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I started my career in social services and eventually got a job in government .  While in government, I became an IT manager for over a decade.  I became an IT manager by following my boss up the chain of command as his own career progressed.  As he got promotions, he gave me new tasks.  The work I did was rather unique to the organization, but it was still project management.  I recently relocated to a new part of the country in a major city.  There are jobs,  but I've found myself in an odd situation.  My resume is all over the place, here's what I mean:  my degrees are in social services and public management, but I have a huge chunk of experience in IT. Technology people see my resume and don't see a computer sciences degree so Im passed over for an interview, management people see my resume and see only IT and again, Im passed over for an interview, so I feel a bit stuck.  My goal is to stay in government/non-profit management but not necessarily in IT.

Any suggestions for getting things back on track?  The mistake I made was not being strategic and allowing others to guide my career.  It's to the point that I can't even get an interview for jobs I know I can do. I've considered taking a lower paying job and volunteering locally to build up my resume again in the field I want to focus on, but that takes time.

 

Enzensberger's picture
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Dear,

I would use my resumé to highlight the achievements of my career that are relevant to the job that I want to be hired into.

You write that you want to stay in government/non-profit, so think of the job(s) that fall into that category and the KPIs that would be taken to measure success in the job. Then tailor your resumé accordingly.

Let's say you want to continue your career as an internal project coordinator in a county administration. You should then highlight your achievements and strengths in project management, and your solid background in social services. You should of course refer to your IT skills as well, but rather with an "besides, here's another skill that I could help you with"-tone.

Hope that sets you back on track with the applications!

Good luck!

Sven

DISC 7511

JustHere's picture

 That makes sense, especially about the IT part.   Thank you!!!