Pivot Like You Mean It: Career Advice for Women Who Want More Than a Promotion

By Leslie Campos

Every woman has a story about when she realized the ladder wasn’t built for her. Maybe it was watching a less-experienced colleague get the promotion. Maybe it was returning to work after maternity leave and feeling like she was playing catch-up in a game she never chose. The good news? You don’t have to keep climbing someone else’s version of success. You can build your own structure, one that includes purpose, progress, and connection. There’s power in recognizing when it’s time to pivot—and there’s even more in knowing how.

Say Yes Before You're Ready

One of the biggest career blockers isn’t lack of experience—it’s hesitation. If you're waiting to feel 100% qualified before throwing your hat in the ring, you're already behind. Men are often socialized to be bold; women, to be prepared. But growth rarely feels like certainty. The job you don’t feel ready for might be the one that teaches you exactly what you need to know. Take the call. Apply anyway. Say yes, and build the plane on the way up.

Treat Curiosity Like Currency

The most underrated career strategy? Curiosity. Not just about your own work, but about how things function beyond your role. Ask questions during meetings that don’t involve your department. Offer help on cross-functional projects, not just for visibility, but to understand what makes the whole machine run. The more you know, the more indispensable you become. And the more doors you’ll see—some of which you didn’t even know existed.

Sharpen Your Tools to Stay in the Game Sometimes the best way to move forward is to hit reset on your skills. Going back to school can feel daunting, but it’s often the most strategic move for anyone looking to pivot, compete, or lead in today’s shifting job market. Whether you're aiming to level up or change lanes entirely, earning a computer science degree can strengthen your foundation in IT, programming, and computer science theory. Thanks to the flexibility of an online computer science degree, you can keep learning without pausing your career—or your paycheck.

Find the Right Kind of Ambition

Ambition doesn’t have to look like a corner office or a 70-hour week. For some, it's flexibility. For others, it's leading meaningful projects or launching a side hustle that finally feels like "you." There’s no universal metric for success, but you need your own. Define what a fulfilling career looks like on your terms—not your boss’s, not your parents’, and definitely not Instagram’s. Then make sure your daily life maps to it.

Make Peace With Imperfect Balance

If you’re chasing the mythical “balance,” here’s a secret: no one has it figured out. Career growth will sometimes demand late nights or early mornings. Personal growth might mean saying no to a big opportunity to prioritize your mental health. It’s not about doing everything all at once. It’s about knowing what matters most right now—and giving yourself permission to let the rest wait. The seasons will shift, and so will you.

Invest in Your Network, Not Just Your Résumé

You can have the skills, the degrees, the track record—and still get overlooked. That’s where your network comes in. Who knows your work? Who will speak your name in rooms you’re not in? If you don’t have a strong answer, it’s time to build those relationships. And not just in your industry. The most transformative opportunities often come from outside your immediate circle. Think wider. Think global.

Join a Global Circle That Sees You

Enter: communities like MCWEN. For women looking to expand their horizons, connect with like-minded professionals, and find their footing in unfamiliar spaces, this isn’t just networking—it’s nourishment. Global groups like these offer more than job leads. They give you mentorship, accountability, access to new ideas, and visibility you didn’t even know you needed. If you’ve ever felt like the only woman in the room, this is where you find your people—and realize you were never alone in the first place.

Embrace the Unpretty Parts of Growth

No one likes to talk about the messy middle: the rejection letters, the awkward informational interviews, the “almost” jobs. But this is where the real growth lives. Don’t rush to package your journey into a LinkedIn success story. Live in the in-between. Stay open during the setbacks. That’s where resilience gets built. And someday, you’ll look back at those flops as the foundation for what finally took off.

Let Your Purpose Evolve

You’re not who you were five years ago. And you won’t be who you are today five years from now. So why expect your goals to stay static? Let yourself dream differently. Maybe you wanted to run a department, but now you're drawn to start your own venture. Maybe the dream was security, but now it’s freedom. Give yourself permission to change—and to honor whatever version of ambition comes next.

There’s no one right way to build a career. That’s the truth—and the challenge. But there’s never been a better time to rewrite the rules. Whether you’re switching industries, launching something new, or just learning to trust your instincts, remember this: you’re allowed to create a life that feels like yours. One choice at a time, one risk at a time. The world is wider than you think, and you're more ready than you know.

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