Career Pivot Playbook
Most career pivots don't fail because of the market. They fail because the person making the move didn't have a clear plan.
This playbook is that plan.
Written from 20 years of experience as a CHRO — sitting on the hiring side of the table, evaluating thousands of candidates, and coaching professionals through some of the most consequential career decisions of their lives — The Career Pivot Playbook is a structured, practical guide for anyone who knows they want to make a move but isn't sure how to do it without losing ground.
It is not a motivational book. There are no platitudes about following your passion. What you'll find instead are frameworks, self-assessments, scripts, and week-by-week action plans that you can put to work immediately.
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What's inside — four parts, eleven chapters
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PART 1 — CLARITY
Before you update your resume or reach out to a single recruiter, you need to be clear on three things. This section helps you get there.
→ The 3 questions you must answer before making any move — including the one question most people skip, which is why they end up in the wrong role six months later
→ How to separate what you genuinely want from what you think you should want — a distinction that sounds simple but changes everything once you make it
→ A pivot readiness self-assessment across 8 dimensions — so you know exactly where you stand before you start, and where to focus your energy first
PART 2 — POSITIONING
Clarity tells you where you're going. Positioning determines whether anyone believes you can get there.
→ The transferable skills translation framework — how to take what you've done and describe it in language that resonates with a completely different audience
→ The career pivot LinkedIn formula — a step-by-step rewrite of your headline, About section, and experience section for a new target audience
→ How to write a resume that bridges two worlds — including a ready-to-use professional summary template built specifically for career changers
PART 3 — EXECUTION
Strategy without execution is just a wish.
→ A 90-day pivot action plan — broken down week by week, so you always know what to do next and nothing falls through the cracks
→ How to network into a new industry without it feeling awkward — including the exact informational interview structure that opens doors
→ The salary negotiation script for career changers — including the word-for-word response to "you don't have direct experience" that keeps you from leaving money on the table
PART 4 — MINDSET
The final barrier between you and your next move is rarely strategic. It's psychological.
→ The 5 fears that kill most career pivots — named, examined, and dismantled one by one
→ The A-B-C interview framework — a simple, repeatable structure for handling the toughest objection a pivoter faces, with confidence and without over-explaining
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Who this is for
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This playbook is for you if:
You've been thinking about a career move for six months or more and haven't started — because you're not sure where to begin, or because the gap between where you are and where you want to go feels too large to cross.
You're mid-career, you have real experience, and you don't want to start over — you want to take what you've built and redirect it somewhere that actually fits.
You've taken advice before — from well-meaning friends, from generic career content online — and it hasn't moved the needle. You want something structured and specific, not more motivation.
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Who this is not for
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If you're looking for quick fixes, this isn't for you. A real career pivot takes focused effort over 3 to 12 months. What this playbook gives you is the clarity, positioning, and execution framework to make those months count — not a shortcut that doesn't exist.
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A note on how to use it
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Each chapter ends with a concrete action — not a reflection exercise, but something specific you can do this week. Work through it sequentially if you're starting from scratch, or jump to the section most relevant to where you're stuck right now.
29 pages. No filler. Written by a CHRO who has sat on both sides of the table.
If you'd like to work through any part of this 1:1 — with feedback specific to your industry, your background, and the role you're targeting — my coaching sessions are listed on this profile.