Switching careers: Use your talents and experience to adapt

Competition for jobs remains fierce and you have to do a lot these days to stand out from the crowd. A snazzy resume and a charismatic personality will only get you so far. Hard work, a willingness to take that extra step, and patience are also necessary, said Ronald W. Chan, author of Behind the Berkshire Hathaway Curtain: Lessons from Warren Buffett's Top Business Leaders, in a telephone interview with WalletPop. These were some of the common traits he discovered when he interviewed some of Buffett's closest lieutenants.

Another important lesson: be persistent. He had to be while putting this book together, flying all over the U.S. to interview the CEOs and founders in person. He also heard it from Don Keough, ex-president of Coca-Cola. Said Chan, "He said keep swimming. It's hard work. But you have to be adaptive enough to keep swimming forward."

This month, Don Currie, a CEO of a consumer products company, and Matt Granados, a college student, share their stories of how they switched careers and kept moving forward.