This is the first of a two-part series addressing a question from a job seeker. Feel free to send me your questions for possible inclusion in later posts. Just send your question via my contact form.

My career background is as an analyst…My previous employers have been smaller firms, under 50 employees.  Social media isn’t used very much by advisory firms that I’ve targeted as a good fit.  Much of that is due to FINRA compliance constraints that keep them from engaging clients online.  I’m still tweeting, but relying more on networking in-person and making connections on LinkedIn where employees of these firms and their connections are likely to be.

The biggest challenge I’m having on the job search is that analytical roles in the personal (retail) side of the financial services industry have been slow to pick up. There are new demands for sales producers, operations and administrative staff, but very few new opportunities for analysts.  The institutional side of finance has also picked up, more so than the retail side.  It’s difficult to convince employers that skills can be transferable from retail to institutional, or from smaller firms to larger firms.

Some of the recent jobs I’ve interviewed for have been at a lower level of experience than I have, and the firms decided I was overqualified.  I would like to broaden the scope of the jobs that I’m looking at, because I think that my advanced skills.. could be applicable in many areas of corporate finance and planning. How can I best market my skills to other industries…so that employers will recognize the skills as transferable and qualified?

This is a tricky dilemma, and one that many job seekers today are facing. Specifically, these are the main issues:

– Social media isn’t widely adopted in your field.

– There are few (maybe no)  job opportunities calling for your expertise.

– You are hoping to find a job in the “other side” of your field (retail to institutional) and in a different type of organization (smaller to larger).

It may or may not help you to know that many share this dilemma of having previous experience in an industry or field that simply isn’t hiring or has become obsolete. Networking becomes even more important in this case. Even though you have not found a large group of your potential colleagues using social media, I would suggest you still mobilize all of the tools at your disposal to try to extend your networking circle.

If not many in your field are taking advantage of the tools to connect online, you have a chance to become a recognized online expert in your field. The regulations add a layer of complexity to making this work, but do some searches for others who ARE engaging online.

• Google {keywords relevant to your field}, blog and see what you find.
• Look in Alltop.com to find listings of blogs in your field.
• Use Google blog search to find some blogs of interest.
• Connect with the authors by commenting, sharing retweets (if they use Twitter) and make it clear that you have your finger on the pulse of your industry.
• Track information from news outlets that report data relevant to people in your field and be the one who disseminates what people need to know NOW. (Via Twitter, a blog and/or LinkedIn updates.)

Combine media and in-person meetings:

• Use LinkedIn to demonstrate your expertise. Investigate the Answers section; see if there are any answers you may be able to provide, illustrating your expertise — ideally in your targeted field. (Find Answers in the toolbar on LinkedIn under the More tab.)
• While in-person meetings are great, be sure you are doing all you can to extend the number of people who may be able to connect you with the ONE person you need to meet and impress to land an opportunity. Don’t forget to talk to people who CAN’T help you.

The combination of these strategies could very easily lead to meeting contacts that will be able to help you overcome your experience gap efforts as you build a bridge to a new career.

Stay tuned for more advice to address the “you’re overqualified” issue.