Chapter 31 Session 30: Transforming Skills to Create Opportunities for Yourself

Some people can constructively fill the void that others bypass and create opportunities for themselves.I've talked to a lot of people like that, and Debra Dunn is a typical example, and she's been at HP for a long time.Deborah's first job at HP was at the company's headquarters, and after a few years, she desperately wanted to move to operations to get a better understanding of what was going on inside the business.At that time, there just happened to be a job opening in the Test and Measurement department.Although Deborah never wanted to be an HR manager, she decided to take it because of the opportunity to gain insight into the functioning of the company's operating departments.

A few years later, in order to avoid layoffs, HP implemented early retirement measures throughout the company.As a result, the management of Deborah's department has all resigned, and personnel changes have been huge.Later, the new general manager took office, and many positions were vacant, which urgently needed to be filled.Deborah noticed the openings and decided to take a chance.She volunteered to manage the reorganized production department.Deborah had never managed production before, but she had worked with the previous directors who were in charge of production for a long time, so she was confident and she could learn by doing, adding to her knowledge of production management.Deborah wasn't the best candidate for the job, but she managed to convince the new general manager that she could make a difference.Deborah's joining brought a new perspective to solve problems to the team, and she implemented a series of positive reform measures within the team.Only two years later, Deborah used the same method to get a senior marketing position at HP. This time, she also did not wait for others to be promoted, but readjusted her skills to meet the needs of the new position.

Transform skills to create opportunities for yourself As Deborah's experience demonstrates, the best way to move from one field to another is to figure out how to transfer one's talents to different environments.Others may not see the similarities between the two fields, so your job is just to make those similarities stand out so you can stand out.The terminology of two different fields is sometimes very different, but the function of the job can be very similar.Take the parallel between scientists and management consultants: I was supposed to work for a start-up biotech company after I got my PhD in neurology.But the problem was, I wanted to work in marketing and corporate strategy, not in a lab.However, it is almost impossible to do the job I want without relevant experience, and all the new companies I interviewed require candidates to be able to start working immediately after joining.I interviewed for several months, and I was often almost hired, but in the end because of my work experience, I was still not hired.