Managing the Cold Start Problem in Nonlinear Career Transitions

As the traditional employment relationship has destabilized in much of the world, the nature of careers has been in flux. While a growing number of studies examine the challenges of contemporary careers, our understanding of nonlinear career transitions—transitions that entail both organizational and occupational changes—is underdeveloped. Existing studies primarily focus on identity transformations that career switchers undergo. How career switchers gain entry to new occupational domains with esoteric expertise and skills requirements remains understudied, especially when career switchers pursue alternative modes of reskilling. This paper examines how career switchers who reskilled themselves by attending short-term vocational training programs accomplished nonlinear transitions into careers in software development. We found that although career switchers obtained job-relevant skills, their lack of formal educational credentials or relevant professional experience made securing their first jobs a significant challenge. We theorize this challenge as a case of the cold start problem that is inherent in nonlinear career transitions. We found that career switchers employed a range of tactics to overcome the cold start problem. Together, we show how cold start tactics helped career switchers break into a new occupational domain without the credentials or relevant experience that employers typically seek in job candidates.