Was cleaning out old LinkedIn messages last night and found this from Anthony, sent back in April:

Two months later, seeing this again reminded me why strategic positioning works.

Anthony went from anxious about career switching to beating experienced candidates.

Here's what he did differently.

Most people trying to change careers focus on what they lack.

"I don't have sales experience." "I've never worked in that industry." "They probably want someone who's done this before."

So they apologize for their background. Downplay their previous experience.

Try to convince hiring managers they can learn.

That's backwards.

Your "irrelevant" experience isn't a weakness to overcome.

It's a unique strength that separates you from everyone else applying.

Anthony didn't apologize for coming from UX.

He positioned his user empathy as exactly what the sales industry is missing.

Instead of competing on sales experience (where he'd lose), he competed on bringing something different (where he's the only option).

Think about your own career pivot:

What does your current field give you that your target industry desperately needs?

If you're moving from consulting to design, you understand client communication better than most designers.

From engineering to UX, you grasp technical constraints that pure designers miss.

From marketing to product, you know how to frame features in ways that actually resonate.

Your "weakness" becomes your competitive advantage.

Because while 50 other candidates have the same background, only you bring this specific combination.

The key is framing it correctly.

Not "I'm learning design" but "I bring business strategy to design decisions."

Not "I'm new to tech" but "I understand the user problems that technical teams often miss."

Not "I lack experience" but "I offer a perspective this industry hasn't seen before."

Same background. Completely different positioning.

P.S. This strategic positioning approach is exactly what we work on in Career Creators. We help you identify what makes your background unique and position it as the solution hiring managers need. If you're considering a career pivot and want help positioning your experience strategically, reply 'Details' and I'll share more about how we can help you compete on your strengths, not apologize for your differences.