A few weeks ago I mentioned the career transition a chemical engineer had made to become an animator with Disney. As with the stockbroker who became a gardener, many people will agree this is a fairly significant career change to undertake.

Recently a radiographer contacted me expressing a long held desire to become an illustrator, and wondered how on Earth he could go about making, what he considered, was such a “drastic” transition.

While there are certainly transferable skills he could identify, and utilise, there nevertheless remains a wide divide between the two professions. And although he is prepared to study the new skills he needs, he remains concerned his background in medicine, and radiography, will work against him when it comes to looking for work.

In short his thinking is “How could an employer take me seriously? They’ll be thinking that going from a career in radiography to one in illustration is quite a leap of faith!”

Well just about any career change requires a leap of faith of some sort, and far from working against him, his background as a radiographer, and in medical imaging, could be exactly what it takes to land the illustrating work he is looking for.

We’ve probably all seen a variety of medical diagrams adorning the walls of our doctor’s surgery, and while this may not be exactly the sort of work he wants ultimately, illustration work of a medical nature could be the starting point he is looking for, and make for the beginning of a professional portfolio that he will eventually be able to show employers, in other fields, who are looking for illustrators.

Medical journals and other reference manuals contain the work of medical illustrators. Universities, schools, and other educational institutions require diagrams and images as part of their courses. And that’s just the beginning. The point is there is no shortage of work for medical illustrators.

In other words his background, and work, in medical imaging could be used as a stepping stone to a career in illustration, and as a radiographer he will be well placed when it comes to looking for medical illustration work. After all he will have an established background knowledge of medical imaging, and will certainly be more than familiar with his subject matter!

He will no doubt have contacts of some sort within the industry he can call upon, and even if he doesn’t, while he is studying he can start networking, and informing the appropriate people within the industry of his future career intentions. He can also keep an eye open for illustration roles within the industry, and become familiar with the requirements of the work.

If he is part of a large enough organisation there may even be opportunities where he currently works. And while he will initially be lacking in experience, given he is a “known quantity”, a result of his past work and reputation as a radiographer, he will be in good standing when applying for medical illustration work.

So far from being “disadvantaged” he may in fact be somewhat better placed than he initially thought when it comes to finding illustration work.

And this is a situation all career changers can take something from. You may be able to find the new career opportunity you are looking for within the industry, or possibly even the company, you are working in right now.