Some career shifts are planned. Others take shape unexpectedly.

Whether it’s a round of layoffs prompting the search for new opportunities or simply a desire for growth and fresh challenges, making the leap to that next role requires finesse–especially in an unpredictable job market.

Career builders have agency in their transition process, says Elyse Zlotnikov, MHCI, SHRM-CP, Director of Talent Acquisition at New York-Presbyterian Hospital and a 2024 graduate of Penn’s Master of Health Care Innovation (MHCI) program.

She recommends that in today’s rapidly shifting employment landscape, job seekers lean on a few key strategies to launch their next career moves: refresh your résumé, prepare to pitch yourself, and find stepping stones.

List your likes
Start by reflecting on your preferences. Zlotnikov suggests anyone aiming for a career shift first take stock of the activities they enjoyed most in their last—or current—job and then tailor their résumé to highlight them. For example, integrate your preferred skills into your résumé summary and the top bullet points of your position descriptions. Homing in on what energizes you can help you identify jobs that align with your strengths while ensuring your résumé is a strong match for them.
 

Translate your skills
If you’re looking to pivot into a new role within health care, repackaging your current skill set is critical. Use job search engines as a tool to learn the language of your target position, suggests Zlotnikov. Reading through descriptions can give you ideas on how to reframe your skills.

“My suggestion would be to go on LinkedIn and look at the jobs that really speak to you,” she says. “Look for those keywords to build your résumé based on the things that you’ve done.”

Hiring managers may have a narrow view of your career history based on titles alone, so emphasizing your transferable skills in industry language can make a big difference.

Build an elevator pitch (with AI)
Zlotnikov recommends career shifters craft an elevator pitch before they even begin applying to jobs, especially if they’ve been out of the market for a while. Write a blurb with the skills and experiences you’d like to highlight, she suggests, along with what you’re seeking in a new role. Then prompt a large language model like OpenAI’s ChatGPT to “summarize this into an elevator pitch."

Your pitch should be concise and not too rehearsed—think of it more as a blueprint than a script.

“You never know who you’re going to meet, right?” says Zlotnikov. “So you need to be prepared to say ‘This is what I’m looking for’ and ‘This is what I’ve done’—and not fumble, but be really definitive.”
 

Practice answering behavioral interview questions
Make a list of your career accomplishments and failures that you’ve learned from. Then research behavioral interview questions and practice responding to them while weaving in your real-life examples.

Zlotnikov suggests using the STAR method to respond to questions, which involves structuring answers around a situation, task, action, and result. This gives you an opportunity to bring to life transferable experiences and skills that may not shine through on your résumé.

Try a new organization, then a new role
Seeking a full career change within a different slice of health care? Zlotnikov suggests easing into the transition by first taking a role that’s similar to your most recent one—but in a new organization or industry. Once there, you can more easily shift to a different job function.

“Let the company trust that you know what you’re doing,” she says. “Go into an organization doing what you know, and then learn the new job.” 

Take on a project
As a student in Penn’s MHCI program, Zlotnikov watched several of her classmates land new roles as a result of projects they took on, sometimes based on pitches they developed in their Pitching Innovation (now Designing Innovation) lab.

Stepping up to lead an initiative, join a committee, or propose a solution in your current workplace can yield long-term benefits.

“People that are able to showcase and bring to the table some of the work that they’re already doing find themselves in new jobs,” says Zlotnikov, “because they’re tapped for them.”

Even in today’s uncertain job market, people seeking to pivot or grow their careers can reclaim power in the process by taking a multi-pronged approach. The journey to that next role may involve some twists and turns, but job seekers can transform those moments into opportunities with the right preparation.

Elyse Zlotnikov, MHCI, SHRM-CP is the Director of Talent Acquisition at New York-Presbyterian Hospital. She is a 2024 graduate of the University of Pennsylvania’s Master of Health Care Innovation program.