How to Break Into a New Field at Work
Dear Ron, For the last few years, I've been working in a back office function at my company that's not as highly valued as some others. I'm trying to get into a new area, one that's higher profile and generates money for our company, but so far no one's even been willing to meet with me. I'm extremely interested in the field and know I could do a good job, but how do I get folks to take a look at me?
First of all, you need to learn everything you can about the field you want to get into -- the job functions, what the demands are, the vocabulary, etc. -- and identify several people in that field whose brains you can pick. You want to learn how things get done, what the day-to-day work challenges are, and what the culture's like. Your goal is to familiarize yourself as much as possible with the function and how people get results in it so that you can talk knowledgeably about it. You also want to start taking on the characteristics of the new function -- you need to talk like people in that new area, and begin to reflect the culture of people engaged in it.
Then you need to cultivate some more senior folks -- probably they'll be mid-level people -- to help support you and pitch your interest and potential in that function to others. If you have prepared well, you should be able to speak convincingly and in a knowledgeable manner. Think of it as embarking on a sustained campaign to convince others that you could fit in well and contribute in that new area. What you want is a groundswell of colleagues and senior managers beginning to see you in that function and looking out for opportunities for you.
Be warned, though: You really have to have some fire in your belly to want to make the switch. To spend the time to learn about the field and the lingo, and to put in the hours after work to research it and meet people, requires some real passion. And if you don't have it, you're not going to be able to follow through and be successful. So very early on, you have to gauge your motivation, and also have done your homework to make sure there are opportunities in your chosen area, as well as that you're right for them. It could be that you really like the field and the work, for instance, but the culture's not a good fit for you.
I once advised a person who was an engineer at a multinational corporation who wanted to get into brand marketing because he knew that was the real route to moving up there. He used his success as an engineer to make connections with some of the better brand managers and studied what they did and how they did it. He eventually found two sponsors who introduced him to other folks and helped transition him into a brand manager, where he became very successful. Later he even became a CEO at another company. Hopefully you can make the same kind of move. Good luck.
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