Submitted by ronmolenda on
in
Forums
I'm a big fan of the podcast and I have to say that the results I've gotten from applying these principles have been fantastic. I was hoping you could advise me on the next step I should take in my career.
I have a varied background in law, IT, and education with a track record of success in each role. I've been managing a team in a nonprofit for about a year and a half, and I'd like to transition to a leadership role in the business world. I've been told that I need to 'pick an industry,' which would lead me back to IT. I'm not so hot about that however, as one the major pluses of management is its applicability across different industries.
What would you suggest I do? Should I bite the bullet and go IT to improve my chances of success with the career move? I'm more interested in medium-sized enterprises which would want more flexibility, but is this asking potential employers to go out on a limb for me?
Thanks!
It's not just about industry
You're trying to change your job, your sector (education/nonprofit to business), and function (IT to non-IT).
That's a lot to do in one move.
Moving to business does often mean picking an industry: retail, oil & gas exploration, and software are really different from one another, including the kinds of people they attract - that is, the kinds of people you'll manage.
So change only one or two factors at a time. Stick with IT management, and move to business. Or stick with non-profit management, but get out of IT. It's probably possible to change it all at once, but it would be very rare.
FWIW, there is a really good exercise towards the end of Mary Burton's "In Transition" (a really good book, btw) where the career changer walks through an exercise of creating a very detailed job description. There is much insight to be gained from that exercise when changing more than just the place where you work.
Good luck.
John Hack
I agree with John (big
I agree with John (big surprise!).
It's really difficult to transition multiple things at once like that. If you move away from non-profit, you will have to learn the assumptions and goals of the profit-seeking world, which I'm betting are very different. If you go into something that is non-profit but based on law, IT, or education, then you have some familiarity with that the organization will want, but need to learn what the industry/business class is about.
It doesn't entirely matter if you COULD do it. It matters if you could convince a recruiter that you could do it. I think it would be really difficult to convince a recruiter that you could do something that you've never really done before based solely on being a good manager in a completely different situation. You might be able to convince someone who knew you of that, but not a total stranger on the other side of the interviewing desk.
A much-belated thanks to
A much-belated thanks to you and John.
My experience in my job search turned out much the way you described - frustration at being unable to find the needle in the haystack. I got some offers but nothing seems right, likely because I didn't know what I was looking for in the first place.
Thanks guys...your advice is giving me some ideas for Round 2.