Career Growth: How You Can Change Industries

It turns out that being a trial lawyer and working in content marketing have a lot in common. I know because I do both. They share being focused on stories, telling them in compelling ways that connect with people and doing it in ways that listeners can understand and relate to. Both involve writing, creativity, connecting dots, and knowing what's important and what's not. And they are each about encouraging others to act or decide in ways that help your client.

I came from litigation to marketing because I was concerned about how technology was changing work and affecting people. I love tech and want to help people use it effectively and in ways that solve problems rather than create them. I started writing white papers on employment law topics. I also was the editor of a couple blogs related to HR Technology.

This was never really a plan for career growth. I just knew that I wanted to write more and fight less. I wanted to see and prevent problems before they happened rather than clean up the mess after it all came apart.

Career growth is rarely linear

If you are thinking about career growth and changing industries, it may not be as hard as you think. But it will require some creative thinking, research, and actually talking to people to find out what it's like to do what they do.

Creative thinking: What would you do if you won the lottery? What would you do if you had started earlier? What would you do if you weren't afraid? What would you do if you didn't have a kind of difficult relationship with happiness and believe that suffering is proof you are working hard and worthy?

People ask these questions a lot, except maybe that last one. But I know I'm not the only one. We rarely stop the busyness to imagine a different life. Mostly, we imagine the bills paid and a nice vacation, then go back to what we were doing.

This time sit down and really consider it. Where would you be? What would it look like? Who would you spend time with? What would your days be like?

Then figure out how to get a tiny part of that now. If you would be writing or painting, start doing it just for fun. If you would be traveling, figure out something within a couple hours that you haven't seen before and go. You don't have to wait or be ready for career growth and to start something you want to do. Just start doing it and see what happens.

Research: Content marketing was not on the list of things I imagined doing, but writing always has been. So, start with the skills you enjoy using and research what jobs also use those skills. Just search: what jobs use (insert skill here)? You will get a bunch of titles and can research what it's like to be a (insert title here). Try it a few different ways, then see what lights you up. Make a list.

Then figure out where people do that and what companies have a lot of them. You can search job boards for organizations then look to see where those organizations are located. Maybe it's close or remote. Maybe a move would be interesting.

The point is, don't limit yourself until you're pretty comfortable with what you want to try next. The other point is, don't go down a research rabbit hole so far that you just play with ideas, try them on, but never do anything about making a change. In the interest of career growth, it's okay to want something different and to try something new.

Talk to People: This is what the consultants call networking, which is just a fancy word for having conversations with people you don't know very well to explore what it's like to do something else. The great part is that it involves you asking questions and listening and other people talking about themself. People usually love to talk about themself. So, everybody wins.

Figure out who you know that is working or has worked in the area (type of work, location, organization) you are interested in and ask if they would tell you about it. Most people are happy to spend 30 minutes helping someone with career questions.

Ask them who else they think you should talk to and ask for an introduction if they feel comfortable. Lather, rinse, repeat.

At the end of this process, you should have a good sense of what sounds good and what doesn't, and where you need to focus in changing industries.

Read on for more ways to make your job search a success: Job Search: What’s Your Industry?