Career Pivot
An interviewer needs to believe the switch is deliberate
When a resume shows a different field, the interviewer is asking: why did you leave, why this, and will you stay. This session helps each participant build a short, true answer, practise it aloud and prepare for the harder follow-ups about pay, level and commitment.
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Without a story, the interviewer writes one, and it is rarely generous.
A candidate with a different background raises quiet worries: that they are escaping something, that they will find the new work harder than expected, that they will leave when it gets difficult, or that they will want more pay or seniority than the role offers.
These worries can be answered. They are answered by a clear, short account of why the switch is deliberate, what you have done to prepare for it, and why this role is the right place to make it.
This session is about career switches. It is separate from explaining a gap in employment, which is a different conversation covered by its own session.
The story and the follow-ups
35 topics across 7 areas. Seven parts: build the story, then prepare for what comes after it.
The Core StoryThree parts, under a minute.5
- Where you have been, in one sentence
- What made you want to change, framed as moving toward something
- What you have done to prepare, and why this role
- A close that returns to the job they are hiring for
- Cutting everything that does not serve those parts
A good answer gives the reason for the move without criticising the old field or employer.
Why This Role and This CompanySpecific, not generic.5
- What attracts you to the work itself
- What you know about the company and its product
- How it connects to what you have done
- What you hope to learn
- A real reason, not a flattering one
Showing the LinkThe old experience as an asset.5
- Two or three examples from your past work that are relevant
- How your background lets you see something others do not
- Where you have already done a piece of the new work
- Being honest about what you still have to learn
- Not over-claiming
Will You Stay?The concern behind many questions.5
- What you have already invested in the move: time, learning, money
- What you have tested, and what you found
- What you hope to be doing in a few years
- Why this is not an impulse
- A calm answer, not an anxious one
Pay and Level QuestionsThe hard ones.5
Decide your own position in advance, and be consistent. Interviewers can usually tell when an answer on pay has been rehearsed to sound agreeable and is not what you mean.
- Why you are willing to accept a different level, if that is true
- Why you are not, if that is true
- How to discuss expectations without hostility
- Avoiding both an apology and a demand
- Checking what the role actually pays, from current sources
Things Not to SayAnd what to say instead.5
- That you hated the old field or your last employer
- That you will take anything
- That you are only trying it out
- That you have no gaps to close
- A long apology for the switch
Practising AloudWhere the answer becomes yours.5
- Saying it to a partner and getting honest feedback
- Recording yourself and listening back
- Answering the follow-ups, not only the first question
- Trimming until it sounds like you
- Practising with someone from the target field
Common mistakes
- Telling the whole history
- Explaining only what you are leaving
- Over-selling the old field
- Not preparing for the pay question
- Sounding unsure about the move itself
- Giving different versions in different rounds
What participants leave with
- A one-minute switch story, written and spoken
- A why-this-role answer for a specific posting
- Prepared answers on staying, pay and level
- A list of things to avoid saying
- Feedback from at least two people
How the session runs
A hiring manager or interviewer describes what they listen for when a candidate has changed fields. Participants then write their story, practise it in pairs, and run short mock interviews in small groups, with feedback on content and delivery. Bring a posting you would apply for. Evening or weekend sessions, in person or online.
What your students leave with
- A one-minute answer to 'why are you changing fields?'
- A clear reason for this role and this company
- Answers ready for the questions about pay, level and commitment
- A way to show your old experience as an advantage
- Practice saying it aloud, with feedback
- A short list of things not to say
Scheduled sessions
Nothing scheduled yet
Sessions are arranged with a college once a date is agreed. Ask us and we will find the right person for it.
A student rather than a college? See what is coming up, or ask your placement team to host this.
Make the switch sound like a decision, because it is one.
Tell us who your students are and what stage they are at. Sessions are free for participants.