Just Ladders. No Snakes.

Opening Credits (and a call to action)
Inspiration for this week’s post comes from conversations I’ve had with various people since the launch of the blog last week. One of the most frequently asked questions revolves around the topic of how to break into a new industry and I thought I’d share some thoughts on this. Going forward, please reach out if you’d like me to talk about specific things!

What’s a (career) pivot?
Ha, the pivot. The term originates from basketball and describes the act of moving one foot while the other is firmly planted on the ground (moving both would mean a traveling violation). In business, especially as it relates to start-ups, it translates into something conceptually similar: trying out a new business model that’s quasi-related to the old business model. A pivot can be good (Facebook expanding outside of just the university community) or bad (Myspace moving into social networking and getting crushed), but basically think of it as going on a new tangent.

A career pivot then describes what you and I do when we venture down a road less traveled and try something new. It’s the move that puts us on a different career path for whatever reason (but let’s be honest, it’s usually because the grass is greener on the other side). In this post, I’ll lay out a few things to think about as you execute your very own career pivot. Ready? Let’s do this!

In a Strange Land, It Helps to Have a Map
For most of us, a career pivot means venturing into something less familiar, something less comfortable. There are a lot of unknowns in this process. Unfortunately, until there’s a Google Maps for careers or a GPS to take us from Point A to Point B (side note: interesting business idea), the first step is to take matters into our own hands and create a map of the destination.

Let’s say the destination, in this example, is marketing. The overall objective of the map would be to give you enough information for you to be dangerous. It should get you from the mindset that every marketing job is the same to the new mindset that there are different flavors of marketing jobs. From there on, you’ll come to see that some positions offer better growth opportunities, some companies are in better shape than others, and there are broad external influences affecting all the players within the industry.

Create your own map using the template below and you’ll be well on your way to knowing enough to be dangerous. Just like a real map, we have roads and landmarks too!

• The roads in our industry map are career tracks. Be sure to capture common career paths within the industry, points of entry, and barriers to entry (i.e. needing a certain education or certification). The important thing here is to understand how people move around in the industry as they progress in their career. Having this piece will help you determine the best way to jump into this new field.

• The landmarks in our industry map are the various companies that compete within this field. Just as every city has good and bad parts of town, every industry also has stars and dogs. One other thing to note the size of companies. Are there a ton of big corporations (think consumer product giants like P&G) or are there a lot of upstarts pushing the industry forward (think green energy)? With these two pieces, you’re ready to go to the next step and start building up contextual information about the new industry. Quick tip: use Google Finance and type in any company to see a list of competitors.

In a Strange Land, It Helps to Know a Tour Guide
Great, so the Internet is a pretty good resource on landmarks, what about the career paths? What about the barriers to entry? Quality answers to these questions typically can’t be found just by typing it into a search engine, so you need to find yourself a tour guide – someone who knows the ins and outs of an industry and is willing to share some wisdom. Aside from your immediate network (always leverage that first), here are a few more resources to consider:

• LinkedIn (www.linkedin.com). Can you tell I'm a huge fan of LinkedIn? Look through your connections to see who’s already in the industry you’re targeting. Don’t be afraid to leverage 2nd degree connections.
• BranchOut (www.branchout.com). This is an app that allows you to tap into your friends’ career data on Facebook. Similar usage as LinkedIn.
• BrazenCareerist (www.brazencareerist.com). This is a social networking site for career-oriented individuals. Post a message and actively network.

One piece of advice I have is not to ask your tour guides questions that can be easily answered by a Google search. It’s a waste of time. Use Google for its strengths (factual information) and talk to your tour guides about the contextual information that’s hard to find, e.g. career tracks, popular entry points, companies to avoid, etc. I would particularly be interested in external influences that will benefit or adversely affect the industry (for example, consolidation in certain industries means you should probably stay away from smaller companies). You get the point.

In a Strange Land, It Helps to Speak in a Familiar Language
Map? Check. Tour guide? Check. Looks like we’re ready to make the jump! Two things to keep in mind here as you write your cover letters, tweak your resume, request informational interviews.

First, tweak your resume and cover letter to reflect skills you’ve learned that can be  cross-applied to a new industry. For example, market research and finance both look for ability to play with numbers while advertising agencies and consulting companies both look for project management skills and the ability to perform under pressure. Helping your future employer translate your skills from what you’ve done into what they’re looking for will help you immensely in this journey. Bonus points if you thought about leveraging your tour guides to help you position your skills for the new industry.

Second, it’s typically much easier to jump into a  new industry while keeping the same function. For example, you’re in a marketing role within the CPG industry now and would like to get into green energy. In this case, finding a marketing role within a green energy company will be a pretty easy way to get into that industry.
Learn to put your best foot forward as you make your career pivot. Leverage your existing skills and function wisely. Happy pivoting!

Lastly, because I love talking to people…
Please reach out if you need a tour guide in marketing and/or technology start-ups. Email me at hello@justladders.com

Introduction
Most people use LinkedIn as an electronic address book -- I know you from somewhere else, therefore I’ll connect with you on LinkedIn. Many people don’t realize that the true potential of LinkedIn lies not in passive networking (i.e. finding people you know), but active networking (i.e. finding people you don’t know but share a mutual interest). In this game, you’ll see how LinkedIn can be a powerful active networking tool in your arsenal when it comes to finding a new job. Enjoy!

Number of players
2+

Game pieces you need

• 1 x completed Linked In profile
• 1 x completed resume
• 1 x cell phone

Directions

Step 1: Make sure you have your LinkedIn profile filled out. “Filled out” in this case means a complete work history and the ability for someone else to quickly assess whether you’re a good fit for a specific job opening or not. “Filled out” exists between just having companies/titles on your profile and literally pasting in your full resume (the reason will become apparent later). This example from my own profile (probably on the “too much” side, to be honest) shows what I’ve done and gives another person an idea of what I can do.

Step 2: Start searching for groups that fit your interest. Within LinkedIn, click on “Groups Directory” under the groups tab up top. Type in top of mind keywords that are relevant to your interests. For example, I would type in marketing analytics, marketing, analytics, start-ups, etc. and get something that looks roughly like what’s shown in the picture below. Obviously, this will be different based on your interests.

Step 3: This step has a little bit of art mixed in with the science. Find and join groups that are focused on a certain topic and are relevant to your interests. From my personal experience, groups that explicitly focus on jobs (like the first group shown above) aren’t very good because they are not very targeted. 144000 other people doing everything under the sun, not helpful. The second one is targeted, but unrelated to what I’m doing, skip. The third one is a winner -- it’s focused on a certain topic and extremely relevant to my interests.

Step 4: After you’re in a group, click on the jobs tab within the group itself (if the group doesn’t have a jobs tab, just leave it). It should look something like the following picture. 

Step 5: This step is arguably the most important step out of the whole process so I’m going to break it down into smaller pieces:

•  Look through the job posts and make a note of the ones that pique your interest, particularly the person who posted it.
•  If you find yourself interested in multiple positions posted by one person, take note of the person (this is secret sauce #1!).

Step 6: Click on the person and message them directly. Be short and concise: “Hi I came across your posting on the job board of Group X and I’m extremely interested. Can we have a quick 15 minute call to see if there’s a mutual fit? My profile is updated and a resume is available upon request.” With this short note, you’ve done a few things:

•  Bypass the job posting itself and reach out directly to the person
•  Because you belong in the same group, most people allow incoming messages from group members (bypass privacy settings that may exist)
•  Made their life easier by having your profile updated so they can gauge interest in one click (making their life easier = making your life easier)
•  Asked to connect offline where you can establish a personal relationship.

Step 7: Figure out which camp the person you’re about to talk to falls under:

•  Independent recruiters, i.e. people who are sourcing candidates (you) for a position at a firm.  Secret sauce #2: talk about the position at hand, but ask about what other positions they’re working on that may be a good fit for you. This way, you’re leveraging someone who’s very well connected in your space to inform you on what else is available. 
•  Corporate recruiters, i.e. people who are recruiting specifically for a position at a specific company. Be careful here, the moment you reach out also begins the “interview” process. While you do have the flexibility to ask what else is suitable (within the company, of course), let them take the lead in that conversation.

Step 8: Call them on the phone! Have your own personal executive summary ready and tell them what you’re looking for (more on this in a future post in terms of how to work with recruiters).

Step 9: Iterate, iterate, iterate. Repeat steps 2 through 7 using different keywords, join different groups (max limit is 50 at a time) and network with different people.

Summary 

 Network and build strong relationships with recruiters now - you can leverage them for the rest of your life. I’ve met recruiters this way while searching for a job and have subsequently used them for my own recruiting needs or recommended friends to their services. Please let me know what you think about this method; feedback is always welcome. That’s it! Enjoy the game!