A perfect Catch 22

When I grow up I want to be...

A brain surgeon!

No, seriously I did. That changed too a Barrister, being in the Marines, realized you could be under the sea without being in the Marines, so decided I want to be a marine Biologist. The list has been very long including an Accountant, Solicitor and Beautician.

Right now I have a complicated title so I just say I am in Marketing and PR. I don't think I ever expected to go down this route when I was younger- truth be told I just fell into it.

This seems quite common for people to just fall into their current jobs and career lines. People sometimes pick their career paths depending on their current skills, in the mind-set it will just be easier to match the skills to the job, rather than job to the skills. I have a lot of admiration for the latter as they go out of their way for external training, which is generally time consuming and expensive.

Which one are you? Feel free to comment with the way you have chosen your career path.

Due to the current job market, it is increasingly difficult to change career paths and step into a new profession with only ambition and transferable skills. Even applying for Graduate Internships, your skills and degree need to match exactly to the criteria that has been given.

To gain an internship for say Marketing; the competition is tough and chances are if you already have experience in the sector AND have the degree, you will get shortlisted over those who don't have both/either. Unfortunately,those who are ambitious in that career path but require experience from the Internship, will be less likely to get it over those who ALREADY have the experience. A perfect Catch 22.

So where do you gain the skills to gain the ability to get experience and a taste (when I say a taste, I don't mean a week's of experience) for your dream profession?

Possibly through qualifications - qualified in Marketing or PR will get you shortlisted who don't, problem is - you haven't had the experience or a proper taste of the profession to see whether you like it. It's costly and time consuming if the job doesn't work out how you hoped. Here we start the process all over again - no on hand experience or qualified in your next dream profession... Who will take someone like that on?

Any responses are very welcome.

H