Marketing Your Skills for a Job Outside Your Traditional Career Path

Marketing Your Skills for a Job Outside Your Traditional Career Path When you started college, you probably had a specific career path in mind, and perhaps youve followed your plans to the letter.However, in todays fluidbusiness environment, many job seekers are discovering their career skills are transferable to settings they never envisioned. Making such a major careerpivot can be both challenging and exciting, and if you understand how to market yourself for the job you want, youll increase your odds ofsuccessfully traveling a nontraditional career path.Embracing Unexpected RolesAs an example of aprofession experiencing this schriftart of role expansion, lets look at social work. There is a growing market for nontraditional or corporate social workersbecause the professional skill sets of social workers can be assets to most businesses.For example, when Pan American Bankdecided to create a financial literacy program for children and adults in the c ommunity, the organization recruited two social work interns to lead the way. After the interns graduated from school, they joined the bank as part-time community outreach coordinators.If youre interested in finding a nontraditional job for your profession, using the right search terms can help. For example,a recent postfrom the USC Suzanne Dworak-Peck online Doctor of Social Work (DSW) program offers some search terms social workers might consider usingwhen hunting for nontraditional career opportunities- Corporate social worker- Corporate social responsibility- Cmployee assistance programUsing such targeted search terms,a social worker could find jobs like- Employee assistance program regional manager with United Airlines- Community outreach and corporate philanthropy manager with Twitter- Equal employment and alternative dispute resolution manager with the US Treasury Department. Learning to Sell Your SkillsYou may find the thought of stepping into unfamiliar professional territo ry quite intimidating, especially if youre competing with others who have mora experience or education in the field. This is why its important to identify the skills you have that employers need and learn how to sell them.For example,USCs DSW program recommends that social workers who want to work in the business world emphasize the following skillsCollaboration the patience and vision to bring people together with opposing viewpoints, build connections, resolve conflict, and foster healthy relationships.Community Organizing the ability to find commonalities around goals and identify paths to achieve those goals among groups of people.Facilitation the skill to improve engagement among project stakeholders and enhance each employees connection to the overall mission and goals of the organization. Marketing Yourself for the Job You Want For any new graduate, knowing how to market yourself for the job you want is key. A few critical components of your self-marketing includeInternship E xperience While the setting of your internship is important, being able to articulate how an employer could benefit from your internship experiences and accomplishments is even more valuable.Cover Letters and Resumes Make sure these essential documents are up to date and emphasize the experience and skills mostrelevantto the job for which youre applying.Networking Take advantage of every opportunity to make connections with professors, professionals, classmates, and coworkers in your field, since they may be great resources for future employment.Informational Interviews Ask potential employers for informational interviews with people in the organization to expand your network and explore whether the job will be a good fit.Making a career change within your field or outside it can be exciting and productive. By understanding what a potential employer needs,how your unique skill set fits the bill, and how to market yourself, you may be able to embrace career opportunities you never th ought possible.Colleen ODay is a digital PR manager for 2U Inc. Find her on TwitterColleenMODay.