4 Employer Objections to Overcome When Changing Careers

Why a Career Change Is a Harder Job Search

A career transition, pivot or change is a more complicated type of job search because you are competing with candidates who have direct experience – e.g., they’ve done the role firsthand, they don’t have employment gaps. If you’re changing careers, you are missing that direct experience and are therefore a bigger risk. Employers are people too, and there are risk-averse hiring managers out there. You have to preemptively assuage their fears about hiring you.

Objection 1: Are You Looking to Learn on My Time and Dime?

Whether you have relevant skills, expertise and experience from day one is a reasonable question for employers to ask. By the time a new person is hired, there has likely been a lot of time and pain suffered waiting for that hire: the team has been overworked, projects have fallen behind schedule, and tasks have been left undone. Employers need to know that you can contribute right away and are not simply looking for a place to learn or practice for your career change.

Having hands-on projects in the new field, even if this is volunteer work or a side gig, is tangible proof that you are productive now. Avoiding career change talk altogether (i.e., don’t refer to yourself as a newbie or fast learner) can keep employers’ focus on what you offer right now. Staying updated on trends and breaking news in your target sector helps support the perception that you are already an active peer in the field.

Objections 2 and 3: Will You Stick Around, and Do You Want to Work Here?

Employers don’t want to feel like the rebound love affair. They worry you don’t really know what you’re getting into in this type of role or industry, and that you’ll quit at the first obstacle—or run back to your old career, leaving the overworked team with incomplete projects and tasks. Passion alone isn’t enough to get hired, but it’s still a prerequisite. Prepare to explain why you want this field, how you got interested, and what trends or news you’re following. Your cover letter, informational interviews, and other networking and job interviews are where you tell your origin story.

Employers also want to know you’re serious about their company specifically. If you can’t articulate why you’re interested in one employer over its competitors, you look like the candidate who would work anywhere. Research the companies you talk to: review their website, job postings, press releases, financial statements if public, and articles written about them. Ideally, add primary research—talking to current and former employees, or reaching out to industry analysts, journalists, or academics who may have studied the company.

Objection 4: Why Hire You Over Someone With Direct Experience?

Even if you convincingly talk your way through the above three objections, a prospective employer might default to a non-career changer because they have a track record and you simply do not. To overcome this final objection, you have to show employers something that other candidates do not have.

This could be a skill or expertise developed in your previous career that would be useful in this new career. Perhaps your outside perspective as a career changer could be sold as a benefit, and you have innovative ideas for the company. Looking at the role and what needs to be accomplished, there might be experience from your previous career that enables you to improve on the role.