Author: Lavie Margolin, Career Coach
Many job seekers are faced with a difficult market in their field of interest and have had to begin looking for other options in order to pay the bills. For example, a person with a college degree (or even post graduate education), may work in a retail environment or in an office job that does not take full advantage of their education and skills.
Key your eyes on the prize. If you remain interested in returning to your profession when the opportunity arises, you have to stay on top of the market and be poised to seize it. Before and after your workday, send out resumes in the evenings and use vacation time, off days and personal hours to keep interviewing. Try to find a transitional job where the hours and work will leave you with enough time and energy to look for the ideal position. Gain additional skills: If five percent of the work in your transitional job is applicable to your field of interest, emphasize that area on your resume when explaining the work you are currently doing.
Sometimes we are so focused on what we want to do in the future or getting back to what we have done in the past, we can miss an opportunity in front of us. By working hard and making the right impression, you never know who you will meet that works in your company or what customers may be able to help you further down the road. I have a friend that was working in a retail store but was interested in returning to the world of advertising sales. He was professional while in the store and paid attention to the needs of customers. A couple of months into it, a regular customer asked him about his background. The customer happened to work in this industry and sent his resume to a company executive. The person was hired shortly thereafter and worked for many years at the advertising firm.
About the Author: Lavie Margolin is a New York-based Career Coach and the author of Lion Cub Job Search: Practical Job Search Assistance for Practical Job Seekers. To learn more, go to Lavie’s website, Lion Cub Job Search:www.Lioncubjobsearch.com