This week's career tip is short and sweet.

Want to make a career move and spinning your wheels to get traction?

Make your own experience. In this gig economy, the internet is your oyster.

I am a huge advocate of transferable skills and storytelling to help connect the dots on why you are a perfect fit for your next move. 

Sometimes though, it's not enough. It's not a reflection on you. It's part of doing business.

Less seasoned hiring managers get nervous about making a bad hiring decision and not all have the confidence to hire strictly for ability when there is another candidate who has the direct experience.

It happened to me. I used all my tips from TMM# The Power of a Single Meeting Invite to apply for an internal promotion at corporate. It's worked for me before, I thought why not? 

I made it to the final round where I was FINALLY going to cash in on all of those promises of landing a promotion if I just did "XYZ."

I had receipts. I had VP recommendations.

But, I was passed over for an external candidate.

The reasoning?

I had proven I was capable of doing the job, demonstrated subject matter expertise that would make a quick onboarding and build key relationships.... 

BUT...

They wanted someone who already had that title (and in all likelihood it was probably someone the manager worked with before that he was bringing over). 

A few months later I looked the new hire up on LinkedIn. He had 20+ years in the role I was trying to break into. There was no way I was going to convince this guy to take a chance on me. 

Why do I tell you this story? 

Three reasons:

   1. There was nothing more I could have done to snag that promotion and it wasn't a reflection of me. 

   2. Hedge your bets by gaining as much experience as you can to show you can do the work, but remember you will never change the mind of someone who has convinced themselves previous experience.isa predictor of success. 

   3.Take some comfort in knowing you probably don't want to work for that kind of leader anyways. :)   

Increase your odds of a successful career move by showing what you can do. 

Here's some ideas on how to get started:

• Create a web based portfolio of your work
•  Freelance on the side and add it to your resume. Aspiring project manager? Try to do some PM work for friends or through Fiverr, etc. I don't care if you turn a profit or not (it's not my business anyways). The point here is you are gaining real experience. Gone are the days were having a side hustle s frowned upon, so use it to help tell your story.
• Start writing and produce content online related to the field / industry / job. Publish a guide. Post it on your website. The point here is to show your expertise and take initiative to delight a potential employer. 
• During your next 1:1 with your manager, have a conversation about the type of assignments you'd like to take on so that you can continue to grow. A strong leader will help you achieve your goals, even if it means you leave them sooner. Can you take on a new project? Learn a new role by supporting someone while their OOO?