CAREERS AND HIRING
The Uncommon Career Path
The advantage hiring managers are missing
At some point in every career changer's journey, they run into the infamous Catch-22: “We are looking for someone with more experience.” It isn't easy to get this desired experience when every potential employer interviews with this same philosophy. Don’t get me started on the entry-level positions asking for 5+ years of experience.
Little do these hiring managers realize what an opportunity they are missing out on when they dismiss career changers this easily.
“The average American typically changes jobs 10 to 15 times in their lifetime.” -Vista College
The value career changers bring to the table.
So why should potential employers hire career changers?
I am a firm believer in the value of an outside perspective and experience. A perfect example is my transition into UX Design from education and insurance.
My education in UX Design was great, but the experience that I obtained as an insurance analyst and as a tech ed teacher was instrumental in making my shift into UX Design seamless. Working as an analyst helped me develop an eye for user pain points, and working as a teacher, problem-solving and adapting became second nature. Both skills have been a tremendous asset while working on projects.
After speaking with other designers who transitioned into the field, the common motive is the same; we want to solve problems and improve user experience. We do not design just for the sake of design.
One concern I hear from hiring managers frequently is that since someone has switched careers, they are afraid that they are a flight risk, and they might only have them a year or two before they pursue a different position. While I can see why this may concern hiring managers, I believe this is a very narrow way to look at someone's career journey.
There are many reasons people change careers; job stability, work-life balance, and career advancement. But, the vast majority of people do not change careers unless they are passionate about the role they are pursuing. Speaking from experience, I have found myself in positions where my career was stagnant, and I had exhausted all my options for advancement within the company.
I changed careers to pursue my passion, grow and advance my career, and work on projects that solve problems. Still, because I did not want to waste several years in a position that was going nowhere, I am not a reliable candidate? How does that make sense?
Success story
I want to share a success story for those of you who may still be struggling in their career shift. I do not know many people whose career journeys have had so many twists and turns and successes than Larry Cornett.
Larry went from being a psych major to working in UX for some of the biggest names in the business and eventually running his own career coaching business. Larry shares his expansive knowledge and experience in the industry with other designers like myself.
I’m a leadership coach and career advisor in Northern California. I started my most recent business about 4 1/2 years ago after my last tech startup failed. I spent over 20 years in the Silicon Valley tech industry, but finally decided it was time for a big career change.
However, I actually started out as a psychologist many, many years ago. When I completed my undergraduate degree with a Psych major, I discovered that there really isn’t much you can do with that. So, I applied to graduate schools, was accepted by several, and selected Rice University in Houston, TX.
The reason I chose Rice was that I was interested in Human Factors Psychology and the school had an internship program with NASA. I was so excited about the opportunity to work for NASA and help design the shuttle systems and cockpit controls.
Well, it was a nice dream that vanished quickly. NASA went through some budget cuts and eliminated the internship program. My advisor introduced me to the field of Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) and I learned how I could apply my interest in human-machine systems to software instead of hardware.
After finishing my master’s degree at Rice, my advisor asked if I was interested in an internship with a software company. He called up one of his old graduate students who worked at IBM and made an introduction.
That was how I landed my first tech job and fell in love with Silicon Valley. I worked at IBM for about a year as a software designer, even though I had no formal design training or degree. I was completely self-taught and had been designing software and building prototypes for my research. A warm introduction to an inside champion made all the difference!
I returned to Rice to work on my Ph.D. research and then did another internship in Silicon Valley, but this time with Apple Computer. Apple made me a job offer at the end of the summer and kept me on as a remote employee.
I worked from Texas while I finished up data collection for my dissertation research. Once I completed that, I moved back to California to work full time at Apple’s headquarters in Cupertino. I worked long days and nights to finish my dissertation while working full time, but I finally wrapped things up and received my Ph.D. from Rice.
After Apple, I joined a startup that was founded by ex-Apple and ex-Sun employees. After almost a year, we were acquired, laid off, spun back out, and the founders started a new company. I wanted some stability, so I formed my own design agency and began working with multiple tech startups during the Dot-Com Boom. It was an exciting time in the Valley! Unfortunately, a few years later, the Dot-Com Crash eliminated most of my startup clients and the industry collapsed.
I went back into the corporate world and joined eBay. I decided to get serious about my career growth and climbed the ladder from Lead Designer to Director of UX over the course of four years there.
I left eBay to join Yahoo! as a Senior Director on the Search and Marketplace team. I was promoted to Vice President and later I moved into a role as the VP of Consumer Products for Yahoo! Search. I lead an amazing team of designers and product managers, but decided to leave after four years to return to consulting.
I started my own business as a startup advisor, which I still do from time to time. I founded my own tech startup a few years later (a micro-podcasting service that I wished I had launched in 2020 instead of 2014), ran it for almost three years before we finally decided to hang things up and shut it down. And that brings me full circle to the coaching business that I run now.
It’s been an interesting and strange journey at times! You never know where you might end up and it’s often unrelated to where your journey began.
The takeaway?
Changing professions is a difficult task that often requires continued education, motivation, and tenacity. It is normally a decision that is planned out years in advance, not in the spur of the moment. After all, these are often life-changing decisions for people who are dedicated to their careers.
Career changers can bring a lot of value to new roles, such as outside perspective and applicable skills that may not naturally be obtained within that industry. So why should hiring managers consider career changers? Because they are passionate about their careers! They are always learning and growing, are dedicated to their role, and bring valuable skills and experience from other industries. They just need an opportunity to prove it.
Christopher Schutt is a multidimensional Product Designer that enhances business ROI by employing practical designs. He has a track record for taking complex business processes and turning them into elegant designs that are easy for customers to use. He’s also on Twitter @schuttdesign.
