Switching industries? Don’t start over.
Forget the entry-level job
Transitioning from subject matter expert to executive leadership looks a little different if you don’t want your boss’s job. If you’ve realized that you don’t want to stay in your current industry, don’t despair! You don’t need to go back to an entry-level position and start over – in fact, you shouldn’t. The truth is that even if you try to go that route, companies are often looking for less experienced workers to fill those roles. And even if you have unrelated experience, that still counts as experience. Don’t sell yourself short.
I recorded an episode of my podcast all about this. Listen to ‘Ep #193: Transitioning into Executive Leadership Outside Your Subject Matter Expertise’.
Fantastic advice. I’ve switched industries twice and had to fight hard not to start over. The biggest “ah ha!” Moment for me was learning to reframe my existing experience using the language of the new industry. E.g. if you’ve done a lot of customer research and the new company or industry calls it customer development, use their term and you have a wealth of experience in a useful area!