Bridging Big Job Transitions Through Digital

When making a big job switch between industry, role, level, or more, the road can be a bit tricky. Wild times require fresh thinking, but that doesn't mean that making a drastic jump from one job to another is easy. When you’re beginning a new job as an outsider (coming from an unexpected company or industry) you need to bear in mind that your first two to three months are far more important than they would be in a "normal" new job. Digital Interviewing eases this transition for greater success in the short term. If you're coming into a drastically new position, you're going to have your work cut out for you in terms of coming up to speed. Ask lots of question, and listen carefully to the responses you receive. Additionally, asking questions and listening critically demonstrates your openness, interest, and respect for the knowledge of your new company and colleagues. Along the same lines, don't assume that your new job is similar to your old job. Learn what's going on before jumping to conclusions, and don't be afraid of looking dumb. Likely, your new coworkers will respect the fact that you're learning, and will cheer that much louder for you when you succeed. When you see areas where you believe your expertise translates, offer to share your expertise without being pushy. For instance, Forbes suggests that rather than saying “Oh yeah, that’s just like our marketing situation at company X. What you need to do is….” say, “We had a situation at company X where the consumer marketing was out of sync with the new product development cycle.  Is that similar to what you’re describing?” Don't be a know-it-all, especially when your new coworkers aren't sure you know anything at all. Lastly, do what you can to make a positive difference as quickly as you can. As you’re exploring your new job and starting to see how your experience applies, keep an eye out for things that aren’t working well that you can address quickly and effectively. Especially try to provide fixes you can make by teaming with others. When you team up and improve something substantive, you demonstrate what your new coworkers most need to see from you in order to stop wondering why on earth you got hired. At HireVue, before a new team member even starts the job they complete a digital interview for the whole company to watch. This gives everyone a chance to understand their background and how it is relevant to the future job at hand. Coming from a different industry isn’t a bad thing – you can add a lot of knowledge and experience that is unique to your background. Communicating through digital interviewing eases the transition and sets each team member up for greater success.