"Breaking Into

  A New Career"

Alan Carniol

Breaking into a new career can feel impossible. Often, there is little or no way to move directly to a dream job.

However, amid the limitations and difficulties of transitioning, the doors open when you make this transition in two or three steps.

This is particularly true if you are one of the 80 million Americans with a criminal background. 

As I shared a few weeks ago, I am working on a book to help job seekers with criminal backgrounds get hired. The book is designed to empower coaches and career advisors to better help justice-involved clients.

One important step is finding the best next job.

Sometimes, that next job is the dream job. Often, the next job is a stepping stone to eventually getting that dream job.

What does a stepping stone look like?

One recent re-entrant dreamed of running a restaurant kitchen. But she had little experience. She got hired as a prep cook and was quickly fired.

She then took a job washing dishes in a restaurant kitchen. She performed excellently and easily excelled at this job. Soon, she was given opportunities to get some training and practice cooking. She got hired as a cook. She's on her way…. A client of mine worked in logistics at Staples for a long time. He wanted to land a job as the ministry coordinator at a church, a job often held by ministers. A stepping stone for him was volunteering part-time coordinating at his church. He is building the experience to break in.

A stepping stone job can be something like working at an Amazon warehouse. It's unrelated to their dream, but it pays the bills and helps pay for the education being pursued to make the switch.

Sometimes, a stepping stone job for a recent re-entrant is just a simple job with no background check that meets parole requirements and gives space for readjustment. It establishes a job history and positive proof of employability. The next job might be that dream job, or it might be another stepping stone.

The most important pieces are to have a destination in mind, identify a path to get to that dream job, and patiently and persistently work towards it.

Until next time,

Alan Carniol

Founder of Interview Success, Inc.

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