Episode 177: Your Q's Answered: How Do You Use Your Professional Skills to Change Industries?
Think of all of the current roles you’ve had as pieces to a puzzle that is your life.
Each piece comprises an experience you’ve had that no one else has, precisely because you completed that role in such a way that no one else could’ve.
In her Q&A episodes, Erin answers a question that you’ve been waiting on the edge of your seat for. Today’s answer shows you how to use your professional skills to change industries by using a 6-step method you can apply no matter what your experience is.
Here’s to calling soft skills power skills and not selling yourself short any longer.
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Erin Diehl is the founder and Chief “Yes, And” officer of improve it! and host of the improve it! Podcast. She’s a performer, facilitator and professional risk-taker who lives by the mantra, “get comfortable with the uncomfortable.” Through a series of unrelated dares, Erin has created improve it!, a unique professional development company that pushes others to laugh, learn and grow. Her work with clients such as United Airlines, PepsiCo, Groupon, Deloitte, Motorola, Walgreens, and The Obama Foundation earned her the 2014 Chicago RedEye Big Idea Award and has nominated her for the 2015-2019 Chicago Innovations Award.
This graduate from Clemson University is a former experiential marketing and recruiting professional as well as a veteran improviser from the top improvisational training programs in Chicago, including The Second City, i.O. Theater, and The Annoyance Theatre.
When she is not playing pretend or facilitating, she enjoys running and beach dates with her husband and son, and their eight-pound toy poodle, BIGG Diehl.
You can follow the failed it! podcast on Instagram @learntoimproveit and facebook, and you can follow Erin personally on Instagram @keepinitrealdiehl here. You can also check out improve it! and how we can help your organization at www.learntoimproveit.com. We can’t wait to connect with you online!
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Episode 177 Transcription
Erin (00:00):
Hi new friend. I'm Erin Diehl, business improv edutainer, Failfluencer and keynote speaker who is ready to help you improve your it, it being the thing that makes you, you. So think of me as your keeping it real. Professional development bestie who is here to help you develop yourself into the best version of you possible so you can develop your team and lead with intentionality, transparency, and authenticity. Oh, and did I mention we're improving your IT through play? That's right. I'm an improvisational comedy expert who uses experiential learning to help you have your aha haha moment. Those are the moments when the light bulb goes off and you're laughing at the same time. So grab your chicken hat, your notebook, and your inner child because I'm gonna take you on a journey that is both fun and transformative. Welcome to the Improve It Podcast, improve It Pee. We got a great for you today. She is feeling feisty. Okay, this show is jam-packed with Goody Goodness. Now, before we dive in, I wanted to take this opportunity to showcase a testimonial from one of our Improve It Peeps. Also my friend Ben Alpert. Let me stop talking. Let's hear from Ben himself.
Ben (01:38):
I just got done chatting with Erin Diehl on my podcast. She Is The Real Deal. Second time I've had her on my podcast, learn, speak, teach on the Real Business Connections Network because she brings so much energy, she's very present, she's willing to be vulnerable, she's willing to laugh, she's willing to inform, but she's willing to cry. And whether it's a podcast or a live event or a laugh break with the team, she's always the first go-to in the world of improv conversation. Erin's the best, so couldn't endorse her more. My name's Ben Real Business Connections couldn't endorse Erin Moore and she's incredible.
Erin (02:21):
Improve It peeps. Thank you Ben. Thank you so much for leaving me that voice note and also just giving that kind review, improve it pees. If you love this show, if you have gained value from it, if you listen to it week after week, it inspires you. You take notes, you take them and you apply them and you put these things into practical action. Here is my ask that you leave me a review. It doesn't just go to me, it goes to the team and it fuels the fire that is this show. I'm sure you listen to podcasts cuz you're listening to this one and you hear every podcast host say the same thing. Here's why it matters so much. When guests decide if they want to guest spot on the show, the only we, the only way that they know that the show has a great audience is by the reviews.
Erin (03:17):
They can't see the number of downloads, they can't see the number of listens. So that review goes a long way. It doesn't just boost my ego, okay? I'm not here for the praise. I'm here to help you. So help me help you by helping us get some awesome guests and leaving a review. So speaking of helping you, I asked on my Instagram, keeping It Real Deal. If we aren't friends, please follow me there. Now, I asked for suggestions for questions that you had and things that were on your mind that you needed help with. And one of those questions I got was how do you use your professional skills to change industries? And I love this question because this was actually something that happened in my own life, so I have a great answer for you. But no, if you are stuck in a specific industry, you can use the skills that you have at that current job to change industries.
Erin (04:21):
So maybe you're sitting in a current position and you're thinking you're stuck in this industry forever because it's all you know. Or maybe you only know your growth trajectory in that industry and you see the people ahead of you and you think to yourself, oh my gosh, that's what it's gonna look like. It's not pretty. How do I get out of here? And you have no clue where to start. And maybe you're sitting in your current job and you're feeling stagnant and you're seeing the work-life balance of those ahead of you make you feel as though there's not a light at the end of the tunnel that it just seems to include more work, more work and more work and not a lot of time for you and your personal and professional growth. So like I said earlier, this was me Early in my career, I was in an industry where I felt stuck.
Erin (05:20):
I felt stagnant. All of my networks and connections were in this industry. I did not like what the future had in store for me. And I thought about perhaps going back to college to change industries, change careers, get a master's degree, and what that meant was paying more money to get a graduate degree in yet another industry that I wasn't sure about. So this was my reality, which it sounds like is a lot of your reality. It eventually hit me. I have the ability to do so many things with the soft skills. I don't like to call 'em soft skills with the power skills that I've already acquired. So I want you to think of each role in your career as a puzzle piece that can fit swiftly into one giant puzzle of your life. These puzzle pieces connect together to form a lifetime your life.
Erin (06:31):
You just don't see a puzzle piece anywhere with one gigantic piece. It wouldn't be a puzzle would it? So if you can think of your career and all of the different roles and positions and experiences that you have as puzzle pieces that fit into this giant, beautiful, intricate, amazing, colorful, vivacious, lovely puzzle that is your life. You have the ability to pull yourself out of that industry, take the skills that you've take, you've gotten from that particular role, and transform it into a better, more vibrant space in that puzzle. You can leave that other puzzle piece behind. You've already done it, and we can add to that puzzle taking what we've learned. So here's six steps that you can do to help you understand that your professional skills can help you change industry. So here's six easy steps. Step one, I want you to list out all of the tasks that you do in your current job.
Erin (07:44):
Everything from writing emails to leading meetings, to delivering presentations, write out every single task. Now here's step two. Next to each task. List out what power skills you use. So for example, let's say one of your current tasks is coordinating and planning events for your organization. Okay? So that's on your list of all of the tasks that you do next to that task. You are gonna list the power skill, some might call it soft skill, the power skill that you use in that exact task. So for coordinating and planning events, your power skill is project management and relationship building with vendors. Step three, now that you've gone through every task and listed out the power skill that that task acquires you or requires you to do, I should say, to do, you're gonna move to step three. Now, if you're looking on changing industries, you are going to focus on roles who are looking for candidates with those particular power skills.
Erin (09:09):
So maybe you are in the medical industry and let's just say this is a task that you did in your current role. So you're coordinating and planning events in the medical industry. Your power skill is project management and relationship building. Know that that power skill, project management and relationship building can cross over into so many different sectors. You can use project management and relationship building at a sales position in a different industry, at an event coordination position in any industry, at a meeting planner position, in any industry, at a customer service position at any industry, you can go down your list of tasks that you do and decide which power skills bring you joy, and then search for roles with those power skills highlighted. Okay? So this brings me to step four. So now that you've identified the power skills or the soft skills that you are great at, you are going to make these keywords super relevant and searchable on your resume.
Erin (10:30):
So I don't know if you know this, but prior to building improve it, I was a recruiter. I actually did business development for a recruiting agency, never done recruiting or business development in my life. So no, I made the jump to this position from my previous role before Switched Industries, completely telling you all of this to say back in the day when I was a recruiter, and if you are a recruiter listening and I am wrong, please reach out to me and tell me this. But about 10 years ago, we used something called bullying search to find keywords on resumes. So let's say that I'm a hiring manager and I'm looking for someone who is great at project management. And you, the candidate or the person who has the power skills of project management are looking to change industries. But you really wanna focus on this project management role.
Erin (11:28):
So on your resume, you are going to highlight project management. You're gonna physically write the words project management on your resume, and then you're going to write any tools that you use that help you with project management that are very specific to that power skill. So if you're looking for a project management role, there are so many softwares and systems and platforms that are great for project management. So you could highlight Asana on your resume, Trello, Evernote. So list these, make sure that they are searchable and that they stand out on your resume. The more specific software, the more specific keyword that you can use, the better. And you can also include this in your cover letter. All right, here is step five. Oh my gosh, we're getting so close now. You've got your resume ready, you're ready to look for these roles that are focusing on your power skills.
Erin (12:31):
You're gonna search for companies who are using your power skills on job searching sites like indeed.com for example. So you go to indeed.com, and then you put jobs. So you're looking for a job, you hit the jobs button, and in the search bar, you can write in your keywords in the location where you're searching for the job. So many positions, depending on your location pop up. So let's say you live in Charleston, South Carolina and you're looking for a project management position or a position that uses project management. That's also a job title, but also it pulls up positions that have project management in the body of the job description. Now search, you're gonna find that this works. So you'll have to decipher through the ones that stand out to you the most and apply to those roles. Step six, this is one key tip. Don't just submit your resume to these indeed.com sites.
Erin (13:37):
As a former recruiter, the moment I posted any position on indeed.com, I got about 200 resumes a day and they filtered into a folder in my email. And when I could get to them, I would, as a business owner and a hiring manager, same thing applies, especially because now all of our positions are remote positions. If I post a job posting on indeed.com, I am getting 200 resumes a day because now with remote work, people from everywhere are applying. So don't just apply to the position. If you really, really like it, I want you to know the name of the company, go on LinkedIn and search on LinkedIn for people in that company with the title HR manager or talent manager for the company that you are applying for. So let's say you want this project management role at X, Y, Z company. You would search HR manager at x, Y, Z company in the search function on LinkedIn, and then you would hit the people button and it would show you the people in that organization with that job title.
Erin (14:57):
Now you can connect with them directly and in that connection, see if they've listed their con in their contact info, their email address. If they don't have it, sometimes you can call into a company and ask for their email address. But better yet, rather than just emailing that person directly with your email, or sorry, with your resume and with your cover letter, see if you are connected to somebody at that company and ask for a warm introduction. A warm intro is better than a cold intro any day. So you have your six steps. You absolutely have the ability to change industries with the skillset that you've con you've created for yourself in your current role. Number one, you're gonna list the tasks that you do. Number two, next to those tasks, list your power skills for every single task. Highlight the ones that stand out to you.
Erin (15:59):
And then step three, you are going to focus on new roles with people who are looking for those particular power skills. These it, this power skill is gonna cross over into so many different industries and most hiring managers don't really care about what industry you come from. They care about your skillset. All right, and I step four, make sure your keywords are super relevant on your resume. Step five, go to sites like indeed.com and really look for those power skills. Search for those jobs yourself on those websites. And step six key, key tip, find a connection or try to reach out to the person in charge of the hiring itself at the organization versus just submitting directly through the job position. This is a lot of information. It's such a great question. I am so honored to have this back and forth with you. I love hearing from you.
Erin (17:01):
I hope this helps. But realize by highlighting your power skills, you are connecting the puzzle pieces for the recruiter or the hiring manager. They're not having to connect the dots. You are doing that connecting for them. They don't have to do the work. The puzzle is complete and it's laid out and they see this amazing human that can help them in their organization and this beautiful, vibrant, colorful, beautiful puzzle that could be complete with you as the addition to their puzzle complete. Does that make sense? She asks herself. It does, it does. So friends, I hope this helps. If you have a question, submit it to us through the Speaker Pipe app. How you do that. You can scroll to the show notes. Wherever you're listening to the show, it will say, leave us a message. You can go to our podcast page on the website and it will pop up there for you as well. I am so grateful for you. Improve It peeps as always. Keep failing, keep improving because this world needs that very special it that only you can bring. I'll see you next time. Hey friend, did you enjoy today's show? If so, head on over to iTunes to rate and subscribe. So you never miss an episode. Now, did I mention that when you leave a five star review of the Improve It podcast, an actual team of humans does a happy dance? Mm-Hmm. <affirmative>. That's right. So leave a review for us on iTunes, screenshot it, and send me an email at info learn to improve it.com. I'll send you a personalized video back as a thank you. Thanks so much for listening. Improve It Peeps. I'll see you next Wednesday.