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ESSEC Reference

ESSEC Reference

HOW TO MAKE A SUCCESSFUL CAREER CHANGE

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coursera-ricardor

April 16, 2019
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  1. Reasons for a career change The wish to change careers

    must be based on a deeply-rooted desire. For Cyril Lanrezac, the Career Director for the MBA in Hospitality Management (IMHI) at ESSEC, “a career change is a possibility for anybody who is fed up with their job.” It remains up to the individual to determine whether this feeling is a temporary weariness or a profound need to start again from scratch. A career change for the right reasons Due to its constraints and pressures, the workplace is a source of daily stress and annoyances. These symptoms are par for the course in professional life, but they do not, on their own, justify a radical career change. Making changes to how your work is organised or clarifying personal relationships may be enough to solve the occasional problem and, thus, allow you to make peace with your job. If it is not possible to solve the problem, changing companies may be an alternative. This offers the opportunity to join a company with better career prospects, improved working conditions, or a better salary. If exhaustion is caused by factors outside of the company, such as your daily surroundings, a transfer to a different region is also a possibility. Break free of professional constraints with a career change Some signs, however, should lead you to undertake more radical soul-searching about your professional situation. The reasons for a career change may be pragmatic, such as the fear of finding yourself on a path that is not adapted to your professional goals in terms of responsibilities or salary. “Stagnation is the main reason for a desire to change,” explains Cyril Lanrezac from ESSEC. Attempting to advance your career in a sector that is experiencing decline, or working in a position with limited opportunities for promotion, may motivate a desire to change careers. Working in a country that offers uncertain future prospects or lower salaries compared to an equivalent position overseas may also motivate you to review your professional plans. Therefore, the desire to advance is closely linked to a desire to change careers. Other factors may also influence your thought process and lead you to consider the need for a career transition. Years of professional experience often allow a person to acquire new skills that he or she will wish to put to use in order to take advantage of his or her full potential. In this case, a career change can be seen as the key to greater self-fulfilment. Position, sector, country A career change is based on three main elements: the position, the sector and the country. A "career switcher" may be attracted by change in one or more of these areas. According to Claire Gaudissart, Career Development Manager at ESSEC, “It is very difficult to change all three elements at the same time.” She recommends Global MBA students to proceed in stages by establishing an order of importance for the different changes planned. “Candidates for a career change should make a schedule in reverse based on their ten-year objective,” explains Claire Gaudissart. “They can plan their career change by prioritising, for example, first a change in position, followed by a change of sector within three years, then a change of country within five years, before creating their own company in ten years.”
  2. Take stock in order to revitalise your career A career

    change involves taking a long, hard look at yourself. In order for the process to be coherent, nothing should be left to chance in terms of motivations and objectives. Taking stock of your career requires a personal and professional assessment. Take a good look at yourself A career change is part of a much wider personal approach. Awareness of your professional dissatisfaction should lead you to question your desires and motivations in order to reconnect your career with your personality. “A personal assessment involves looking at your past, your career to date, your values, your dreams and your talents,” explains Claire Gaudissart from ESSEC. “The idea is to take stock of your resources and motivations in order to understand where you are at the present and to define exactly where you want to go.” This evaluation allows you to take a mature approach to your career transition project. It requires you to take a step back from your professional activity; periods of the year with lighter workloads offer less stressful interludes conducive to this type of approach. The personal assessment constitutes the foundation of your career change project by allowing you to clarify and prioritise your goals, for example: improve your standard of living, increase your level of responsibility, go abroad, change to a more fulfilling sector of activity and/or one more in line with your personal interests, obtain a more prestigious position, benefit from greater autonomy and freedom, avoid pressure, give greater meaning to your work, etc. Identify your assets... The skills assessment is the next logical step in the personal assessment. Changing careers requires reasoning in terms of skills rather than in terms of a profession. Some skills are transferable from one position to another or from one sector to another; this is particularly the case for interpersonal skills. The skills assessment allows you to evaluate your background: the value of your experience and your initial training. This process must not be an obstacle to your desire to change, as a new career will invariably entail a break with your previous activity and possess an element of a “leap into the unknown.” Nevertheless, a successful career change generally involves a more gentle transition. It is therefore essential to know how to position your assets to convince recruiters and not rely on personal motivation as your sole selling point. ...in order to develop new ones Comparison between the personal assessment and the skills assessment offers an indication of the new skills that should be acquired to ensure the best chance at a successful career change. Continuing education offers an opportunity to upgrade your CV throughout your career in order to adapt to changes in the labour market. A career change requires a slightly greater investment in order to start over from scratch. In this respect, an MBA is a valuable qualification for developing skills with the aim of radical professional change. “An MBA validates the career change process,” explains Cyril Lanrezac from ESSEC. “Obtaining a qualification in line with your aspirations offers the recruiter a guarantee as to your motivation, as well as a guarantee of knowledge about the sector of activity for which you are applying.”
  3. Give yourself the means to change your career ESSEC Business

    School accompanies career change candidates through its MBA programmes. These intensive courses offer students, who have on average 6 years of professional experience and are around 30 years old, the skills and connections they need for a successful transition. Develop your talents with an MBA If you are looking to upgrade your CV, an MBA contains all the elements to significantly boost your profile. For Cyril Lanrezac from ESSEC, “An MBA offers real credibility. It requires a structured thought process and a 360° vision that allows you to seek out positions that otherwise would not have been available without this qualification. An MBA also offers better opportunities to take on executive positions at a later date. It is an extremely dense program which, for example, teaches students how to work under pressure or in a group. Making a fresh start also means learning how to work with people with completely different perspectives or from different cultures, which is not always something you have the opportunity to do in the workplace.” In addition to the theoretical knowledge taught during an MBA, Claire Gaudissart insists on “the interpersonal skills” acquired during the program. “Recruiters are increasingly looking for candidates who know how to communicate, work in a team, who are able to innovate and take risks”. Completing your initial training with an MBA offers a dual skill set, which is a great asset for recruiters. “Students enrich each other through their discussions inside and outside the classroom,” explains Claire Gaudissart. “An MBA helps form strong and interesting characters thanks to the confidence that graduates gain during the program.” Moving from dreams to reality Through its MBA programs, ESSEC Business School works to open students’ minds. “They suddenly realise that everything is possible,” says Claire Gaudissart. The program helps career change candidates quickly transform their project from dreams to reality. “Students benefit from a large number of meetings and contacts with professionals from the career paths they are considering. These contacts are often – but not exclusively – made through the ESSEC network,” explains Claire Gaudissart. “This helps them to grasp the reality of the professions, the sectors and the countries in which they are interested.” Thanks to these contacts, students obtain a realistic vision of their goals, which helps them to adjust or persevere in their projects. They can also rely on the extensive ESSEC network to Human Resources Managers like “career switchers”! A career change is a process that is viewed in a positive light by recruiters: three out of four consider a career change to be an asset rather than a drawback, according to an OpinionWay survey conducted in September 2013 among a panel of Human Resources Managers in France. They appreciate the additional dynamism and motivation of these candidates, as well as their fresh perspective and diversity that they bring to the company.
  4. ease their return into the labour market after graduation. “We

    teach them how to create their own marketing tools in order to sell themselves to recruiters,” explains Claire Gaudissart. ABOUT ESSEC BUSINESS SCHOOL ESSEC Business School is one of France’s top business schools and a worldwide leader in management education (Financial Times 2014: #3 MSc in Management, #4 Advanced Masters in Financial Techniques). Established in 1907, the ESSEC community currently represents over 90 nationalities across three campuses in Cergy, Paris-La Défense, and Singapore, with an immense network of 46,000 alumni in 55 countries. ESSEC offers a wide portfolio of English-language MBA programs targeted to your professional goals, including: - Global MBA - MBA in International Luxury Brand Management - MBA in Hospitality Management (IMHI) - ESSEC & Mannheim Executive MBA - Executive MBA Asia-Pacific A promising new start A coherent approach, a realistic project, expanded skills, a rich network and the prestige of ESSEC on a CV: career change candidates who have taken the professional and financial risks of pursuing an MBA are well-equipped to set out on their desired path. “Of course, not all career paths are the same,” explains Claire Gaudissart. Some graduates manage to change sector, position or country immediately. Others sometimes start by accepting a position with equivalent or slightly less responsibility before benefitting from the MBA’s added value shortly thereafter. “Thanks to their skills and agility, MBA graduates will always be able to take advantage of the numerous opportunities that arise throughout their career.”