Andy Bergin ⋅ Greenwich, CT Speaking Virtually ⋅ 36 years experience

Michael,

Finding a match between our interests and a career is not easy. It starts with what drives you as a person, what kind of people and work environment do you like best, and what do you want to get out of a career. It helps to do some digging. 20 years ago, (for $95 online) I did a profile of myself at www.careerleader.com - the tool was designed by 2 Harvard PHDs. It looks at our interests through the filter of which business careers and cultures do we match up with best. The profile I got back nailed me. Since it's a self-evaluation tool it's not the be all end all but it is a good starting point for self-reflection. I can tell you from my perspective as a business communication coach, the hardest story for people to tell is their own. Invest time in digging a little deeper into who you really are and why you matter. It's a terrific story but you have to own it. That takes a bit of work - even CEOs have to do it.

Once you get past all the knowledge/skill/experience hurdles in a job interview, it all comes down to fit. The more you know about yourself and what makes you tick, the easier it is to show an interviewer why you're different, why you matter and why you'd fit on their team.

The first interview you have to nail is the one you have with yourself.

Andy

David Tiensvold ⋅ Commerce City, CO U.S. Navy, Senior Chief Petty Officer ⋅ 23 years served

While you are still in a student status, join every professional organization related to your future career interests. Student discounts are usually much better than military discounts. While on my post Navy career sabbatical, and a grad student, I was a student volunteer at a professional organization when I was offered my first post military job.
Pursuing your MBA in the Hampton Roads area you may look at attending and joining:
http://www.seva.astd.org/join
http://pmihr.org/join.php
http://www.hrshrm.org/#
https://www.meetup.com/HamptonRoadsProfessionalsNetwork/
http://hamptonroads.eventful.com/events/business-after-work-/E0-001-094363235-8@2017020917

Good Luck
Dave Tiensvold (SCPO, RET)

Stefan Beyer ⋅ Kirkland, WA Wipro Ltd ⋅ 12 years experience

Focus on showing how transferable your skills are. While it might not be specifically relevant, I wrote an article that might be of help: https://acp-advisornet.org/articles/326/resume-cover-letter-multi-talented-individual

Juan Carlos Cruz ⋅ Pompano Beach, FL Britwater Financial Group ⋅ 20 years experience

Mike first let me congratulations on the upcoming MBA. Amazing Job! Now do you wish to be self employed or working for private company? You must identity which one of these would best serve you. There are so many changes happening in our country that it would deb best if we know exactly where we wish to move towards.

John Green ⋅ Cary, NC Information Technology ⋅ 40 years experience

in the 1960s, my dad used to say, "That and a dime will get you a cup of coffee."

Well, the price of coffee has gone up. And having an MBA in and of itself is not a turn-key credential. You need to pair that credential with some skill specialization.

The job market is all about skills. Everyone has MBAs these days. Not to diminish the effort you put in to get it. Just that the MBA credential is not going to get you the job you want unless you have other character traits that appeal to the employer.

Check these roles to see what skills employers highly value :

https://www.roberthalf.com/workplace-research/salary-guides

Obviously, the roles with higher pay denote higher demand.

Mike Cottell ⋅ Glen Head, NY Michael T Cottell Consulting ⋅ 42 years experience

Hi Mike, congratulations on the upcoming MBA! It's a very exciting time in your life to branch out and start a new career and I wish you tons of luck. A few thoughts to build on the terrific advice that Liz has already given you.
1) Whatever your responsibilities were in the medical field, medicine and health care are a business, so you already have 20 years of " business" experience that you need to leverage.
2) Make a list of every possible " transferable skill" that you possess that can translate to the " business " sector. Leadership, Managing Budgets, Project Management, Business Analytics, Managing Conflict, Coaching, Public Speaking, Negotiation etc., the list is endless.
3) Make the list and then cite examples of where and how you used these skills in your current role.
4) Do a similar exercise with " personal traits" , like driven, passionate, empathetic , personable, team player etc. and again, cite some examples.
5) Search on line both transferable skills and traits and you'll get a list of ideas.
6) The reason this is so important is that after 20 years of service ( Thank You!) , you want to transition into a new career at the appropriate salary range and position.
7) You will need to address any potential challenges to your " lack of experience" to a particular company or business with your skill set and traits to demonstrate your self worth to the organization.
8) This is important even utilizing your business analytics as many top talents graduating great schools enter the business world in analyst roles where they pay their dues with countless projects, hours and reports.
9) There is nothing wrong with that, but with an MBA and 20 years of service, you can come in at a much higher level of compensation and responsibilities.
10) Very often, businesses like to hire from " outside the industry" to bring in fresh thinking , new technologies and ideas etc.
11) Consider making a list of the innovations that you have seen in the medical field that might translate to the business world. One example that comes to mind is how patients can now access their lab results and test results on line with a patient portal. Perhaps a business could be doing the same thing for customer service? Tech companies do this letting you track the exact status of your on line order.
12) Your resume must reflect these transferable skills and tie into the buzz words in any job posting you are looking for.
13) Every resume must be accompanied by a cover letter, highly specific to that company about why you are the ideal candidate.
14) Network, Network and then Network again. Call anyone you know going as far back as you can think telling them about your intentions. Ask for advice, leads and contacts or " connectors" to help you land an interview.
15) DO NOT rely exclusively on sending resumes to websites or job boards , it's a part of it, yes, but not the most successful way--NETWORKING is the best.
Finally, stay strong and be persistent, you will succeed. If you have more questions specific to my comments, you can reach out to the advisor community again or contact me directly at mtcottell55@gmail.com
Again, thank you for your 20 years of service to our great country.
Best Regards, Mike

Liz Campanelli ⋅ East Brunswick, NJ Johnson & Johnson ⋅ 25 years experience

Hi Michael,

Many thanks for your 20 years of service!
Please let me know if you have a resume put together that talks about your experiences.
Business analytics is a good place to be in a corporate environment and there are plenty of options for that role in a logistics group of some sort. That's my first thought. I'll have others when I get a picture of where you were and what you are doing now. Then we can focus on transferrable skills and how to apply that MBA.
I have plenty of corporate experience in analytics as well as supply chain and now resume writing and career mentoring.

Please feel free to reach out to me with any resume info you have and I'll take a look and review or if not, I will help you get one put together if need be. I'm happy to help.

Hope this helps!

Regards,

Liz Campanelli