This time of the year marks compensation review time for many companies.  This can mark angst not just from the employee hoping for a raise commensurate with the impact they’ve made, but also for managers trying to balance the realities of a budget with both strong – and not so strong – team members.  

Personally speaking, I find this one of the most challenging set of conversations I have during the year. I am fortunate to have worked at companies that have been prosperous enough to budget for healthy increases for strong performers.  However, even those seemingly “easy” conversations – for example, “Hey, you got a raise!!!,” which you’d think would excite anyone -- are sometimes met with misaligned expectations.  

Read on to explore a few myths and realities to consider before you boldly go and ask for a raise. 

MYTH:  You must ask for a raise to get a raise.

REALITY: If you are being overlooked for a raise, there is a probably a good reason. Assuming your company is financially in a position to be giving raises, it’s important you understand where you stand before you ask your manager for a raise. For example, is there an adjustment cycle, or are increases given on a rolling basis? Are you guessing your performance is strong enough to warrant an increase, or do you have data to support it in the form of a stellar review or a company award? Have you taken on significant new responsibilities?  Gather all your facts BEFORE you approach your manager -- and be ready for a reality check.  Just because YOU think you deserve one, doesn’t mean your boss, or their boss, agrees. The hope is that you and your manager would  be communicating frequently enough to know exactly where you stand at all times, but when it comes to money there’s often a lot more to consider. Bonuses and raises are sophisticated conversations that aren’t always as easy as they seem. 

MYTH:  Highlighting what my peers make to prove I’m underpaid will be a good strategy to get a raise.

REALITY:  Maybe…or it could completely backfire. I often see people compare themselves to their peers, and think, “I’m SO much stronger than him! I should make more!” Dangerous strategy.  You aren’t looking at performance from the manager’s perspective; you are looking at it from a biased, peer one.  You might be able to craft your own narrative about your colleague’s performance, but ultimately, you don’t know how your manager views both of your performance side by side. There may be a very good reason why your peer is paid more. Ask for a raise based on your own merits, not comparing yourself to others.

MYTH:  Believing you deserve a raise because you haven’t had one in awhile.

REALITY: We aren’t owed raises, we earn them. While it was a popular model to give “cost of living adjustments” long ago, that practice is largely fading away. No employers wants to reward people for just hanging out in their role; they want to provide those monies to people who are really making an impact. Bill Belichik, coach of the New England Patriots, famously tells his team, “Do your job.” That’s what we get paid for. To earn a raise, you earn it through stellar accomplishments and impact made beyond your day-to-day responsibilities. NOT time in role.  

MYTH:  I’m playing multiple roles, so I should be paid that way!

REALITY:  Maybe someone left on your team and you picked up the slack, or maybe you are highly aspirational and frequently ask to take on more. Look around, however, and you will find a number people who have an over-abundance on their plates. If you want to highlight your work ethic as a supporting reason for a raise, make sure you don’t come across as whiny. There is a big difference between, “I do the work of three people!” and the more effective – and illustrative -- “I’ve made impact in my core job, as well at the other tasks and projects I’ve picked up…”

MYTH: I’m going through some life changes, so my company should help me out.

REALITY:  Maybe you just decided to live without a roommate for the first time or you are getting married. We all navigate life changes throughout the course of our careers. Of course, it would be incredible if raises aligned with these big life changes, but there is no correlation. Many bosses aim to be empathetic, but that does not – and should not – translate to a compensation increase just because of your personal situation. 

In a perfect world, you’d get a killer raise exactly when you think you deserve one, without having to ask for it.  Your manager would recognize your impact and grant you a sizable increase. Given the world is not perfect, sometimes we feel we need to bring up the topic ourselves. This is totally acceptable --just be prepared. Arm yourself with data to support your request and go in ready for a conversation NOT battle. Remain open-minded and listen to what your manager has to share. If you are on different pages, seek to gain clarity on where this is misalignment. If they agree a raise is warranted, don’t expect magic to happen overnight. Under special circumstances sometimes that happens, but generally speaking, timing and budgets play a big role too. Taking a non-emotional approach just might net you that raise you deserve.  

Christina Luconi is Chief People Officer for Rapid7. Follow her on Twitter: @peopleinnovator

One of my favorite funding stories of all time is how Formlabs' co-founders, Natan Linder and Maxim Lobovsky secured an investment from Mitch Kapor, the founder of Lotus Development Corp. It all started with a tweet from Kapor as he overheard Linder and Lobovsky pitching a VC over dinner... to landing a meeting with Kapor and getting stuck in an elevator... read the full story here.

Since then, the company has raised over $50M in funding including a $35M Series B round of funding last August.  Their latest product, the Form 2 brings professional-quality desktop 3D printing to the masses.

We connected with Jory Block, who is part of the People Operations team at Formlabs in Somerville to get the inside scoop on the company's engineering team.

Formlabs is hiring!  Check out its BIZZpage.

Keith Cline:  How has Formlabs revolutionized the 3D printing industry?

Jory Block:  In order to understand how Formlabs has revolutionized the 3D printing industry, you really have to go back to 2011 and survey the landscape. The 3D printing craze was in full swing and the market became flooded with low-cost FDM machines. These consumer-level printers were great for small projects and hobbyists. But there really weren’t any options available for small businesses, entrepreneurs and professionals who needed high resolution, low-cost manufacturing in-house. Formlabs was the first company to bring an SLA 3D printer to people’s desktops and allow them to prototype real-world products without shelling out tens of thousands of dollars. This was a massive game changer for medical researchers, jewelers, film makers and so many other professions who were suddenly able to produce things in-house that were never before possible due to cost and quality. Starting off as an MIT afterschool project, we’ve swelled over the past few years to a now 200+ person company. I think it’s safe to say that we struck a cord in the market!

KC:  How do you view Formlabs' culture and what qualities do you look for in potential candidates to join your team? What are the team’s core values?

JB:  Culture is extremely important at Formlabs and in the early days (when there were only 10 of us) everyone was naturally very close. We were a pirate crew of friends, out solving interesting and challenging problems. As Formlabs became larger, we knew we wanted to try and preserve the small-company culture that made our team like a family. With now over 200 people combined in our Boston and Berlin offices, the goal is to “keep Formlabs weird,” which is really just a fun way of saying, “let’s keep things interesting.” Since we are trailblazing the way for a new era of low-cost manufacturing, keeping things interesting isn’t difficult. Most of the things we work on have never existed before, which opens the doorway for individuals to contribute their own new ideas to the future of Formlabs.

Potential candidates at Formlabs have to be autonomous problem solvers who are extremely self-motivated and not afraid to take risks. You are given a lot of freedom here and we like curious people who can push themselves without being told what to do and how to do it constantly.

KC:  Formlabs is developing an affordable high-resolution 3D printer to enable designers, engineers and makers to easily realize their dreams in beautiful physical form. What are some of the interesting projects the engineering team is tackling?

JB:  Everything we produce is an ongoing project and a big focus for us here has always been to improve upon our existing products relentlessly. We release regular updates to our software, printer and materials. We even just released a new line of engineering resins to expand the possibilities of what users are able to make.

Ongoing R&D is also a top priority and I’m aware that’s very vague. But you’ll just have to keep an eye on our blog to see all the exciting things we have planned for 2017!

KC:  How does the engineering team stay involved in the Boston tech community?

JB:  Formlabs regularly attends meetups and we’ve just started hosting technical talks at our Boston HQ every Thursday. We also travel to technology trade shows all over the world and strive to stay in touch with young engineers through our involvement with programs such as BU Artemis and the Women in Technology Program at MIT, just to name a few.

KC:  What has your union with Pinshape earlier this year done for the future of Formlabs?

JB:  Our union with Pinshape has allowed Formlabs to give our community a place to share and collaborate. The Pinshape site is a playground of creativity where newcomers and professionals alike can go to meet like-minded individuals and be inspired to make something amazing. We’re very excited that Pinshape has joined Formlabs and we can’t wait to see how the site grows this year.

KC:  How does your engineering team keep up with your rapidly-growing user base?

JB:  Well first off, we are hiring like crazy. The Form 2 has been extremely popular and so we are sprinting to expand our team to accommodate our growing user base. We have an incredibly talented community of customers and we take their feedback very seriously. Feedback from the community has a huge impact on how we continue to improve and expand our materials library (e.g. our new engineering resins) and which features we end up adding to our Preform software. Our engineers also frequent our online forum and work closely with our customer team to make sure we have a pulse on what’s going on.

KC:  What types of activities do members of your team take part in outside the office?

JB:  One thing I really love about Formlabs is that everyone here is extremely active. We regularly have people organizing everything from whiskey tastings to ice climbing in some of the nearby mountain ranges. The interest-diversity here is vast and people are quick to jump in and learn something new. Just to name a few of my favorite internal “clubs” and groups, we have Booklabs, Filmlabs, Whiskeylabs, ping pong tournaments, Fitness Bootcamp, yoga, Ragnar, summer camps, hackathons, karaoke nights, soup groups, hikes and so many other things. If there’s something you are interested in doing outside the office, there’s a pretty good chance you’ll find a bunch of people here willing to do it with you.

Quick story, when I joined Formlabs about 4 years ago, I really wanted to put together a Tough Mudder team...but wasn’t really sure if it was something people here would be interested in doing. Fast forward to today and it’s not only become an annual tradition...but even Max (our CEO) joined up for the 2015 race. It was a ton of fun.

KC:  Complete this sentence for our audience: "I love working at Formlabs because…"

Adrian Tanner, Optical Systems Engineer "I get to build things that build things and I get to do it with a fantastic group of people."

Larissa Little, Materials Engineer “I am always using and deepening my technical expertise to create new resins, while still having the flexibility to work on interdisciplinary challenges with teams from all over the company.”

JJ Hernandez, Materials Engineer “I get to make a difference. If I see a new project we should be pursuing or a new way to create a material, people are open and willing to help me make these company and industry impacting changes happen.”

Caitlin Reyda, Mechanical Engineer “I get to design products that are novel and technically challenging with a team of people who really care about the whole user experience. Also, almost all of our mechanical engineers have a Form 2 at their desk. Prototyping our future products using our current product feels like cheating.”

Craig Broady, Mechanical Engineer “I get to play an active role in pushing the boundaries of 3D printing with a cross disciplinary team of smart, dedicated and interesting peers. Also, resin is free, beer is free and there’s a video game arcade.”

Meagan Fitzpatrick, Sales Enablement "Even though we’re so much bigger than when I started, everyone I work with feels like one of my closest friends. More importantly, I now have some of the smartest and brightest close friends out of anyone that I know."

Keith Cline is the Founder of VentureFizz.  Follow him on Twitter: @kcline6.

Anaqua is a leading provider of Intellectual Asset Management software and related services for corporations and law firms. Nearly a million IP professionals in over 150 countries use their products and services to manage more than a billion dollars in intellectual assets. Pretty impressive!

The company has over 250 employees worldwide. We were excited to stop by their headquarters in the Back Bay of Boston to check out their bright and colorful offices.

Anaqua is hiring! Check out its BIZZpage.

Like almost everyone, I celebrate the new year saying goodbye to the old, and quickly moving on to the new. On January 1, social media was filled with images of blank pages of books and inspiring pictures offering lots of encouragement to begin the year with a fresh start.  And then I started to notice that in addition to those inspiring posts, diet and gym ads were everywhere, as were prompts to learn new skills. Essentially, this initial start to the year began to look like a huge capitalistic push, rather than a hopeful start to a new year. 

Here’s the thing, though: while so many of us get excited for a new fresh start, many of us give up on that goal within days of starting. It’s not the clean start to the year that’s going to allow us to be successful this time -- it’s our mindset. In other words, if you aren’t truly committed to making a change, there’s little chance you’ll be successful in achieving it.  

This year, before tackling whatever is on your resolutions list, invest in understanding your INTENT first. Understand why this goal is important to you. Explore the meaning behind it and what led you to it. THEN commit to making progress. 

And just how do you do that?  Read on for the five steps that can help you gain better traction on your goals for this year. 

1. UNDERSTAND THE WHY.  It’s easy to say, “I’m going to finally lose that 10 pounds this year!” or “I am going to make a huge impact and ensure I get promoted!” Far harder to accomplish it. Invest the time to truly understand the intentions behind the goal. You just might find you are choosing it for a poor reason. Alternatively, the reflection might really fire you up more to go after it!
2. REFLECT ON YOUR BEHAVIORS. Taking the time to track how you think and act will force you to pay attention to the behaviors that have led you to your current state. Dieters often keep a food and exercise journal (e.g. WHAT?! I eat 10 pieces of pizza a week?!). In business, capturing your engagement behaviors can go a long way too. For that person who wants to get ahead, realizing they came in late twice in the past week, never spoke up in team meetings, and actively criticized others might just become aware of what’s getting in their way to success. 
3. GET FIRED UP. Nothing like documenting your intentions and having to face them every day to hold yourself accountable. Maybe it’s a picture, an inspirational quote or fueling yourself up by listening to a theme song each morning, we are all motivated differently. Once you understand what’s driving the goal, find the mechanism that speaks best to you.  
4. CUT YOURSELF SOME SLACK. Chances are, you’ve gone after these goals before.  If you were unsuccessful, reflect on steps 1 through 3 to determine why. And then dust yourself off, recommit, and try again. Understanding your intent is just the beginning. It’s likely you’ll stumble along the way. That’s ok.  It’s part of the process…and sure will make a successful outcome that much sweeter.  
5. MAKE IT HAPPEN. You’ve now got your goals, your intent behind them, and motivation to make them happen. Take small, incremental, measurable steps to help drive the goal to reality. Celebrate the wins, learn from the mis-steps.  You’ll be amazed at the progress you make. Don’t expect everything to change or happen overnight. 

Make this the year you actually accomplish what you commit to changing on January 1.  By beginning with understanding what’s driving the goals in the first place, you might just find yourself successful by year end.  #makeithappen

Christina Luconi is Chief People Officer for Rapid7. Follow her on Twitter: @peopleinnovator

We tend to believe that ideas are startups’ currency. Those that have the best technology, the most funding or the shiniest new products are the ones that are destined to succeed. This mindset overlooks what is actually the most important resource of every startup: people.

It seems obvious, but the startups that are destined to succeed are actually the ones with the best people. Knowing this, the question then becomes “how do we recruit and retain the best employees?”

There’s no doubt that spending a significant amount of time on recruiting can make executives feel like they’re ignoring “more important” aspects of their job. Realizing that there is nothing more important than identifying and hiring the best people should ease this burden. 

Below are four personnel strategies that can apply to any early-stage startup. They’re broken down into the three distinct areas that are critical for small companies: identifying the right talent, hiring those people and keeping them for the long run.

Identify Talent: Focus On the People Behind the Resumes

In any job, co-workers that get along are positive assets for the team as a whole. Within the small team driving a startup, striking the right balance of strengths and personalities that each teammate brings to the table is a critical endeavor. Hire employees that will fit and expand your company’s culture, work openly with the team and keep up with your startup’s fast pace. Above all, hire people you’ll still want to hang out with after work – that spirit of camaraderie will help form the heart of your business.

Once you’ve identified and hired people, let them be who they are. Don’t try to bring them in line with heavy-handed discipline or requirements. Walk that fine line between giving achievers the tools and structure they need and pushing them too hard towards an environment that can be stressful.

Hire Talent: Look to Experience First

 When it comes to management, experience is the most important criterion. There is absolutely no replacement for the experience of having (successfully) navigated the startup rollercoaster in the past.

Sure, there are some natural leaders that can step into a management role and become a valuable asset on Day One, but it is more likely that new managers will have growing pains and make mistakes that startups just can’t afford. This isn’t a knock on them, however; there are very few startups that can afford to stick with someone through the rocky early management experience. Let another company train your leaders at first, then after the company has grown and matured, you can better afford to nurture your own. 

Retain Talent: Be Clear and Open

One of the biggest advantages of an early startup environment is that the team is likely small, and everyone should be focused on a very clear purpose – getting a product to market, developing a technology, etc. Every single person affects the company’s success, so buy-in almost comes naturally.

Take advantage of this situation to avoid a couple common problems that larger organizations face. First, communicate clearly. Create that setting where responsibilities are clearly laid out, and questions are encouraged and answered truthfully and openly. 

Second, when problems and issues inevitably arise, tackle them quickly and head-on. The team you have carefully curated deserves honest communication, even if a message is tough to hear. While they might not always agree with your decisions, knowing the reasons behind them will create an atmosphere of trust that employees appreciate.  

Motivate Talent: Offer the Right Incentives

No article on startup hiring would be complete without mentioning infamous startup perks. Everyone has a crazy story of what some early-stage startup offered to attract employees and keep them happy. A kegerator in the kitchen, hammocks for naptime, unlimited gourmet ice cream, the list goes on and on. 

While perks like this are nice, they aren’t what attract talented employees and keep them around. In fact, these perks become an afterthought during those inevitable times when works piles up and deadlines loom. The type of employee that succeeds in – and contributes to – a startup is generally motivated by more concrete things than a high-end cotton candy machine. 

It all starts with goals: working with employees to identify meaningful targets, giving them input – and even control – into how to accomplish them, and clearly measuring progress is one of the best motivators around. A culture of achievement, built around intense, but achievable goals, is the “perk” that helps keep the type of team members that you want (and need) in a startup.

Working at an early-stage startup isn’t for everybody. The lifestyle, challenges and demands require a specific type of person. Identifying, recruiting and keeping these people is perhaps your most important job as a leader. By taking it seriously, and following these recommendations, your company will have a leg up as it moves from startup to established business.

Lazarus Vekiarides is the Chief Technology Officer and Co-Founder of ClearSky Data.  Follow him on Twitter: @lazvek.

Today, MassChallenge is announcing the companies participating in its new digital health competition called PULSE@MassChallenge.  31 companies will be competing for more than $100,000 in zero-equity awards.

The program is aiming to provide entrepreneurs with access to several partners within the massive biotech and healthcare ecosystem in the Boston area.  Partner examples include Vertex Pharmaceuticals, Philips Healthcare, Mass General Hospital, Boston Children's Hospital, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Liberty Mutual, and many more.

You can meet the companies tonight at MassChallenge's Pulse@Check event at Hatch Fenway in Boston @ 6pm.

Here's the full list of companies participting.  The descriptions are from each company's website or LinkedIn company page:

2017 PULSE@MassChallenge Cohort:

3Derm System, Inc. - Massachusetts
3Derm is a cost-effective skin imaging system that allows any user to take clinical-quality 3D images of concerning skin lesions and upload them instantly for review by a dermatologist.
https://www.3derm.com

ACT.md - Massachusetts
ACT.md’s interoperable Care Coordination Record promises a better, safer, less expensive, and more flexible approach to managing healthcare’s complex tasks and achieving your goals.
http://act.md

Cake - Massachusetts
Cake makes it easy to start thinking about your values around end-of-life. Cake simple interface guides you through a series of simple propositions, and outputs a life handbook of your preferences that you can share with your loved ones, your doctor, your lawyer, and anyone else you think should know.
https://www.joincake.com

Care Thread, Inc. - Rhode Island
Care Thread provides secure mobile messaging and team-based collaboration solutions that empower hospital providers to deliver more efficient patient care, improve patient outcomes, and shorten time to discharge.
http://www.carethread.com

ConquerX - Texas
ConquerX is developing the next-generation medical device for molecular diagnostics, the Metachip.
http://conquerxlab.com

EDI Institute, Inc. - Massachusetts
The EDI Institute promotes recovery and emotional resilience through the imagery people create on their mobile devices.
http://ediinstitute.org

Emerald Innovations - Massachusetts
Modern fall detection for caregivers
http://www.emeraldforhome.com

Gain Life - Massachusetts
Gain Life combines consumer-grade product development principles and technology (big data & AI) with best-in-class science to give individuals what they want (e.g., reduced health risks and weight loss) while building into the process what they really need (change in mindset).
http://gainlife.com

HealthyMation - Massachusetts
To take on massive health challenges like obesity, HealthyMation blends a unique fusion of evidence-based clinical programs together with digital health technology, entertainment-grade animation, personal human interaction, and interactive learning. Their adaptive mobile application puts life-changing care directly in users' hands around the world.
http://www.healthymation.com

Herald Health - Massachusetts
Herald Health is an early stage digital health startup based at the Harvard Innovation Lab in Boston, MA.  Herald’s mission is to make health care safer by offering providers seamless access to their clinical data.
http://www.heraldhealth.com

Hey,Charlie - Massachusetts
A minimally-invasive tool for those suffering from #opioid use disorders. HeyCharlie digitizes proven addiction recovery techniques. Founded at MIT Hacking Medicine.
http://heycharlie.org

Human Resolution Technologies - Massachusetts
Description unavailable
http://www.followapp.me

Insightfil - Massachusetts
Insightfil is delivering the first-ever comprehensive medication delivery, education and adherence platform solution. 
http://insightfil.com

LifeGuard Games, Inc. - Massachusetts
LifeGuard Games, Inc. is a Boston-based company 'gamifying' healthcare through mobile games that teach and motivate kids to manage chronic health conditions.
http://wizdygames.com

Medumo - Massachusetts
Medumo’s CareTours™ enable healthcare organizations to guide patients using automated just-in-time instructions and checklists pre, peri, and post-procedure.
http://www.medumo.com

Meetcaregivers - Massachusetts
Meetcaregivers is a unique online platform that uses video technology to help families safely find and connect with qualified caregivers for their aging parents.
https://www.meetcaregivers.com

MobioSense - Massachusetts
MobiSense's HERO provides instant & affordable heart disease monitoring.
http://www.mobiosense.co

Neopenda - Illinois  
Neopenda is a global health tech startup striving to engineer healthcare solutions that give newborns in low-resource settings the healthy lives they deserve.
http://www.neopenda.com

​Neuroelectrics - Massachusetts
Neuroelectrics® is a digital brain health company that innovates at the intersection of neuroscience, physics, machine learning, and hardware.
http://www.neuroelectrics.com

QueueDr - Connecticut
QueueDr is an award-winning schedule automation product that seamlessly integrates into your EMR to optimize your schedule.
https://www.queuedr.com

Redox - Wisconsin  
Redox is the modern API for EHR integration, the bridge from health systems to the cloud and back. 
https://www.redoxengine.com

Remedy Labs, Inc. - California  
Remedy Labs protects you and your family from medical bills. We negotiate with hospitals and doctors to save you money.
https://www.tryremedy.com

Rendever - Massachusetts
Rendever is an MIT company that takes a human-centered design approach, applying the latest MIT research to deliver affordable, customized virtual reality experiences for people who receive and provide eldercare.
http://www.rendever.com

Spring Care, Inc. - New York
Data-driven treatment selection for depression  
https://www.spring.care

STATech - Massachusetts
Cuffless wearable blood pressure monitor
http://www.statech.co

SyncThink - Massachusetts
SyncThink is a leading neuro-technology company with foundational IP in eye-tracking metrics and devices.
http://syncthink.com

THINKMD - Vermont
THINKmd is a global healthcare innovation company developing solutions that expand quality healthcare coverage for everyone, anywhere in the world.  
http://www.thinkmd.org

TORq Interface, LLC - Massachusetts
TORq Interface is devoted to elevating the mode in which hospitals and medical device companies collaborate by leveraging the FHIR API and developing a scalable and secure platform for efficient communication.
http://torqinterface.com

Twiage - Massachusetts
Twiage is an advanced cloud-based platform that uses best-in-class security technology to put telemedicine at the fingertips of emergency first responders and physicians to accelerate live-saving patient care.
http://www.twiagemed.com

VIT - Pennsylvania  
VIT is a health and safety company using smart technology to track, evaluate and improve physical wellness. By identifying patterns and behaviors that cause illness and injury, our products prevent incidents from occurring and save healthcare costs.
http://www.vitinitiative.com

VRPhysio
Israel - Tel Aviv | USA - Massachusetts
VRPhysio develops virtual reality tele-rehabilitation platform that gamifies physical therapy and makes it Fun and easy to monitor.
http://www.vrphysio.com

Keith Cline is the Founder of VentureFizz.  Follow him on Twitter: @kcline6.

Making a career change isn’t easy. Having gone through a career change myself more than once, I consider myself to be somewhat of an expert on this topic. With so many options out there in the world, it’s hard to have a good answer to the age old question, “What do you want to be when you grow up?” The thing is, as you grow, your path in life can shift. Maybe that means assuming new responsibilities by taking the next step on your continued path. Maybe it means taking classes to acquire new skills or pursuing training courses and certifications related to your present field. But maybe the right choice could mean abandoning your path all together. 

After experiencing it myself – including a drastic change I made ten years ago – I learned four things that I hope will help folks who feel stuck in the “wrong” career.  

1. Career change is a process and understanding where you are in that process is critical to figuring out where you go next. 

If you don’t like your current job or career, then you need to identify what aspects of it you dislike and whether there are external circumstances you can change to make it satisfying. Maybe you don’t need a career change at all but rather a tweak your job duties. It can be as simple as a conversation with your manager about transitioning some less desirable responsibilities to someone else while you take on more challenging and fulfilling duties. 

If you’re in a small, flexible work environment where job functions are decentralized, you may be able to carve out a role for yourself by pitching your dream responsibilities to your manager and the value add you’d bring. But if you’re in a larger, centralized environment, it may require you to transfer to another team to build those skills. Making a transition internally is the most practical (and sometimes easiest) path to career change.

In my own experience, my first step was changing employers. I went from a big, 500-attorney law firm in Manhattan where I was the only junior attorney in my department and where I had no real mentor (even though I unofficially had seven “bosses”) to a smaller, 15-attorney “lifestyle” firm in Boston. There, I found an amazing mentor – a Harvard law grad and “Boston Super Lawyer” – who really taught me everything I knew. The work we tackled was hard but we did it together. And since we spent 10+ hours a day together, including many long nights and weekends, it helped that we shared a lot of laughs along the way. Eventually, though, I realized that in spite of all external factors within my control, I was still unhappy. I decided my career needed changing which eventually led me into recruiting. It’s a big change, but has been a good one for me.

Sometimes working with a career counselor can help one through the self-discovery process. My career counselors would administer all kinds of personality tests and questionnaires, and ask me to write how I felt about various subjects. It was therapeutic and eye-opening. There are also tons of self-help books out there which do the same thing and are more cost effective. These books can be a good start before investing time with a counselor.

2. Create a resume for the job you want, not the job you have.  

Don’t think of your resume as a bulleted list of responsibilities and mundane daily tasks. Instead of listing what you’ve accomplished in technical terms relevant to your present field, focus on the skills you developed to perform your duties. 

In my particular case, my legal representation for clients in high-stakes child custody and property division matters required me to deal with emotion-driven decision-making on a daily basis. Knowing how to help someone through a stressful decision process and being a good listener who can relate to what people are feeling is the DNA every recruiter needs. Relationship-building is the core skill that recruiting is based upon. Another skill which translated surprisingly well is legal research. I was always digging around the internet for information on my adversary. Not only that, but I was a Boolean searcher extraordinaire on Lexis Nexis. Lexis Nexis, career boards – they all require the same skills. Another skill is negotiating agreements and final outcomes in a legal setting which translated very well to negotiating salaries and managing client expectations. See the pattern?  My resume had to show why my experience as an attorney would lend itself to recruiting. 

How do you know if your resume needs more work? If you’re getting lots of job interviews but no job offers, then there is a problem with the way you interview. And if you’re not getting any responses to your resumes or invitations to interview at all, then there is a problem with the way you present yourself on paper. With career changers, it’s harder to get the interview, which is why your resume is so important.

3.  Leverage your network.

I know, I know. This is the most obvious advice that you’ve probably heard thousands of times already.

But really. Leverage your network. You have almost a zero percent chance of making a career change through headhunters and job boards. I’ll explain why.

Even if a headhunter is willing to speak with you, recognize that the companies engaging them to search for talent are paying them to do so. If you’ve only done job X and you really want to do job Y, but lack experience doing job Y, the majority of headhunters wouldn’t bother presenting your resume to that company.  

And if you apply to jobs directly, understand that very few companies want to take a risk on someone who’s never done the job before, even if it looks like he/she has a 50/50 chance of being able to do it. You’ll be competing with the dozens of applicants whose resumes show he/she has already done the job before. So, the best option is to tap everyone you know. You need to leverage your network to open doors for you. Someone who can vouch for you, your work ethic, your intellect, and willingness to learn; that will help you get that interview. Then, the rest is up to you.  

4.  Take a risk or the company hiring you won’t.

I was fortunate to find a great career in recruiting that leveraged my strengths and fit my personality and interests. But my first job post-legal career was also a huge risk to my employer. What if I didn’t like it and quit? What if I didn’t succeed? Then what would my employer do?

In my case, I was joining a recruiting agency where my role would be compensated 100% based on commissions. If I didn’t succeed, I wouldn’t have the job for long anyway. My performance was tied to my earnings. The better I did, the better off the agency would be. Hiring me was worth the gamble. 

I’m not saying everyone making a career change needs to pursue a career like this. The lesson is that you cannot take your present salary with you and you’ll have to earn it all over again (unless you’re lucky and traded up in careers). You could mention that you don’t want salary to be a barrier to the role and that you’re willing to do whatever it takes to get up to your current earning capacity. And then openly discuss with your potential employer what a realistic timeline might look like for that and what you’d need to do to get there.   

Smaller companies, and early stage startups, might be a good place to start looking, because their appetite for risk might be higher. And if you can find a place where you can leverage your current skill set and then slowly take on (and eventually switch to) new responsibilities, that balances the risk for both.  

Changing your career path is no easy feat but it’s not impossible! All you need is the drive to achieve it, an action plan to work towards, courage to take risks, and the resilience to overcome challenges. In the end, you’ll be glad you took a chance on something that better fits who you are.

Sue Fehser is a Senior Recruiter at Carbon Black. You can connect with her on LinkedIn or Twitter. 

Wouldn’t it be amazing if there was a candidate tree?  You could just shake it every time you needed a talented team member, and there they would be…ready for the taking.  Ok, now it’s time to wake up from that fantasy and face the reality of searching for good talent. 

There are a multitude of ways to attract and identify exceptional people.  One of the best ways to gain access to multiple people at the same time is to host an event aimed at attracting people who might be interested in your company.   It provides a perfect way to grow your company and strengthen your brand simultaneously.  Obviously, it’s a little more involved than just tweeting out “Hey, free beer – come learn about us!”  But just how do you get started?

DETERMINE WHO YOU ARE TARGETING

You might host an event differently aimed at attracting technical talent (hello, hackathons) than you would attempting to woo salespeople.  If you are trying to gain the attention across the gamut, an open house provides a good forum.  Aim for a just-after-work time slot, have impressive voices from your company representing you.  They don’t have to be the most senior people, but they should be strong representatives of your brand and culture who can influence and mingle.  In this low stress environment, attendees can meet a variety of representatives from your company and engage in several conversations.  Yummy nibbles and drinks are always crowd pleasers, and a fun panel discussion or Q&A session can work well as an agenda driver. 

BE AUTHENTIC

Do you know what makes your company special?  It’s not about gimmicks, but do take advantage of your uniqueness and culture to drive interest.  Whether it’s gathering a group of talented young people looking for opportunities in sales by treating them to a basketball game or hosting a BBQ in a local nearby open space, pretty much anything goes.  Be different, be unique, and be memorable.  Just don’t forget to build in the time to connect with people!  

PLAN WELL

Just as you wouldn’t throw a big party together at the last minute, you should put plenty of thought and planning into your recruiting event.  Though you might have a designated point person running the show, these are the types of things that go well with input from a broad variety of employees to make sure you are appealing to your desired audience.  

Once you’ve selected your venue and theme, start thinking about content.  Whether it’s a video, a presentation or a panel, organize carefully to ensure you have plenty of time to prepare for the messages about your company you are going to put out to potential hires. 

Next send invitations.  You can use event tools like Eventbrite to help, and it’s wise to ask for RSVPs to track attendance and build momentum.  Using social media is another way to get people who might just be toying with the idea of a visit to pay attention and commit to attending.  

As the big day draws near, take the time to review logistics to make sure you’ve got all your supplies ready (food, drink, equipment, a place to hang coats!) is an important step.  If you have giveaways or other materials to hand out, make sure you’ve got those coordinated too. 

MAKE IT MEMORABLE

When the big day arrives, take a deep breath.  Like any event, the details leading up to it are important; but not nearly as vital as creating the right experience for people during the event.  Many people won’t care if you forgot to put out enough pens at the registration table – but if you invite them into your environment only to make them feel uncomfortable once they walk in the door, you stand to do reputational damage.  

While the goal might be to meet as many potentially qualified people as possible to join your company, this is also a great way to build your brand in the market.  Whichever way you choose to orchestrate it, allowing outsiders to get a sense of who your company is, what it stands for, and insight about what it does, will go a long way in making a connection with people.  Leaving a good impression with someone who has made time out of their day to come visit your company is a gift.  Even if they aren’t the perfect fit for a role you might currently have open, they could be an excellent fit for a role down the road.  Or, perhaps they have such a good experience, they share that with a friend or colleague who becomes interested.  Capture information, and debrief with your team immediately after to compare notes and create action items for following up with people.  

Remember, no matter what event you aim to create, these attendees are choosing to attend your open house rather than head home after a long day in the office.  Think about if you were in their shoes; what would make it worthwhile for you to attend?  Once you’ve determined that, work backwards to make that experience happen for your potential guests. 

Christina Luconi is Chief People Officer for Rapid7. Follow her on Twitter: @peopleinnovator.