Your experiences are like legos, not puzzle pieces

Career switching and the ‘zero years experience’ problem

I was a having a conversation with someone recently about career switching. I am a career switcher — lets use the general industry names and say I switched from finance to tech. They were asking specifically how to market themselves, and if their past experiences were at all relevant.

Let me go ahead and provide this piece of advice to others thinking about switching careers: all career experiences are relevant, you just need to figure out your story. If you are thinking about applying for a job in a new industry, do not focus on the “Requirements” section of the job posting, you will psych ourself out. Focus on the “Responsibilities” section. That’s where your story will need to fit in.

I think it is a disservice to a company, and their potential candidates, when job requirements start off with something like “3 years experience as a [insert trivial job title].” To me, the job title is not nearly as important as the experience it provides. I understand there are responsibilities specific to a particular position, but in reality, if you are hiring smart people, they will figure out the specifics. And frankly, someone who brings a new set of perspectives will enhance the position even further.

So let me show you how I have connected the dots for my story, and how previous ‘unrelated’ experiences are helping me now.

I was an investment banking analyst for two years. Specifically, I worked on a ‘derivates structuring and marketing’ team. That’s a very specific job. But let’s drill down into what I actually did on the team.

I supported a sales person. The sales person represented existing clients and sourced new business. We structured derivates for these clients. In doing so, I needed to input the trades in our existing systems. I needed to make sure legal was okay with the language. I needed to make sure trading was okay with the pricing. I needed to make sure the credit team was okay with the exposure.

I interacted with at least 6 different teams on each trade. Many times I was junior to the person I was working with. I often had no authority over their jobs, yet I needed their help in getting something done. And to achieve that, I needed to understand each individuals perspective. This is how I fit in:

One benefit I had for this role was that previously I worked in both Operations and Middle Office. Each of those positions interacted on a one-to-one basis with all the other stakeholders. I was T-Shaped. Prior to this role, I had never executed a trade, but I knew the right questions to ask to get it done. My previous experience certainly impacted my ability to do the new job, despite my ‘zero years of experience.’

After about 6 years working in finance, in a few different jobs, I decided to transition into ‘tech.’ Broad term, I know, but I loved to build new things. I loved solving problems. And I loved being creative.

I went to Starter School, where I learned full stack development, as well as other design and entrepreneurship principles. It was a more T-Shaped approach than other development bootcamps offered. During my time there I launched a product as a solo-founder (R.I.P. @crowdgateapp). I wore every single hat- development, design, product marketing, sales, etc. The business failed, but the experience was invaluable.

After Starter School, I joined LaunchPad Lab as a developer, where I still work today. Despite my duties as a developer for our clients, I also work on products for our own internal ideas (you can check some of them out here in SPACE). I have zero years of experience in product management. Yet that is that exact job I am doing now.

Have my previous experiences helped me? Your damn right they have, you just need to find the right story.

Ken Norton talks about how empathy is one of the most valuable traits a product manager can have. It not only helps in defining the customer’s needs, but it helps in leading a team. It helps in achieving goals when you have responsibility with no authority. Sound familiar?

“If you’re building something for someone else, you’ll be more successful if you can identify with their needs first.” - Ken Norton

Here is how my role fits in now when I think about product management:

One benefit I have in this job, is that I have been a developer. I attended Starter School were I also needed to do sales, marketing and design on a project. I even worked with lawyers on creating TOS and a Privacy Policy. I am, once again, T-Shaped.

There is always a story to tell. Your previous work experiences are like individual legos, they are not puzzle pieces. Puzzle pieces fit together to create one final image. Legos, when put together in the right pattern, can tell countless stories. Spend some time figuring out what story you want to tell. And then go tell it. Someone will want to listen.