My best advice for finding a role at the right level when you change careers

When you’re changing careers, it can be tough to know the appropriate level to pitch yourself. Do you start from the very bottom again and work your way up? Can you come in at a higher level because of your transferable skills and experience? And what happens if a recruiter or hiring managers thinks you’re better suited to a more junior or more senior role? 

Let’s explore!

Understand transferable skills

First, you definitely need to understand the concept of transferable skills. 

When I rewrite women's CVs and update their LinkedIn profile (especially when helping them move into Change Management), my main focus is finding the gems of transferable skills.

I define transferable skills as the skills you could use in any job, any company, any industry, any country. They are non-technical and non-specific. As the future of work keeps changing, and roles and career paths become more fluid, transferable skills are starting to trump job titles and pave the way for easy career change.

• If you can engage stakeholders in one role, you can do it anywhere.
• If you are a brilliant communicator, you can do it anywhere. 
• If you are an awesome leader, you've got a job anywhere in the world.

The same goes for Sales, Customer Service, Client Relationships, Training, Tracking & Reporting, Budget Planning, Strategy, Management, Data Analysis etc. Often it's the "soft" skills of people and leadership that are, ironically, the most transferable. And will be in highest demand when AI takes over!

All the other technical skills of most jobs can be learned on the job (excepting fields like Medicine, Law, Psychology or Financial Advice where you have people's health, mental health or financial wellbeing at stake, or where you require licenses and certificates to practise safely). And truly - going back to university and industry accreditations often won't teach you the practical, technical skills to do the job. Because you learn best ON THE JOB, after you've made the career change.

Beware of entry level roles

Because of your transferable skills and experience, if you are quite a seasoned professional then you should be wary of applying for entry level roles in your new career. For example, if you’re a senior leader and you’ve led multiple teams and changes, you wouldn’t want to go for a Change Analyst role. Same thing for an experienced Project Manager. You don’t have to start at the bottom rung of the career ladder in your new profession and it might make the recruiter or hiring manager question whether your background is legit. Even when I moved to Change Management, I started as a Senior Change Analyst, which was actually a full Change Manager position, they just didn't call it that in the organisation because all people leaders were expected to be "Change Managers".

Be open to advanced opportunities 

When I desperately needed a job because my off-the-plan apartment was due to be settled early, I had two career path options: stay in Marketing or make the career change I wanted to Change Management. For the Marketing roles I applied for, I was sometimes considering roles that were in brand new industries I’d never worked in (I’d been in Consumer Goods and Financial Services). Two different companies offered me more advanced roles than the ones I had applied for! One had me being a regional team leader with direct reports, and the other had me going straight into a Brand Manager position that I’d have killed for just a couple of years earlier. While I ultimately made the decision to make the career change to Change Management, I was pretty chuffed that after interviewing, not only did I get these job offers but they were beyond what my current expectations were!

Listen when they say you’re overqualified

If you’re being told you’re overqualified for roles, instead of blaming the age bias of the recruiter/hiring manager, reflect on why you’re going for roles below you! It may indicate a lack of self awareness on your part of your true value, as all as pigeon hole your future to a role type and structure you’ve already outgrown. You’re likely not packaging up yourself or your skills properly. Imagine if you took all those skills and decades of industry knowledge and experience, and instead of trying to find a permanent role, you positioned yourself as a consultant. An expert in your field. Because, my friend, with all that behind you, whether you believe it or not, you are an expert.

Also listen when they say you might be suited to a more junior role

If a hiring manager has told you they love you and they're willing to offer you a different role or create a brand new role, that is AMAZING!! You should be so proud and it means you really showed up and shone in the interview. The first thing to do is celebrate this amazing feedback and kudos and bask in the compliment. Next, consider what this means from a role level. 

Do you think it's a true reflection of your current skill and experience level and what you're ready for?

Is this feedback valid and is the market simply telling you where your best current fit is? 

Doing the Transferable Skills Assessment exercise in the BONUS Intro to Change Management webinar in my Leading Successful Change program is a great way to check against how ready you might be for a role. 

If you feel you're ready for the more senior role - politely decline and keep looking. But if you feel there's some justification in where the hiring manager is positioning you, it might be an idea to take the role knowing that within 6 months you could probably easily step straight up to the more senior position.

So the second part to this is the money - a more junior role might come with a lower pay. My personal view is that you shouldn't take less than what your current or last salary/day rate was, because your transferable skills and experience mean you are worth MORE, not less. The only exception might be if you've been out of work for a while and you need to pay the bills - taking a lower salary could be a stepping stone. OR if there was an unusual peak in the market and now rates have right-sized (this happened in Change during COVID and we did see rates come back down again).

Checking the pay rates guide in the BONUS Intro to Change Management webinar module in Leading Successful Change, asking recruiters, or checking out salary guides is a great way to see if the role is offering below market rates in the industry. If they are - decide if you want to accept that - choosing a different industry like Financial Services could pay more. If they aren't - decide if you're worth more. You could also speak with the hiring manager to understand the band for the higher-level role and where they've placed you on that band, and request to be moved to the top of the band OR ask for non-financial benefits to make the salary/rate more acceptable (such as a 4-day week, 9-day fortnight, training budget, etc).

Seriously, anything is possible when it comes to a career in Change, and I share all this and more (especially how to grow in any gaps in Change) in my upcoming free Change Tools Masterclass. 

We kick off next week on Tuesday 17 March and it will be a week-long immersive experience into all things Change Management tools and templates.

Register your free spot on the masterclass today:

CLICK HERE to register for my free March 2026 Change Tools Masterclass

And if you've already registered, be sure to jump into the private and exclusive VIP Group and introduce yourself - I’ll see you in there!

Lata xx