

3. Research on YouTube. Check out different YouTube videos to get ideas of potential career choices. Enter “career search” in the search box and see what comes up.

4. Meet with a career counselor. Career Counselors can work with you to determine potential careers that are a good fit for your education and interests.

5. Do a career exploration test. These tests will point you to a career that matches your personality and interests.

6. Research on Google. In Google’s search box, type “career search” to look up information on different career ideas.

7. Ask friends and family for possible ideas.

8. Look on Job Boards. Major job boards (such as Indeed, Monster, and CareerBuilder) will show you what kinds of careers are out there.

9. Go to your local library. Look up books on different career ideas. Or ask a librarian for help.

10. Check out government labor sites. Most countries have websites that provide great info on jobs and labor trends.

My final recommendation is to think of something you are passionate about as the more passion you have for something the more likely you will do well and like it.

Be Realistic in Your Career Choices

When considering career choices be realistic in terms of education and experience. If you want to be a lawyer, and you do not have a law degree and a license to practice law you will not be a lawyer. Your new career choice must match your education and or experience.

In many cases You are going to have to start at the bottom of your new career. That being the case if you are a retail manager and you want to be an accounting manager realistically speaking you are going to have to start as a junior accountant.

Get the Right Education for Your Field Obviously, you must get the right education in your new chosen field if there is a need to. For instances if you want to get a job as a developer, and you have no academic experience in this area you will need to do this.

The good news is today many professions you can take short academic programs to find employment. A good example is the numerous developer boot camps. An example of this is Udemy where you can even learn how to program in the comfort of your own home.  https://www.udemy.com/the-web-developer-bootcamp/

For some professions you can do an apprenticeship to master a skill. In my previous career as a recruiter I personally taught hundreds of individuals from scratch how to become a recruiter.

Also, there are many professions you will find that require no previous education in the field. An example of this is many sales roles where on the job training is the education.

Many people knock sales roles but there are many examples of salespeople who have made over six figures to over millions of dollars in sales without any formal education and experience.

Creating a Resume and LinkedIn Profiles that Match Your New Career Interests

You might not have exact experience in your new career choice, but you might have relevant career experience for that field.

An example might be you work in real estate in sales and want to switch careers into finance and in your current job you do some accounting and finance work like creating financial models using Excel. This experience you would focus in on your resume and LinkedIn profile.

Also adding in courses and volunteer work related to your new career aspiration is a must. For instance, if you are looking to get into finance and you have taken accounting and finance courses, you would put this in your resume.

To learn how to create an effective resume please see this article

https://eliteproresume.com/2019/09/17/how-to-create-a-resume-for-an-executive-or-professional/

Creating your new resume and LinkedIn profile to reflect your new experience can either be done by yourself or hiring a company like my company Elite Pro Resume Services.

Home

Looking For jobs in Your New Field.

Please see my article on the top ways to look for a job as a good start

Top 10 Best Ways to Look for a Job

Another avenue is to focus on entry-level jobs in your new field. For this type in the word entry level or junior along with the job title you are looking for in the title section on the job board you are using. An example would be typing in “Junior HR” or “Entry Level HR” if you were looking for an entry level HR job.

How to Interview For your New Chosen Occupation

As a starting point I recommend reading an article I wrote about the top 20 interview Questions that HR asks. https://careers.adventhealth.com/blog/how-to-answer-the-20-most-common-interview-questions

Before your interview in your new field think of all your current, relatable skills be it either academic, professional, and any other relevant skills.

When you have an interview use these examples to show the interviewer you have some related experience. For instance, if the hiring manager asks you about your experience with marketing you can mention academic courses and projects with marketing.

If you even did basic marketing at your last job you can even mention that experience. For example, if you were a retail manager who created in-store marketing that would be something you could mention.

Be Positive

Changing careers is not an easy thing to do, and you are going to have a lot of negative people in your head convincing you that will not succeed. You should do your best to ignore these negative people and move forward and try to keep positive.

There are many examples of many people who have successfully changed careers. A great example of this was a former school janitor who switched careers and eventually became the principal of the same school. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-48594032

I am personally another great example of someone who found success switching careers. In my early career, I switched careers a few times until I found my profession. If I never switched careers, I would never have become one of the leading experts about job hunting resumes and recruiting and a 2-time best seller on the subject B00IW54CJ0

Conclusion

Switching careers is difficult to do but by learning some of the useful tips from this article you will get a good head start in your quest for a new job. I wish everyone the best of luck!

How to Create a LinkedIn Profile that Stands Out Part 3

Glassdoor, Indeed, Interview Questions, Job Hunting, Job Search, LinkedIn, Resume

Part 3 in a 3 Part Series on How to Create a LinkedIn Profile that Stands

Continuing from Part 1 & 2, we will continue to show you how to create a LinkedIn Profile that Stands Out.

Please note LinkedIn’s format is constantly changing; therefore, there is a small chance the information in this article could change over time.

Click Part 1 by clicking this link –

How to Create a LinkedIn Profile that Stands Out – Part 1

Click Part 2 by clicking this link –

How to Create a LinkedIn Profile that Stands Out Part 2

Be Honest and Use Proper Spelling and Grammar

Like your resume and cover letter, make sure your LinkedIn profile is edited properly for spelling and grammar. And just like your resume, do not lie about your skills, titles, and companies where you have worked.

Get Endorsements on LinkedIn

Endorsements give you credibility, so it is recommended you ask many former colleagues to give you positive endorsements. Think of using services based on Yelp reviews or buying products on Amazon based on positive reviews. Your LinkedIn recommendations work like Yelp or Amazon reviews. Aren’t you more likely to use a service that has good Yelp reviews? And don’t you often base a purchase decision on positive Amazon reviews? In the same way, if you include positive endorsements in your LinkedIn profile, potential employers may be more inclined to contact you.

If you have a good relationship with a former colleague and they are on LinkedIn, there is a good chance they will give you a recommendation. To ask for recommendations, go to https://www.linkedin.com/recs/received. Click the top middle column, Ask for Recommendations. A pop-up menu will appear, which asks the following questions:

1. What do you want to be recommended for?
The drop-down menu will list the roles and companies you worked for. Select the role/title you want to be recommended for.

2. Who do you want to ask?
Select who you want to ask for a recommendation from your LinkedIn contacts. Please note: it’s a good idea to ask your contacts ahead of time if they are willing to give you a recommendation.

3. What's your relationship?
From a drop-down menu of choices, select what your relationship is or was with the person you are asking to recommend you. The second part of this section has a drop-down menu which asks, What was the person’s position at the time? Select the role they had when they worked with you.

4. Write your message
Using the template provided by LinkedIn, write an InMail asking for their recommendation. Don’t forget to include a subject line.

Connect with People to Expand Your Network

A great way to grow your network on LinkedIn and increase your chances of being seen by more recruiters is to connect with many people. Here are some tips on how to expand your network:

1. Upload your contacts into LinkedIn to see if any are on LinkedIn and then connect with them. You can upload Hotmail, Gmail, Yahoo, Outlook contacts, and even excel spreadsheets, to LinkedIn. These contacts will be sent an InMail inviting them to connect. Also, your non-LinkedIn contacts will be given the option to join LinkedIn and connect.
2. Look up people you have worked with, friends, and family and invite them to connect. Click the search icon found on the top of your main page and type the name you are looking for. You will be shown a list of names along with the option to connect.
3. Look up recruiters, especially those in your profession, and send them invites to connect. Most recruiters will accept your invitation. To find recruiters, type “recruiter” in the search box and different recruiters’ profiles will pop up.
4. Sent invites to people LinkedIn recommends. To do this, go to My Network and below it you should see People You May Know. A long list of people will appear and under each person’s picture will be a Connect box you can click to add them to your network. Many people will accept your invite request. Be careful on this one—LinkedIn will warn you if you try connect to too many people who reject your request.
5. Connect with people in your field, especially hiring managers. To look them up, hit the search icon and type ‘hiring manager’. You’ll be taken to a page where you can search for hiring managers by company and title. By connecting with people in your industry, especially hiring managers, more eyes will be on your profile.
6. Look for open networkers. These are people on LinkedIn who are open to connecting with anyone. In the search bar, type “Lion” or “Open Networker” to find profiles.
7. Always except connections when invited to connect on LinkedIn. It will expand your network. Remember, LinkedIn is not like Facebook; the purpose of LinkedIn is to make business connections.

Join LinkedIn Groups

Joining groups in your profession can expand your reach because recruiters look at these groups to find talent and post jobs. To use this feature, go to the search bar. Click the work icon, found at the top right corner, and look for the Groups icon. Hit the Groups icon and a page will come up that gives you recommendations of groups to join based on your job title.

Conclusion

By creating a detailed SEO-centric LinkedIn page, connecting with contacts and joining groups, your profile will attract attention. You will easily be found by recruiters looking to fill their roles. That translates into more job opportunities for you.

 

How to Create a LinkedIn Profile that Stands Out Part 2

Glassdoor, Indeed, Interview Questions, Job Hunting, Job Search, LinkedIn, Resume

This is Part 2 in a 3 Part Series on How to Create a LinkedIn Profile that Stands

Continuing from Part 1 we will continue to show you how to Create a LinkedIn Profile that Stands Out.

Please Note: LinkedIn’s format is constantly changing; therefore, there is a small chance the information in this article could change over time.

Part 1 can be found by clicking this link

How to Create a LinkedIn Profile that Stands Out – Part 1

Step 6 - Upload a Picture

Although you might not be comfortable uploading your picture to LinkedIn, I highly recommend you do so. Recruiters like to see a picture to ascertain that you are indeed a real person; having a picture brings you to life in their eyes.

There is nothing like a first impression, so make sure your picture looks good. If possible, have your photo professionally taken. In it, you should be wearing the type of clothing you would wear every day on the job. If you are applying for a white-collar position, wear a suit or other business-appropriate clothing. If you are a nurse, wear scrubs.

Step 7 – Add Detailed info into Your LinkedIn Profile

For this section, you will need to go to your newly-created LinkedIn profile. From there, perfect your profile by adding to the following sections:

A. Background Photo

This photo is different than your main photo. It is a banner picture (not of you) that goes across your profile header. Choose a background photo that relates to your personality or career, and I recommend using one in overall neutral color, like cream or tan. If you do not have any background pictures, visit https://pixabay.com/ to get free pictures to use for your background photo.

B. Headline Section

You have one sentence to make a good first impression. The headline is the first thing people will see in your profile. Treat it like the objective section on your resume. Mention your job title or job interest as well as key skills you possess. Repeated words weaved into your profile can bring you up higher on recruiters’ searches and will add to the SEO of your LinkedIn profile. Please note there is a space count for this section so use your words carefully.
A good example headline is: Leading Contact Center Rep with extensive experience, providing excellent customer service for Fortune 500 companies.

C. Add Positions

For this section, add the jobs you have held in chronological order. You can cut and paste this from your resume.

D. Education Section

List your education in chronological order. Again, you can cut and paste from your resume.

E. Summary Section

This section is like your headline, except you have more space to put more info in. Use the SEO technique of weaving in keywords and titles to increase the visibility of your profile. You can cut and paste your objective section from your resume; however, you can also add more keywords in your summary section than you can in a typical resume. I would not recommend mentioning that you are looking for a job unless you are currently working. Following is an example of a strong summary.

Results-oriented Senior Java/J2EE Software Developer with a proven track record of delivering software solutions in the financial/banking industry. 7+ years of experience as a Senior Java/J2EE software developer for well-known financial service companies Financial-ecom Inc. & Trading Floor Software Solutions.

F. Featured Skills & Endorsements section

Add as many skills as you can. The more you add, the greater the likelihood of your profile popping up when recruiters search by keywords when looking to fill roles. The smallest word can be searched by a recruiter, so adding different keywords to this section can increase your chances of being found. For starters, use the keywords from your resume skill section. From there, as you did for your resume, research different keywords to add to your profile.

The endorsement section is where people endorse your different skills. The more endorsements you have, the more impressive your profile will appear. To get more endorsements, reach out to your former colleagues and friends and ask them to endorse your skills. Most people will oblige your request.

G. volunteer experience

As real estate is less of an issue with a LinkedIn profile, I recommend adding volunteer experience to your profile. This section can be especially good for those who do not have much experience or are working or looking to work for an organization that values volunteer work. Be careful not to add things that are too political in nature or that could rub people the wrong way.

Step 8: Accomplishments Section

This section is an opportunity to add your accomplishments in the following categories: Publications, Certifications, Courses, Projects, Honors & Awards, Patents, Test Scores, Languages, Organizations. If you have any experience or skills in any or all of these categories, I recommend that you add them to your profile. It will increase your chances of being seen by a recruiter. According to LinkedIn, professionals with publications in their profile are found 7 times more than profiles who do not have publications, and profiles that list certifications are found 5 times more often than profiles who do not list certifications.

Part 3 will continue what you learned in part 1 &2 on How to Create a LinkedIn Profile that Stands Out.

To see part 3 see this link

How to Create a LinkedIn Profile that Stands Out Part 3

How to Create a LinkedIn Profile that Stands Out – Part 1

Job Hunting, Job Search, LinkedIn, Resume

This is Part 1 in a 3 Part Series on How to Create a LinkedIn Profile that Stands Out.

LinkedIn Introduction

LinkedIn:  https://www.linkedin.com/

The majority of job seekers are familiar with LinkedIn, one of the world’s largest social media sites. For those job seekers who are not familiar with LinkedIn, it is a business-centric social media site that allows individuals to create an online profile that works like a resume. Not all LinkedIn users are looking for a job, but users can be contacted by potential employers about job opportunities.

If a recruiter or potential employer is interested in a user’s profile, they will contact that person via LinkedIn in-mails or directly via email. If interested, the job seeker can then choose to respond and communicate with the recruiter about potential job offers.

Why is it important to create a LinkedIn profile? You may be able to find jobs on LinkedIn without creating a profile; however, to apply for some jobs on LinkedIn, you submit an application using your LinkedIn profile.

This article will teach you how to create an effective LinkedIn profile. A strong profile will increase your chances of being found and contacted by recruiters looking to fill jobs that you might be perfect for.

Please note: LinkedIn’s format is constantly changing; therefore, there is a small chance the information in this article could change over time.

Steps to Building an Effective LinkedIn Profile

Step by step, this section will show you how to build an effective LinkedIn profile that recruiters will find and be interested in. If you already have a LinkedIn profile, use this information to improve your current profile.

Step 1: Register for the Site

Registering on LinkedIn is fast and easy. Simply go to https://www.linkedin.com/ and sign up by entering your first name, last name, email and creating a password.

Step 2: Basic Info requested by LinkedIn

First Info requested by LinkedIn – Choose a Country & Zip code/Postal Code, Are you a student, Job Title, Company, and Industry. Below you will find more info on all these areas.

A. Country and ZIP Code/Postal Code
When creating your LinkedIn profile, make sure you always list the correct country and ZIP Code/postal code. When a recruiter searches for LinkedIn profiles, they usually search by location, such as ZIP Code/postal code and/or city. If you choose the wrong location, you will not pop up on the recruiter’s search. Another thing you can do is choose a larger city nearby if you live in a smaller suburb or outlying town. Recruiters tend to search in bigger markets, so your best bet is to put your profile in a bigger geographical center.

B. Are you a Student?
This is self-explanatory. If you’re a student, click yes. If not, click no.

C. Job Title
On LinkedIn, like on your resume, use a good job title.

D. Company
Type in the full name of your current employer if you have one. If the company you work for is recognizable, it will pop up, and all you need to do is select it. Also, do not use a short form for the company name if people do not know it by that name—doing do will make it harder to find in a search.

E. Industry
For this section, you will be given a drop-down of different industries to select from. Pick the industry that most closely matches your profession.

Step 3 – What is your focus on using the LinkedIn platform?

For this section, you will be asked to choose one of the following options:

• Finding a job
• Staying up-to-date with my industry
• Building my professional network
• Keeping in touch with my contacts
• Not sure yet. I’m open!

Choose “Finding a job.” LinkedIn will then ask you if you want daily or weekly alerts based on your job title and location. My advice to job seekers: opt for daily alerts.

Step 4 – Uploading your Contacts

For this section, LinkedIn will ask if you would like to upload your contacts to see if any of them are already on LinkedIn. I would recommend adding your contacts, as more contacts on LinkedIn gives you more visibility.

Step 5 – Connecting with people LinkedIn suggests

In this section, LinkedIn will ask you if you would like to connect with different people. My advice is to select “all especially recruiters.” Connecting with as many as possible will put your profile in the eyes of more people. Most people, especially recruiters, will not turn down your request.

Part 2 & Part 3 will continue what you learned in part 1 on How to Create a LinkedIn Profile that Stands Out.

Part 2 can be found at this link

How to Create a LinkedIn Profile that Stands Out Part 2

Top 10 Best Ways to Look for a Job

Glassdoor, Indeed, Interview Questions, Job Hunting, Job Search, LinkedIn, Resume

This Article will Show you the 10 Best Ways to Look for a Job

It is a very competitive landscape for individuals looking for their next job. Gaining extra tips when looking for your next role could make the difference between landing your dream job or staying stagnated in your career. The following list of ten tips could be a great resource to land your next job.

Network

Networking is a great way to learn about job opportunities, and referrals fill many jobs.  Good places to network include the following:

a) Networking with Friends and Family

An obvious place to network is to ask friends and family if they know of any job leads. As most friends and family will be happy to help, this is a great place to start your networking.

b) Networking with Current and Former Colleagues

Maybe the best way to network is to contact current and former colleagues and ask them if they know of any job opportunities. Many will not mind referring you, so it never hurts to ask.

Many companies love external referrals. They are more likely to trust a referral coming from a current employee than a candidate who was not a referral. Also, there could be an incentive for an employee to refer you to a job since many companies give cash or gift incentives for referring.

c) Networking with People in Your Industry

If you belong to an industry group or association, you might want to contact individual members and the association itself to see if they know of any job opportunities.

d) Networking with Online Groups in Your Profession

Joining online professional groups in LinkedIn and Facebook can be an avenue to network for roles. It never hurts to join many of these groups and post that you are looking for roles. Also, look for roles posted by members.

Use Job Aggregators like Indeed

Job aggregators are essentially job board search engines that collect job posting across the net. This makes searching for a job easier as you can search off of one site as opposed to many job boards. The biggest Aggregator is Indeed – http://www.indeed.com/ with over 250 million unique users a month. Another upcoming Aggregator is LinkUp – http://www.linkup.com/

To learn more about how to look for a job on Indeed please read this article.

https://eliteproresume.com/2019/06/27/how-to-look-for-jobs-on-indeed/

Set up Job Alerts

One of the biggest ways a job seeker can save time in their job search is to create job alerts. Job alerts are daily or weekly emails that are sent to job seekers to inform them about open jobs. The job seeker signs up for alerts based on the jobs they are interested in. All the major job boards and aggregators have an option for job seekers to set up job alerts.

Look for Jobs on Company Websites

A very simple way to find jobs is to look directly on company websites. Many companies have talent communities you can sign-up for on their website that can alter you about jobs.

Look for Jobs on LinkedIn & Create a Detailed LinkedIn Profile

Many recruiters search for candidates on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/. Therefore it is paramount that you have a LinkedIn profile. Tips for enhancing your LinkedIn profile include having a very detailed profile and skills. Also, to enhance your profile, use a professional picture. LinkedIn also is a great place to search for jobs as they have a job posting section with tons of jobs.

To learn more about how to look for a job on LinkedIn please read this article.

https://eliteproresume.com/2019/06/24/how-to-look-for-jobs-on-linkedin/

Use Job Spider sites like ZipRecruiter

ZipRecruiter https://www.ziprecruiter.com/ is one of the fastest-growing job sites. It works differently than most job boards, posting jobs on hundreds of job boards and websites. Another great advantage of using ZipRecruiter is getting email job alerts, and using their quick applying applications. I highly recommend using this tool to search for jobs and be easily found by employers.

To learn more about how to look for a job on Ziprecruiter please read this article

How to Look for Jobs on ZipRecruiter

Use Employer Review Sites like Glassdoor

Employer review sites are not just a great place to see what employees think of their company; it is also a great place to find jobs. The bigger review sites are Glassdoor - https://www.glassdoor.com/index.htm . On Glassdoor, you can find many jobs as well as what current employees think about that employer.

To learn more about how to look for a job on Glassdoor please read this article

https://eliteproresume.com/2019/07/04/how-to-look-for-jobs-on-glassdoor/

Use Traditional Job Boards

Traditional job boards are a great place to look for jobs as some companies still use this as their go to place to post jobs. A good tip is to look at more than one job board as some companies have contracts with only one. Two of the biggest job boards are CareerBuilder - http://www.careerbuilder.com/ & Monster - http://www.monster.com/

To learn more about how to look for a job on CareerBuilder please read this article

How to Look for Jobs on CareerBuilder

There is a hidden job market of roles that are solely in the hands of recruiters. Many companies outsource some of their roles in recruitment firms. Unless you develop relationships with recruiters, you will miss out on jobs that are not advertised anywhere but through agencies. Also, it is a good recommendation to develop relationships with more than one firm as this will expand your job search as different firms will most likely have different clients.

Look on Niche Job Sites

Every industry has niche job sites where you can find jobs specific to your industry. Examples include https://www.dice.com/ for IT and www.healthecareers.com/ for Healthcare.