7 – Alternative Careers – Bridge Roles

With this podcast, we are continuing our series focused on how to innovate your career. We are sharing various career alternatives and strategies to help you to push the boundaries of your thinking and your job seeking. Today we are focusing on ‘bridge’ roles. Seeking and taking on ‘bridge’ jobs can be a terrific strategy for several reasons.

Today Mary Michael team member, Linda, our resident catalyst, connector and collaborator, will share some insights from the book she co-authored called, “Wit and Wisdom: Journeys through Career Transition.” By the way, you can find the book on Amazon, but be sure to type in the full title to locate it.

So, Linda, please share with our listeners where we will be going today.

Here’s  few good reasons to consider ‘bridge’ jobs:

• you may have discovered through feedback from recruiters and employers that you lack a certain skill.  a ‘bridge’ job can be one that enables you to laser focus on the desired skill or work experience.
• you may want to talk about current experience relevant to the role you are seeking, ‘bridge’ jobs can offer you that value.
• you may want to enhance your cash flow to allow you to remain focused on the career track you want rather than leaping at the first offer in order to pay your rent. 
• last, but not least, the mental aspect of the job hunt can be challenging, especially when you face rejections and when it becomes a prolonged hunt. you do not want to appear stressed on interviews, and you do not want job hunt stress to negatively impact your personal relationships and your wellbeing.

Those are all great reasons to consider ‘bridge’ roles.  So, let’s get into some real life examples. From what I learned in your book, bridge roles can take many forms.

Yes, sometimes a ‘bridge’ role is a full-time job that is a lower level than your previous job, but it offers you the opportunity to develop a skill or real-world transfer a skill to an area that is new. It can be difficult for people, who have been used to continually rising in their careers with titles and salaries to prove it, to now accept a lower level role and salary.  However, it is important to know that taking such a next step can bring downstream rewards. I have heard many employers say that they do not understand why many job prospects put such weight on their titles.  This is especially an issue for people who have been in the workforce a couple of decades and are used to the business culture that looked down on someone who didn’t have a straight line of career trajectory. Today most employers respect people who can put their egos aside and focus on skills and work experience that bring value to the company and so the individual.

▪A real-world example that was illustrated in my book, is Robbyn Bhatt.

Robbyn surveyed the marketplace.  She appreciated that her industry had undergone a major shift.  And the job market had become an employer’s market with large volumes of very competent professionals competing for a very limited number of jobs. Rather than joining the masses competing for the few jobs, Robbyn took a different approach.  Important note: Sometimes just being able to see what it is, rather than what we wish, is a key first step!  Robbyn smartly saw the reality of the marketplace and she understood that the transforming industry was generating new roles.  Robbyn knew her skills could transfer but she had some learning to do. Therefore, Robbyn chose not to let a job title, a lower salary or her ego stand in the way of progress.  She then focused her search on the new roles which would allow her to transfer skills and, at the same time, develop new skills and work experience. The search still took time and perseverance, but she did land a job that offered the near-time benefits which would ‘bridge’ her to set her career on a new track. Robbyn knew she would be a stronger competitor for future roles thanks to her ‘bridge’ role strategy.  

That is an inspirational example.From what I read in your book, sometimes ‘bridge’ roles are sometimes free! That is, they don’t pay or pay little but offer big value for job seekers. Could you tell us more about these bridge roles?

Free, bridge role opportunities are all around us.

Bridge roles are great for a few reasons:

• They are relatively easily accessible
• They offer you the opportunity to use your skills
• They can enhance your energy level
• They offer current experience for interview discussions, and they can enhance your resume.
• They can broaden your network and, potentially, bring leads to get you to your next job.

So, here are a couple of examples.

Alma Azua-Cassady sought speaking engagements with targeted professional organizations.  While she often spoke pro bono, Alma knew that having such platforms to share her experience and unique talents was priceless! Alma, a marketer, was able to broadcast her brand in public forums in front of prospective employers.  How smart is that! Alma is multi-lingual with extensive global marketing experience. The speaking engagements enabled her to stand out and acquire high value leads. At the same time, Alma volunteered at key professional organizations.  This also increased her visibility and showcased her strengths.  Ultimately, Alma was successful in advancing her career in line with her professional aspirations.

That is definitely innovative thinking! Could you share one more example for our listeners.

I’d like to introduce listeners to Judy Lohr.  Judy is a human resources professional who had worked a couple of decades for an employer whose employees had become like family to Judy.Like so many people who have had long-term employment at a company, loss of the job is more than loss of work and wages, it is also loss of a highly valued social network. Judy was not alone; many of her colleagues and clients were also in the job marketplace.  She felt compassion for the many talented others who were now job seekers.  Judy approached her job search like a job with a plan and daily tasks and goals.  During her search Judy met various others who introduced her to social media as a way to reach others and share knowledge. Soon Judy began using social media to help others by sharing her knowledge and expertise as a human resources professional. She became a guest blogger on a website for HR professionals.  She joined Twitter and began tweeting tips for job hunters. This helped broaden her network in an important career channel.  Assisting other job hunters brought Judy unexpected and extraordinary benefits. She felt empowered and a greater self confidence as senior executives and industry leaders were increasingly seeking her advice. Thanks to her ‘bridge’ role experience, Judy gained the experience and confidence to land her dream job.

So, to summarize, listeners may want to consider ‘bridge’ roles as a strategy to enhance your work experience, skills building and your resume.

If you are wondering whether your should consider a ‘bridge’ role, ask yourself these questions:

• Do I keep hearing that I am lacking a certain type of work experience?
• Do I need to demonstrate how I can transfer a skillset to another type of job?
• Am I feeling cash flow stress and is it beginning to impact how well I interview and engage with others?  Is my stress impacting my health and wellbeing?
• Sometimes ‘bridge’ roles do not pay near term, but do pay off downstream.

Free worksheet for Bridge Roles

Alternative Career Paths – Bridge Roles worksheet

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