Career Rebranding Strategies

When you're transitioning into a new industry whether it's from retail to biotech, bedside to corporate, or academia to clinical research there's one thing that must go with you: A clear, compelling personal brand. When your experience doesn't check every box, your brand fills the gap. It tells people: I may be coming from a different world, but here's the unique value I bring. So how do you build a brand that opens doors during a pivot? 1. Own Your Narrative Don’t hide your pivot position it. → I bring a patient-first mindset into clinical research. → I translate scientific complexity into actionable insight. → I’ve led under pressure now I’m ready to lead with purpose. 2. Lead With Transferable Strengths Not the job titles the skills behind them: → Communication. Strategy. Adaptability. Data interpretation. These are your assets. Make them loud and clear. 3. Align Your Messaging Make sure your LinkedIn profile, resume, and even how you introduce yourself all tell the same story: I’m pivoting with intention and I’m bringing results with me. 4. Show Your Work Post. Comment. Engage. Share what you're learning, thinking, and building. Let people see your transition in real time not just read about it on a resume. If you’re in the middle of a pivot, you’re not starting over you’re starting strategically. Your experience is an asset. Your voice is your differentiator. And your brand? It’s the bridge between where you’ve been and where you’re going. Own it. Shape it. Share it. #CareerPivot #PersonalBranding #CareerChange #TransferableSkills #CareerGrowth 

High-performing employees are often burdened with additional work without corresponding recognition or advancement opportunities, which is also known as a “quiet promotion.” I’ve seen it with many of my clients. Being too good at your job can trap you in it—so much so that you end up asking the same frustrating question: “If I’m so good at my job, why am I not getting promoted?” In my latest Fast Company article, I share four ways to rebrand yourself from dependable doer to strategic leader: 1️⃣ Make the shift from expertise to influence Oftentimes, people make high-impact mistakes because leaders delegate when the stakes are too high. So, the key to breaking this cycle is to start delegating with low-stakes tasks. 2️⃣ Avoid the “hidden gem” trap Avoiding self-promotion for fear they will come across as “braggy,” they believe their hard work and results should speak for themselves. Unfortunately, those efforts often don’t get noticed because their boss is too busy to connect the dots. 3️⃣ Advocate for yourself I coach many high-performing leaders who are brilliant at mentoring others, cheering on peers, and celebrating team wins. However, they rarely apply that same energy to their own advancement. If you’d write a glowing email to recommend a mentee for a project, write one for yourself. 4️⃣ Speak in future tense Many professionals unintentionally brand themselves as “reliable and steady,” but not as “innovative, visionary, or future-ready.” Here’s a subtle but powerful shift: Stop talking only about what you’ve done, and start talking about what you’re building. It’s important to remember that rebranding yourself at work doesn’t happen overnight. It takes intentional effort to stop being seen as the person who always comes through and start being seen as the person who creates the conditions for others to come through. You don’t get promoted for being reliable. You get promoted for being visionary, influential, and growth-minded. So ask yourself: How am I teaching others to see me? And, more importantly: Who am I becoming next?

Lately, my feed has been full of green banners. Every week, people reach out—former colleagues, friends of friends, folks I’ve never even met. All asking the same thing: “How do I tell my story in a way that actually gets attention?” Not just attention. Traction. Because a résumé doesn’t always cut it. A list of job titles can’t explain how you’ve grown. And in a market like this, where qualified people are getting ghosted, the only way to stand out is to show how you’ve changed. That’s why I use the C.O.R.E. Framework when helping others rewrite their narrative. At the center of every great story is change. This helps you tell yours with more clarity, confidence, and connection. ⸻ 🖼 Context What did life look like before the shift? What were you focused on? What did success mean to you back then? 💥 Obstacle What disrupted that world? A layoff. A restructure. Burnout. This is the moment that forced you to rethink your path. 🧗 Rebuild What did you do next? The messy middle. The experiments. The reflection. This is where the growth lives—and where most people give up. 🌱 Emerge What did you learn? What changed in you? And how does that change make you more valuable now? Here’s a quick example: Context: I was leading an L&D team focused on completions and compliance. Training was seen as a checkbox, not a business driver. Obstacle: A company reorg forced us to tie learning to performance outcomes. Our usual metrics didn’t hold up anymore. Rebuild: I shifted gears—interviewed stakeholders, aligned programs to behavioral goals, and embedded learning into the flow of work. Emerge: Now, I approach learning as a lever for change, not just knowledge transfer. That mindset shift transformed how I lead—and how I deliver results. You don’t need a perfect résumé. You need a clear story. One that starts with change, and ends with purpose. #CareerStorytelling #Reinvention #JobSearchStrategy #ProfessionalBranding #OpenToWork #LearningDesign #CareerGrowth

You’ve been laid off and feel like you’re being passed over for everything. Statistics show that people over 50 have been disproportionately impacted by layoffs the last two years. Finding your way after 50 can be tough. And the market is saturated for many. Maybe it’s time to stop chasing roles that simply aren’t coming back. That senior-level recruiting, customer success, marketing ops, training, or generalist project management job might not be paused… it might be gone. So what do you do? Transition. You rebrand. Stop clinging to titles that no longer hold weight and start pulling out what still matters… project delivery, compliance, vendor negotiation, data interpretation, stakeholder management, change leadership, and yeah, I’ve got to say it, AI. Then learn the tools today’s job market actually wants. Salesforce, Excel power queries, Power BI, cloud platforms… whatever keeps showing up in the postings. You might need a short, targeted credential to get through the filters. Something you can finish in weeks, not years. Stop trying to force the square peg when there are so many round holes that need filling. You can’t climb higher if the ladder’s gone. That Director title may have been nice, but if it’s now going to an internal hire or someone 20 years younger for half the pay, what’s the point? Step sideways. Go where the jobs actually are… healthcare-adjacent, data governance, logistics, energy, even AI-adjacent. Translate what you already know. And trim that resume. Nobody cares what you were doing in 1992. Lead with results. Show you’re adaptable. Be the one who can hold it together when everything else is falling apart. You’re not out of the game. But if you don’t adjust how you play, you’re going to keep losing to people who already did. New collar jobs aren’t a trend. They’re the future. They don’t care about degrees. They care if you can keep up, solve problems, and get the job done. That’s you… if you’re willing to shift.

Most of us will face a moment in our careers when we have to start over. Sometimes it's a choice. Other times, it’s not. A layoff. A failed venture. A burnout spiral. Or simply realizing the dream job… isn’t. Hitting reset can feel like failure, but it’s not. It’s feedback. And if you listen closely, it often points you in the direction you were meant to go all along. But let’s be honest, starting over is hard. You second-guess your skills. You worry what others will think. You wonder if you’re too late. Here’s what’s helped me (and others I’ve coached) get through it: 1. Take inventory. List what you’ve learned, what you loved, and what drained you. Your past isn’t wasted, it’s raw material for your next chapter. 2. Redefine success. The old version may no longer apply. What does success look like now, to you, not to LinkedIn? 3. Build micro-momentum. Start small. New habits, new skills, new connections. Small wins rebuild confidence. 4. Tell the new story. Craft your narrative. “I failed” becomes “I learned.” “I’m lost” becomes “I’m exploring.” Language shapes identity. 5. Get support. Find people who’ve been there. You’re not alone. Career reinvention is more common than it looks. Whether you’re pivoting industries, starting something of your own, or simply stepping off the hamster wheel... Remember: It’s okay to start over. You might just like your new story better. What chapter are you writing right now? #careerreset #reinvention #professionalgrowth #creativedirection #lifedesign #careerchange

part 2: how i landed my current l&d role in ~ 5 months 🎊 cue taylor swift because it was time to enter my rebrand era. 🪩 ✨ i’d spent 4 years branding myself as a career coach and consultant, so it was time to pivot my personal and professional brand. you know the saying, ‘dress for the job you want, not the job you have’ — the same applies to your brand when you’re transitioning careers! your personal brand and online presence should align with the job you WANT, not what you’re currently doing. 💥 for me this meant: 1️⃣ linkedin: changing my banner, my profile statement, and my about, featured, and experience sections. 🙋🏻♀️it wasn’t about erasing or negating the fact that i had been a business owner, career coach, and consultant, but it was changing the narrative about how those *actually* related to what i wanted to do next. 🔑 by far the biggest mistake i see people make here is making their CURRENT reality (being a jobseeker, an entrepreneur, getting laid off, being a former educator, etc) their personal brand. 2️⃣ resume: creating a one-and-done resume highlighting ONLY the skills i *actually* wanted to use in my next role (and only applying to roles that aligned with my resume) 🙋🏻♀️i never once updated my resume to fit a job description, and had a ~20% apply to first interview rate. i identified 14 skills i knew would give me energy in my next role, and created a resume highlighting only those. 🔑 you don’t have to include every detail of every job on your resume. remember, your resume is not a laundry list of everything you’ve ever done. it’s a marketing document showcasing what it is you want to do next, through the lens of what you’ve done in the past. 3️⃣ portfolio: curating a collection of previous work samples that showcased the type of work i want to do next. 🙋🏻♀️ i don’t believe every l&d niche requires a portfolio, but because i had a ~4 year gap in full time employment, i knew having some additional ammo to back up my resume would work to my advantage. 🔑 similar to your resume, if you’re creating a portfolio keep it curated to exactly the type of work you want to do next. my portfolio (https://lnkd.in/gtwmEmdV) features me on a panel about the future of leaning, program strategy docs, a white paper i co-authored, and an excerpt of a leadership development session i developed and led. what you’ll notice my portfolio NOT heavy on is facilitation, elearning, asset development, etc. the goal of my personal brand was to have someone land on my linkedin, resume, and or/portfolio and have them say “wow, i want her to do that for ME.” 🎯 💡if you’re career transitioning, or have pivoted in the past, how have you rebranded yourself?

If I were trying to make a major career pivot in the next 12 months, here’s exactly what I’d do. (And no—it doesn’t involve spending $100K on another degree.) 1/ Revamp your LinkedIn profile. LinkedIn plays nicely with Google and functions like its own little search engine. You want recruiters in your next industry to find you, so optimize your profile for the job you want, not the one you have. 2/ Start posting content weekly. Even 1–2 posts a week is enough to build momentum. Share insights related to your NEW industry / NEW career path: trends, case studies, your take on the news, lessons learned, and opinions that show how you think. This is how you start building credibility before you even get the job, so when someone looks you up, they already see you as part of the industry. 3/ Network with people already in the roles you want. DM them. Ask thoughtful questions. Understand what their day-to-day looks like and build real connections—not just cold outreach. Most jobs are filled through networking. Make it work for you. 4/ Tell people what you want. No one can read your mind. You don’t have to blast it publicly if you're still employed, but tell trusted friends, family, mentors, and your network that you’re looking to make a shift. You never know who’s one intro away from your next role. You can compress years of trial and error into one year if you learn how to position yourself for the life you actually want. ---- Thinking about a big pivot this year? I can help you build a personal brand on LinkedIn that attracts the right people and opens real doors. Follow Nicole Sifers for more.