Has anyone transitioned functions (ie Project Management to Operations or Finance)

[apocalypse later]

I'm in a rotational program and it looks like most of my experience will be technology related, and frankly I'd rather be in process improvement/operations as I think it's a bit more high visibility.

Has anyone transitioned from, for example, an accounting role to an operations role easily? Or in my case, IT to Operations?

 

[HRoi]

i employ a couple of people who've made the switch (IT/PM to Ops). i think your best bet is to move to the Ops group who you support (i.e. who uses your systems, depends on you to fix their problems and program their crazy improvement ideas). someone who understands the operating system implicitly and can liaise with IT is worth his weight in gold to Ops. even to Finance if we are talking about things like accounting or risk management software. the biggest pitfall of IT people moving to Ops is that they end up unable to see the forest for the trees and/or just see things from a singular viewpoint. finagle yourself a job where you're constantly supporting Ops or your internal customers, and build your reputation as someone who bothers to learn his client's business and has a perpetual can-do attitude. this will make you a breath of fresh air to a potential boss who's ******* tired of hearing "can't do," "too complex and/or expensive", "it will never work" blah blah blah then after awhile have it be known privately that you wouldn't mind a career change and watch their eyes light up

 

[JoelF]

In most corporate settings a switch away from an IT role is pretty difficult. I've never really understood this as IT usually has some of the smartest people in the company, but that's typically the way it is.