The Field-First Switch is safer than applying first and researching later
My friend was a policeman. Tired of midnight shifts that ran from 7pm to 7am, he spent a year in a coding bootcamp, built a portfolio while he studied, and became a software engineer within a year.
That kind of career switch is common now. Kyle Lim used to sell chendol (a local dessert) at a stall in Tekka market. He had no IT background but took a course at a local institute, Centre For Cybersecurity Institute, and became a junior security analyst within 10 months.
A lot of you are wondering how to pivot into a new career field. A lot has been said about the technical skills needed, and Workforce Singapore and SkillsFuture SG do a good job of that. But more needs to be said about the softer things that made a difference.
Speak to people to understand about a new industry before applying
Before I left, I asked a friend who’d already left the government whether he regretted it. “Every day,” he said. He’d given up five to six months of bonus, a yearly package the higher private-sector salary still can’t quite match, and his job security. Then he added: “But I’d regret it more if I hadn’t left. I’d never have had the chance to rise the way I have.”
He’s a good friend, and he answered everything honestly, even the awkward questions about his current salary and how his career had really progressed. He told me the truth: the first stretch was hard. He’d gone through a contract role, taken a step back, and spent about a year clawing back to where he’d been before. Today he’s the most successful of all of us who left, with a recent double promotion.
Hearing the cost and the payoff from the same person braced me for what was coming. I’d have asked more people, but I wasn’t close to that many and didn’t want to impose. That’s why Brandon Lee‘s Purple Light podcast was a gift. I chanced upon it when I was considering the move out of the government. It was a gem, containing more than 60 episodes in which people describe exactly this move, with Brandon asking the questions I wanted to ask.
In one episode, Sean Tan, now working for the consultancy Mercer, talked about the hard part of his transition, including facing condescending interviewers and translating his military experience into “commercial parlance”, as he aptly puts it. Knowing what you’re walking into matters as much as having the right skills for the job. Listen to a few episodes before you decide.
Use referrals to help you switch industries
When I last looked for a job, I sent out more than a hundred applications and got two interviews. Both came from referrals. The other ninety-eight produced nothing.
That ratio isn’t bad luck. A popular role draws hundreds of applicants, so most companies now run resumes through an AI filter before a human sees anything. A human only ever reads what survives the filter.
There’s a harder truth too. A public posting often isn’t a real opening. A friend applied for a role, then learned from someone inside that the company had wanted an internal candidate all along. The posting existed to make the process look fair. If you’re not on the inside track, you can spend hours tailoring a resume for a job that was never yours to win.
If you need a practical way to approach the conversation, read how to ask for a job referral without making it awkward.
Find roles that are not on job boards
My friend Nat mentioned in passing to a hi-bye acquaintance that she was eyeing an opening at a big tech company. The acquaintance happened to work there. He told Nat plainly she’d be wrong for the role she had in mind, but pointed her to a different opening that wasn’t advertised, put her name to a few people inside, and she applied for that one and got it. She got that job only because she said out loud, to the right person, what she wanted.
The podcast helped me here too. After listening to a Purple Light guest whose path closely matched the one I was considering, and who’d landed at a company I wanted to join, I messaged him. I told him what I’d taken from his episode and where our journeys overlapped, and we had a real conversation. Later I asked if he’d refer me, and he did. I didn’t get that job. But a stranger gave me his time and his name and asked for nothing back, and that lifted me more than the outcome would have.
So if a guest’s story sounds like yours, message them. Most people who’ve sat on a podcast will agree to a coffee, because someone helped them on their way out and they remember how hard it was.
Consider taking a role below your level
You may not land your first choice straight away. It’s an employer’s market right now, and good people are taking roles a step below what they’re worth just to get through the door.
That’s fine. Once you’re inside, you can move toward the role you actually want far more easily. Bosses can see your work and know your name. The referral you once needed from a stranger can now come from a colleague down the hall. Take a project with the team you want to join. Pick up a skill on your own time. Volunteer for the work that puts you near the people who decide. The door you couldn’t open from outside opens from within.
Prepare for interviews by translating your experience
Practise your answers aloud with a voice-dictation tool
Have you ever walked out of an interview thinking, “I should have said that instead”?
The hardest part of an interview is telling your stories clearly. Instead of silently rehearsing answers in my head, I say them out loud and record them with Typeless. I feed the answers into ChatGPT and ask it to reorganise my thoughts, so I can tell my stories without rambling.
If you’ve got interviews coming up, try doing this. It made all the difference for me. You may also find these ways to answer the three most common job interview questions useful.
https://www.typeless.com/?via=eileen
Military experience can transfer when explained in civilian terms
Try the Purple Light podcast
Brandon Lee hosts the podcast Purple Light alongside his role at Workforce Singapore, where he’s an Assistant Chief Executive. He started it with SAF personnel and it’s since widened to cover government-to-private moves more broadly, including people like me. Worth a listen if you’re thinking about a change.
Once the field still looks right, use the guides on getting hired without direct industry experience, asking an insider for a referral and explaining the switch in an interview.
Frequently asked questions
Is it too late to change industries at 40?
No. A mid-career switch becomes more credible when you test the field, learn its language and show how your earlier experience solves a current problem. Age does not remove the need for evidence, but it can give you more relevant evidence to translate.
Do you have to take a pay cut to switch industries?
A pay cut is possible, especially when you enter below your former level, but it is not automatic. Compare the first-year trade-off with progression, working conditions and the value of the new experience before deciding.
How do you research an industry before moving into it?
Speak with people doing the work, ask about pay and daily conditions, join relevant communities, and test the field through a project or course. Use those conversations to check whether the reality matches the job title.
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