By Bernadette Kenny
Article provided by CareerCoach from LHH.
These days career transition professionals notice that more
job seekers are talking about reinventing themselves. Perhaps
their job hunt has stalled or they feel stuck in their
careers�and they now want to do something entirely different.
Sometimes such redirection or re-packaging is a worthwhile
strategy, but it's not for everyone.
Here's a typical case. Recently I met with an ambitious
corporate manager who for years had been on the fast track in his
industry. He had opportunities for further advancement, but
wasn't satisfied. The manager had assessed his personal and
career goals and realized his work no longer challenged him. In
fact, the manager felt he wasn't in the right position, or even
the right industry and instead wanted to make a major career
change. Nevertheless, he feared he'd be forced to take a backward
career step. After all, conceded the manager, he didn't have the
experience necessary to compete in a different industry.
Nevertheless, he was determined to face the challenge. So we
encouraged him to explore his options imaginatively and
creatively, a process that's still under way.
An example of a successful reinvention is a senior vice
president and general manager at my company, Lee Hecht Harrison.
Once a senior PR executive for a healthcare organization, this
person saw the opportunity to gain experience in another niche
and acted on it. Too young to be a Baby Boomer and too old to be
a Gen-Xer, she says she's learned from both these generations and
found she's able to accept change, be flexible and enjoy
stability, even though it's not a job requirement. As she
explained it to me, "We're more flexible than other generations
and are often less demanding. Our 'Gen-Boomer' generation makes
things happen and doesn't feel deserving or expect things."
This positive attitude has served her well as her business
development skills landed her a marketing position with a major
national accounting firm. "I had only worked in the healthcare
industry until a friend presented me to this company," she said.
"I never misrepresented myself or my qualifications. Instead, I
sold them on what I could do." I order to move to her current
position at Lee Hecht Harrison she had to market herself for a
purely business development position in yet another professional
services organization in yet another field. "The key is not only
having the ability to do the job," she said, "but demonstrating
an infectious passion to whomever is on the other side of the
table."
But for every successful reinvention, there are several
failures. At the outset of a job search, as many as 20% feel
they're ready for something new, or at least for a total
repackaging of their skills and experience. As one long-time
career counselor put it, "Maybe half of employed people are
unhappy in their jobs, so when they're forced to have the
opportunity to rethink their careers it's understandable that for
many the first instinct is to get away from their old business or
specialization." Within a few weeks, however, half of them get
practical, move back to their comfort zone and pursue employment
in their existing field or industry where they have a track
record. So even though reinvention has become a noticeable trend
among job seekers fewer than 10% are able to carry it off.
