In 2021, I stop a 15-year profession as a tech government within the finance business and pursued content material advertising and marketing and journalism.
Once I inform this story, I’m usually met with, “You probably did what?” Individuals can’t wrap their heads round such an sudden profession shift.
Whereas I stop my tech job, it wasn’t an in a single day determination. In actual fact, it was one thing I’d been contemplating for a very long time.
{“blockType”:”creator-network-promo”,”knowledge”:{“mediaUrl”:”https://photographs.fastcompany.com/picture/add/f_webp,q_auto,c_fit/wp-cms-2/2025/04/workbetter-logo.png”,”headline”:”Work Higher”,”description”:”Ideas on the way forward for work, profession pivots, and why work should not suck, by Anna Burgess Yang. To study extra go to workbetter.media.”,”substackDomain”:”https://www.workbetter.media”,”colorTheme”:”blue”,”redirectUrl”:””}}
A career pivot is much different than simply finding a new job in the same industry. If you’ve contemplated the same, you’ve probably asked yourself, “Can I do this? Will it be worth the change? What if it doesn’t work out?”
As someone who’s pivoted not once, but twice, in the past four years (first, I changed industries, and then I became self-employed), I can tell you yes, it’s worth it. But you need to be ready for the impact such a change will have on your career. Here’s how to tell if a major career change is right for you.
You can’t stop thinking about it
The first sign that you’re ready for a career pivot is that you can’t stop thinking about it. You dream not only of finding a new job, but doing something completely different.
You start to explore new skills you may want to amass, or the way to put together your résumé so it’s engaging to hiring managers in a brand new discipline.
When you begin considering nonstop a couple of profession change, these emotions by no means go away. Belief me. They’ll solely increase over time.
You begin to plan
Your desires change into extra concrete once you begin to think about a timeline. For me, it was, “Can I make this variation inside 5 years?” The extra I considered it, the shorter my timeline grew to become. Staying in my present job as an alternative of pursuing one thing completely different grew to become insufferable.
You’ll begin to consider a monetary plan. A profession pivot could contain a decrease wage (a minimum of at first) when you’re beginning in a brand new business with little expertise.
Abruptly, my five-year timeline became six months. Then I stop with out one other job lined up (although I used to be on the finish levels of a number of interviews and a suggestion got here in a couple of days later).
You’re snug with unknowns
Altering careers could be uncomfortable, particularly when you begin a brand new job. The saying “You don’t know what you don’t know” is especially apt. All of the analysis on this planet can’t absolutely put together you to your first day doing one thing fully completely different.
As a longtime worker at my earlier job, I went from being essentially the most educated particular person within the room to one of many least. I went from being the boss to having a boss. I had no thought how lengthy it might take me to catch on to the nuances of my new profession. There have been instances I felt inadequate on account of my lack of know-how.
However I additionally knew that my earlier profession—although far completely different—had given me abilities others in my peer group didn’t have. I understood contract negotiation, venture administration, and useful resource planning. I leaned into these, which helped me transfer previous my discomfort.
You’re prepared to pivot once more (if wanted)
As you intend to pivot to a brand new profession, you need to ask your self, “What if it doesn’t work out?”
Possibly you find yourself hating the work. Possibly transferring from a senior position to a junior position bothers you an excessive amount of. Possibly it’s not the work itself, however you land at an organization that isn’t an excellent match, and now should proceed the job search.
I’m right here to inform you: It’s okay to pivot once more. Trashing your résumé is an outdated idea. After I pivoted to a brand new profession and joined a advertising and marketing company, I left inside eight months and joined a distinct company. One 12 months after that, I pivoted once more. Now I’m self-employed.
Because it seems, that itch I felt to strive one thing completely different was actually a drive to strike out alone. I didn’t comprehend it on the time. I needed to make a couple of stops alongside the way in which to determine precisely what I wished to do.
What you suppose you need and what you really need may be two various things. However likelihood is, when you’re prepared to make the leap as soon as, you’ll be prepared to do it once more.
Anna Burgess Yang is a part of the Creator Community at Quick Firm, masking subjects like work tradition and the intersection of know-how and work (together with the impacts of AI).
Anna is a former tech government who spent greater than 15 years at a monetary know-how firm, together with roles as a product supervisor and the director of buyer success. In 2021, she joined the Nice Resignation and stop her job to pursue content material advertising and marketing and journalism. As we speak, she is a contract author who works with distinguished B2B SaaS firms, specializing in fintech, automation, and AI. Moreover, her work has appeared in The Chicago Tribune, The Chronicle of Increased Schooling, and a number of other banking publications.
You’ll be able to study extra about Anna at annabyang.com. You too can observe her on LinkedIn, Threads, and Bluesky.
{“blockType”:”creator-network-promo”,”knowledge”:{“mediaUrl”:”https://photographs.fastcompany.com/picture/add/f_webp,q_auto,c_fit/wp-cms-2/2025/04/workbetter-logo.png”,”headline”:”Work Higher”,”description”:”Ideas on the way forward for work, profession pivots, and why work should not suck, by Anna Burgess Yang. To study extra go to workbetter.media.”,”substackDomain”:”https://www.workbetter.media”,”colorTheme”:”blue”,”redirectUrl”:””}}
