Like generals still “fighting the last war”, today’s career changers risk using an outdated approach. Partly through a fear of failure, they can be passive in their career planning, continuing to seek “safe” jobs with big employers, chasing fewer and fewer job adverts, and keeping their heads down to avoid redundancy.

Accepting panicked advice from family and friends often leads to a scaled-down version of reality. Career changers kid themselves that roles don’t exist because there are fewer jobs being advertised. They miss new opportunities and sectors. They use the downturn as an excuse to stop looking beyond the obvious, to justify staying in a career rut of their own making.

Thinking the right way matters now more than ever. Finding help between Jobcentre level and top-end outplacement programmes remains a mystery for most people. Career specialists are popping up everywhere, but the quality of their advice varies and may not be appropriate for today’s jobs market.

We all need new career tools for the new economy. So, if you’re changing career in 2009:
- Make all your contacts face-to-face ones as far as possible – get remembered.
- Seek out organisations and people who are bucking the trend.
- Believe that someone you meet soon will make the biggest difference, and work backwards from that.
- Ensure that your CV says everything you would if you were in the room.
- Plan for rejection – hiring decisions are often arbitrary and are not valid feedback.