#041 - Time To Pivot: The Ultimate Guide To Changing Role And/Or Industry

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I first wrote this post almost a year ago and - unlike me whenever I’ve tried to play the guitar - it struck a chord.

It’s one of the most opened and replied-to newsletters ever, it’s the one I’ve sent out the most in response to questions I get, and it might even be the post that’s helped more people get dream-industry jobs - tech, gaming, etc - than any other I’ve written.

So, I thought it deserved a small update. (And it’s more than just the puppy metaphor, I promise.)

Enjoy!

“How do I get into the [x] industry without previous industry experience?”

“How do I use my transferable skills to change roles?”

“How do I get a hiring manager to ‘take a chance’ on me when I don’t have the experience others have?”

All questions I’ve been asked on LinkedIn and here in the newsletter many, many times.

The thing to remember when changing role or industry (or both) is this:

It’s kind of like teaching your puppy to roll over: it’s not easy, and there are no guarantees, but it is possible.

(So I hear.)

Overall, the odds are against you.

(It’s okay. We’ll get through this.)

On paper, who’s the better candidate: you, or someone with years and years of relevant experience?

On paper, who do you think the hiring manager trusts will do a better job and make their life easier?

I don’t say all this to put you off. Far from it. But If you’re going to do this, I want you to go into it with your eyes wide open. You need to embrace the fact that, like Sam and Frodo, you might have a bit of a journey ahead of you.

Are you willing to be patient for a year? Two years? How about 5?

And no, I’m not saying it will take you 5 years. It might not even take you one year. I’m just saying that having a long-term mindset will be even more helpful than using uncooked frankfurters to train your puppy.

(No? Just me?)

First, let’s talk about what’s not in your control: the market.

Right now – and this has been the case throughout all of 2023 and what we’ve had of 2024 - and especially in tech, entertainment, gaming, and other desirable industries – there are more candidates than jobs. Hundreds of thousands of people’s roles have been made redundant, meaning there are umpteen (cool word) experienced, skilled, great-attitude-having candidates on the market.

That means your competition is high. Way higher than it normally would be. About as high as Lazaro Schaller was in 2022.

(He dove into water from 192 foot in the air. That’s higher than the Leaning Tower of Pisa. So. Yeah.)

But.

There are plenty of things you can do to not only increase your chances of being able to change role and industry right now, but also – and perhaps more importantly – for when the market normalises a bit.

(That could take 3 months, 6 months, 1 year, 2 years. Nobody knows. Let’s hope it’s sooner rather than later.)

First, it’s usually easier to change roles within your current company than it is to leave and try and get said new role.

Why?

You - hopefully - already have buy-in at your current company. They know that you work hard, that you’re capable, that you’re coachable - that you deliver results. Use that ‘capital’ to have conversations with your manager about changing roles.

(I’ve done this exact thing twice. The first time, I had multiple conversations with my soon-to-be-new-manager over the course of about 6 months. Second time, it was over the period of more than a year. (More on this below). Turns out our parents were right: patience is a virtue.)

(I know. How annoying.)

(I love a good bracket.)

Something else you can do - and most don’t do this - is go straight to the horse’s mouth and ask people who changed roles and industries how they did it.

(How that horse learned to talk - let alone change industries - I’ll never know.)

First, ask your friends, loved ones, and people you know really well. (In corporate-speak, this is called ‘networking’).

Maybe one of them can help you. If not, see if they know anyone you could speak with. If they do, ask for an intro.

(They love you so they have to do it.)

If you end up talking to someone, ask for their advice:

• How did they start out their career?

• What did they do after that?

• Did they ever move out of the industry and then back in?

• How long did it take them to reach this dream role?

• Did they do anything unconventional along the way?

• How did they write their CV/resume?

Another thing you can do is go to the biggest networking site in the world: LinkedIn.

Search for people who are doing your ‘dream role’ or whatever role you want to transition into. Connect with them, especially if they transferred role or industry at some point. (A surprising amount of people have). Then message them. You could say something like:

“Hi [name]. Saw you got into the [x] industry with no previous [industry] experience. That’s so cool and I’d love to do the same. Do you have a few words of wisdom for me? It would be great to hear from you but even if I don’t, thanks for reading this and have a great day.”

Whatever message you send, make sure it’s short, personal, and plays into the mentor / mentee dynamic.

Or, put another way, it’s written in a way that makes them feel good and want to reply.

And hey, you never know. Maybe a role comes up in this person’s company or team and they can vouch for you. Perhaps they could even refer you.

Speaking of which, having someone refer or vouch for you can make all the difference when you’re changing role or industry. On paper you might not look like the strongest candidate in the traditional sense but if you have someone on the ‘inside’ who says you’re worth an interview, that can be (almost) as powerful as that one scene in Game of Thrones where Cersei nearly gets her guards to kill Petyr Baelish.

(What a show.)

There are no guarantees, of course. And if you do get an interview, you’ll still need to do some convincing. But if you have this card, you must play it. If you don’t have this card, get it.

Another thing you can do is get more experience and get more skills.

Revelatory, I know. But sometimes the best solution is the most obvious one.

If you want to stay in the same role but change industry, more experience in your current role can only help.

If there’s a specific skill or bit of experience you lack that might be helpful in transitioning industry, do what you can to get it. Speak to your manager and see if you can take on a small project, for example. If you do this, sell it as a benefit to them and the company. You want them to say yes, after all.

(And do not tell them you want to leave. I hope that’s obvious but after seeing some ‘advice’ from ‘career coaches’ that you should tell your manager you’re looking for a new job, I figured I’d better spell it out.)

How will you know if there’s a specific skill or bit of experience you’re lacking in? Look at the job descriptions of the roles you want to go for. They’ll tell you what you need to know. (You can also ask about this in any ‘networking’ conversations you’re having.)

If you want to change role but not industry, you can do what I did when I did this exact thing many years ago: ask.

I started off in data analysis but after about two or three hours I realised I wanted to work in the People department. At the time, I wanted a Learning & Development (L&D) role.

Is there data involved in L&D? Yes. Was it a data analyst role I’d be doing? No. I had very few transferable skills but I knew I could do the job if I was given a chance and had a manager and team who were able to help and support me.

(People often forget this when they want to change roles. There needs to be a strong team and support system in place so they can help you get up to speed. This is one reason why a lot of hiring managers won’t make a hire like this: even if they want to give you a chance, they don’t have the resources to support your inevitable learning curve.)

So.

I set up a meeting with the manager of the L&D team and told her how much I enjoyed her recent training session and that I’d like to do a similar role someday. She told me there were no roles in her team at the time but to make sure I stayed in touch. So I did. I set reminders in my diary to follow up with her and we had three, maybe four more ‘coffee chats’ over the next 6 months.

Then, one day, I got the email: “There’s a role coming up in my team and we’d like you to interview for it.”

I knew I had a pretty good ‘in’ but I still did a ton of research. I looked up all the latest L&D news, I asked the other members of the team what their biggest challenges were and came up with potential solutions, and I read and re-read and re-re-read (?) the job description and talked about my transferable skills in a way that would be beneficial to the hiring manager and team.

The rest, as they say, is history.

(Who are ‘they’? Does anyone know?)

If you’re not currently working, you have an advantage: you don’t have a manager you need to sell to. You can just start (and complete) a personal project related to the role and industry you want to get into. I’d recommend choosing something that makes your future manager think, “This person is worth interviewing.” Or even, “This person is worth hiring.”

For example, let’s say you want a social media role in gaming. Choose your favourite gaming companies and do an audit of their social media. What’s working well? What could they be doing better? What could they do that’s going to help them not just short-term, but long-term?

Even better, look at job descriptions and what they’re asking for and complete a personal project based on that. That way, you’re already solving the hiring manager’s problem before you’ve even started. Pretty good way to prove your worth.

(I’m sorry job descriptions are usually as dull as dishwater.)

(I think that might be a very British expression but I’m sure you get it.)

(By the way, I know this all sounds like a lot of work. But if it helps you change role and industry then it would all be worth it, right? You might have to remind yourself of that a fair few times in this process. Frodo had Sam; you’re Frodo and Sam.)

(But hopefully you have a ‘Sam’ also.)

(This has to be record number of consecutive brackets, right?)

Now, let’s say you get an interview. What do you think the hiring manager is going to want to hear?

While they’ll probably be curious about why you want to change role and industry, they’re probably more interested in why you – a person who’s changing role and/or industry– are the best person for the role.

You can talk about your transferable skills and experience. “I know from the job description you’re looking for [x]. I did something similar in my last role [and then use the STARR* format].”

(*Situation, Task, Action, Result, Reflection (what you learned))

You can talk about personal projects. “I know you’re looking for someone who’s done [x]. I completed a project on that [and then use the STARR format].”

You can talk about the ‘networking’ conversations you’ve had. (You need to be having some.) “I spoke to a few people who do this role and they said some of the challenges are [x]. In my last role, [and then use the STARR format].”

You can talk about how your current industry differs from this new one. “I did some research and asked a few people about the challenges of the industry. I found out they were [x].”

You can ask how someone such as yourself - someone who’s changing role and/or industry - can best succeed in this role. In doing that, you might get the hiring manager to sell themselves on hiring you.

Smart.

And once they answer, you can use their words back to them in a way that shows (or reiterates) you’ve done all the things they’re saying they need.

Smart. (Again.)

Okay.

Even if you do all this, you might not get offered the role.

I wish I could say the above would guarantee you an offer. I really do. But I’m not a charlatan so I won’t.

(Shots fired? At some of these ‘career coaches’? Maybe.)

If you don’t get offered the role, please, please stay in touch with the recruiter and hiring manager and any other interviewers you get to speak with. They are now part of your ‘network’ and could prove extremely useful in you getting any future roles.

Most people don’t do this. Why? I don’t know. Time? Effort? Lack of organisation? Don’t let those be excuses.

When you’re changing role or industry, contacts like this aren’t just important - they’re crucial. Do not let them fall by the wayside. If you need to set a reminder in your calendar to reach out once a quarter, do it.

“Hi [name]. Been a while! What’s new with you? Did you ever find anyone for [role]? No rush to reply, would love to hear from you soon.”

At this point, you’ve probably done all you can. And if you’ve done all these things and keep doing all these things, it’s pretty much inevitable that, at some point, you’ll achieve your dream of changing role and industry.

Will it end up taking longer than you’d like? Probably. Hofstader’s Law states that things like this always take longer than you think - even when you take into account Hofstader’s Law.

(Use this to your advantage. How? Most people will give up. That’s how.)

Will there be bumps along the way? Yes.

Will it be a cool story one day that you can share with people who look up to you and are trying to do exactly what you’ve done? Yes.

Okay.

One more thing.

If I were to sum up this whole newsletter with a quote, it would be this one from Naval Ravikant:

“Impatient with actions, patient with results.”

You got this.

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(Also, I’m aware I haven’t discussed Cover Letters. I’d say your time is better spent on the above strategies rather than writing a load of cover letters. However, if you do write one, there are a few things to remember. One, don’t spend a ton of time on it. Two, keep it to a few short paragraphs. Three, please edit any AI-written cover letters; the non-edited ones are easy to spot. Four, consider your audience. What does the hiring manager want in a cover letter? They probably want it to be short, personalised, and relevant to the role they’re hiring for.)

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