pigeonholed - how do you break the mould?

[lightng]

I had to a complete career change 12 years ago. I had to take a hit on pay & responsibilities to do it but it was worthwhile in the end.

Its quite easy to be type cast so expect at least a little resistance along the way.

When Leonard Nimoy asked his agent to get him a part in High School Musical 3. He was met with the response "Just put your ears back on, Leonard".

[norrahe]

But why would an agent put forward someone with no experience although might have some transferable skills over someone who has all the relavent experience.
Agent is there for the paying customer, not for the contractor

Understandable, I'm thinking more entry level positions; Those "break into" roles that are the holy grail of contracting.

This is an it would be nice to get into other markets, but more often than not as a contractor you will end up in your niche industry till (early) retirement. but thems the breaks.

I suppose you could cross over to the dark side and go permie to get said experience.

[DodgyAgent]

Understandable, I'm thinking more entry level positions; Those "break into" roles that are the holy grail of contracting.

This is an it would be nice to get into other markets, but more often than not as a contractor you will end up in your niche industry till (early) retirement. but thems the breaks.

I suppose you could cross over to the dark side and go permie to get said experience.

You could ask Milan, only he is still doing his "break in" job 20 years later

[NickNick]

I've found that Finance and Telecoms seem to be the hardest industries to get into/out of. However, last year I did manage a move out of Telecoms to work for a charity, and with any luck, I'll be back in telecoms in the new year.

Charity work is a different world.

[TheVoice]

If you want to switch skills, take the hit and learn the new skills, then provide a service if need be for free to get the experience.

No! We're not a fsking charity. Would you recruit on behalf of a client free & pay the contractor? I doubt it.

[DodgyAgent]

No! We're not a fsking charity. Would you recruit on behalf of a client free & pay the contractor? I doubt it.

No but I might offer to do the first placement as a freebie (perm)/low margin to prove that I am worth putting onto the supplier list.

[expat]

Before you start whining about this, please bear in mind that you guys are paid a huge amount of money to repeat more or less what you have done before.....

Quite so. There are more people asking how to get in to a lucrative area than how to get out of it. The other side of typecasting is the barrier to entry that it constitutes, which is what brings the high pay.

[fadanoid]

Before you start whining about this, please bear in mind that you guys are paid a huge amount of money to repeat more or less what you have done before. You may think that you can switch and you probably can, however no agent is stupid enough to put someone up for a job when there are others with more specific experience.

If you want to switch skills, take the hit and learn the new skills, then provide a service if need be for free to get the experience.

WHS

Took a £14p/h role just to break into a very specific sector. 25 months later getting £57p/h equiv.

No BS

[Cheshire Cat]

If you REALLY want to break into a new sector, take a permie job. They're more likely to look at the overall "fit" of you and their company, and take a longer term view of training you up with the specific business knowledge you need for your role. They'll be less reliant on you hitting the ground running than if you were on a day rate.
Work for however long it takes to learn some new skills/business knowledge, then go contracting again.

[Wilmslow]

If you REALLY want to break into a new sector, take a permie job. They're more likely to look at the overall "fit" of you and their company, and take a longer term view of training you up with the specific business knowledge you need for your role. They'll be less reliant on you hitting the ground running than if you were on a day rate.
Work for however long it takes to learn some new skills/business knowledge, then go contracting again.

Ditto to the Cheshire Cat.

Get a permie job with a consultancy, where you can get out and about to different firms.

Better still, try to get a contract with a consultancy if you are really lucky – they may send you to different areas that you have worked in before if you have a good relationship with them.

Personally – in the 9 years I have been in the game, I have worked in finance, manufacturing, logistics and telco, not to forget government work.

Sounds mad, but, retail can be one of the most exciting areas – I am dealing with everything from finance, and storage through to logistics and abattoirs.

Sounds like you need to think carefully about what you would REALLY like from your work.