Virginia Franco, Author at Job-Hunt

Successful Cover Letters for Career Change

Virginia Franco — Tue, 11 May 2021 17:14:42 +0000

When it comes to cover letters, there’s good and bad news.

The bad? In my experience, they only get read about a third of the time.

The good? When read, a cover letter can make ALL the difference – especially for a career changer.

When powerfully-written, a cover letter can serve as a tipping point that encourages a decision-maker to take a risk.

Below is my 5-step formula for writing a cover letter that tells your story, addresses the fact that you are a career changer, and helps a decision-maker to visualize how your experience can benefit them.

5 Steps to Career Change Cover Letter Success

Put yourself in the shoes of the reader (assume hiring manager), and share the information that makes it clear you can do this job, explaining how your experience will help you to help them:

1. Lead with the Transferrable

A cover letter must never leave the reader guessing as to how your experience might make you well suited for a role.

To this end, rather than opening with a ho-hum statement that talks about how excited you are about applying to the role, Paragraph One must hook the reader by showing them that your skills are a strong MATCH.

Here’s an example of an opening paragraph for an IT Executive trying to move from the world of healthcare to academia.

Dear [hiring manager’s name]:

From leading a technology strategy to advance an organization’s mission to building a team and establishing partnerships both within and beyond IT—I love the challenge of developing a scalable and cost-effective technology infrastructure that well-serves the needs of our community of users.

This paragraph directly addresses points from the job posting – the need to 1) build a team, 2) establish partnerships, and 3) serve users.

Equally important, the paragraph addresses a pain point – showing that the candidate can build a technology infrastructure on a lean budget to support growth.

2. Call Out the Elephant in the Room

Once you’ve hooked the reader with your transferrable skills, I recommend that Paragraph 2 address the elephant in the room – in this case that the job seeker has not previously worked in academia – and show that it is a non-issue.

Aim for language that is transparent and direct. Here’s an example:

While my career does not include a tenure in academia, I’ve successfully jumped into unfamiliar industries before – building and leading technology teams and putting forward highly successful IT strategies.

3. Wow Your Reader with Compelling Achievements

Decision-makers respect achievements, especially those that align with what they’d like to see occur within their own companies, divisions or departments. With that in mind, I advise career-changing job seekers to carefully select three or four achievements that highlight successes relevant to the role they are targeting.

In the case of the IT Exec, here are four we picked for her that aligned quite closely with much of the language in the job description:

During my career trajectory to become my organization’s most senior IT leader, I:

Built a virtualized environment, data center and security solutions from the ground up.
Evolved the IT infrastructure from ad-hoc to mature and compliant.
Developed a team of skilled technologists following SAFe and ITIL practice.
Instilled a collaborative culture with team members dedicated to customers and quality.

4. Share Your Origin Story – as it Applies to the Organization You are Targeting

Once you’ve hooked them, addressed the elephant in the room and dazzled them with your relevant achievements, it’s time to close out by explaining the WHY behind the move.

Did a volunteer or side project spark your interest? Have you always been passionate about the industry? Use this next paragraph to give the hiring manager some insight into why, even with your untraditional background, you’re eager to throw your hat into this particular ring.

Here’s what I wrote for our IT Executive:

As a French major with a degree from a liberal arts university, I’m proof that a well-rounded education can prepare students for the business world.

XXX University’s mission as a liberal arts institution speaks directly to this, and at this junction in my career, I’d like to consider a career move where I can contribute as a mentor, technologist, and senior leader.

5. Express Your Passion for This Employer

Close out your cover letter by sharing a bit about your passion for the company or industry. In my experience, decision-makers are more willing to get excited about someone who really cares versus someone who just wants to leave their old job. Here’s an example:

Passionate about paying it back and forward, as a public institution, serving as the University’s CIO would further reward me by making giving back a full-time endeavor.

I look forward to learning next steps.

The Potential Tipping Point

Since your resume may not scream relevant experience the way someone who has been in the role/industry for years might, embrace your cover letter as a chance to show you are a great fit despite the specific lack of employment history.

In fact, when looking to make a pivot into a new industry or field, a powerfully-written cover letter may turn out to be the tipping point that convinces the hiring manager you are worth a second look — and bring you in for an interview!

The Bottom Line

Yes, your cover letter may be ignored. But, why take the chance when a solid cover letter demonstrates your interest in the job and helps make the case that they should, at least, talk with you. A well-written cover letter may open doors for you that would have otherwise remained closed.

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About the author…

Career Change Expert Virginia Franco is a 4 times Certified Executive Resume Writer, LinkedIn Writer, Coach and Career Storyteller. Her experience in corporate communications, journalism, and social work offered her a unique understanding of how people read, communicate, and share information. Connect with Virginia via her website VirginiaFrancoResumes.com, on LinkedIn, and on Twitter at @VAFrancoResumes.
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Busted: Job Search Myths Hurting Your Career Change

Virginia Franco — Tue, 11 May 2021 17:14:42 +0000

According to LinkedIn, there are 739,184 members who describe themselves as a Career Coach or who hold the title of Career Coach.

Over 300,122 LinkedIn members include the title “Employment Coach” in their headlines.

And, 975,000 LinkedIn members include the term “Job Search” (as in “Job Search Expert” or “Job Search Coach”) in their headlines.

Adding them all together, job seekers looking to remain current with job search best practices have over two million resources at their disposal.

Coupled with the advice given by friends, family and work colleagues who mean well — it is not surprising that job seekers feel overwhelmed and probably more than a little bit confused – by all the conflicting advice available to them.

When it comes to sifting through it all, it can be comforting to look to stats for clarity to determine if job search advice is myth or truth. This article focuses on the stats.

Myth #1: Job Hopping Will Hurt Your Career

While leaving several roles every 12 months can still set off alarms, the idea that one needs to stay at a role for 5+ years for fear of not appearing loyal is nothing to worry about. That idea started to phase out around the time of the Great Recession — when many were getting laid off, accepting gap roles, and then quickly moving on when a better opportunity presented itself.

This is good news for career changers as they embark on a series of micro pivots to get them to their “dream” job —

A micro-pivot is where one accepts an interim role that serves as a stepping-stone toward their ultimate goal.

As an example, a schoolteacher looking to make a move into enterprise software sales might first make a micro-pivot to selling software in the education industry. From there, the person makes yet another micro-pivot into a role selling software in another industry.

The truth? The stats favor those who hop. A 2016 ADP analysis highlighted in this Quartz article actually suggests that by NOT hopping you may be hurting your career. The authors note the following:

Those who stay at least 2 years will get a larger salary boost than those who stay longer than 5.
When you do leave your role or company, career change or otherwise, you will see less pay growth if you had stayed more than 5 years.
You are less likely to get a big pay bump if you stay with the same employer.

For career changers, this is good news, as there is no longer any bad connotation or even salary pain associated with leaving after a few years.

Myth #2: If I Have a Strong Resume, I Can Make a Career Change by Applying Online

While it is true that your resume must be readable by Applicant Tracking Software (ATS) systems, applying online as the first point of entry is not a great option for career changers.

Why? When it comes to ATS, the resume with the most keywords wins. The chances of a career changer’s resume having more keywords than that of a person with direct role and industry experience are not likely.

Thus, the resume of someone with direct experience will always perform better online than that of a career changer.

According to the stats, the odds of career changers (really all job seekers) dramatically increase when they have a personal referral. According to Undercover Recruiter:

Employee referrals account for 40% of all hires.
67% of employers and recruiters surveyed say the recruiting and hiring process is shorter for those that come in via referral.
The bottom line? A referral can act as a champion and/or be willing to take a risk on someone who’s experience is not 100% aligned with a job posting. Have you ever heard of ATS taking a risk? The answer is no – because it is not programmed to do so.

[For more, read Fast Track to a New Job: An Employee Referral and Find Jobs by Targeting Employers.]

Myth #3: When Making a Career Change, I Can Change My Resume But Leave LinkedIn Untouched

70% of employers use social media to research prospects, according to a 2018 CareerBuilder survey. LinkedIn is imperative for social proof that your skills and experience are transferrable as a career changer.

Today, success requires more than a great resume. Employers want “social proof,” too.

Without “proof” on social media, usually LinkedIn, that the expertise and accomplishments you claim on your resume are real, people may question those claims.

For those looking to keep their career change aspirations under the radar on LinkedIn, below are 2 approaches to consider depending on how you intend to pivot:

If looking to change job functions, I recommend a headline and About section that include key skills and areas of expertise common between your current and targeted role.
If looking to break into a new industry, but in a similar role, I advise you to remove industry references from your LinkedIn to position yourself as industry agnostic.

[More about social proof: Social Proof: Linked(In) to Your Resume and “Social Proof” — Required for Successful Job Search. Also, see Managing Your LinkedIn Settings for a Stealth Job Search.]

The Bottom Line

Job search for career changers is tough, but not insurmountable, and there’s a great deal of advice out there to guide you. The above busts 3 common myths and shows why a job seeker’s greatest shot at success lies with networking to gain referral relationships, remaining on LinkedIn to show social proof of skills and expertise, and by remaining unafraid of outdated job-hopping misconceptions.

Read this article to learn how to answer “Why do you want to leave your current job?” in a job interview.

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Launch Your Career Change to Manager with the Right Resume

Virginia Franco — Tue, 11 May 2021 17:14:42 +0000

Want to take on a leadership role but have yet to hold a manager title?

Eager to post for a role and the job description describes you to a T — except for the management piece?

When it comes to jumping into a management role, your resume is an important foundational document to position yourself as someone who is primed and ready to take this next step.

For this goal, I focus on 4 key resume sections to convey the message that the candidate is more than prepared to take on a leadership role.

In those sections, I craft verbiage showing that although the job seeker may not have been officially responsible for a team, he/she has the experience necessary to lead one.

Creating Your Manager Resume

Starting from the top – these are the headline, summary, position titles and experience sections.

As an example, I’d like to use “Megan” who, after years in an individual contributor role as an IT Project Manager was looking for her next role as a Director of a Project Management Organization or PMO.

Megan had led many teams indirectly as part of project leadership – but on paper none of these resources had ever reported to her.

HEADLINE

When Megan first reached out, her resume led off with her career experience which included titles like IT Project Manager, IT Consultant and IT Analyst.

Because her resume did not include a headline, the reader was left to their own devices to figure out the role she was targeting – and there was no way for the reader to decipher that she was targeting a PMO leadership role.

After working together, I crafted a headline that is larger in font size than the rest of the resume (a design technique to draw the reader’s eye to a specific piece of text) and leaves no doubt in the reader’s mind as to the role Megan is targeting. Here’s what it looks like:

By referring to Megan as a Senior Project/PMO Director – I’ve called attention to the types of roles she has, and can, perform. The sentence directly below the headline, known as a tagline, alludes to the professional contributions that Megan has made that align closely with her career goal.

SUMMARY

Megan’s original resume featured a 5-line summary or branding paragraph. The challenge with the paragraph as written was that while it was clear she could lead projects it was NOT clear she could lead people – and it was certainly not evident that she had worked in a PMO.

Before:

Over 15 years of strong technical background and a track record of success in designing, building and executing strategic IT projects with multiple vendors. Expertise includes software development lifecycle management, integration, change management and business process optimization. Skilled in planning, executing and managing projects on time and on budget.

After:

This refreshed “After” section conveys 3 additional points that did not appear in her original resume:

It calls out her work in a PMO and suggests she had some sort of leadership responsibility.
It weaves in language highlighting both her expertise in Agile and her talent for creating dashboards – points discovered in several of the job postings she sent that did not appear in her resume originally.
By intentionally listing several industries where she had previously worked, the summary indicates that her skills are easily transferrable across other industries.

POSITION TITLES

Job titles can vary from organization to organization, and we’ve all come across ones that do a poor job of clarifying what the role is really all about.

Because of this, I recommend editing first and foremost to provide clarity, but also to clearly show the reader how past experiences align well with a targeted role. Here’s what we did with Megan’s:

Before:

Senior Scrum Master

After:

Senior Scrum Master – IT PMO

The revised title goes a step further by informing the reader that Megan’s role took place within a PMO environment, a point that is critical to her target as a PMO director, and that otherwise would not have been known.

EXPERIENCE

These BEFORE and AFTER illustrations show the power of using minor design elements to draw the reader’s eye and show how strategic language can strengthen Megan’s case that she is more than ready to be a PMO Director.

Before:

Took over three projects underway for over four years and successfully completed them in 11 months.
Defined Scrum processes, procedures, KPIs and best practices now used at ABC company.
Led Kanban training and rollout and outlined continuous improvement metrics.

After:

Created roadmap from concept-to-training for IT PMO Agile transformation in partnership with Risk SVP. Led pilot that earned team’s reputation for excellence – overcoming leadership resistance and leading to use of Agile methodology embraced today as the gold standard.

Drove turnaround of 4 at-risk projects and led completion in just 11 months after 4 years stagnant.
Led Kanban training, rollout and adoption with defined metrics for continuous improvement across Enterprise IT organization.

In Megan’s resume, I added a short paragraph before listing bulleted accomplishments, and used bolding, blue font, and italics to quickly attract attention to 2 important points:

Megan’s role focused on PMO transformation and
Megan worked in partnership with an IT Executive.

In the 2 bullets that followed the paragraph, I bolded the key section of each sentence and chose verbs that aligned with leadership to highlight for the reader that Megan acted in a leadership capacity when achieving her accomplishments.

The Bottom Line

By focusing on Megan’s accomplishments that demonstrated her ability to lead and manage teams in challenging situations, I drew attention to her qualifications, strengths, and experience in management roles. Match this resume with a focused career-change cover letter (below), and you will greatly increase your probability of success.

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7 Smart Steps to Successful COVID-19 Pandemic Career Change

Virginia Franco — Tue, 11 May 2021 17:14:42 +0000

COVID-19 threw a curve ball into all of our lives.

The livelihoods of millions are at risk — prompting many to ponder the future and wonder whether NOW is the time for a career change, maybe a “second act.”

As one of the large group who reinvented themselves during the 2008 Financial Crisis, I am not shocked that this pandemic has caused many to pause and reconsider their career direction.

After years of interviewing those who made successful career 180s, or at least career pivots, as a result of crisis, I have learned that while an event triggered them to get started, most were methodical in their approach.

That methodical approach which was so successful was comprised of these 7 phases.

7 Steps to Post-Pandemic Crisis Careers

Below are 7 steps to send you to embark on this new chapter and into a career that lies at the intersection of what you are good at, what you like, and what is marketable.

#1 Brainstorm & Self Inventory

Start by brainstorming. What work have you done, including paid, unpaid, volunteer and/or hobbies that got your creative juices flowing? All ideas are possible in this phase!

Next, make a list of your skills and interests, capabilities and licenses, hard and soft skills. If you’re struggling to articulate them, consider self-assessments, including Reach 360, The Myers & Briggs Foundation MBTI or DISC.

While free versions of MBTI and Reach 360 are available online, trained facilitators can offer you a deeper interpretation.

When it comes to nailing down those hard skills, sites like My Nex tMove pull info from the U.S. Department of Labor’s O*Net platform to identify interests and skills that align with jobs currently available.

#2 Inquiry & Exploration

A quick search on LinkedIn reveals thousands of professionals who got to where they are today following a non-traditional or non-linear path. In speaking with many of these as clients, I have also learned that many had no idea at the onset that the career path was even an option!

To get some ideas, consider free and low-budget offerings such as MAPP (Motivational Appraisal Personal Potential) testing, the Holland Code Assessment, or YouMap to help you uncover roles that might be a good fit, identify areas of interest, and gain some career clarity.

#3 Evaluation of Finances & Deal Breakers

Starting a business, or going in a new direction, may require some startup cash, a pay cut or some level of sacrifice in time and/or money. Still others have different “non negotiables” – from COVID safety considerations to commute times.

Everyone has their own deal breakers. The trick is to determine if your career aspirations can occur within the parameters of your non negotiables.

Only you can decide what you can afford and what you are willing to give up to make it happen.

#4 Newly Targeted Career Marketing Collateral

If you need to state your case or gain buy-in from others as part of your new career move, you will need to update your resume and LinkedIn, and you need to work to put your career aspirations front and center.

This means your resume and LinkedIn’s headline and summary section, as well as your cover letter’s opening lines, must clearly indicate how your experience and skills are well aligned with the new role you are targeting.

When it comes to evaluating your career accomplishments, select those pertinent to your new targeted role or industry.

#5 Networking & Learning

Strong documents will not cut it when it comes to making a career shift, in large part because you are competing against those with direct and relevant experience who will always perform far better when submitting their resume in response to job postings.

Networking is vital to a successful career pivot and will require you to seek out those working in roles or industries you have targeted.

Ultimately, your goal is to have people in your network who are decision-makers, who can listen to your case and advocate from the inside on your behalf.

While most (whether good friends or strangers) don’t respond well to the idea of being asked for a job, they are open to a chat to impart wisdom or advice. An upside to today’s work-from-home environment is that more people are working from home than ever before, giving them more time for these types of chats.

When it comes to reaching out to a stranger, do some research to identify a potential point of conversation. Did they make a cool career move? Write an article on their role/industry? Became involved in an organization related to your targeted transition?

Once you have identified your icebreaker, it’s time to reach out and get conversations going. The below outreach script may help:

Hi ________,

I found your profile when searching for people that transitioned successfully into _________ after years of doing something completely different.

I have no doubt your transition was challenging and would welcome the opportunity to learn a bit about lessons learned – as I’m contemplating something similar.

I understand you’re quite busy and your time is valuable, and I’d be quite grateful if you could spare a few minutes to chat.

If not, no worries!

Best,
XXX

If they agree, prepare questions, take notes, and prior to saying thank you and good bye, always ask for 2 or 3 names of others who can offer additional guidance and further build your network.

#6 Closing the Gap & Learning the Lingo

Every role has its own set of skills, and every industry its own set of acronyms and terminology. Being able to “talk the talk” shows decision-makers you understand the industry and can hit the ground running with a minimal learning curve.

Networking conversations with those who work in your target field will help you get a handle on the correct lingo and required skills, as will research into company websites, job postings, industry publications and podcasts.

If your new job target requires a certification or a skill that you don’t currently possess, now is the time to search for online learning to upskill and close the gap! Sites like Udemy, LinkedIn Learning (free to premium members and in many local public libraries as Lynda.com) and Coursera are just a few platforms offering low-budget, high-value learnings.

#7 Testing & Launching

While many career changers are super daring, others are more cautious. If you’re not ready to dive headfirst into a new role, or if you are currently employed and not ready to give up the salary and security that goes with it, consider testing the waters.

Start by inquiring during each networking conversation if there is an opportunity for volunteer opportunities. Not only will this let you see for yourself if this career might be viable, it will allow you to build up a portfolio of work that can springboard into paid opportunities.

Challenging but Not Insurmountable

If there was ever a time to turn lemons into lemonade, it’s hard to think of a better time than a global pandemic. While daunting, career pivots are possible!

The Bottom Line:

Although no doubt tougher than a lateral or next-level move, a career change is achievable — provided you are willing to put in hard work using the right ingredients: a heaping dose of dreaming, plenty of thought and consideration, good old-fashioned legwork, and some savvy career marketing materials.

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How to Choose Your Next Job: 6 Considerations

Virginia Franco — Tue, 11 May 2021 17:14:42 +0000

Consider: Every job you take is a step forward in your career. Or, a step back.

If the thought of work makes you feel ill or if you’re sticking around strictly for the paycheck…

If you find yourself daydreaming on the job more and more frequently, or if you find your confidence and motivation are rapidly on the decline…

Then, you are experiencing one of many signs that your job may not be a great fit.

If even 2 or 3 of these signs feels familiar, and you’ve determined it is indeed time for a change, identify and evaluate which criteria will be important to you in your next role.

Determine any — and all — aspects of a job that may be “deal breakers” for you.

If you skip exploring this critical next step, and leap at the first job that comes your way, you run the risk of trading an old set of problems for new one.

This is the very definition of “jumping out of the frying pan and into the fire.”

While everyone’s criteria, factors, and deal breakers will be different, and rank differently in terms of importance, below are 6 to consider. I’ve included a personal example from my own career journey to become an Executive Resume Writer and Career Storyteller

Important Career Match Considerations

Before you move on in your career, consider these 6 criteria to determine if the new job is a good fit for you and your career.

1. The Skills Required

There’s little doubt that job satisfaction is in large part influenced by how much you enjoy what you do on a daily basis — in other words, the day in and day out tasks that make up your job determine whether or not you actually like your job.

Reflect on if these daily responsibilities align well with the skills that come naturally to you and that you enjoy.

Begin by making a list of the skills you bring to the table from past paid, volunteering, and even internships.

Then, go back, and circle the ones that bring a smile to your face.

When reviewing job postings, or speaking with others in roles of potential interest, evaluate how well the job matches up with those skills you have circled.

Speaking from my own experience, my skills include writing, editing, and interviewing, and I had experience applying these skills in paid freelance writing and corporate communications roles as well as volunteer roles where I supported marketing for special events and fundraising.

2. The Total Compensation

For many, pay is a deal breaker. And by “pay,” we usually mean “total compensation” which encompasses base salary, bonus, commissions, and benefits.

Before jumping ship, research salary averages so you know the going rate for your role and others that you may be contemplating.

Before launching my own company, I tested the waters by dipping my toes in as a contract resume writer. I conducted research and even had some informational interviews to get a sense for how much everyone from resume writer newbies to experienced writers alike earned on a per project basis.

3. Management Leadership Style

How does your ideal manager act and speak? Are they hands-on or detached? Do they make decisions from the gut or based on data?

It’s a good idea to ask the prospective manager point blank about this and verify with potential peers. If the manager’s leadership style does not sync well with your own – then job dissatisfaction will likely follow.

Speaking again from experience, during interviews with resume writing companies, I asked questions around process, deadlines, and deliverables, as well as strategies for dealing with challenging clients. Their responses gave me a solid sense for each business owner’s leadership style.

4. Security & Room for Growth

Many choose to move up the ladder by job hopping. If your preference is to ascend within a company, then it is critical you uncover the potential for internal progression before making any leap.

For others, moving up the ladder is not a deal breaker, but job security is. Factors to evaluate then must include whether the company is on the rise, or if the industry is in decline.

My situation was a bit unique in that rather than career progression I was looking for skill progression – and wanted to gain as much experience as possible writing across levels and industries. To this end, I made sure to ask about an owner’s willingness to take on more and different kinds of clients.

5. Location/Commute

In my experience, next to salary, commute length is likely the top deal breaker for many.

Be sure to evaluate what kind of a commute works with your lifestyle and explore if the company offers free or reimbursed parking, telecommuting opportunities, and/or if alternative forms of transportation are available before proceeding.

For me the commute was an absolute deal breaker. The work needed to be virtual. Period. In my experience, when location/commute requirements are ignored, employees are left very unhappy, so be sure to know where you stand on this topic.

6. Company Culture & Values

For many, job happiness is closely tied to a company’s culture and corporate values.

With regards to values – it’s important to do a bit of soul searching to see if the stance a company takes on certain issues aligns with your own. These may range from corporate social responsibility to workforce diversity and even environmental sustainability.

Culture can take on many forms – from dress code (suits or business casual?) to office layout (offices and cubes or open workspaces?) to decision-making (top to bottom or more democratic?) and work/life balance (is 40, 50 or 60 hours the norm?)

I successfully uncovered this through responses to earlier questions. Furthermore, a quick LinkedIn search allowed me to find out who worked where. I even reached out to one or two people who graciously shared culture-related intel!

The Bottom Line on Making Your Next Career Move

There are many ways to evaluate your level of “fit” in a role, if it is time to make a change, and what that change might look like. If you’ve determined it is indeed time for shake-up and considered the factors that are important to you, it’s time to evaluate if the pros outweigh the cons – and make your next move!

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‘Tis the Season for Career Change

Virginia Franco — Tue, 11 May 2021 17:14:42 +0000

Think of December and most of us think of a season filled with giving and merriment. During the period between now and New Year’s, calendars become full of festivities and preparing for festivities.

It’s quite natural to view this as an ideal time to hit the brakes on your job search – and many do.

However, for those considering career change, December presents an ideal time to lay the groundwork or to actively pursue your career change.

Be well-prepared (read How to Make a Massive Career Change with No Relevant Experience for details even if your change is not “massive”).

**Why December is a Great Time for Your Career Change**

While conventional wisdom states otherwise, in this article I lay out 3 reasons why the holiday season may prove to be the perfect time to job hunt.

#1 Thinned Out Competition

One of the reasons people choose to take a holiday job search breather is because of the myth that no one hires during the holiday.

The truth, however, is that most companies don’t shutter their doors for the entire month –- and are still faced with people quitting, retiring, and moving on. This means that openings DO EXIST, and people DO HIRE at the end of the year!

By continuing your hunt during this time, you will have an easier time standing out because the job search crowds have thinned out.

#2 Use it Or Lose It Budgets

Many companies subscribe to a “use it or lose it” fiscal policy – which means any budgeted funds untouched will not carry over into the next year. So, if a job isn’t filled before January 1, the budget for that job evaporates, something most hiring managers hate.

Hiring managers with these types of budgets also face the genuine prospect that their following year’s budget may be smaller should they choose not to spend it all during the current calendar year.

This may be a boon to career changes, as hiring managers with available funds might be more willing to take a risk on a non-conventional candidate.

Most managers fight hard for more people to do the work needed, so they don’t want to lose valuable staff and face another budget fight. This may make them more flexible in their requirements and willing to consider you more seriously than at other times of the year.

#3 Ideal Time for “Under the Radar” Activities

December is known for holiday get-togethers, luncheons, and work-from-home days due to personal commitments.

For career changers on the hunt, all this activity makes the holiday season an ideal time to step away from your desk for networking and informational interviews without raising any eyebrows.

Tips for Capitalizing on the Holidays for Your Career Change

Whether you choose to keep your job search active during the month of December or use the time to prepare for a 2020 hunt, these tips will help you put your best foot forward.

#1 Finesse Your Pitch

This is the time of year for merry mingling.

Be sure to have your pitch practiced and ready.

Whether attending a friend’s get-together or an industry party, be prepared. You never know who you will meet.

Perhaps your friend’s cousin’s friend that you meet at a luncheon will become the person that lands you that coveted referral! Be prepared with examples of how you are very well prepared for this career change.

#2 Set Up Job Board and Google Alerts

This is a great month to set up automated job posting alerts. Sites like Indeed, LinkedIn, and Hired are rich with listings.

Although a job search strategy focused largely on applying online yields a poor return on investment for job seekers because they will never have as many industry- or role-related ATS-friendly keywords as the competition, job boards can give you a sense for which companies have funds for hiring.

Do the same with Google Alerts that can be targeted to specific employers as well as the job titles you want. Learn who is hiring for the job you want so you can be more focused with your networking efforts.

#3 Freshen Up your Resume, LinkedIn, & Other Social Media Accounts

For many, the month of December marks a workload slowdown. Use this time to get your resume and LinkedIn looking fresh and current in terms of content and formatting – ready for skim reading both in print and on screens of all sizes – and filled with accomplishment-rich statements or stories.

In addition to making sure you have completed as many sections of LinkedIn as possible to achieve what the platform refers to as “All-Star” status needed for an algorithm boost, I recommend spending some time shoring up your other social media accounts – because recruiters and hiring managers are likely to check.

Any public sites where you are visible should present you in a great light professionally – and be devoid of rants or pics that you would not feel comfortable sharing with your grandmother.

Getting your resume, LinkedIn profile and social media accounts ready to roll takes time – and usually does not happen overnight. From end-to-end, it may take a few weeks to even a month before your career documents and online persona are ready to be unveiled.

Should you choose to go the professional route to get assistance with crafting your career marketing collateral, you will likely discover that many writers have waiting lists that last at least a few weeks, and then take anywhere from 1 to 2 weeks to provide document drafts. So do not wait!

The Bottom Line:

The holidays present a unique window of time where you can choose to be active in your quest for career change or prepare to hit the ground running in January on your new job search. Whether you choose this time to hunt or prepare – you will be way ahead of those who opted to wait. Wouldn’t you rather be ahead of the game?

More about Successful Holiday Job Search and Career Change:

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Leverage LinkedIn Headlines and Profiles for Your Career Change

Virginia Franco — Tue, 11 May 2021 17:14:42 +0000

Career change is more complex now with online visibility required, particularly on the most important social network for professionals — LinkedIn.

Your resume and job applications must agree with your LinkedIn profile because most employers and recruiters compare the two.

So, when you are making that career change and applying for jobs that are a bit out of your current career path, your LinkedIn profile needs to show that you did not accidentally apply for the wrong job.

For example, if you are an accountant who has decided to go into IT (starting with the financial applications), your profile needs to show that, while you have a background in accounting, you are an IT professional.

Editing Your LinkedIn Profile and Headline by Section (Plus Examples)

A section by section review – starting from the top:

Headshot

With any luck your student ID pic or your past employment headshot will work. If not, your picture does not need to be fancy.

Just use your cell phone camera, and shoot in front of a plain background. Wear a nice top, smile, and make sure your face, neck and the tops of your shoulders are clearly seen!

Professional Headline

Your LinkedIn headline should include your career target. In many cases, the name of your major or concentration will align with this and can be used as well.

As an example, “Mary” had held roles as a Finance Project Manager, a UPS franchise owner, and an underwriter. She was Lean Six Sigma- and PMP-certified and was about to graduate with her MBA with a concentration in Change Management.

Her goal? A role as a change management consultant that leveraged her deep project and finance acumen. Here are 2 headline options for her:

Headline #1

Change Management Consultant with PMP, Six Sigma & FP&A Expertise | Organizational Development & Transformation

Headline #2

Change Management Consultant | Transformation through Project Management, Financial Controls & Organizational Development

About (formerly Summary)

Whether you’ve been employed for 20 years and looking to get promoted or aiming for a career pivot using your new degree, the goal of the About section is the same – to show the reader how you are ideally suited to the roles you are targeting and provide insight into what makes you unique.

Include these elements in your About:

Intro Paragraphs

Begin by telling readers what you can do with your new degree, and how your unique background makes you a great fit for these roles.

Follow this up in paragraph 2 with some of the new skills you’ve acquired as a result of new (and, in this case, old credentials).

Paragraph 3 is where you reiterate how your old experience ties with the new.

I help companies solve complex challenges, adopt new systems, and replace chaos with order using Agile frameworks. My background in technology and project management allows me to drive impactful change, build infrastructure from the ground up, and achieve goals without compromising the budget.

I bring to the table best practices in change management, issue/risk management, project management, and needs analysis methodologies — acquired during my Change Management graduate studies and as a PMP and Certified Scrum Master.

As a trusted advisor to C-Suite and Senior Leadership, I partner across startups and Fortune 500s alike to share data analytics-based insights and recommendations, and drive change initiatives both lean and large from concept to implementation.

Contact Info

I always include contact information in the Summary section. In addition, add an email and a phone number in the contact info section at the top of your profile. See How to Safely Publish Your Contact Information on LinkedIn for more details.

Skills

Create a skills section (a simple list of your relevant skills) using keywords identified in the qualification sections of job postings. Also add the titles of the most relevant course work.

Highlights

Lastly, I recommend pulling together 2 to 3 highlights from internships, paid employment, or even academic papers or case studies you have written – showing the reader your new degree together with your years of experience make you ready to hit the ground running.

Experience

If you’ve been able to hold internships during grad school, I recommend your experience section include this. Just as you would with any job entry, include a bit about what you did and any accomplishments for which you are proud.

In Mary’s case, she was fortunate to have a paid part-time internship while at school. Here’s what we wrote as the first entry on her LinkedIn, above her full-time employment role (she worked full-time and held an internship while also going to school – amazing!):

I supplemented tuition expenses during my MBA studies in this change-management advisory role – where I supported a Fortune 500 Energy provider client in implementing several finance change initiatives per the directives of its Corporate Controller.

Education

Unlike the minimal information you would include if your degree was years in the past, when you are poised to graduate, I recommend adding much more, including a few projects for which she earned “A”s and a list of her relevant coursework.

Here’s what we added:

SPECIAL PROJECTS

✎ Key participant in consumer brand overhaul project. Contributed to development of a change management strategy and implementation road map including needs assessment, requirements gathering, vendor research and selection.

✎ Designed change management strategy to improve internal satisfaction within XXX nonprofit organization, and to elevate its image within the community. As part of a team effort, I disseminated an anonymous change management questionnaire used for data analysis and to make recommendations to leadership.

CHANGE MANAGEMENT COURSEWORK

To add “interest” (like ✎, above) to any section of your profile and other LinkedIn contributions, check out the options shown in Eye Candy Adds ❃ Interest ❃ to Your LinkedIn Profile.

Volunteer Experience & Causes

Employers often view volunteer experience as equally valuable as paid work. If any of the projects you worked on in the education section, or highlights you listed in your summary section, were pro-bono, this is a great place to reiterate!

Skills & Endorsements

I recommend this section be a cut and paste of the skills outlined in your summary section. Be sure to pin the top 3 most closely aligned with your career target and start requesting others to endorse them!

Honors & Awards

If you earned a prize in or out of school, a scholarship, or won a contest, do not be shy. The more sections you complete the better!

Courses

Even though you’ve included your courses in the summary, education and skills section, it’s OK to list them again here. The more sections you complete, the greater your chances of reaching what LinkedIn refers to as “All-Star” status.

Recommendations

Ask managers or professors who have worked with you closely to write a recommendation. This gives extra credibility to your strengths and skills.

Harnessing the Power of LinkedIn & Your Alumni Network for Career Transition

With the help of career services, your professional and alumni network and a powerful LinkedIn profile that positions your graduate work to its fullest, you can successfully leverage your degree to make a successful career change.

Read LinkedIn Networking Power Tool: Education for more details on finding alumni, a great network even if you did not know them at school.

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How to Make a Career Change With No Relevant Experience

Virginia Franco — Tue, 11 May 2021 17:14:42 +0000

Even under the best of circumstances, a career change can be tough. And without any relevant or transferrable experience for your new job target, the situation poses an even greater challenge.

However, for those who like a challenge, consider this process an important learning opportunity. A bit of strategy, along with some sacrifice, is likely necessary to successfully change careers.

7 Ways to Launch a Big Career Change

Yes, it can be done! These are some proven ways to make a big career leap your new reality.

1. Do Your Homework

The adage “knowledge is power” is especially true when it comes to making a massive career move.

Learn anything and everything you can about your targeted role and/or industry, from educational requirements to the hiring market, must-have skills, and salary norms.

Search LinkedIn (its database is massive) for people who hold the roles that fascinate you, and try and reach out to those who succeeded in changing careers. You can request an informational interview to learn more about their experience.

While much research can take place online, there’s no better way to get the real scoop than finding people who hold the roles you covet.

2. Return to the Starting Block

Often, 180-degree career changes without any relatable experience can be achieved by making a compelling case and convincing the right person or persons that you are worth the hiring risk. In my experience, however, regardless of your current career stature or years of experience, many simply won’t risk bringing you in at a lateral level.

Consider, instead, entering your targeted role a few rungs down the ladder from where you currently stand. While this likely means a pay cut, the good news is your experience will go a long way toward climbing back up the ranks more quickly than a newbie without an achievement-rich career history.

3. Return to School

Whether for a new degree, a new certification, or coursework in your targeted area, there’s no better way to demonstrate your interest and commitment to the field you are targeting than by learning from the experts.

While no doubt the most expensive of the educational options, many graduate programs provide students with case studies, group projects, and unpaid internships where you can begin to build some experience of value for your prospective employer.

While education alone will never be a full substitute for hands-on experience, it can go a long way toward closing the gap.

4. Volunteer

In addition to allowing you to test the waters with little lost other than your time, volunteering or pro bono work is, in my view, hands down the best way to get some experience that a future employer will find both relevant and valuable. Plus, an employer is much more likely to give you a shot if the cost to them is zero!

Considering a career in graphic design? Offer your services to a nonprofit to help them redesign their website, social media pages, or marketing collateral.

Does a career in financial planning and analysis (FP&A) seem interesting? Offer to help a startup or small business review their finances and expenses to help them identify ways to cut costs.

If you offer to help for free to start, it is unlikely that people will turn you down.

Full disclosure: the FP&A example is a true story. I was recently approached by a friend looking to make a pivot. By analyzing my business expenses, she will hopefully help me save some money in exchange for providing her with some relevant experience. A win-win!

5. Get Creative When It Comes to Your Job Hunt

Applying online for a role when you are a natural fit yields a low ROI. In fact, according to Bob McIntosh, author of the Things Career Related blog, job board success rates range anywhere from 2% to 10%.

When you haven’t been in your targeted industry, or if you haven’t held a role that aligns with your current career aspirations, your resume will fare much worse. This is because applicant tracking system (ATS) software is in play on job boards.

Programmed to look for specific keywords, in the world of online applications, the resume with the most keywords wins. The bottom line? A career-changer resume will never have as many keywords as someone with relevant experience.

To succeed with a massive career change, you will need to rely heavily on your network—family, friends, colleagues, etc.—and convince them to be your ambassadors or cheerleaders. With people in your corner vouching for you or providing personal recommendations, your resume is likely to go much further than it would have otherwise. In fact, over 40% of job opportunities are filled through an employer’s employee referral programs (ERPs).

With a good recommendation from a current employee and the feel of a good fit with the employer’s culture, employers will even overlook lack of experience or qualifications if they like the referred employee.

6. Prepare Your Career Marketing Collateral

When making the move to a new career, your cover letter needs to explain your desire to change and how the leap to the new career is logical for you.

Your resume must contain a summary that showcases what efforts you have made to close the experience gap (i.e., volunteer work, education).

Lastly, your LinkedIn summary should acknowledge that your path has been nonlinear or nonconventional and make a powerful case for how your passion for this new role is worth the risk to others.

In other words, tell your story and make it compelling.

7. Practice Patience

Unlike micro-pivots, big career moves take time. With motivation and commitment, along with sacrifice and a series of small and incremental steps, career change is possible.

The Bottom Line on How to Make a Career Change With No Experience

A major career change may not be easy to accomplish, but consider the consequences of continuing in your current career.

About the author…

Career Change Expert Virginia Franco is a four times-Certified Executive Resume Writer, LinkedIn Writer, Coach, and Career Storyteller. Her experience in corporate communications, journalism, and social work offered her a unique understanding of how people read, communicate, and share information. Connect with Virginia via her website VirginiaFrancoResumes.com, on LinkedIn, and on Twitter at @VAFrancoResumes.
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How to Use Your New Degree to Make a Career Change

Virginia Franco — Tue, 11 May 2021 17:14:42 +0000

It’s never too late to get a jump start on a new career.

Many enter graduate programs after years in the workforce with the goal of using a master’s degree to close a skills or knowledge gap.

Once the coursework is almost complete and graduation is on the horizon, many have a dream job in mind, but…

Many new/pending graduates struggle with the next step –- how to position themselves, and their new degree, on a resume.

The New Resume

While the components of a resume remain the same whether your degree is old or new, additional language must be included and the order of how each section appears should be slightly different.

Let’s start from the top.

Headline & Branding Paragraph

When it comes to the headline that appears at the top of a resume, a new student’s headline should include their career target. If the role contains a few sub-categories or industry options, be sure to list those as well.

When it comes to the summary or branding paragraph that follows the headline, I recommend calling out the newly-earned degree so that it is front and center. Here are two examples:

EXAMPLE #1

In this example, the client had been a construction project manager for years and leveraged his pending MBA to target a Big Four management consulting role.

We listed the types of consulting for which he was well-suited based on his work and school experience, as well as the industries where he’d managed construction projects.

The two-line paragraph at the bottom immediately tells the reader that this person brings to the table both MBA learnings as well as ten years of career expertise.

EXAMPLE #2

The client in example #2 worked for years before enrolling in school to earn both an undergraduate and graduate degree back-to-back.

He employed his newly-completed education to land quickly as a product manager in the travel industry – a role that truly blended his leadership expertise, tech and travel industry experience, and MBA classroom acumen.

Although longer than example #1, both call attention to earning the degree and speak to how combined employment and education experience make each candidate well suited for their targeted roles.

Education, Coursework and Projects

When using a new degree to jumps tart career change, I recommend placing the Education section above the Experience section rather than below it – so that it is the first thing the reader sees after skimming the headline and summary.

Unlike the minimal information you would include if your degree was years in the past (just the degree, major and institution), when targeting a new role upon completing school, you should also include GPA, projects and coursework.

GPA

When it comes to GPA, include only if either the overall or the specialty study is above a 3.5 on a 4.0 scale.

COURSEWORK

Be sure to include coursework relevant to the job target. More often than not, course titles align with keywords found in job postings of interest and will improve the resume’s chances of doing well when read by Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS).

PROJECTS

When previous work experience doesn’t align with the career target, it’s critical to call out work completed while in school. This can and should include everything from group projects to papers, competitions to pro bono work to case studies. See the two examples below – which include all of the above.

EXAMPLE #1

EXAMPLE #2

Don’t Forget to Tap into Your School’s Career Services Department

Most colleges and universities offer career services support to assist students with career fairs, interview prep, resume and cover letter writing assistance, and more. Equally important, career centers can help you tap into what for many institutions is a robust alumni network.

With the help of career services, your professional and alumni network, and career marketing documents that position your graduate work to its fullest, you can successfully leverage your degree to make a successful career change.

More About New Graduates and Successful Career Change

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Career Change Success Stories – How 3 Job Seekers Made Successful Career Pivots

Virginia Franco — Tue, 11 May 2021 17:14:42 +0000

As a career storyteller and executive resume writer, my favorite part of the job is hearing aboutthe fascinating journeys of others.

In this article, I present three job seekers from three different industries, and yet all have one thing in common.

Three Job Seekers Wanting Career Change

Each of these 3 job seekers wanted to make significant changes to their careers.

After working together to create career marketing collateral that included up-to-date resumes and LinkedIn profiles, I got the opportunity to interview each of them to discuss their path to success.

They were in different phases of their careers and had very different career goals. Read how each succeeded in achieving their goal.

Their Starting Points

Sarah

Sarah wanted to leap from an east coast Fortune 500 bank where she had worked for 14 years in sales and product development to the West Coast to work in training, which had been a sliver of her past roles but a part she truly loved.
Laura

Laura had worked her way up the corporate ladder for a financial services firm from administrative assistant to a communications VP and spent ten years as an entrepreneur before establishing a successful executive coaching practice.

After 16 years as a business owner, she was eager to return in some capacity to Corporate America.
Drew

Drew’s career path included moves from California to Illinois to Wisconsin working as an airline flight attendant, a telecom account exec, and an IT support professional with a Midwest university. He wanted to leverage his newly-earned MBA to make the leap into marketing and product management in the travel industry.

Although each wound up at a different destination, many of the steps they took on the journey were remarkably similar.

Making a Job Search Plan

Sarah and Laura each forged a plan before diving into the job search waters. Drew did not, at first – causing him to regroup and redirect.

Sarah

For Sarah, creating a plan required a good bit of research and reading – beginning with LinkedIn.

“LinkedIn is an amazing source for learning about people and companies,” she says. “It is sort of a rabbit hole – but I recommend people go down rabbit holes!”

She attributes this approach to her ability to speak intelligently about topics that arose during interviews.
Laura

Laura’s journey began by getting her ducks in a row. She went to the web – going to online job portals to get a sense for what companies seemed to have hiring budgets.

From there she focused on who she knew and who she wanted to get to know. She wound up re-connecting with a group she’d lost touch with years ago, who still held regular monthly meetings.

To her surprise, she recalls lighting up listening to the guest speaker at the meeting. They wound up having coffee, and this led to introductions to others. This happened on many occasions.
Drew

Drew began his job search by diving into job boards. “I figured the more I applied to, the better my chances,” he recalls. “The trouble was, I didn’t hear anything back.”

The Day In/Day Out Job Hunt Routine

While Sarah and Drew were looking to move geographically, Laura wanted to stay put. As a result, while all three had similarities in their job search routines, there were some slight differences.

Sarah

Sarah had a super busy day job and a family to take care of when she got home each day. Making the most of limited time, she took advantage of 5 minutes here and there to do research and take notes on her mobile device.

Then, when she had more time, she’d review her notes and delve deeper, reaching out by phone, email, or LinkedIn’s InMail. “I often spent an hour each day job hunting,” Sarah recalls, “but it was often in 5-minute chunks.”
Laura

Looking to stay local, Laura focused on having face-to-face conversations with anyone willing to listen.

These led to other conversations which in turn led to new and sometimes unexpected opportunities.

She found herself eating breakfast with a friend that at the beginning didn’t seem to be in a position to advance her job search much. To Laura’s surprise, however, it turned out through chatting that she knew of someone who knew someone that led to the company where she now works!
Drew

After his online job search fail, he began to leverage LinkedIn to its fullest. “I got in the habit of sharing and commenting on things I found interesting every morning, and then repeated the process at the end of the day,” he notes. “I basically committed to being on LinkedIn daily.”

He overcame his normal reluctance and began asking people in his targeted industry for advice. “Sometimes they didn’t respond,” he recalls, “but sometimes they did!”

This led to discussions that ultimately led to an interview and a job offer. “I learned how important it is to keep communication channels going.”

Overcoming Interviewing Hurdles

Sarah

Sarah’s biggest hurdle was convincing career change skeptics afraid to take a risk on someone without specific experience. She tackled this by carefully reviewing job descriptions and tweaking her resume here and there to align closely with the listed qualifications and requirements.

A great part about this process, she recalls, is that it required her to really think through her career story to creatively show how her experience, albeit in a different role and industry, was well aligned to the targeted role.

In addition to creating a targeted resume, this exercise gave her plenty of examples to share during interviews!
Drew

Drew found that job boards offered great insight into skills that may be lacking. While some missing qualifications were insurmountable, others could be tackled through training. “I enrolled in some online classes to close my skills gap,” he says.

Parting Words of Wisdom for Other Job Seekers/Career Changers

Sarah, Laura and Drew all made successful career pivots but also walked away with some lessons learned. They were more than happy to share these learnings with other job seekers and career changers.

Sarah

“The grass is not always greener,” Sarah warns. While she urges career changers to be passionate about their aspirations, it is important to conduct research and remain realistic about the pros and cons.
Laura

Laura recommends job seekers keep an eye on how they feel after each encounter during the job search journey – and let these feelings guide whether they proceed forward or go in another direction. “It may sound a bit woo-woo,” she says, “but I found that this led to several serendipitous encounters.”
Drew

“I remember a conference speaker once said that if you wind up in an industry you are passionate about, it won’t feel like work,” he recalls. “I totally agree with that.”

The Bottom Line

While Sarah, Laura and Drew had different career aspirations, their career pivot success can be attributed to a similar multifaceted approach. Each created a job search plan, a framework for structuring their job search routine, and a strategy to overcome obstacles that crossed their path!

More About Successful Career Change

About the author…

The post Career Change Success Stories – How 3 Job Seekers Made Successful Career Pivots appeared first on Job-Hunt.

Virginia Franco, Author at Job-Hunt

Successful Cover Letters for Career Change

5 Steps to Career Change Cover Letter Success

1. Lead with the Transferrable

2. Call Out the Elephant in the Room

3. Wow Your Reader with Compelling Achievements

4. Share Your Origin Story – as it Applies to the Organization You are Targeting

5. Express Your Passion for This Employer

The Potential Tipping Point

The Bottom Line

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Busted: Job Search Myths Hurting Your Career Change

Myth #1: Job Hopping Will Hurt Your Career

Myth #2: If I Have a Strong Resume, I Can Make a Career Change by Applying Online

Myth #3: When Making a Career Change, I Can Change My Resume But Leave LinkedIn Untouched

The Bottom Line

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Launch Your Career Change to Manager with the Right Resume

Creating Your Manager Resume

HEADLINE

SUMMARY

POSITION TITLES

EXPERIENCE

The Bottom Line

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7 Smart Steps to Successful COVID-19 Pandemic Career Change

7 Steps to Post-Pandemic Crisis Careers

#1 Brainstorm & Self Inventory

#2 Inquiry & Exploration

#3 Evaluation of Finances & Deal Breakers

#4 Newly Targeted Career Marketing Collateral

#5 Networking & Learning

#6 Closing the Gap & Learning the Lingo

#7 Testing & Launching

Challenging but Not Insurmountable

The Bottom Line:

More About Coronavirus Job Search:

More About Successful Career Change:

How to Choose Your Next Job: 6 Considerations

Important Career Match Considerations

1. The Skills Required

2. The Total Compensation

3. Management Leadership Style

4. Security & Room for Growth

5. Location/Commute

6. Company Culture & Values

The Bottom Line on Making Your Next Career Move

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‘Tis the Season for Career Change

Why December is a Great Time for Your Career Change

#1 Thinned Out Competition

#2 Use it Or Lose It Budgets

#3 Ideal Time for “Under the Radar” Activities

Tips for Capitalizing on the Holidays for Your Career Change

#1 Finesse Your Pitch

#2 Set Up Job Board and Google Alerts

#3 Freshen Up your Resume, LinkedIn, & Other Social Media Accounts

The Bottom Line:

More about Successful Holiday Job Search and Career Change:

Leverage LinkedIn Headlines and Profiles for Your Career Change

Editing Your LinkedIn Profile and Headline by Section (Plus Examples)

Headshot

Professional Headline

About (formerly Summary)

Intro Paragraphs

Contact Info

Skills

Highlights

Experience

Education

Volunteer Experience & Causes

Skills & Endorsements

Honors & Awards

Courses

Recommendations

Harnessing the Power of LinkedIn & Your Alumni Network for Career Transition

More About LinkedIn:

More About Successful Career Change:

How to Make a Career Change With No Relevant Experience

7 Ways to Launch a Big Career Change

**Why December is a Great Time for Your Career Change**