Brand Yourself for a Career Change

One of the most vexing brand challenges is how to prepare for a career change.  If you are changing your career, you want all expressions of your brand to reflect your current career goal.  Your LinkedIn profile, your resume, your professional affiliations, and every other aspect of your brand should paint a picture of the ideal candidate, which is focused on your career goal. Anything contrary to that is noise and distracts from your desired brand.

Requirements Analysis

The first step in a career change is to determine the requirements for that new position.  Conduct a skills gap analysis by comparing the requirements of a new career with your skills, education, and experience.  The requirements will be your guide, so you know the parts of your career history to feature.  It also helps you to determine the skills you need to develop to increase your viability as a candidate for your target job.

Skill Building

If you wish to brand yourself with the expertise necessary for your new career, you’ll need to prove those skills. Many candidates shifting to a new occupation can’t claim some of the required expertise and yet they are still able to make the transition.  This can be done by taking courses, earning certifications, or gaining experience in paid or volunteer roles.

Resume & LinkedIn Profile Update

Now that you understand which of your skills are most valuable to your potential employer or client, update your resume and LinkedIn profile to feature those skills.  Rewrite your resume profile and your LinkedIn summary to feature those items prominently.  Update the “Skills and Endorsements” section on LinkedIn to remove skills that do not support your goal.  Add new skills to prove you are a match for your target job.  Also, re-order those skills, so the top skills are at the top of the list. (You can drag and rearrange the skills “tiles.”)

Networking to Build Relevant Contacts

Now that you have clarified the skills required for your new career, you have started to build those skills, and you have updated your resume and LinkedIn profile, you are now poised to reach out and form new connections.  Identify groups (on LinkedIn and in the real world) within your new occupation or industry.   Participate in online discussion forums and industry conferences.  Reach out to individuals currently working in your desired field.   These connections will help you acclimate to your new career.

The Bottom Line

Developing your brand is an important part of your career change plan.  Aligning your brand with your goal will aid you to reach that goal.  An understanding of the special requirements for your new career will enable you to prepare and promote yourself.   Updating your brand involves crafting a new resume and LinkedIn profile language, rich with accomplishments and expertise that are in sync with your career goal. With these steps completed, you are ready to launch your new brand and network to put yourself on the path to career success!