Article summary:
To shift careers or change them altogether, focus on what's common to your current (or most recent) career area AND your target career area. You must build "bridges" between the two on several points, not just skills. There is bias in many fields that says: unless you have experience in OUR field, we still won't look at you. Networking will help you get around this. You will need time to make such a shift, so be sure your finances can support you throughout the process.

Now, the full article:

There's a lot of talk about having "transferable skills", and this gives job hunters hope that they can transfer their way out of a dead-end position or a career that didn't deliver on its promise.

And who wants to start over? Very few people; they usually say "I wish there were a way I could use what I already know, and not start out at the bottom, in another field".

Before we say more: Remember, a job or career is not comprised solely of skills. And more importantly, YOU are not just a walking bundle of skills -- you have values, interests, and a personality. These all come into play in any job search, but especially one where you want to make a career shift.

To see if making a switch is realistic for you, it takes a bit of homework, and it helps to have an impartial sounding board, such as a friend or fellow job hunter.

1. First, analyze your current job and field for the skills you use AND what values, interests, and personality aspects that match it well.

2. Use referral meetings (informational interviews) to learn more about your target field: its values, the language, the culture of the organizations there, typical job requirements. Will this be a sideways hop for you, or an enormous leap? These meetings also expand your circle of contacts in your new arena. They will be able to give you a realistic idea of your possibilities. Those in the exact job you want are your most valuable sources of such vital information. Listen to them.

3. Subscribe to online newsletters and read articles about organizations and issues in this new field, so that you learn more about it and so that the topics don't surprise you when you're interviewing.

4. If there's a potential fit, change all your "marketing materials" (resume, 60-second commercial, networking statements, tagline) so that it fits the new area. In your resume, be sure to focus on the "top level" of both fields, to draw similarities. For example, a successful client who'd owned several restaurants over 15+ years wanted to leave that field. Mark had done Operations, Sales, and Marketing. He knew he wanted to be in a technology company. In Mark's resume, we emphasized his knowledge of decision makers in the dining field, and his comfort level talking with them, since he already was one. He networked his way into a software company that was building software for restaurant reviewers online. The software company wanted that expertise, so they hired him, and he's been very successful.

Please know that this current job market is not friendly to career changers or those who believe they can do a "skills transfer". Recruiters and others are telling us that companies are being very picky because they can afford to be, given the numbers of available good, already-experienced-in-the-field candidates. So if you're employed, start laying the groundwork now for making a change. If you're between jobs, volunteer and do what you can in your target field, so that you build your credibility and experience there. Either way, a change will take time so be sure your finances can support you during the transition.

Making a change now won't be easy but if you are determined AND IF you successfully tie what you do now with what you want to do next, transferring your skills -- and all of what you have to offer -- is indeed possible.