The Hardest Part About Changing Careers Isn't What You Think

First, clarity. Then, everything else.

Can I tell you something that might surprise you?

After helping people navigate career pivots—and going through my own transition from attorney to digital marketer—I’ve noticed a pattern. Almost everyone shows up thinking their biggest problem is their resume.

“If I could just figure out how to reword my experience…”

“If I could just make my background look relevant…”

“If I could just crack the code on LinkedIn…”

And yes, those things matter. They really do. But here’s what I’ve learned.

The resume isn’t the hard part. The clarity is.

The Question Nobody Wants to Sit With

When I left law, people assumed I had it all figured out. That I knew exactly what I wanted to do next and had some master plan mapped out.

I didn’t.

What I had was a deep, bone-tired certainty that I couldn’t keep doing what I was doing. (with the universe handing me a lay-off as confirmation). I was left with a terrifying blank space where “what’s next” was supposed to be.

Sound familiar?

Most people I work with aren’t stuck because they don’t know how to write a resume. They’re stuck because they haven’t answered the question underneath all the tactical stuff: What do I actually want?

Not what makes sense. Not what pays well. Not what their parents, partners, or LinkedIn connections would approve of.

What do YOU want?

This central question is often harder to answer than rewriting your resume bullets.

Why Clarity Feels So Impossible

Here’s the thing about spending years (or decades) building expertise in one field. Somewhere along the way, your identity got tangled up in your job title.

You’re not just someone who works in finance or education or law or healthcare. You ARE a financial analyst, a teacher, a lawyer, a nurse.

So, when you start thinking about leaving, it doesn’t just feel like a career change. It feels like an identity crisis.

Who am I if I’m not the thing I’ve been for the last fifteen years?

That question will keep you stuck longer than any formatting issue on your resume ever could.

And then there’s the second layer—the one that whispers at 2 AM when you can’t sleep.

What if I don’t have what it takes? What if my experience doesn’t translate? What if I’m too old, too inexperienced in this new field, too late?

What if I make this leap and I fail?

Clarity requires you to push through all of that noise. To separate who you’ve been from who you’re becoming. To trust that your experience has value even when it doesn’t “match” on paper.

That’s not a resume problem. That’s a courage problem.

The Myth of the Perfect Pivot

I think part of what keeps people paralyzed is this idea that they need to know exactly where they’re going before they can take a single step.

Like they need to see the entire staircase before they can climb the first stair.

But that’s not how career pivots actually work.

When I left law, I didn’t have “digital marketer” written on a vision board somewhere. I had a vague sense that I wanted more creativity, more autonomy, more alignment between my work and my values. I had a few skills I knew I was good at—writing, strategy, breaking down complex information, using AI tools as assistants—and a willingness to experiment.

The clarity came THROUGH the movement. Not before it.

I tried things. Some worked. Some didn’t. Each experiment taught me something about what I actually wanted—and what I definitely didn’t.

Your pivot doesn’t have to be perfectly mapped out. It just has to start.

What Clarity Actually Looks Like

So, if clarity isn’t having all the answers, what is it?

It’s knowing enough to take the next step. That’s it.

It’s being able to say, “I’m exploring roles in project management” instead of “I’m open to anything.” (Because “open to anything” is code for “I haven’t done the inner work yet.”)

It’s understanding that your transferable skills ARE valuable—even if they came from a completely different industry.

It’s trusting yourself enough to bet on your own potential, even when your resume doesn’t scream “obvious fit.”

Clarity isn’t certainty. It’s courage with a direction.

The Work Before the Work

Before you rewrite a single resume bullet, I want you to sit with a few questions.

• What parts of your current (or past) work actually energize you? Not the job title—the specific tasks, projects, moments that made you feel alive.

• What would you do if you knew you couldn’t fail? (I know it’s cliché. Answer it anyway.)

• What’s the story you’re telling yourself about why you CAN’T make this change? Is it actually true? Or is it just fear wearing a logical costume?

These questions don’t have quick answers. They’re not meant to. But they’re the foundation on which everything else gets built.

Because here’s what happens when you skip the clarity work and jump straight to the resume: You end up with a beautifully formatted document that points in the wrong direction. Or worse—in no direction at all.

Your Experience Is Not a Liability

One more thing before I let you go.

If you’re sitting there thinking your background is too weird, too unrelated, too all-over-the-place to ever make sense to a hiring manager—I need you to hear this.

Your unconventional path is not a liability. It’s your competitive advantage.

The nurse who becomes a healthcare tech product manager brings patient empathy that no one else in that room has.

The teacher who moves into corporate training understands how adults actually learn—not just in theory, but in practice.

The attorney who pivots to marketing (hi, that’s me) brings analytical rigor and persuasive communication that most “traditional” marketers never developed.

Your background isn’t something to apologize for or hide. It’s something to translate.

But you can’t translate it until you’re clear on where you’re going and why you’re the right person to get there.

The Bottom Line

Resumes are important. LinkedIn matters. The tactical stuff is real.

But none of it works if you haven’t done the deeper work first.

Get clear on what you want. Believe your experience has value. Trust yourself enough to take the leap.

That’s the foundation. Everything else is just formatting.

✨ Ana

P.S. If you’re ready to start building that clarity, my free Career Pivot Quick-Start Guide walks you through the essential first steps—defining your target role, identifying your transferable skills, and crafting your Pivot Promise. You can grab it here: Your Quick Start Guide