How to do a Major Career Transition (Without Applying to Jobs!)
If you’re making a major career transition, your resume is very likely not going to get you the job.
What’s the hack?
Stop relying on your resume. No matter how many ways you edit your resume for your target job, you will be overlooked against other applicants who have more direct career experience.
Submitting your resume to any and all jobs is not the answer.
Take control of your job search by reaching out to PEOPLE, not application black holes.
Network. Don’t apply.
WHY?
When you submit your application to a job online, a recruiter or hiring manager is going to read all the applications and choose the one that is most relevant to the job opening.
You’re getting ranked against other people with more relevant experience, instead of being seen for what you can uniquely bring.
You’ll probably be overlooked in a pool of relevant applications.
That doesn’t mean you’re not qualified for the job. It just means that your qualifications are harder to understand. Since recruiters and hiring managers typically spend 10-30 SECONDS reviewing each resume, you’re overlooked for people whose experience is easier to understand.
Look for other ways in.
HOW?
Strategic and relational networking will open doors to you that you never knew existed.
Focus on building relationships with people/companies/organizations that you respect and admire. This is the long game - so integrate it into every year of your career, even when you are content with your job.
Get started with these tactics:
Identify 30 target companies. Search for them on LinkedIn, then click the People tab to see who works there. Follow as many relevant people as possible, then watch and learn. Get curious about what they post about, what they’re working on, what conferences they’re going to. When you see something that resonates, reach out with a personal note:
“I saw your post about risk management and just wanted to say thanks. It really resonated for my personal experience guiding in the Alaska range. I especially liked how you articulated how to instill situational awareness.
In full disclosure, I’ve been watching your company for a while and am really intrigued by what they’re doing with mass risk management education. Could I buy you a (virtual) coffee to get to know you and your work a little better?”
Identify 30 aspirational connections, and follow them on Linkedin, Instagram, Twitter, and anywhere else that they are producing content. Get to know what they do. Look for something you connect with them on, then reach out.
“I heard you on the Adventure Sports podcast and was really intrigued by the perspective you brought to selling your trips. I have been struggling with this myself, and your podcast really helped me connect a few dots.
I see that you’re in the Seattle area. I live nearby - any chance I could buy you a coffee and get to know your work more?”
An Example of How This Worked for Me:
One time I was having an endless back and forth with a TED speaker who specialized in glacier caving. He lived in Bend, Oregon - 3 hours from me. Our email exchange wasn’t going anywhere, so I decided to let him know that I was going to be in Bend next week and ask if he wanted to meet for coffee. (Of course, I didn’t have plans to be in Bend, and rearranged my calendar to make it happen).
We met for coffee - it went great - and talked through all the details to get started. This led to me being able to help on some of his Mt. Hood expeditions, which gave me technical experience in new terrain that I leveraged to get into the position I wanted onboard the National Geographic ships in Antarctica.
Don’t be afraid to “happen to be in the neighborhood” to make opportunities come to fruition.
Reminders:
Keep yourself organized. Use this activity tracker as a starting point.
Reach out to people using their business email address. You can usually guess this by looking for a “info@____” email to see what kind of email format they use. There are also many browser extensions that can do this for you for free (but I find that guessing and paying attention to whether or not it bounces back is the best strategy).
Looking for personalized guidance on your career outreach strategy? Here’s the package I recommend.
