5 Concrete Steps to Successfully Make A Career Switch

My favourite is the step 3. It’s interesting that people think to achieve something you’ll get there right away, but step 3 is all about making baby steps towards it, which what most people don’t realise as they normally only see the successful outcome, and not the process towards achieving it.

I’ve been doing 3 and 4 for about 2 years now and can just never seem to get any traction at all. This is going to come across really negatively but I am just so fed up of this crap! I feel like I have been judged and that the gods have decided ‘This guy is a moron, keep him away from anything important, and most importantly, do not reply to his applications!’. I don’t really know what to do as my current temporary contract is due to run out in the summer and as it stands I will be unemployed then as I currently have no leads at all.

@Sophie Thanks. I hope so too 🙂

I do know what the ideal profile they are looking for is. However it consists of relevant degree + relevant internships. I do not see any way I can achieve this as I am working full time unless I took the extreme step of going back to uni, from the large amount of Linkedin profiles I have seen it is also possible to take the longer route of gradually more relevant jobs at the right place. However the initial first step is proving very difficult as I cannot seem to get taken seriously by any of the investment firms as even I realize and readily admit that there must be better candidates on paper than me so my CV usually goes in the No/maybe pile. I am hoping against hope that having the CFA level 1 may change things slightly in my favour, whether I get it in June/December. I would be really interested in doing the CISI exams but I do not think I could cope with those at the same time as CFA. Though I may consider it if I fail in June as I will have less ground to cover for December and therefore proportionally more time. Nevertheless I am determined to keep trying however long it takes as.

I’m currently looking, and it’s a massive difficulty trying to hold both fronts (work and interviewing) at once. Point 4 helps – thanks!

@james010 – what feedback are you getting back (if any), and do you know what the ideal profile they are looking for, and whether the steps you’re taking are moving towards narrowing that gap?

@james010, sounds like you know what you need to do and are giving it a shot in moving towards that direction.

Thanks @Ajfinance, glad you decided to make a move and go forward with things. I hope you will find something relevant soon (or at least nearer to a fixed income role) to transition to the end goal!

I’ve been trying to get into a better profile for the past couple of years alongwith pursuing CFA. But I usually bump into “Relevant Experience” when I land an interview, or I tend to not get called for interview. One of the main reasons was because I was into operations profile, and it was difficult to impress upon the recruiters that I can transition smoothly into a different profile. @james010 I can imagine what you’re going through, having been in an operations role myself.

I left my job a few months back (Due to lack of any value addition, growth and horrible work timings). I do know that there might be certain job profiles/career path where I might like to be. But for the time being, I think its fine to take up any “decent” financial profile that I can find 🙂

@Sophie Excellent Blog post. It points out all the important things you need not only for job search, but also surviving the job search 🙂