When people use that line with me, I say: you could be a nurse, an engineer, a bank teller, a rocket scientist, a street sweeper, or a professional clown? Of course not.
When you tell people "anything," you are showing how desperate and unfocused you are, and you are giving them no hints in how they may be able to help you - a person or an employer they might know who needs someone with your skills. So you are making your job search more difficult than it needs to be.
What's Next?
Perhaps total reinvention is in order? Or, perhaps only a slight change of industry or focus?
Some options:
- The same job, but for a different company in the same industry
- The same job, but for a company in a different industry
- A similar job in the same industry
- A similar job in a different industry
- Or could you apply your best skills to an entirely fresh field?
For example, book editors can jump from one publisher to another. They can shift to a position editing a magazine or blog, or take their skills in a new direction, such as speech writing for a corporation or grant writing for a nonprofit. Maybe teach English at a community college.
What Do You Enjoy Doing?
I met a man who spent 30 years as a copywriter in advertising, working at just two agencies. This was the only industry he knew until he was laid off. Unemployed for six months, he realized another full- time position in his field was highly unlikely.
When we talked about the specific tasks he liked best, without hesitation he said he thrived on writing client pitches to land new business, which was just one of his many roles.
That’s just what a local nonprofit organization needed: someone to head its fund-raising communications efforts, which included grant writing and solicitations of donations from high–net worth individuals. Same skill set, totally different industry.
Bottom Line
Ask yourself if you’re willing to put your skills to use in another industry. Would you be able to do marketing for a wine company after having worked in the marketing department of a children’s software manufacturer? Your answer might very well be: quite possibly.
© Copyright, 2010, Tory Johnson. All rights reserved. Used with permission.
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About This Author:
Tory Johnson is the CEO of Women For Hire and the author of Fired to Hired. She’s also the workplace contributor on ABC’s Good Morning America. Talk to her directly at Twitter.com/ToryJohnson.
