Ask Christa! Do I Have to Take a Big Step Back to Change Industries? (S5E54)

Introduction

Hi everyone and welcome to Ask Christa! the place where you can ask questions about how to work through business challenges and workplace issues. I'm Christa Dhimo and today’s listener question is a bit about how to change industries and a bit about how to identify your transferable skills so you can MAKE changes in your career when and if needed.

Listener Question

Here’s the listener question: “I’m a PhD who works for a biotech company. This is my fourth start-up where I get to build and grow and develop myself, the company, AND the therapies we hope to bring to patients one day. 

With the way things are going, and seeing so many of my smart and highly skilled counterparts getting laid off, things feel unsteady and unstable for me. I’m thinking of leaving biotech and going into a different industry, but I feel like this is all I can do. 

I also don’t want to have to start from scratch, taking a big step back in my career. I don’t mind going down a few steps, but starting at entry level after working for 15 years isn’t appealing. I suppose I can go into teaching, but I’ve also considered using my master’s degree in mechanical engineering, which I got before my PhD, and shifting over to robotics. 

I’ve already spoken with two companies that have products in the market and are interested in exploring how I can use my master’s degree and my skills in research to work with them. I just don’t know how to position myself. Do I have to take a big step back to change industries?” 

Change Requires Current and Future State Analysis (and Honesty)

It sounds to me like this listener has already started answering their own question, which is great! You are absolutely on the right track if you’ve already started talking about opportunities in different industries where you have transferable skills.  In this case, our listener is seeking a seemingly more stable and steady industry and environment, which isn't uncommon when it comes to someone changing industries.

The key to unlocking opportunities across industries, domains, sectors—however you consider this kind of change—is like any other transformation or transition plan: what is your current state, what is the desired future state, and what has to happen to get from here to there? 

Start with Your Skills

Where do you start? I’d start with your technical skills: do you have the technical skills to transition to a new industry? Sometimes the answer is YES. For example, if our PhD listener wanted to go into higher education and teach, part of a PhD program is to teach and you’ve already immersed yourself in an academic environment to earn your doctorate, which involves deep research. 

So… presumably, the teaching and research skills (those being the technical skills in higher ed) are there. 

But if there’s a wide gap with your technical skills, then yes, you may take a step back, but how big it is will depend on how far away the future state is—especially if it means you need to go back to school to switch industries.

And by the way, there’s nothing wrong with that, either. 

You aren’t starting from scratch, though. You’re resetting your career path, and the more different that future state is from your current state, then the bigger the reset. But that doesn’t mean you jump into a magic time machine and erase everything you’ve done to date. It means you determine what can be used to move you toward your new future state BASED ON how much you have to offer from your current state.

For example, if our listener wanted to go from being a PhD biotech scientist to a veterinary technician, or a “vet tech,”, you may have some of the scientific knowledge as a PhD, but there are a lot of other technical skills to that kind of work that will require more schooling even though both are in science, and that’s because the technical skills for a vet tech are different from a biotech scientist even though some of the scientific schooling may overlap.

Or, if you’re presently in business strategy and you want to become a nurse, you’ll be looking at going to nursing school to get all of the technical skills under your belt in order to close the technical skills gaps.

And Don’t Underestimate or Undervalue Your Experience

But, the technical skills are only part of your skills. You have experience skills, too, and that cannot be discounted. Experience is the “know how” part of your job or career—the part that people usually see before you even talk about your job. It’s more like the air around you, or the settled energy you have, or the way you carry yourself. Some might even call this “gravitas.” 

This has to be part of your current state review, too. What is your current experience, both in terms of on-the-job experience you have in contrast to the experience you may need for a future role. I think this is where a lot of people trip up. They either think they have way more experience than they do, or way less experience than they do. 

So, when you consider experience, focus less on how long you’ve done the technical work and more on the human aspect of how you work: how do you manage stress? How do you communicate when you’re feeling stress? How do you determine WHO you communicate with and WHEN, say if there’s a change in scope or a risk has come up. How do you collaborate toward shared goals—and what about how you collaborate when you have to work with someone you don’t like? How do you provide team members with critical feedback to encourage them to continue the good work they’re doing? Or when they have to adjust how they work so they correct mistakes before submitting their final work product?

Center your thinking on the experience you have WITH PEOPLE as part of your current state that may be useful to you in a future role and in a different industry? 

Be Realistic About A Change in Industries

That said, and in the case of our listener, moving from a research-based biotech to a research-based role in an engineering company that has products out in the market may have a lot of similarities, especially when it comes to innovation and applying technology to solve real-world problems. 

But the inner-workings of a start-up biotech, which is likely non-revenue-generating at this point, is very different from the inner-workings of a revenue-generating robotics company: there are different pressure points, different priorities, different stakeholders, different stress behaviors, different product development norms. If our listener is positioned to work in a robotics research and development role, chances are high that our listener will be involved in customer focus groups, customer feedback sessions, potential complaints-handling, and problem solving with the urgency of revenue impact, and while there are transferable hands-on experience skills associated with that work, it’s not typically the environment most start-up biotech scientists are involved in. And some may not WANT to be involved.

Of course, that could be EXACTLY what our listener wants, and I fully encourage everyone to make big changes to explore new career paths when that’s the right step for you. The point I’m making is how important it is for our listener, and ANYONE looking to transition into a new industry, to think about where they currently are in their work world, where they are looking to go as a future state, and how to fill in the gaps you will find in that new path into a different industry. Then also, think about the industry. A different industry will be… different.

Some Watch-Outs and Think-Abouts When Changing Industries

Here are a few Watch-Outs! to look for as you consider changing industries.

First, a lot of your peers, friends, and yes even family members may challenge you to rethink your thinking. They may think about career growth in a very traditional and linear way: pick an industry, pick a role, grow upward. Pay no mind if you know that traditional path isn’t for you. There’s no harm in learning about what it might take to change industries, and anyone trying to slow you down is probably doing so because of how THEY feel about changing industries, not because of how they feel about YOU changing industries. Those who have moved across different industries see the world differently and usually care about different factors in a career. And I speak from experience.

Second, there ARE some industries that are so different that it won’t be a good fit. Do your homework. Find out how different industries value what’s important to you. How compatible are you with how a new industry tolerates poor product quality, or values customer experience… how they price their products or manage competition. EVERY industry will claim to be “very different” from where you are, but part of your current state to future state homework is to actually learn what is different based on what you know about yourself and your values, your work, your career thus far, the industry you’re presently in and the industry you’re interested in moving to. 

Third, learn the language of different industries as you plot your potential path toward a different industry. This is more about the block and tackle of transferring to a new industry, but it’s an important one. Leave your industry’s jargon behind and use the jargon of your target industry when possible… and without looking like a phony. No one wants that. But live as part of the industry for a little while. Try it on for size. Look at publicly traded companies so you can learn the norms when it comes to expectations and competitors and where you might add unique value. Read about and learn about what CUSTOMERS care about. Read about and learn about what INVESTORS care about. Where are the stress points? What impact could you make to positively impact those stress points?

And last: do your homework about leveling and salary. Different industries often pay differently, and believe it or not, there are times when you WON’T take a big step back if you change industries, or when you’ll move into an industry at a higher level. Then there are times when you’re resetting your career and there’s a wider gap between current status and future state, and yes, in those instances, you’ll likely take a step back as you learn and practice new technical skills. 

Additional Resources

For your resources, located in the show notes, I spent most of MY part of this episode on how to setup your mindset. The actual HOW TO is what I’m offering for additional resources:

First up: a fantastic article I found that has just the right detail AND the right guidance. It’s on the Paybump site, which I JUST found BECAUSE of my research for this episode. The article is called, “Ready for a Career Change? Here’s how to transition industries without losing out.” Here’s what I love about the article: it starts with a section called “Changing industries doesn’t mean starting over.” It’s laced with a lot of additional resources via the links they use, including various survey outcomes so you can learn that you’re not alone if you’re thinking about changing industries AND there are a variety of resources available to help you prepare for the shift. 

Next up: another on-point article from Indeed Career Advice. The article was updated in July 2025 and it’s called, “How to Change Industries or Careers with No Experience.” It’s written by Jennifer Herrity, a certified career coach, and you have access to a video AND a transcript. You’re going to see trends and themes start to emerge: how to determine if and when you’re ready, how to identify transferable skills, then—as is the case with most Indeed articles—various resources and checklists to make the career move as streamlined and straightforward as possible. Now—the “no experience” in this articles title is about whether you have experience in the industry you’re interested in moving into, so if you’re thinking, “wait, I have 15 years’ experience, so this resource isn’t for me,” then think again. Plus… I’d never offer a resource that isn’t good for EVERYONE. 

Last, a really interesting podcast episode called Happen to Your Career, which is part of a coaching site by the same name. I have no affiliation and cannot officially endorse, but the premise is really cool and geared specifically toward those who are seeking changes in their career without starting over. Check it out. The episode I’m including as an additional resource is called, “How to switch industries without starting over.” It’s from June 2025 and brings you through the starting point, which according to the episode starts with a mindset change that you can in fact change industries without starting over, then it moves you through the process of switching industries. 

Wrap Up & Submitting Your Questions

And there it is—episode 54 in Season FIVE, focused on Career Growth! 

You can submit YOUR question on my show’s site, AskChrista.com, that’s Christa with a C-H, where you will see all my episodes listed based on category and season. While your there—sign up for my More Answers… newsletter, where you will receive additional content on Sunday nights to set you up for the work week.

As always, thank you for your support. And remember, if you have a business challenge or a workplace issue—Ask Christa!