Job Change – Changing Domains successfully

It is not easy to change your domain when changing jobs. A domain change may mean moving from a functional domain to another (say Banking to Real Estate, or semiconductors to internet) or moving from one discipline to another within the same functional domain (Developer to Product Manager, Support Engineer to Sales Person, etc.). In either of these cases, you expose yourself to a changed environment, where many of your prior experiences are rendered useless, and you are required to learn new domain very quickly. Hence, many of such changes might not work as expected.

So why do people go for such domain changes? There are many reasons, most have something to do with your career choice. Here are a few:

1. New domain is hot and happening, existing domain is boring and stagnant
2. New domain offers role that old domain can’t offer, and you want that role
3. You can perform very well in the new domain since your expertise of old domain can be leveraged.
4. Long term career can be better developed in the new domain than in the old

Whatever the reason for change might be, it is very important to proceed with caution and a good plan. We have posted a document Changing Domains that presents 5 steps that should be followed when changing domains – this mitigates the risk of failure, and prepares you for success.

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