Here's some advice, though not necessarily related to switching careers...
Make *sure* your resume includes a whole lot of the keywords mentioned in the online job ad. New software being utilized screens out just about everyone who applies for a job these days. In fact, it's so bad that an HR manager applied for his own job and got rejected.
"A Philadelphia-area human-resources executive told Mr. Cappelli that he applied anonymously for a job in his own company as an experiment. He didn't make it through the screening process."
http://online.wsj.com/article/.....88042.html
(the article is well worth reading).
It's kind of silly...a whole lot of applicants get screened out because of a software program, and because their resume didn't have the exact keywords or exact 'right' experience - and these are very good applicants!
Just for the record - my husband went through a layoff a couple of years ago, and the whole job search situation had changed dramatically since he'd last looked for a job (19 years prior). It took us a *lot* of work to get the resume right, and tailor each and every resume so that it included those keywords, so he wouldn't get screened out.
The result? My husband got a very good job, paying a lot more than his last job in less than three months, whereas only one other person out of the 20 people who were laid off that day ever got another job at all. That's right - 18 of the 20 are still looking...two years later. That's just awful! In the meantime, the people that got laid off were only laid off because they were at the top of their salary range - sometimes companies do this - just eliminate people who are 'expensive'. The weird thing is that all of these people are top-notch performers and producers. Rockstars, even.
...
So, it definitely pays to be sure to re-do each resume before submitting - and include the relevant keywords in the ad.
We worked like crazy to make sure that the resume was stellar. In fact, the so-called outplacement service was shocked at the resume we'd crafted (ie. very impressed). Every single application was carefully tailored, even re-written entirely if needed. My husband got a very good job in an entirely different industry - they relocated us, sold our house (paid the commission and all closing costs), flew us out for home-finding trips, moved us, paid the rent for months and months, will still pay for all the closing costs if we buy again, and paid him a lot more than he was making in his previous job. So, you just never know.
Be sure to set up a linkedin profile ...get some recommendations if you can.
Also, here's another very good blog to read when you're "looking" for something else:
http://www.recareered.com/
Very, very helpful blog! In fact, I'd say it was this blog that made the biggest difference for us.
Now, even two years on - we're still getting calls and e-mails from recruiters and companies inquiring. A recruiter just wrote to my husband about two weeks ago.
To get even more off-topic - I believe that *everyone* is a rockstar, in some way - and the trick is to communicate that fact in the resume, linkedin profile, recommendations, and so on. You need to get very excited about what you can do and what you want to do, and leave behind any bad feelings from the old job (or the one you want out of). You might even need to show off a wee bit.
Time to start leaving the old job behind and get your head and your heart into the new job, even if you don't have it yet. It can be done!
It's not "if" you can...it's more like, "I'm going to......" and "I've decided......"
You are just as much a rockstar as that person whose success you'd like to emulate.
So, crank up some really good music that makes you feel motivated, get *excited* about your new career, work those resumes like crazy ...and you'll be so pleased and surprised at what can happen. In the meantime, whatever you do - don't feel bad about the old job...just mentally kind of leave it behind, even if you're still there. Don't feel bad about not being where you'd like to be - get excited about where you're going.
There is a lot to look forward to!
