Career pivots are hard, but possible. I’ve made them.

Making a career pivot is a challenge I’ve been thinking about a lot lately. There seems to be a growing number of people who see their chosen career path as less than peachy. Or non-existent. I’ve talked before about the groundwork—nailing down your values, identifying transferable skills, and picking your new destination. But when you’re actually ready to make the jump, the rubber hits the road in two places: Your resume and the interview.

𝗡𝗼𝘁 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝘂𝘀𝘂𝗮𝗹 𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘂𝗺𝗲

When you're pivoting, you can't rely on the old "feature factory" approach of listing every task you’ve ever done. Most likely, the reader will not understand the language and terminology that you use. Instead, you need to front-load your value.

Place your most relevant skills and new value proposition at the very beginning. If you’re moving from sales to product marketing, don’t start with "Hit 120% of quota." That’s your old world, not your new one. It’s a great accomplishment, but it’s no longer relevant. Instead, start with a one-sentence summary that highlights your deep understanding of customer pain points and go-to-market strategy. Same coin, different side. Use the STAR/SOAR method - Situation, Task (or Obstacle), Action, Result - to frame your past achievements in a way that proves you can handle the new role’s challenges. If you need help to build out your career stories like this, recruit a buddy to help, or work with a career coach. It’s worth it.

𝗜𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘃𝗶𝗲𝘄𝗶𝗻𝗴...𝗴𝗼 𝗯𝗶𝗴 𝗼𝗿 𝗴𝗼 𝗵𝗼𝗺𝗲

Interviewing for a pivot is essentially a reading comprehension and reasoning problem for the hiring manager. They need to see how your past behavior predicts future success in a brand-new context. So make it easy for them.

I’ve always found that the best approach is to demonstrate expertise rather than just stating it. Don't just say you're a quick learner. Share a specific framework you used to solve a complex problem in your previous industry and explain how that same approach works for them. Avoid terminology from your past role, adopt theirs instead. That means you have to research it. GenAI is your friend. 

My favorite approach here is a bold one, but it’s worked for me, more than once. Ask the hiring manager “What are the two biggest problems you have right now?” Then tell them how you would fix them…It’s an all or nothing approach. But hey, pivots aren’t for the faint-hearted.

𝗡𝗲𝗲𝗱 𝗵𝗲𝗹𝗽 𝗳𝗶𝗴𝘂𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗽𝗶𝘃𝗼𝘁 𝗼𝗿 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗰𝗮𝗿𝗲𝗲𝗿 𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗿𝗶𝗲𝘀? 𝗣𝗶𝗰𝗸 𝗮 𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗲 𝗼𝗻 𝗺𝘆 𝗰𝗮𝗹𝗲𝗻𝗱𝗮𝗿 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗮 𝗳𝗿𝗲𝗲 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗮𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 it. Use the button at the top of the page.