After coaching dozens of people and having conversations with over 100 professionals trying to break into tech, I've seen similar barriers causing missteps in people's career pivots.
Honestly, it's not a lack of skills or a bad resume. Often, it's a flawed assumption or approach to how they think about and convey their past experiences. If you are in the middle of a career pivot into the tech industry (or even a student), here is a starting point that you may find helpful.
It's a Translation Problem, Not an Experience Problem
The reality is that a successful pivot isn't about starting over. Instead, it's about learning how to translate your experiences. Tech companies need your skills more than you think. They have plenty of engineers. What they often lack are people with deep business acumen and deep industry experience. Your past is actually a valuable foundation for your next chapter.
Here is a framework for reframing the value you've already built.
The Translation Process
A corporate accountant I coached. His resume was a list of technical accounting terms that wouldn't land with tech recruiters.
One of his examples was:
Before:
"Responsible for the month-end close process."
To many tech hiring managers, that might sound like back-office bookkeeping. But we broke down what that actually entailed. Ultimately, he was a project manager coordinating with sales and ops under intense deadlines and pressure. He was also a data analyst looking to explain stories behind the numbers.
We translated that reality into the language of business impact:
After:
"Orchestrated the monthly financial reporting cycle by coordinating across three departments, which resulted in a 2-day reduction in closing time and delivered critical business insights to leadership."
Suddenly, he's not just an accountant. He's a project manager who understands data and delivers business intelligence. That is someone a tech company wants to hire.
While the above is how you might frame this on a resume, the real magic happens in the thinking behind it. Translating your skills is the first step, but the deeper work is in reflecting on and reframing what you did. Being able to articulate those things with depth and clarity is what truly matters in an interview.
A Framework to Start Translating Today
Here are three things you can do right now to begin reframing your own value.
List your Superpowers
Forget your job title for a moment. Write down 3-5 things you are genuinely great at. Think about practical skills like "organizing chaotic projects" or "calming down angry clients." This is the real start of defining your value.
Become a Keyword Detective
Open 3-5 job descriptions for roles you're curious about. Highlight the common keywords and action verbs they use to describe the skills you just listed (e.g., "stakeholder management," "project lifecycle," "data analysis"). This is the language your new industry speaks.
Rewrite one accomplishment
Now, take one bullet point from your current resume and rewrite it. Start with a power verb, describe the action, and most importantly, add the quantifiable result. Don't just list the task; show the impact.
Give these steps a try this week.
If this was helpful, give it a like or share. I'd love to see your own 'before and after' in the comments. Have other tips that worked for you? Add those too.
This is the first step. It requires reflection, but more importantly, it requires a framework!