{"id":30018,"date":"2023-03-01T10:00:00","date_gmt":"2023-03-01T15:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.mbamission.com\/blog\/?p=30018"},"modified":"2023-03-01T14:17:30","modified_gmt":"2023-03-01T19:17:30","slug":"career-switchers-set-yourself-up-for-success","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.mbamission.com\/blog\/career-switchers-set-yourself-up-for-success\/","title":{"rendered":"MBA Career Switchers: Set Yourself Up for Success\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Do you want to make a career pivot but are not sure how to approach it? Career switching is possible, even in tighter job markets, but your success will depend on your ability to convince your target audience that you can add value to their organization.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Here are five practical steps to make yourself a more compelling candidate and improve your chances of success when switching careers:<\/span><\/p>\n<ol>\n<li><strong>Become an \u201cinsider.\u201d <\/strong><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Read extensively about the industry you are interested in, learning about your target company\u2019s position in the market and the products and services it offers. Develop an opinion on key trends and players.\u00a0Gain an understanding of the skills and areas of knowledge required for the job and the hiring process.<\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><strong>Think broadly about the relevance of your background.<\/strong><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong>\u00a0<\/strong>Identify any potential connection to your target area of interest. For example, if you are interested in consumer products, maybe you have operating or investing experience in the consumer industry. Or perhaps you work in an adjacent industry, interact with a key industry vendor, or are just a devoted customer of the company and admire its business model.<\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><strong>Build new technical skills or acquire hands-on experience.<\/strong><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Volunteer for assignments outside your core responsibilities at work. Take online certification classes. For example, if you want to become an investment banker, learn financial modeling from<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00a0<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.wallstreetprep.com\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Wall Street Prep<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><strong>Present your interest in a persuasive way.<\/strong><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong>\u00a0<\/strong>Think about the \u201cwhy\u201d\u2014what appeals to you about this role or industry, and in what ways are you qualified for it? Hook your listener quickly; clearly convey how you could contribute to the role. Read our <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.mbamission.com\/blog\/mba-career-news-tell-me-about-yourself\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Tell Me About Yourself<\/span><\/a> <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">blog post for more tips.<\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><strong>Cultivate new relationships.<\/strong><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Invest heavily in networking to confirm your interest in the company or industry, gather information on the recruiting process, and learn the requirements for the role.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">With all of this, remember to set realistic goals.\u00a0Career switches often happen in baby steps. Consider shifting to a new industry, function, or location, but not all three at the same time.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">We wish you much success\u2014stay positive, diligent, and persistent. You might receive a lot of rejections before you achieve your goal, but take the opportunity to learn from each of them. They will make you an even better candidate.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Do you want to make a career pivot but are not sure how to approach it? Career switching is possible, even in tighter job markets, but your success will depend on your ability to convince your target audience that you can add value to their organization.\u00a0 Here are five practical steps to make yourself a &hellip; <a class=\"read-more\" href=\"https:\/\/www.mbamission.com\/blog\/career-switchers-set-yourself-up-for-success\/\">Read&nbsp;More&nbsp;&nbsp;<i class=\"fal fa-sm fa-angle-right\"><\/i><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":23,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[123],"tags":[81,183,93],"class_list":["post-30018","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-career-advice","tag-career-change","tag-mba-careers","tag-resume"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.0 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Career Switchers: Set Yourself Up for Success\u00a0<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"For MBA career switchers, success depends on the ability to convince your target audience that you will be able to add value.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.mbamission.com\/blog\/career-switchers-set-yourself-up-for-success\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Career Switchers: Set Yourself Up for Success\u00a0\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"For MBA career switchers, success depends on the ability to convince your target audience that you will be able to add value.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.mbamission.com\/blog\/career-switchers-set-yourself-up-for-success\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"mbaMission - MBA Admissions Consulting\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-03-01T15:00:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-03-01T19:17:30+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.mbamission.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/mbam-yoast-fallback-image.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"675\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Elissa Harris\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Elissa Harris\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Career Switchers: Set Yourself Up for Success\u00a0","description":"For MBA career switchers, success depends on the ability to convince your target audience that you will be able to add value.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.mbamission.com\/blog\/career-switchers-set-yourself-up-for-success\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Career Switchers: Set Yourself Up for Success\u00a0","og_description":"For MBA career switchers, success depends on the ability to convince your target audience that you will be able to add value.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.mbamission.com\/blog\/career-switchers-set-yourself-up-for-success\/","og_site_name":"mbaMission - MBA Admissions Consulting","article_published_time":"2023-03-01T15:00:00+00:00","article_modified_time":"2023-03-01T19:17:30+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1200,"height":675,"url":"https:\/\/www.mbamission.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/mbam-yoast-fallback-image.png","type":"image\/png"}],"author":"Elissa Harris","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Elissa Harris","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":["Article","BlogPosting"],"@id":"https:\/\/www.mbamission.com\/blog\/career-switchers-set-yourself-up-for-success\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.mbamission.com\/blog\/career-switchers-set-yourself-up-for-success\/"},"author":{"name":"Elissa Harris","@id":"https:\/\/www.mbamission.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/f8cce0831e20c43c6bd1e21b49aaa874"},"headline":"MBA Career Switchers: Set Yourself Up for Success\u00a0","datePublished":"2023-03-01T15:00:00+00:00","dateModified":"2023-03-01T19:17:30+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.mbamission.com\/blog\/career-switchers-set-yourself-up-for-success\/"},"wordCount":389,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.mbamission.com\/blog\/#organization"},"keywords":["career change","MBA careers","resume"],"articleSection":["Career Advice"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.mbamission.com\/blog\/career-switchers-set-yourself-up-for-success\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.mbamission.com\/blog\/career-switchers-set-yourself-up-for-success\/","url":"https:\/\/www.mbamission.com\/blog\/career-switchers-set-yourself-up-for-success\/","name":"Career Switchers: Set Yourself Up for Success\u00a0","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.mbamission.com\/blog\/#website"},"datePublished":"2023-03-01T15:00:00+00:00","dateModified":"2023-03-01T19:17:30+00:00","description":"For MBA career switchers, success depends on the ability to convince your target audience that you will be able to add value.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.mbamission.com\/blog\/career-switchers-set-yourself-up-for-success\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.mbamission.com\/blog\/career-switchers-set-yourself-up-for-success\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.mbamission.com\/blog\/career-switchers-set-yourself-up-for-success\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.mbamission.com\/blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"MBA Career Switchers: Set Yourself Up for Success\u00a0"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.mbamission.com\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.mbamission.com\/blog\/","name":"mbaMission - MBA Admissions Consulting","description":"World&#039;s Leading MBA Admissions Consulting Firm","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.mbamission.com\/blog\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.mbamission.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.mbamission.com\/blog\/#organization","name":"mbaMission","url":"https:\/\/www.mbamission.com\/blog\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.mbamission.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.mbamission.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/mbam-yoast-organization-logo.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.mbamission.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/mbam-yoast-organization-logo.png","width":696,"height":696,"caption":"mbaMission"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.mbamission.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.mbamission.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/f8cce0831e20c43c6bd1e21b49aaa874","name":"Elissa Harris","description":"Elissa Harris is a Senior Career Coach and UCLA Anderson MBA with more than 15 years of experience. A former leader in Wharton\u2019s MBA Career Management Office, she now helps MBA students and alumni clarify their professional goals, craft standout resumes, refine their LinkedIn profiles and pitches, and excel in interviews by delivering candid, actionable advice grounded in recruiter insights and strong storytelling.","sameAs":["https:\/\/www.mbamission.com\/who-we-are\/team\/elissa-harris\/","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/elissa-harris\/"],"url":"https:\/\/www.mbamission.com\/blog\/author\/elissa-harris\/"}]}},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mbamission.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30018","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mbamission.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mbamission.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mbamission.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/23"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mbamission.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=30018"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.mbamission.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30018\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mbamission.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=30018"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mbamission.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=30018"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mbamission.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=30018"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}