Changing your career? 6 steps to pivoting successfully

If you are like most people, your work life will not follow a straight line. The average person changes careers five to seven times during their working life. I pivoted four times in my career. I went from musician, to academic, to speechwriter, to entrepreneur. Each of these major shifts led me to a better place and resulted in a dynamic career I couldn’t possibly have envisioned or planned.

So is it wise to pivot? Absolutely! If you find your present role is not giving you the satisfaction you hoped for, don’t hang in there just for the sake of being dutiful. Switch up your career and give it a new focus. The question is how to pivot successfully. Here are six ways to do it:

1. Research the new area

The starting point of any career pivot is research. If you feel you’d like to move in a new direction, study everything about that new area—the industry that it represents, the companies that are successful in that field, and the individuals who are major players.

Bolstered by this knowledge, you’ll be able to decide whether pivoting to this new area is right for you. You’ll find out what it takes to succeed in this field, the skills you need, and the culture that defines it.

2. Take a course

A good next step is enrolling in a program that shows what the new role would entail. Immerse yourself in this new field before you make the leap.

A broad range of courses are available. Interested in AI? MIT’s Introduction to Machine Learning might be an excellent starting place. For a move into finances, you might choose Yale University’s Financial Markets. If your aspirations are to own a restaurant, take a program in restaurant management.

Should you decide to enter the new field, employers will take you more seriously if you’ve strengthened your credentials.

3. Connect the dots between your past and future

Once you decide to move into a new area, review your social media and other communications to make clear there is a good fit between your past assignments and future roles.

Begin by updating your social media. For example, in your LinkedIn profile you might say, “I’ve proven myself as a specialist in designing some of the fastest chips in the world. Now I want to focus on AI more broadly.” Or you might say that you bring a strong background as a specialist, and now you feel ready for a leadership role.

Or perhaps you want to sustain a variety of roles simultaneously: You’re an actor, a course instructor, and a motivational speaker. Show how they all fit together and give you a dynamic profile that engages others.

Make sure in all your job search correspondence and interviews you connect the dots, showing how there is a great fit between the various segments of your career. If you don’t create this clear narrative, others might see you as someone who has a choppy career trajectory, and that will not serve you well as you seek to pivot.

4. Develop a strong pitch

To get hired, develop a compelling pitch that shows you’re ready to make the transition.

Earlier in my career I pivoted from a job where I was a lecturer in a university, to a corporate communications job in a big tech firm. I prepared a strong pitch, emphasizing how my communications skills as a university lecturer would benefit the company. Your pitch should have four elements: an opening, a clear and compelling message, proof points that support your message and a closing call to action. That’s how to tell your story.

I didn’t undercut myself by saying “I don’t have business skills.” I spoke with excitement about the role I wanted, where I felt I could make a contribution, and how my background would support me. That worked! They created a job for me.

5. Do a demo

A demo delivered to the hiring manager can do wonders to show you are ready to pivot.

The firm I founded, The Humphrey Group, hired actors to work with our business clients. When interviewing the actors, I always asked them to do a demo to show me how their acting skills would work in the business world. It gave me insight into how they would speak to the executives they were training. They regularly impressed me with their performances.

6. Show you’re a quick study

Anytime you’re pivoting from one career to another, you have to show your networking contact or hiring manager that you’re ready to take on a brand new role. So, make clear how you have always loved taking on new assignments, and how successfully you have done so. Give one or two examples.

In short, pitch yourself as a quick study and show that one of your best qualities is adaptability.