What do you want to do?
You first need to work out what suits you and your career values and objectives. Start with a list.
CarlyJ advises "What do you enjoy doing in your current job? What about in your spare time? What are you good at? What do friends/colleagues think that you're good at? What job would you like to try if money wasn't a question?"
Being clear about why you're changing career means you can address any doubts potential employers may have about your motives.
Understand your skills
Match your skills to jobs that meet your career requirements. In a tight job market employers have their pick of candidates, so aim to compensate for lack of experience with impressive, relevant skills. Certain core skills - communication, critical thinking, project management, leadership / management, technological and interpersonal skills - are applicable to different jobs and sectors.
Research the industry and roles
Learn everything you can about your new industry. Who are the key players? What opportunities, problems, new trends or developments are current in the industry? Get information from company websites, the trade press and associations, press releases and LinkedIn. Contact people in the industry to get the inside scoop and to expand your network.
Before applying for a job, examine job descriptions and build a profile of the ideal candidate. Are you missing any key elements from this, such as qualifications, training or skills?
Focus your CV
Your industry research is vital here. Demonstrate how your blend of skills and accomplishments equip you for the job by presenting your background in a way that's relevant to a prospective employer. Familiarity with industry-specific words and phrases show you understand the sector or role, so use them in your initial positioning statement, and to re-package your skills and achievements.
Consider a hybrid skills/chronological format. Include a skills section (putting the most important first) and select key highlights to demonstrate each skill. Then add a detailed career history section with the most recent or relevant position first.
Getting an 'in'
Accept a lower salary, temporary or part-time work to get your foot in the door and to hear about internal vacancies.
Make contacts
Many jobs are never advertised, but are filled through recommendation or word of mouth, which means you need to develop contacts. Make a list of target companies - even if they aren't hiring - and ask for an informational interview to find out more about the company. Join professional organisations, go to industry conferences and events, and network as much as possible. Stay in touch with your contacts to remain visible and show your interest.
TanyadeG advises being proactive. "Get out there. Ask parents, friends, cousins if they know anyone who would spare you half an hour to give you some advice. Then ask what they would do if they were you. Do they know of anyone looking to hire an assistant, either on a permanent or temp basis? If you don't have any friendly faces, start going to events and try and meet people there.
"Cast your net wide, and make sure you're super-impressive to everyone you meet. Eventually, someone will ask you to come in to meet someone about some temp work / holiday cover / a short project, and that will be your first opportunity."
Do unpaid experience or voluntary work to build up skills and experience
RosyR says that "unpaid work experience is becoming more and more common. It is either arranged on an ad-hoc basis with a particular organisation or advertised as an 'internship' and applied to as you would apply for a job- with a formal interview process.
"Internships usually last for 3 months or more and should pay expenses, negotiation should be possible so that you can offer to work 3 days a week, for example, so that you can earn some money or volunteer somewhere else. I would recommend researching your organisation very carefully, if possible talking to past interns and certainly talking to the people involved about what tasks you would be doing."
To get started
"Make a shortlist of companies that you would like to work for (and be ready to say why you are so interested in them - it could be their achievements, their client list, their reputation in the field etc) then call HR (or the office manager) and ask about any opportunities of paid / unpaid work experience with them.
"Ask them their advice of how best to apply for work experience, and whether there is anyone in the company looking to take on an intern, or needing extra help for a particular project. They may ask you to send in your CV and a letter of motivation, but if they do, remember to take the name of the person you are going to write the letter to, and ask if you can call back in a couple of weeks for any updates."
keustice adds that "if you wanted to improve your chances of being taken on somewhere as an intern, offer the company something too. Sell yourself to them. Tell them how you could help out in the workplace, how you could lighten their workloads or bring in new ideas to the organisation. And then when on your placement, make sure you are an asset. They need to be getting something out of this too and if you make a good impression, you could find yourself with some job opportunities at the end of it."
Glasgowmaggie says "the more unpaid work experience the better. It's all about building up contacts and getting to know the industry, and hearing about jobs and opportunities by word-of-mouth. If you're keen and willing and have what it takes it's only a matter of time before you meet someone who can help you - or who knows someone who can help you - or that you're in the right place when an opportunity for work comes up."
Penny de Valk, chief executive of the Institute of Leadership and Management recommends "volunteering for a charity during your spare time, either at home or abroad. Volunteering is a valuable (personal and professional) experience and it may help you decide on a future career."
Create your own experience
Show you have initiative, imagination and resourcefulness by making your own projects. Write articles if you want to be a journalist, create a marketing or PR campaign if you're moving into these areas, or design a website to show off your web design skills. Your goal isn't necessarily to get paid, but to showcase your abilities by designing and completing relevant projects.
