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Are you aware of your best attributes as a candidate?
Applying for a role that does not suit you will result in a waste of time for you, HR, and your recruiter. Certain skills and qualities are transferable and others are not. It is essential that you accurately qualify yourself.
If you want to change careers, perhaps you should consider the following:
Step 1: What do you bring to the table?
Make a list of your skills, experience(s), and achievements. Do not start your resume with just “proficient in Python”. Instead, use the relevant experience of how you have used that skill.
To help with this, ask yourself the following questions:
How have I contributed measurable results in the past?
How have I contributed beyond what's easy to measure? Am I a natural leader? Have I served on a company culture committee? Have I won awards?
What did I accomplish that is generally seen as “badass” (even if it seems unrelated to the role)?
How have I failed in the past? And how can that failure be a win?
What can I provide to my prospective company (maturity, industry, stated objectives, culture, employee demographics, competitors, trends)?
What degrees or certifications do I hold? Include online courses and/or workshops.
Step 2: Understand exactly what the person filling this role will do
If you have friends in the industry, talk to them about the role you’re applying for and conduct thorough research. What do the very best people in this role do that the average ones don’t? And what are the most important requirements?
If you can demonstrate a better understanding of the role and the company, this could win you an interview.
Step 3: Emphasize your most important traits that are applicable to the position.
Make a list of all the things that the company wants in this hire and compare your skills to match. This can include other achievements that can show endurance, confidence, strong intuition, resilience, people skills, etc. These can be the key to what the company is seeking.
When you don't possess the key skills for the job, take the time to fill in those gaps before applying. There is a big difference between “I have never been a salesperson, but all my jobs have involved raising funds and identifying sources of funding” and “I have never sold anything”.
Step 4: Ask someone for honest feedback.
A person with knowledge of the industry can help you distinguish between being honest and being completely out of your league.
Do not forget: you can always look for job opportunities that do not require experience in order to build relevant experience. Later on, you can apply for that specific job that does require the experience you have gained.
Written by: Sandy Rivera, Recruiting Coordinator at Hunter Crown, LLC
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