3 Types of Career Pivots

There are 3 types of career pivots.
Most people only know about one.
Here's why it matters.

In my career, I've made many career moves from:
- Editorial to product
- Product to marketing
- Marketing to sales
- Corporate to entrepreneurship
- Entrepreneurship to corporate,
and I changed geographies twice.

Career design isn't just about "follow your passion" or "climb the ladder."
There are three distinct ways to redesign your career,
and each one requires a totally different strategy.

Hear me out, here are the 3 types:

1) The Lateral Shift
(same level, different function)
- For: People with credibility who need a new challenge
- Advantage: You keep your network, your title relevance
- Risk: You're not seen as an "expert" in the new space

2) The Climb & Pivot
(move up while moving sideways)
- For: People building multiple competencies before a bigger move
- Advantage: You gain seniority + proof you can cross domains
- Risk: Takes longer. Requires patience.

3) The Leap
(leave entirely, rebuild from scratch)
- For: People willing to take a risk for alignment
- Advantage: Full reinvention. Permission to be new.
- Risk: You lose institutional credibility. You start over.

I've done all three.

And each one of these requires a whole different operating system!

Most people try strategy #3, when they actually need strategy #1.
Get this straight.

Then they burn out,
start feeling like failures,
and blame themselves unnecessarily.

The problem isn't them.
The problem is:
they didn't match the strategy to their actual situation,
instead of matching it to their core aspiration.

Which pivot are you in right now?
Or which one should you be in?

• Katheline