Career Changes For People Who Aren't "Qualified"

Want to change careers... but concerned that you're not qualified?

Well, your concern may justified - you may need a certain credential, qualification or background to be qualified for the job.

Then again... maybe your lack of qualifications is actually in your imagination!

You see, you may be a victim of "credentialitis" - where you're convinced that you need to get a credential or qualification to get a new career, job or promotion... but you really don't.

Funny, really.

I thought credentials and qualifications were a convenient means of proving that you have certain skills and knowledge. But if it's obvious that you have those skills and knowledge... why do you need a certificate, diploma, degree or some other kind of qualification to prove it?

Imagine, for example, that you dropped out of school, started and sold a business and now want to become the marketing manager of a big company.

Now if you had credentialitis, you may consider yourself unqualified for that marketing job.

You may even consider going to business school and investing thousands of dollars, not to mention one or two years in time, to get an MBA in marketing...

Now, you may well benefit a lot from doing this... but was it really necessary to study for one or two years to get that marketing job? Did you really lack the critical skills for the role?

Couldn't you instead reposition yourself as ideally qualified for the marketing role based on your "real-world" business education?

Ofcourse, for some career changes you will need to undertake a course to become qualified for a particular career, such as architecture or teaching.

But in other cases, you probably have the fundamental knowledge and skills required for the new job... and what you don't know can either be picked up relatively quickly on the job or isn't all that important.

Having said that, I'm well aware that our society is preoccupied with credentials - it has "credentialitis" as a whole - and often values certificates, diplomas and degrees more than actual abilities.

Yet, the only way you as an individual, or we as a society, are going to get over this credentialitis, is if we make an effort to change things.

Consequently, I urge you to first be clear on what skills, abilities, knowledge and talents you bring to the new career. Do you honestly think they're enough? If so, the next step is to get confident in communicating these qualities to a recruiter or potential employer.

If you still think that a formal course or program might be worth doing, consider this question:

Would completing such studies arm you with any geniunely useful knowledge or skills... or would it arm you with a piece of paper to prove knowledge or skills you already have?

Actually, by getting over your credentialitis, you'll likely become much happier... as well as save a lot of time and money on unnecessary studies.

And if someone ever questions your "lack of qualifications" you can simply explain how your unique background has armed you with knowledge and skills that are superior to those you could get from studying.

For example, I was once asked about not having an MBA. I simply explained that I had a "real-world" MBA, through working in advertising, marketing, law and most importantly, my own business...

Of course, you'll find some people who just won't "buy it" - they obviously have credentialitis themselves. In this case, it's up to you whether it's worth your while trying to convince them... or whether you're better off trying to work with people who aren't so hung up on qualifications and recognize true ability.

In turn, when you're the one doing the recruiting, don't let credentialitis get in the way of making a good hiring decision. Sure, consider qualifications - they do have value - but also consider alternative backgrounds and on-the-job experience that may be just as, if not more, indicative of an individuals abilities.

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