If you feel frozen in your job search because you don’t know which role to pursue next…

I’ve got your back.

We all have moments in our careers where we are thinking about the next step up or about a change altogether.

I’ve worked with countless job seekers who come to me and say, “Brian, I don’t know what I want to do next, but I know it’s not this.”

The challenge in changing career trajectories is that you may have zero clue what job titles to look at or even what some other industries look like. You know your skills and experience, but what jobs are looking for those?

“Well, I’m good with people.”

Welp, that should narrow it down by about 1%.

In all seriousness, if you’ve ever had even the smallest doubt about what to pursue next, I can relate.

I graduated from the University of Florida (Go Gators!) with a degree in Journalism.

Not the most useful degree in the world, that’s for sure.

When I finally made the tough choice to look for a job outside the world of journalism, I had no idea what to do.

Honestly, it was terrifying. I felt pressure to make a quick decision, but I was also overwhelmed with the thought of needing to learn a new path or “start over.”

But here’s the thing.

I eventually ended up in sales & marketing because of my… wait for it… people skills!

Corny, I know. But sales & marketing taught me invaluable skills that I’ve been able to apply to all of the positions I’ve held since then, including my journey into career consulting.

After all, what is a job search but one big sales pitch where YOU are the product?

Anyway, story time is over and it’s time to get down to business. How do YOU figure out which roles to pursue where you can actually get an interview?

Change the way you do keyword searches.

Everyone knows you can go on LinkedIn and type in “Data Analyst” or “Project Manager” to find jobs.

But what if you are changing careers and don’t know what the titles are in other fields?

Here are two other ways to do keyword searches:

1. Search by an industry or sector that you’re interested in.

2. Search using skill sets or job functions.

Industry/Sector:

Let’s say you’re passionate about sustainability. You don’t have to know everything about that field before you start exploring jobs, and you certainly don’t have to know the titles. Simply plug in the word, “sustainability” into the job search bar and you’ll find a whole bunch of jobs in that sector.

And guess what. Through this process, you’ll start to learn about the correct titles that you fit with based on the job descriptions that you find.

Skill Sets/Job Functions:

Let’s say you know you’re ready to make a move and you know what you’re good at and and what you enjoy, but you have no idea what roles need those skills.

Here’s a DM I got on Twitter this past week:

Based on this, we can develop a list of skills or job functions that will help us learn about some of the roles out there that would incorporate these skills. For example:

• customer service

• customer experience

• customer success

• customer communications

• customer relationship management

• customer resolution

• customer solutions

• account management

• client management

• client success

Get creative! Just start typing in the ideal type of work you’d like to do, and you’ll be amazed at how quickly you’ll find titles in other fields that appeal to you.

Use online tools.

Don’t worry, I’ve done some research for you. Here are some great online tools you can use when trying to determine where to go next:

CareerOneStop’s Skills Matcher

Pros:

• Interactive quiz (40 questions)

• Easy to use

• Quick (<5 minutes)

• Long list of example job titles that potentially match your skills (100+)

• Clickable career outlook for each role (average salary, education requirements, description, etc.)

Cons:

• So many options (100+) can be overwhelming and include many irrelevant titles

• Career data runs up to 2021

LinkedIn’s Career Explorer

Pros:

• Shows overlapping skills between your current job title and new job titles

• Easy to use

• Quick (<1 minute)

• Ranking for popularity to show how often other candidates make the switch from your current role into the next role

• Button with direct link to open jobs on LinkedIn

• Button to check your LinkedIn connections based on field

Cons:

• Based only on job titles (no skills quiz)

• Limited job options (<10)

• Minimal information about new career options

O*NET Interest Profiler

Pros:

• Interactive quiz (60 questions)

• Builds a career profile based on interests

• Filters results by quiz choices AND by level of experience

• Shows you which categories your interests fall into

• Detailed job descriptions and career outlook

Cons:

• Can have limited job title results (<10) if your skills profile is too diverse

• Quiz options can be too specific on a specific job task vs. a skill set

• Interest-based results may not be the ones you are most qualified for

At the end of the day, the point is that everyone can benefit from a strategy about finding your next role. Whether you’re on the job search now and trying to pivot to a new career/industry or you’re curious about roles out there where you could leverage your skills to be happier or make more money, these are things you need to know.

If you found this information helpful, feel free to connect with me on LinkedIn or Twitter.

If you need additional guidance or have questions on this topic, you can reply directly to this email. My inbox is always open!