How To Reverse Engineer Your Career (Even If Not An Engineer)

Next, conduct research to find job postings for that dream job. You might be able to find a job description at the company where you work, but you’ll also want to conduct research on the Internet. Look for job descriptions within several different industries, so you’ll be able to see a wide variety of job requirements associated with that position.

Once you have this information, the next step is to analyze it. Look through all the job descriptions and postings at the job requirements that are listed.

• What knowledge will you need?
• What skills will it take for you to be successful in the role?
• What experience is necessary? And, how many years of experience is required?
• What is the minimum level of education required?
• Are there any certifications required?

After that, conduct a gap analysis. Look at each of the job requirements and think about your own skills, knowledge, experience, education and certifications. Figure out the gaps – the areas where you don’t meet the minimum requirements. For example, maybe that vice president of marketing or chief marketing officer requires that you have a master’s degree in business administration (MBA). If you don’t have an MBA, then that’s a gap.
Or, maybe your dream job requires a minimum of 8 years of people management, leading progressively larger groups. If you’ve never been a manager or have only led small project teams, then that’s a gap. Go through each job requirement and see how you measure up. Write down all the gaps.
Once you have your list of gaps, the next step is to figure out your plan of action on how you’ll overcome each gap. For example,

• If you don’t meet the minimum education requirement, you might consider going back to school in the evenings.
• If you don’t have a required certification, figure out where you can complete a course and become certified.
• If you don’t have enough years of people management experience, determine what jobs you’d need to obtain to prove your competence and to use as stepping-stones to get you to your dream job.

The final step I recommend is to find someone who is highly successful in the job you want and ask him/her to sit down with you to review your game plan. Walk them through where you are today, the job you want (one similar to theirs), your gap analysis and your game plan to overcome your gaps. Ask for their advice and feedback.

• Is your plan solid and does it include everything they think you’ll need to be successful in a job like theirs?
• Are there other jobs along the way that they recommend, prior to trying to obtain your dream job?
• Are there any other requirements (knowledge, skills, experience, education) they feel were necessary for them to be successful in their job?

Reverse engineering your career isn’t hard, and you don’t need to be an engineer to do it. You just need to be willing to spend a little time defining your career aspirations, conducting research and analyzing yourself against the job requirements (gap analysis). Most importantly, you’ll need to be honest about your gaps, as overcoming the gaps is the key to speeding up how fast you’re promoted from one job to the next.