How do you leverage your experience in a different field to get a career in tech? On September 24th we came together in LA for a special evening all about changing careers and I spoke with 5 successful career changers who each took a different path to doing what they love.
There is a great opportunity right now to leverage your experience in a non-tech field to enter the tech industry. This window of opportunity will not last forever. As technology becomes more ubiquitous in our lives, soon there won't be as much of a distinction between tech and non-tech fields, at least not in the way we think of it now. And working "in tech" doesn't necessarily mean building technology: there are many roles that do not require that level of proficiency, and as more companies automate repetitive tasks, big-picture skills that cannot be replicated will become more and more valuable.
Leverage Your Experience
What are you interested in? What have you spent years or decades learning? How can you leverage your experience? I invited speakers who work at the intersection of one or more fields, such as law, medicine, entertainment, finance, politics and arts to share their experience leveraging what they already knew to do something new. Each found a unique way to bring together two or more industries to either build their business or to land a great position at a technology company. From legaltech to medtech, from enttech to fintech, all the way to a new platform that merges arts, tech and politics, we'll talk about finding your own way to career fulfillment.
And this panel also brought an extra special something to the How to Change Careers series: each panelist is an accomplished public speaker in their own right. What a treat!
Learning how to leverage your experience is at the core of what Repurpose Your Purpose is all about. Why? Because one of the biggest obstacles to your own career happiness is the tendency of career changers to underestimate or dismiss what they already know and bring to the table.
When you leverage your experience, you start from a place of strength, power and value. You increase your self esteem, can be open to more opportunities and are more likely to find the sweet spot you need to change careers.
If you are ready to take your career to the next level, join us for more evenings dedicated to choosing the path that's right for you. As always, not only we'll have a great panel discussion, but there will be time to connect with your deeper Self and with each other during the interactive part of the evening.
Meet the panelists:
NADYA ICHINOMIYA is an Enterprise Agile Coach at Sony Pictures Entertainment, and the Co-Founder of Women in Tech:Hollywood - a group of over 2,400 members. From working in sales management at IBM after graduation to becoming VP of Electronic Data Systems Germany (now HP) with full $33 million P&L responsibility, from working as a Hollywood TV producer and Literary Manager to her current role as Enterprise Agile Coach at Sony, Nadya has navigated multiple successful career changes. Her Women In Technology: Hollywood group is a cross industry initiative with 2,400+ members from the major studios, leading a steering committee from Disney, WB, Fox, NBCU, Sony & Lionsgate.
In 2016 Nadya received a Certification of Acknowledgement from Eric Garcetti, Mayor of Los Angeles, as the thought leader of both influential groups and panelist for the "Asian American Women's Achieving Success Symposium" and in 2017 she was named one of the "Top 50 Visionary Women in Tech to Watch" by Innov8Tiv. Last, but not least, Nadya is the CEO/Founder of the "Solve For Equality by 2025 in Hollywood & Technology Initiative," which will disrupt discrimination & bias by fusing the two superpowers of these industries (abilities to amplify/enable), creating an inclusive world where EVERYONE'S genius will be unleashed.
IRFAN KAMAL is the Vice President of Marketing at Aspiration, an online investment firm with a conscience--created for the middle class, built on trust, and dedicated to combining profit with philanthropic purpose. Irfan is a product, strategy and marketing executive with over fifteen years of combined digital and product experience working with leading entrepreneurs and Fortune 100 brands. From working with Jeff Bezos, as a startup investment adviser/entrepreneur-in-residence, to the halls of Ogilvy & Mather, back to growing an exciting new startup, Irfan's work has given him unique insights on the challenges faced by today's career changers.
MAX SILVERMAN is a product leader and entrepreneur working at the intersection of technology and culture. He is the Founder of Canvas, a platform that facilitates collaboration between artists and progressive organizations, co-founder of Free Machine, a nonprofit that uses storytelling to drive civic participation around policy issues related to technology and automation, and was formerly a co-founder and Chief Product Officer at Seed&Spark, a film-specific crowdfunding platform built to increase diversity and inclusion in the entertainment industry. He's hopeful that the next decade will prove to be transformative in terms of how we assess the value that technology creates in our society.
AMY Y. WAN, Esq. - Named one of the Top 10 Women to Watch in LegalTech by ABA Journal, Amy is the Founder of Bootstrap Legal, which helps real estate syndicators get legal document and advice more efficiently. She is also founder of Sagewise, which produces mobile games that reward users in cryptocurrency. Amy was previously Partner at a boutique securities law firm and general counsel of a real estate crowdfunding startup. Amy is also Founder and Co-Organizer of Legal Hackers LA and served as a Presidential Management Fellow.
NIKKI BENZIMRA is a business woman and tech enthusiast helping to manage, build and develop websites for businesses and startups as the president and founder of Intuitive Development Group. Growing up in two successful family businesses, she jokes that she received her MBA at the nightly dinner table and continues to use those lessons to lead her businesses daily. Nikki has combined her tech and business experience to lead Doc2Doc Connect as the COO, from idea to launch in Los Angeles.
I got to partner up with two amazing organizations for this special event: Tech Jobs for Good and Legal Hackers - Los Angeles.
TECH JOBS FOR GOOD is a new platform dedicated to helping you find tech jobs at mission-driven companies in the United States. Its newsletter is read by thousands of people looking to make a difference with their career, sign up for it here.
Psst: Are you hiring? Create your company's profile and post your jobs on Tech Jobs for Good to reach amazing job seekers who want to have a job with purpose.
LEGAL HACKERS is the Meetup group for all those interested in the future of legal services, legal education and legal technology. The legal industry is changing rapidly, and these changes present exciting opportunities and daunting challenges for industry participants. The LA group meets once a month. Join fellow practitioners, students, educators and entrepreneurs to explore new ideas and build a thriving legal hacking community in Los Angeles. #LegalHack
What is legal hacking? Read Dan Lear's ABA article on the national legal hacking movement. If you're interested in legal hacking but don't live in LA, you can find sister groups listed here.
First of all, you are not too late and you are not alone. It s not unusual for careers to undergo a shift, even after decades. Frankly, you re right on target. So how do you find a job that s more about what you want and more meaningful?