How do I change careers without a drop in salary?

Q: Like a lot of people, recently I was laid off. How do I go about repackaging my skills and re-marketing myself to a different industry and business? I would hate to start at the salary of an entry-level position.

NICK'S REPLY: IYou need to accept that you might have to take a salary cut to make a career change. It all depends on how effectively you can demonstrate your value to a new employer. Here's how I'd go about it.

Make a list of your key skills and abilities, technologies you're good at, and so on. Then pick the business you want to work in. Map out the work, including the problems and challenges the business faces. Then pick the position you'd want. Define the work even more carefully at this level.

Now for the fun part. Map your abilities to the work. Get as specific as you can. This is where you will also discover there are other, broader skills you have that will apply. For example, solving schedule problems, or being good at listening to what clients really want and being able to translate that into added profit for the company. Or being good at organizing ideas and presenting them in written form. Those are all transferable skills.

Once you've laid that out, the real challenge is to prepare a presentation that will demonstrate to the employer that hiring you will be a profitable decision. You need to explain it, because the employer won't take the time to figure it out. The challenge (and the work) is yours. This isn't easy at all, but it's the only way I know to pursue a career change effectively.

Too often, people fall into new careers for the wrong reasons. The only correct approach is to select your next job and prepare for it before you ever talk to the employer.

You said, "I would hate to start at the salary of an entry-level position." You may have to. But make your choice based on how quickly you can come back up to par, not on what your initial salary will be.

THE HEADHUNTER TIP:

Don't hire people because you like them.

If you're a manager, smart candidates will go out of their way to make you like them in an interview. Will you let your affinity for a person dominate your hiring decision? Even smart managers overlook deficiencies in ability when a candidate is likable.

A seasoned executive who read one of my articles during a flight called me from an airport. "I spend most of my time flying around the world hiring people for my telecommunications company. You just made me realize something that's so obvious: We hire people because we like them. What a huge mistake! The only reason to hire someone is because he proves he can do the work!"

This simple view of hiring can have a profound effect on your business. Don't hire people just because you like them; hire them because they prove they can do the job.

Copyright 2008. Distributed by Universal Press Syndicate

Nick Corcodilos is author of "Ask The Headhunter: Reinventing the Interview to Win the Job" and the host of www.asktheheadhunter.com. He can be reached by e-mail at seattle@asktheheadhunter.com or at North Bridge Group, P.O. Box 600, Lebanon, NJ 08833. Sorry, no personal replies.