Current job ads list the following necessary requirements for employment:
1. Motivated workers with the ability to complete tasks in a timely manner.
- I have that - I work with multiple patients per day and there are many different evaluations made every day. Though my experience is not in construction projects, it is easy to see that I can manage my time.
2. First-hand knowledge in the construction of buildings and homes, with ample past experience in manual labor using common construction tools and practices.
- Well, I don't have that. I have zero experience in construction. But, I can say I have great hand-eye coordination and dexterity and I can quickly learn how to use these tools. No problems here.
3. Detailed ability to read blueprints and translate into hands-on projects and the ability to prioritize the building process.
- I consult anatomy figures daily - isn't that like reading a blueprint? Sure, the specifications are different, but I have shown I am a fast learner in medical school, so I could easily pick it up. I prioritize multiple projects every day too.
4. First-aid certified.
- Absolutely no problems here. I don't even have to 'twist' my words.
5. Excellent knowledge of construction materials and their particular strengths and weaknesses. Ample experience in wood, ceramics, and concrete mixtures.
- Once again, I don't have this. But I am a quick learner...
One singular problem remains: I have never swung a hammer. And guess what? There are multiple applicants that meet the requirements directly, without the need for serious re-wording of abilities into transferable skills. Consequently, any position requiring any amount of experience will be given to someone else, regardless of my awe-inspiring transferable skills. I am left with entry-level positions, and I am still in fierce competition with those that may have acquired some of the 'true' skills needed on the job. I can only hope that there remains a certain novelty in employing a doctor in the construction industry. Maybe there is a niche job they have that they are not advertising directly. Maybe I can develop a health and safety guide for a particular project. In the end, only hope remains, and I am afraid that hope does not produce tangible employment.
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I feel I have many things in common with the doctor in the above scenario. I have the equivalent amount of education/training (perhaps even more) and I am most likely more singularly specialized. Therefore, jobs that contain a decent amount of science are possibly in my reach, though I lack any real experience in other science fields and I would be competing with many candidates that would certainly have experience. Jobs outside my discipline, which use business/finance skills, customer relation skills, management skills, etc., seem out of reach.
But wait, I have transferable skills! I can get any job I want in any field that I think I would enjoy! All I have to do is take the concrete skills I have, water them down with euphemisms, and hope that an employer doesn't see me as I truly am behind the veil: an overly mass-produced, specialized cog in the academic machine which is easily replaced by an unceasing line of newer, highly-sophisticated substitutes.
In the end my friend, there is only hope. And at most times, it is fleeting...
I often feel like this too, Aimless Jones. In particular, these feelings of doubt and defeat plague me when I read job ad after job ad that require 5-7 years IN THAT PARTICULAR field. All the "transferable skills" in the world don't help you then.
ReplyDeleteBut, as you said, all you can do is hope. And cross fingers that an ad will pop up that is *close enough* to your skill set, and the employer wants an advanced degree of some sort, and you're willing to start out as low-(wo)man on the totem pole.
Good luck!
You need to get your thinking cap on. transferrable skills don't work in any industry - they work in related industries. And yes, you need to be able to meet all the selection criteria. If that means gaining experience through vountary work, casual work or drawing on your life skills outside academic work, then that's fine. If you need help with how to develop a systematic plan for transferring industries, James from Sell Out Your Soul has the most practical plan. His advice is mostly related to humanities graduates, but I think the overall concepts are the same. Namely, just exxpecting that employers will see your natural aptitude is not going to get you an interview, let alone a job. The catch here of course, as you've identified above, is that there are often highly technical terms in job descriptions that have very specific meanings within given industries that are going to trip up the career changer.
ReplyDeleteThanks Currer Bell and WTF, and sorry about the negative post - it is just good to get it out sometimes! As a scientist, things are generally concrete or not (although you may get a different impression during the paper writing process) so I find it difficult to rely on something that seems vague. I will try to define my transferable skills in the realm of related industries.
ReplyDeleteIt is a very depressing experience, not getting the dream you wanted. It's hard not to be negative about it sometimes. you will get there. and once you have a job that pays you a decent wage, with actual other humans to hang out with at lunch time, this period will seem like a bad dream...
DeleteNo need to apologize for negativity! We have all been there/are there...depends on the day for me!
ReplyDeleteHave you thought of looking at jobs in the publishing or media sector where you have to manage huge quantities of written information. Yes, it might be entry level but given that you do know how to write and get a point across you've got some skills that are transferable.
ReplyDeleteYou do have transferable skills...its not easy by the way to identify them: editorial skills (writing, editing, etc, writing skills, communication skills, management skills (you manage your own work to get stuff done to achieve specific goals)..knowledgement management skills etc. I've written about some of these skill sets on my blog.
Sure, I have thought about jobs that need lots of writing. However, after all the garbage that comes with academic publishing and thesis writing, my enjoyment of writing has been severely tainted. I suppose other outlets besides academia are probably completely different, but academic writing is pretty much all I know, so from my experience, writing seems like the last thing I want to do. Your comment has stirred me up a bit though, and I think I will give it some more thought. Thanks.
DeleteI have done series of postdocs for past 12 years. Just like yourself I have been unable to find a job in past 6 months. Beginning of this year I decided not to be in academia because of bullying and being treated like shit by lab heads. I have since then completed a diploma in management and certificate course in work, health and safety. This was just to formalise my previous experience in project management, lab management and laboratory safety skills. Even this formal education with lots of transferable skill has not opened doors to any job as yet. I get the same old comment "you are overqualified", we need somebody who has experience in same industry! Blah Blah Blah.... But if you have good writing skills you can work as a technical writer alternatively work as technical representative for laboratory and medical equipments and consumables. Good luck
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