Time for a career change?
Say you are a mid-career professional and find yourself looking for a new opportunity. You may no longer be a student at the Foster School of business, but the school’s career management experts have offered some pearls of advice that you might find useful in your transition.
Naomi Sanchez
Assistant Dean, MBA Career Management
Build relationships that will open doors. Identify—and learn to communicate—your points of difference. You have to view yourself as a product in the marketplace. Know your strengths (and weaknesses). Take a self-assessment. Get feedback from those you know and trust. Create a document—a resume or social media profile—that really explains who you are and why somebody should hire you.
Susie Buysse
Senior Associate Director for Career Services and Company Outreach, TMMBA Program
Complete a feasibility analysis of your career goal. Create a clear, compelling and consistent message and image across your personal marketing. Develop a job search plan with company targets and metrics. And build and expand your network over time. Don’t wait until you are searching for a new job. If you learn this critical skill and continue to manage your network throughout your career, you’ll most likely never need to look for a job again.
Lewis Lin
Career Coach, EMBA Program
Take a step back. Build a career plan to get clarity on what you want to do next, then figure out what kinds of skills and experience and network you need to get there. Remember that your value becomes less about technical skill and effort and more about your ability to collaborate and communicate. And make sure your LinkedIn profile is in top shape. It’s the key database for recruiters. Read “Job Searching with Social Media” by Joshua Waldman.
Andy Rabitoy
Director of Career Management, Undergraduate and Specialty Master’s Programs
To find opportunity, you have to work your network. Seventy percent of jobs are unpublished, and things move really fast. It’s about who you know. You have to get in front of decision-makers or at least people who can make introductions. Learn to articulate the value-add you’ll bring beyond the job description. If you’ve been typecast, change the story. And don’t underestimate the importance of your presence on LinkedIn.
Connie Bourassa-Shaw
Director, Buerk Center for Entrepreneurship
If you are thinking of starting a business, start by talking about your idea. Pitch it constantly to smart people (generalize any sensitive IP, of course). What you will get is validation or refutation. Both are invaluable. You will constantly refine the idea based on the feedback, the pushback, the questions and the enthusiasm of the people you present it to. Read “The Lean Startup” by Eric Ries. Then stop studying and start doing.
Alumni of the UW Foster School of Business (and all previous incarnations) may benefit from career management resources and services through the school’s various career management offices.
