Step 1: Explore Through Online Research

The first step to closing in on a target role is mapping out all of the possibilities, which means creating a list of potential industries, companies, and job functions. There are a number of strategies you could use to start your exploration. If you've already identified the particular job function you'd like to pursue, then your research may revolve around figuring out which industries and companies have a need for those roles. On the other hand, if you aren't tied to a specific job function, you may start by researching industries and companies that seem interesting to you, and then identify specific roles and job functions where your skills may be in demand. This approach may work for those still in college or professionals who have skills that could be applied across a number of different roles.

Lauren McGoodwin, founder of Career Contessa, encourages job seekers to focus on finding the right company rather than overemphasizing the specific role. “Know that you are smart and that you can do a lot of different things in your career. You're going to be switching jobs a lot – all the statistics say so. If you focus on working for a company that aligns with your values and that offers the benefits that are important to you, you can be the person that changes jobs a lot within that company, which is much easier than changing companies completely. That may serve you better in the long term.”

To start exploring, use any or all of the following strategies, together with leveraging the summary of your job preferences, which you completed at the end of Chapter 6.

Research Possible Roles

When exploring roles, ask yourself, “Which roles may align with my skills and interests?”

• LinkedIn Profiles: Perform an advanced search on LinkedIn for people who had a similar role at your company or at competitors, to see the roles they've been able to transition to. This could help you understand the types of job functions that may value your skills and experience.
• Job Descriptions: Review job descriptions for different roles to see the type of jobs where you meet all of the must-have education, experience, and skill requirements. “Job descriptions often contain a laundry list of nice-to-have items that the hiring manager wishes the ideal candidate would possess, but they rarely expect a candidate to actually have all of those. Your job is to try to identify the core requirements for each role you review,” says Amanda Augustine, career expert at TopResume, a resume-writing service. Depending on the amount of financial runway you have or are willing to build up, as well as the amount of time you're willing to devote to a transition, you may also want to review and consider roles where you only meet some of the must-have requirements.
• Online Searches: Do online searches to find lists, articles, or job listings that would value your core skill set. For example, someone who has strong analytical skills may search for “jobs that require analytical skills.” This research could give you more ideas on the types of roles that could match your skills.

Explore Possible Companies

When researching companies, ask yourself, “Which companies may align with my career objectives, values, and desired lifestyle?”

• Company Career Sections: Review the employment section of company websites to understand company size, organizational structure, available positions, profiles of current employees, and hiring practices.
• Recent News Articles: Do a search for news articles about target companies to get a better understanding of recent company developments and the financial health of the company. This will help you grasp whether the company is involved in initiatives that interest you, as well as if the company is on an upward, downward, or flat trajectory.
• Job-Specific Sites and Forums: Look at job-specific sites, like glassdoor.com or vault.com, or even forums such as reddit.com, to get the scoop on how employees feel about their companies. Be careful not to jump to conclusions based on one or two reviews. As with other review sites, if there are very few reviews for a company, chances are you'll get a skewed point of view from someone who has either a very positive or negative view of the company.

Informational Interviews with Current Connections

Think of an informational interview as an opportunity to catch up with a friend or learn more about an acquaintance, where you're trying to better understand their experience and perspective with a role and/or company that you could be interested in. Informational interviews may be able to answer the following questions for you.

Roles

• What is it really like to work in this role? Can you walk me through a typical day? Do you like what you do?
• Is there room for growth in this role or on the team? What's the typical tenure of people on this team and what do they do after leaving the team? Is it relatively easy for people in this role to transition to other roles in the company?
• What type of person would do well in this role? Are you looking for someone with a particular skill set?
• Given my interests and skills, do you think I'd be a good fit for this role or some other role within the company?

Companies

• What is it like to work at this company? Do people generally feel excited about working for the company?
• Is a typical workload and day similar across teams in the company? Are there generally expectations for night and weekend work? If so, how does that usually come about?
• Does the company allow employees the flexibility to work remotely either occasionally or full-time?
• How are the employee benefits (e.g., 401(k), health benefits)?
• What do you like most about working for this company?
• What don't you like as much about working for this company?

I recommend you start the networking process by reviewing your current contacts on LinkedIn, Facebook, and any other social media or networking site you use. Be on the lookout for connections that are working in a company or role that you are interested in learning more about. Once you've identified a list of contacts, reach out to those people to set up phone calls, coffee meetings, or lunches.

When reaching out, be specific with your ask so the connection can evaluate if they can help you and so they understand the time commitment required. Keep in mind that your ask should not be for a job unless you know the person very well. If speaking on the phone or meeting in person, be respectful of the person's time by being prompt and not taking up more than the scheduled time.

If you meet a connection for coffee or lunch, offer to pay for them – they are doing you a favor by meeting. Follow up after your discussion to thank the person for their time, state that you'll keep them posted on your progress, and offer to be a resource.

Build New Connections

What if you only have a couple of years of work experience and don't have many connections or have already “networked” with your direct connections? On LinkedIn, work with your direct connections to get an introduction to relevant people they're connected to. Research and attend events that may be interesting to you through meetup.com, your alumni association, or volunteering activities.

Augustine says, “Don't assume networking has to be only with your co-workers or fellow alumni. In fact, meeting people through your hobbies could be an effective way to casually approach networking, as well as an alternative to more structured events. As you network, be mindful that the two most important types of people to connect with are those who are in your desired industry and the social butterflies with vast networks.”

What Do I Mean by One Type of Role?

When I say to narrow down your search to one or two types of positions, I don't want you to think you have to overly restrict yourself. For example, if you are interested in marketing, your one role type doesn't have to be as specific as saying, “I want to be a brand manager for a consumer packaged goods company.” Instead, your one target role could be a marketing role that allows you to directly or indirectly help brands sell their products, while utilizing your strategy and analytical skills. That way, you're not limited to just a narrow set of companies. With the broader target, you could work at a company, like Procter & Gamble, to help market a specific product, such as Tide. Or you could work at a company that helps brands market their products, like an advertising agency. This strategy allows you to narrow your search sufficiently such that you can use the same marketing message across roles. At the same time, it keeps your search broad enough to maximize your potential opportunities.

Two Questions for Small Transitions

If your goal is to transition to a role that is related to what you're doing today, Paul Wolfe, Senior Vice President of Human Resources at Indeed, suggests evaluating each potential role and asking yourself: 1) Are you qualified to do the job? and 2) Do you actually want to do this job?²

Take some time to ask yourself these questions for your list of remaining roles. Cross off any roles where your answers aren't “yes” for each question. If you don't feel you have enough information to answer these questions for a particular role, set up more informational interviews to gather the data you need to make a decision.

Considerations for Larger Changes

If you're targeting roles you may not be qualified to do today, track down the answers to the following questions to narrow down your paths to pursue.

Money and Time Required

• What skills and experience do you need to gain to meet the minimum requirements of your target role?
• How long will it take you to gain the needed requirements, and how much will it cost? Are you willing to devote the time and money to gain the necessary experience?
• If you are able to make the intended change, would you need to take a pay cut from your current salary? If so, have you built up the financial runway needed to make this path feasible? Would you have the emotional support of loved ones to make this type of move?

Competitive Advantages

• Do you have any valuable skills that may be transferable to the target role?
• Do you have any unique connections that could help you get your foot in the door or decrease the transition time?
• Have former colleagues or others in positions similar to you (at your company or competitors) been able to transition to this type of role?

What's It Going to Be?

Of your possible career roles that remain, narrow them down to one or two. Once you've narrowed down your paths, fill in Table 9.1 (also available at www.workyourmoneybook.com):

• Prioritization: Order your top one or two roles by inputting your top choice into the Role #1 column and your second choice into the Role #2 column.
• New Skills Required: If you don't currently meet all of the skill and experience requirements, list the skills you'll need to build to make yourself a competitive candidate.
• Time Needed: List out how much time it may take to build up the new skills and experience.
• Money Needed: Estimate how much money it may take for any required training.
• Small Ways to Test If You'd Like This Path: You might be able to participate in events, activities, trainings, or volunteer opportunities to gather more data about whether you'd actually want to do this job for 40-plus hours a week. Put any ideas you have in this row.

  Prioritization	Role #1	Role #2
  Role Name
  New Skills Required
  Time Needed
  Money Needed
  Small Ways to Test If You'd Like This Path
  What Does Success Look Like in Six Months?
  What Does Success Look Like in One Year?

• What Does Success Look Like in Six Months? Think about a realistic milestone for each path six months from now. What type of result would you be happy with? For a small transition, you may say that you'd like to have secured a new job in six months. For a larger transition, you may put down that you hope to have completed a particular training to fill any skills gap that may exist.
• What Does Success Look Like in One Year? Similar to the above, what would success look like for each path in one year from now?

Option 1: Learning Opportunities Through Your Current Company

One of the most efficient ways to gain new skills may be right underneath your nose – that is, leveraging resources offered by your current employer. You can access learning and training opportunities at your current job through:

• Classes and Webinars: Some companies offer on-demand and/or live classes on a variety of topics, including Excel, PowerPoint, data analysis, writing, or even coding. Other companies may fully or partially subsidize the cost of taking outside courses, particularly if you can create a business case for why the courses may increase your effectiveness in your current role.
• Projects on Your Team: Consider whether you may be able to take on projects in your current role that could help you build needed skills for a new job. Are there any gaps on the team that you could fill in, or projects you can take on that would allow you to build new skills and make your manager's life easier?
• Projects Outside Your Team: You might also be able to build needed skills by assisting another team at your company on an assignment. Such projects can also allow you to expand your network and increase your visibility. In the process, you may be able to position yourself for a more ideal role within your current company.

Option 2: Learning Opportunities Outside Your Company

With a little research and creativity, you can also find opportunities outside of your company to build job skills. In particular, you can receive academic and on-the-ground training through:

• Individual Classes: Online and offline courses can enable you to build the skills you need for a role or industry in a short period of time, and often at an affordable price. While these courses may not lead to a fancy Harvard MBA, you can still call them out on your resume. Course work signals to employers that you're a hard worker and a self-starter. Many institutions and universities also offer professional certifications in specialized fields, which can help give you a competitive edge. You can find class opportunities through a number of resources, including General Assembly, Khan Academy, Udemy, Coursea, colleges and universities, and industry-specific associations and publications.
• Volunteering: You may be able to build new skills and gain hands-on work experience for free by volunteering at a nonprofit or community organization. For example, if you wanted to develop your marketing skills, you could offer to provide free consulting services to a local charity for a couple of hours a week. Volunteering might also allow you to connect with and learn from others who have more experience in your desired field. Sites like Catchafire, VolunteerMatch, All for Good, and Create the Good can help you find available opportunities.
• Advanced Degree Program: Enrolling in a graduate program could make sense in certain situations. Some fields, such as law, medicine, and teaching, require advanced degrees. If a graduate degree isn't mandatory to transition to your target role or career, be absolutely clear on what you want to gain from graduate school that you can't get elsewhere. Be sure to weigh the benefits and costs, including the required time commitment to both apply for and attend school. You might also consider “test driving” graduate school by enrolling in an online or in-person course related to your prospective degree.