Job change: 10 possible reasons for making a lateral move at work

Why might stepping aside be a smart career strategy?

Are you looking for a career change? Maybe in the market for a new job? Do you desire to move up in the world, and especially at work?

Changing jobs within your own company or by joining a different employer does not always mean making more money or climbing up the corporate ranks. However, even a lateral move can be advantageous for many reasons. Quite often, a sideways shift can eventually lead to several steps up.

Here are 10 possible reasons to make a strategic lateral career move, even if it means a small pay cut.

NOTE: Written by this author, this copyrighted material originally appeared on another publisher’s site. That site no longer exists. This author holds all rights to this content. No republication is allowed without permission.

1. Add to your professional network.

Contacts are keys to employment advancement, and a sideways step on the job can add considerably.

Corporate headhunter Nick Corcodilos puts it this way: “You need to be part of a circle of friends — people who do the work you want to do — that imbues you with a fine reputation.”

2. Gain marketable skills.

What makes a job candidate appealing to a prospective employer? Talent is valuable, but it’s only tested by trial, which comes with exposure. Escaping the daily grind through a sideways job change can lead to new opportunities for training and practicing additional abilities.

3. Build your resume.

Of course, every new skill set and career experience becomes a resume builder. Future employment prospects may not care so much that a previous career move was lateral as that it showed initiative and creativity.

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4. Enjoy better benefits.

A sideways step on the corporate ladder may result in increased perks, such as paid tuition or expense reimbursements. The job change might include additional training, better scheduling, more travel (or less travel), a window workspace, part-time telecommuting, on-site child care or a paid parking spot. Everything counts.

5. Gain job security.

Is your department subject to downsizing? Are the pink slips flying in your division? A lateral move may be the best way to keep on bringing home a steady paycheck.

6. Find an upward track within the company.

In most organizations, certain departments tend to offer dead-end positions, while others may open up easily toward upward mobility. Smart staffers will check internal job postings for strategic moves.

7. Hook up with a mentor.

Can you spot a senior staffer in your company, whose character and experience you respect? How might a lateral job change allow you to work for this valued expert? The training and future employment reference could prove golden in time.

“A mentor can help your career, whether it is how to navigate the political landscape or how to improve your performance,” explains Dorothy Tannahill-Moran, of Career Rocketeer.

On the other hand, an insecure, inept, unpleasant or unethical boss can be more than enough reason to seek a new position, even if the new slot does not count as an upward move. Who wants to work for a wannabee or a rogue riding roughshod over his or her staffers?

8. Escape an unpleasant job.

Do you dread going to work each day? Job dissatisfaction can wreak havoc one anyone’s daily life, particularly when it comes from legitimate problems in the workplace. Eventually, this ongoing negativity of experience or environment may drag a person down, even detracting from his or her own sense of excellence or productivity. How any anyone be his or her best, if work is a daily discouragement? And how might this condition affect that person’s life in general?

Sliding into a comparable, but friendlier, work slot may improve health and career advancement.

9. Build better boundaries.

Is your job extra stressful? Do department politics cause you unnecessary worry, or is management taking advantage of your good will? Often, a sideways move to a new division may be just what the doctor ordered to cut conflicts or to set stricter standards for personal and family time.

10. Seek fresh challenges.

A parallel job may offer interdisciplinary exposure, which can supercharge a professional career. Task forces and multi-departmental projects are prime examples of these turbo moves.

No one wants to be a daily drone, so it pays to evaluate employment continually. “Always take the time to assess what you want to do! Always,” counsels Career Sherpa’s Hannah Morgan.

In any job field, new responsibilities can prove stimulating, so a lateral change can be a big boost, even if it doesn’t lead immediately to a loftier professional title or a pay increase.

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10 top resume-writing don’ts for job seekers

Pitfalls are plentiful, when it comes to writing a resume. Job hunters, best be on your guard. Today’s job marketplace can be challenging. Employment candidates strive to come up with clever and creative ways to attract prospective hirers’ attention and line up interviews.

Often, a well-written professional resume is the launching point, but only if it’s correctly done.

NOTE: Written by this author, this copyrighted material originally appeared on another publisher’s site. That site no longer exists. This author holds all rights to this content. No republication is allowed without permission.

Unfortunately, many job applicants seem somewhat ill informed, when it comes to producing acceptable professional resumes to showcase their talents and experience. Several key errors should be avoided at all costs.

What are the top ten biggest boo-boos job applicants might make on their professional resumes?

A professional resume must never employ cutesy quaintness.

Pretty papers are wonderful for thank-you notes, wedding invitations and other social purposes. However, fancy stationary is utterly inappropriate for a professional resume. The most successful job applicants allow their credentials to speak for themselves, rather than drawing attention through frilly or ornate papers.

A professional resume must never overlook basic neatness.

Usually, a job applicant’s professional resume represents his or her first point of contact with a prospective employer. Unless he or she is currently working for that organization as a professional intern or employee, the employment candidate will likely be seeking a primary introduction.

Just as a savvy job applicant would dress for success for an in-person meeting, he or she will want to present the professional resume in its best possible appearance. Clean, crisp paper, printed in a clear font, can make a solid impression. A neatly presented resume is like a sturdy handshake. It offers no offense.

A professional resume must never contain sloppy spelling.

On a professional resume, a misspelled word or two can quickly destroy an employment candidate’s credibility with a potential employer. Proofreading can make a world of difference, when it comes to creating a presentable professional resume.

Also, chat-room or instant-messaging abbreviations and acronyms are also unacceptable in the job-search process. Basically, the employment applicant must seek to present himself or herself as a diligent and capable adult.

“I want 2 work 4 U” simply won’t cut it with a potential boss.

A professional resume must never include messy mechanics.

The high school English teacher had it right. Good grammar does count, especially in the workplace. Sentence fragments, run-ons, improper capitalizations and other mechanical errors do detract from the professional resume. 

In nearly any career field, basic communications skills are highly valued. A smart employment candidate will enlist the help of a trusted writer or other skilled communicator to double-check his or her professional resume before submitting it to a prospective employer.

A professional resume must never be sent without a cover letter.

In most companies, middle- and upper-managers receive unsolicited professional resumes daily, whether job openings exist or not. Those resumes that arrive without cover letters are generally relegated immediately to the infamous circular file, or the trash.

Professional resumes that do include well-written cover letters often receive a bit more attention. After all, a resume without a cover letter is like a suit without a jacket. The outfit is not complete.

In addition, the cover letter offers the job applicant an opportunity to mention whether professional and personal references, writing or work samples, lists of awards and achievements and other supporting items might be available.

A professional resume must never offer vague employment objectives.

Human resources experts love to debate the question of whether job applicants should list employment objectives on professional resumes.

Certainly, if an individual is approaching multiple industries or job opportunities, the objective must be tailored to match each on. By adapting word processing files, job applicants may easily craft several unique resumes to fit various potential employment opportunities.

What about salary requirements? Should these be listed on a professional resume? Most employment experts advise against including actual amounts in print. Often, such figures may be open to negotiation, once an interview actually occurs. It would be unfortunate for a job applicant to list a suggested salary requirement, only to discover later that the potential employer was willing to pay even more.

A professional resume must never display too much information.

Professional resumes are often passed around in the workplace. Often, with the best intentions, a manager may forward a potential candidate’s resume to another department or staffer.

Personal information has no place in a professional resume. Although an interviewer may ask a job candidate in person about his or her pets, hobbies and special interests, this information does not belong on the professional resume. A professional resume should not include a photograph, caricature, clip-art or other image, either.

Confidential data, such as an employment candidate’s salary history, need not be listed on a professional resume. In addition, an applicant’s age, rage, marital status, health issues, religion, Social Security number and other classified details are to be omitted.

A professional resume must never have inaccuracies or untruths.

Throughout history, countless job applicants have been tempted to beef up their backgrounds, embellish their employment details, bestow additional academic degrees upon themselves or otherwise augment the details on their professional resumes.

Lying on a professional resume is never acceptable. This is the biggest job application no-no of all. Communicating untruths is the fastest way for a job applicant to destroy his or her own credibility.

Prospective employers do check professional resume details, run credit reports, and investigate professional references. In short order, the truth does come out. Fibs can cost an applicant the job.

A professional resume must never offer excuses for previous employment terminations or career gaps.

Often, a job applicant may become stymied by a significant gap between jobs or a sudden loss of employment. How should such questions be handled on the professional resume?

In the very least, the professional resume is not a forum for airing grievances towards former employers, attacking unfair employment practices, defending oneself after downsizing or bad-mouthing an organization.

In an employment interview, an employment candidate may be asked to elaborate on unusual employment gaps or job changes. However, even then, this must be done tactfully and strategically.

A professional resume must never be followed up by pestering of potential employers.

After mailing and sending a professional resume, the job seeker may be eager for a response. A single telephone call or e-mail, about two weeks after posting the professional resume, may be considered appropriate. Beyond that, however, the responsibility and prerogative lies with the potential employer. Constant calling will only work against the applicant.

Of course, a professional resume is the first step in self-promotion in the job market.

By avoiding potential pitfalls and gaffes, the job applicant may increase his or her chances of gaining the much-needed first interview. Once the face-to-face meeting takes place, the candidate will have an opportunity to articulate in person his or her career goals, skill sets and other advantages.

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