Transitioning careers typically consists of three stages: Moving on from an organization or re-examining your professional identity, seeking opportunities while growing skill sets, and onboarding to a new work environment. Career transition programs aim to expedite and support professionals throughout said stages. These programs can be part of an outplacement strategy or integrated into an internal mobility framework within an organization. In either case, individuals in these programs are offered expert advice, resources, flexibility, and partnership during a career change through services, consulting, and technology.

Composition of a career transition program

Even people in the same field and occupation have different talents, passions, and work histories. Therefore, career transition programs require a tailored approach with holistic services centered around the participants and job market analysis. Regardless of its uniqueness, a few key components should be included in these programs.

Establishing goals & objectives

When someone finds themselves in an unfamiliar situation, such as losing a job, it’s common to feel slightly lost. For this reason, a career consultant helps create a roadmap toward a professional destination. Courses of action are typically set in place only after assessing an individual’s professional knowledge, work history, and personal goals and values.

Reviewing skill sets, profiles, & best practices

Resumes can go years without seeing edits or changes; similarly, evaluating and reviewing skill sets sometimes only happen when one switches roles. Considering this, one of the first steps for any career transition program is ascertaining which skills are best to market as well as finding professional optimization opportunities for an individual. These opportunities for improvement could be their personal brand, LinkedIn and social media profile presence, or technical knowledge.

Leaving a job can leave many questions unanswered, such as “how do I update my resume for AI and ATS efficiency?;” “how do I respond in an interview?;” “how do I negotiate a strong offer?;” and “where are my knowledge gaps?”  Career transition programs aim to clarify next steps and any confusing areas.

Marketing & rebranding

Career transition programs commonly use data analysis while consulting and finding employment opportunities – ultimately bringing greater visibility to the participants’ resumes by targeting search terms that employers are looking for and optimizing for the applicant tracking systems. Besides analyzing resumes for industry-specific terms and skills, a career transition program helps specify talents or achievements to showcase in cover letters and emphasize during interviews. Additionally, some programs could help create professional brands for finding work in an entirely new industry – such as a biotech engineer transferring to the field of higher education. It all depends on the marketable skills and viable options for a candidate.

Preparing & coaching

After thoroughly assessing an individual’s strengths and ways of improving their candidacy for a new career, the critical process of in depth career consulting can start. A few approaches might include building a strong resume and LinkedIn profile, interview preparation, and negotiation best practices. The strategies used during this part of the program depend on the employee, industry, and targeted organization – but the main goal is to build confidence and expertise.

It would be a mistake to overlook your remaining employees after a RIF or other major disruption. If not properly supported, they can be left shaken. If you’ve built up a resilient workforce overtime, your remaining employees are more likely to be prepared and remain engaged throughout this change. If this is a new concept to your organization, you can begin by offering resiliency workshops post-RIF.

Networking to create and evaluate opportunities

Despite the fact that 85% of job opportunities are found through networking, many employees don’t know how to best leverage or build their contact list. Your exiting employees can feel lost immediately after their notice, and Keystone Partners acts as their life raft, offering best practices on how to successfully and efficiently identify, reach out, and lean on their network.

Negotiating & closing

The most rewarding step in a career transition program is negotiating offers and onboarding at the new company.

Exiting employees can rush into a new job too soon if they feel like their back is to the wall, with no support and lacking key market insights. Our expert consultants support individuals in creating a career management strategy to position them for their next role and beyond. With 82% of Keystone participants landing a role with equal or greater compensation, employees can confidently make their transition and look back on an otherwise stressful and demoralizing experience positively.

How to start a career transition program

Developing talent is challenging, but getting assistance for your organization doesn’t have to be. At Keystone Partners, we apply years of expertise in order to create goal-oriented, custom career transition programs for individuals and organizations. Contact us today and see how our tailored approach to career transition services creates a more effective and engaged workforce.