My niche has become a rut - how do I escape?

[norrahe]

Are the projects you work on all related to health systems (sorry, i have very little knowledge of healthcare). Have you not worked on Payroll or HR systems, and you could tailor your CV to these types of projects with less emphasis on the healthcare industry, then maybe get a PM job on a HR or Payroll system within another industry(maybe at lower rate to start)?

Definitely try and take the emphasis off the industry and focus on the types of projects.

It is really difficult if you get known for a niche as the agencies will continually pigeon-hole you because they can place you easily in certain markets.

PM skills should be transferable but agencies do not see it that way.

Also if you are on LinkedIn try joining groups outside of your niche industry, post lots of stuff there and raise your profile, it will get you noticed by pimps in those industries.

Good luck! It's not easy as I've been specialising in summat for the last couple of years and now that it is on the wane, people cannot see past the niche.

[Sausage Surprise]

Hit the private Pharma companies and the Pharma BI ones too.

I'm sure they'll snap you up.

I did a year with a Pharma in 2010....loved it! Money seemed to be no object...the crazy world of drugs eh

[yasockie]

Even before reading the topic, I had though - move into management - that's the typical exit for people who don't want to keep up with domain knowledge too much. By doing that, however, you discard the competitive advantage of having the domain knowledge.
But ask yourself, is the new domain not going to get stale soon? Healthcare in particular sounds like it has a bright future as Europe is getting older and we'll need more efficient healthcare solutions and project around that.

[Peter Loew]

As a PM I've worked in Central Gov, Telco, Pharma, Broadcast Media, Defense, Digital Agency, Creative, City etc.

PM skills are transferable but product knowledge is usually what they're after, more so than industry knowledge.

Start thinking about what you've encountered in Health Care and put on your CV to get attention. If you're good on the phone agencies will put you forward.

g/l

[adubya]

You'd need to seriously change your cv but this may cause you to fall between two stools.

Handy working in healthcare then.


But messy.

[lukemg]

Tough one this, rut can be suffocating and I got in a bad mess one time due to fear of moving from a contract when the outside market pitched downwards.
BUT, I wouldn't chuck in a great rate, I expect you will get just as bored in another industry working in IT, it's not really a change.
I would pepper the contracts with hols and time-off (even if not working) doesn't half break up a contract if you have a string of breaks booked and if you are so good they will accept the gaps.
Keep stashing the surplus in something that can generate its own income (HYP or the like)and you can be truly independent in a reasonable timeframe.