Making a career change

To get to the job you want, you sometimes have to take intermediate steps.

Dear Bob ...

I'm an IT executive. My last three jobs have been in very similar companies in very similar industries -- in each case, helping employers move from one guy in a cubicle who built the company's systems out of odds and ends to having a professional IT group.

I'm tired of the industry and tired of doing the same thing. But every time I talk to a likely employer, it's the same story: They don't want to talk to me because my experience doesn't match the job requirements.

I can't even argue with them. In their situation, I've rejected candidates for not having enough relevant experience too.

What can I do? Or have I built up such a karmic burden that I'll have to wait until my next life?

- Looking for a change

Dear Looking ...

Karma has nothing to do with it. Logic has everything to do with it. You were right, they were right, and there's a solution to be found, too. Here's what I think it is:

You're trying for too big a leap. You're trying for a different industry, size company (and IT department), and challenge (improve instead of build), in a single step. You could do this if you had a fantastic personal network and someone who knew you and had confidence was willing to grease the skids.

That not being the case (if it was the case you wouldn't have written), you need to plan a path instead of a leap.

Which means, look for one of these possibilities:

• A job building an IT organization in a growing company in a different industry.

• A job running an IT organization the size of the ones you've built in your current industry.

• A job on the vendor side -- a job with one of your current IT software, hardware or services providers -- that can introduce you to likely next-step employers.

Or some other opportunity that has at least one dimension for which you can claim solid experience.

Careers are paths, after all. Sometimes you have to plan more than one step ahead.

- Bob