You’ve built your career leading teams, driving results, and solving big problems. Now, you’re ready for something new.

Whether it’s moving from healthcare to tech, nonprofit to corporate, or manufacturing to SaaS, switching industries at the VP level is possible. But it’s not as simple as swapping out a few buzzwords on your resume.

If you want to pivot without taking a step back, you need more than flexibility. You need a compelling story.

Let’s talk about what it really takes to get noticed when you’re breaking into a new industry.

I hear this a lot:

“Leadership is leadership. I’ve built teams and delivered results. That should be enough.”

And I agree, with a caveat.

Yes, leadership is transferable.

But in a competitive job market, hiring teams are comparing you to candidates who have already done the job in their industry. People who know the business model, the challenges, the language, and the pace.

It may not matter to you, but it often does to recruiters.

So if you want to be taken seriously, you need to show:

• That you can solve the same kinds of problems

• That you understand their world

• And that your experience is not just relevant, but valuable in context

Being open to anything doesn’t make you more appealing. Being strategically aligned does.

One of the first things I ask clients who want to switch industries is this:

What makes you a compelling candidate in that space?

Sometimes, the connection is clear. Other times, the answer is vague or hasn’t been thought through at all.

That’s the gap.

Most job seekers assume the recruiter will figure it out. But they won’t.

It’s your job to:

• Find the throughline

• Draw the parallels

• Reframe your background in a way that makes sense to someone outside your current industry

If you can’t do that confidently, neither can the person reviewing your resume.

If you’re coming from another industry, here’s what hiring teams are evaluating behind the scenes:

• Have you solved similar business problems?

• Do you understand or have exposure to their business model?

• Can you lead and earn credibility in their environment?

• Will you adapt quickly and avoid a steep ramp-up period?

They’re not looking for someone who can figure it out eventually. They’re looking for someone who can step in with a real understanding of what success looks like.

Here’s how I help my clients reposition their experience when making a pivot:

Look for the strategic similarities between your past roles and the new industry.

• Have you led digital transformation?

• Scaled teams across locations?

• Navigated regulatory environments or operational complexity?

The goal is to connect your outcomes to the challenges they’re already facing. This is where transferable skills become obvious, not just implied.

Industry-specific keywords matter.

If you're trying to move from education to tech, or from government to private sector, the language needs to shift.

Make sure your resume and LinkedIn profile:

• Incorporate relevant terms from your target job descriptions

• Frame your work in business terms, not internal lingo

• Focus on metrics, outcomes, and strategic value

When you're making a pivot, your resume alone won’t carry the weight. Networking becomes a requirement, not a bonus.

You need champions who:

• Understand your story

• Can help hiring teams connect the dots

• Will advocate for your potential to lead successfully in a new space

Most successful industry switchers didn’t land the job through online applications. They landed it through conversations.

Tony moved from education to security services.

The link? His multi-unit leadership experience, which translated seamlessly to overseeing distributed field operations.

Jim transitioned from consulting into a CTO role.

The bridge? His track record leading digital transformation across multiple clients and industries.

In both cases, the pivot worked because we built the story before the resume.

Then we aligned every piece of their strategy, from branding to outreach, to reinforce that story clearly and confidently.

You don’t need to start over to change industries.

But you do need to be intentional.

When you align your experience to what hiring teams actually care about, and make it easy for them to say yes, you stop being a risky choice and start being the obvious one.

→Also read: Why you’re not landing interviews as a VP (and what to do about it).