Changing Gears: Finding Dream Jobs in the Downturn

If only life were as simple as an episode of Friends. Whenever one of the show's characters wanted to change jobs, the right answer just seemed to magically appear. Like when Chandler quits his boring job doing statistical analysis for a new career in advertising: his magic career-change bullet was a full-time, unpaid internship—a great move for students and TV characters, but not so much for adults who live in the real world, with real obligations.

But the fact that you have bills to pay shouldn't keep you forever stuck in a job you despise. There are ways to instigate a career change that don't involve foregoing a salary or taking on more debt by pursuing an advanced degree. According to Penelope Trunk, founder of Brazen Careerist, a web career service, changing jobs is easy—if you're ready to work hard and make some difficult choices. Trunk has transitioned careers several times, and she says each time it’s taken some degree of self-sacrifice.

"It hasn't been magic," Trunk explains. "It's been me doing two careers at once every single time. It always entailed working long hours, and it always entailed giving something up. I went probably 10 years without ever taking a vacation anywhere. If you want to have a cool job all the time, you have to pick stuff you're going to give up in order to get it."

Once you've steeled yourself to take the plunge, there's just that little matter of convincing an employer in your chosen field that you've got what it takes. Here are some tips for getting started:

Picture the Results

Whether you're a stay-at-home mom who's looking to reenter the workforce all together or you're just sick of your current job, the first step toward changing careers is figuring out what you need to do to get there. Trunk suggests actually trying your new career on for size by finding the resume of someone who has the type of job you want—usually online—and using it to shape your own resume. "Take those bullet points and put them on your resume, and say 'OK, what do I need to do to make that true for me," she says. "The resume is just the ticket to get into an interview, so you want the ticket to look right."

Think Parallel

This is where that self-sacrifice stuff comes in. Chances are, you'll need to do some work to bolster your resume and create those desired bullet points. The best way to do this new "work" and still have some income to live off of, is to do it all simultaneously with your current job. Yes, this basically means working two jobs at once, and you may have to give up your social life, but at least you won't have to starve as you move closer to your goal. Elizabeth Lasher, a career counselor in Pennsylvania State University's Department of Continuing Education, calls this approach "parallel planning." "Adults nowadays are afraid to take the risk to try other things," Lasher explains. "By keeping one foot in what you're doing—it's really just a smarter way to go about it."

Make Your Own Experience

If "Experience" section on your resume is a little light on what you need to impress a potential employer, make a project for yourself and create a new entry that way. "People have this mistaken idea that they need to get paid in order to count the experience on their resume," Trunk says, "but that's not a prerequisite at all. When you're interviewing for a job, they just want to know what you did and what you accomplished and where you did it." Since resumes usually emphasize the places and companies where you got your experience, Trunk adds, the best way to go about this is to volunteer your services to particular company or organization. "Say 'I'll do a marketing project for you' or 'I'll do a C++ project for you for free,' and do it and put it on your resume. Try to make it as short as possible 'cause you're doing it for free," she advises.

Stay on Course

While going back to school for an additional degree or even a certificate isn't necessary to change degrees, Lasher says that sometimes taking on professional development opportunities, like stand-alone courses, can give job seekers a bit of an extra edge. So for example, if you're goal is to land a job that's a supervisory role, a management course may be beneficial. Or, if your computer skills need beefing up, a Microsoft course may help. "Our philosophy here is anything you can do to try to keep current or gain additional skills is going to be looked upon favorably by an employer," Lasher says. "We kind of have a saying here: 'What have you done for me lately?' We joke about that, but it's true."

Revamp you Resume

Collecting new, job-specific bullet points can definitely make your resume stand out to employers in your prospective field. But many experts also recommend revising your resume to highlight the skills you already have that could apply to your new job—your transferable skills. Joe Rosenlicht, a career coach in Washington, D.C., has his career-changing clients include a "functional" section on their resumes that lists any such transferable skills—like sales, marketing, public relations, and customer service. "I tell my clients to find something that will serve as a general category, and then look through your resume to find specific points of experience that you can put under those headings," he says.

But essentially, Lasher says, creating a resume is an individual experience, and every situation is different. "If there's something out there you really want, you need to take the time to tailor your resume."

Story: Copyright 2009, Shoestring LLC. Image: iStock.