How to Network During a Career Pivot With No Relevant Experience

When I decided I wanted to leave BlackRock, I had no idea what I was doing.

I was a VP at one of the world's most prestigious asset management firms. On paper, everything looked perfect. But I was miserable. And I had this quiet, growing feeling that I wanted to work in fashion.

The problem? I knew absolutely nobody in that world.

No contacts. No industry experience. No relevant job titles. Just a genuine passion and a lot of fear about what people would think.

So I did something that felt almost embarrassing at the time.

I started a blog about fashion.

And then I started adding people from the fashion industry to my LinkedIn. Not with a polished pitch. Not with a carefully crafted networking strategy. Just with curiosity and a genuine interest in what they were building.

What happened next changed everything. That blog became my foot in the door. Those connections led to conversations. Those conversations eventually led to a role at Style Theory — a Softbank-backed fashion startup — where I helped them build the Hong Kong business from scratch.

None of it came through a job application.

All of it came through networking. Messy, imperfect, figure-it-out-as-you-go networking.

And that's what this post is about. Because if you're making a career pivot in Singapore and you feel like you have no relevant experience, no connections in your target industry, and no idea where to start — this one's for you.

Why Most People Network the Wrong Way During a Pivot

This is one of the most common patterns that shows up in career pivot conversations.

People know they want to pivot. They've identified the industry. They've even started doing research. But when it comes to networking, they freeze.

Because networking when you're already established feels manageable. You have a title. A track record. A clear reason for someone to take your call.

But networking as a career switcher? That feels different. Vulnerable. Like you're showing up to a party where everyone knows each other and you're standing at the door holding a drink you didn't know how to order.

So instead of reaching out, they apply for jobs online. They send their CV into the void. They wait.

And they wonder why nothing moves.

Here's the truth: the job market is not a meritocracy. Especially in Singapore, where so much happens through relationships and referrals. If you're pivoting into a new industry, the fastest way in is almost never through a job posting.

It's through a person.

The Mindset Shift That Changes Everything

Before getting to the practical steps, let's address the thing that holds most people back.

It's not a skills gap. It's not a contacts gap.

It's the belief that you have nothing to offer.

When you're pivoting into a new industry, it's easy to feel like you're a burden to the people you want to connect with. Like you're asking for a favour. Like you're wasting their time because you don't have the "right" background.

The trouble with that belief is not just that it is inaccurate, but that it quietly shapes what people do next. 

Here's what working with hundreds of career switchers at Ctrl Alt Career has shown, over and over again.

You’d be surprised at how often people want to help and how often they genuinely want to help. Most people are more generous with their time than you expect, especially when you approach them with genuine curiosity rather than a transaction in mind.

All you have to do is be smart with how you ask. 

Start Closer to Home Than You Think

One of the most common mistakes career switchers make is immediately trying to cold-reach strangers in their target industry.

That's not where you start.

You start with the network you already have.

Go through your contacts — LinkedIn connections, former colleagues, university alumni, people you've maybe lost touch with. You're not looking for people who work in your target industry. You're looking for people who might know someone who does.

Think of it like a treasure map. The X rarely marks the first person you talk to. It's usually two or three conversations in.

One of the Ctrl Alt Career clients, Derrick, was in business development at DSV Logistics and wanted to make a completely different kind of pivot — into entrepreneurship. He wasn't sure where to start. Through our work together, we coached him on how to network and he managed to build a brand new network of entrepreneurs. Among them was one who had similarly left a corporate job and moved into a different type of entrepreneurship. Instead of building a company from scratch, he leveraged his experiences in finance to buy small businesses to scale and exit.

That one introduction changed the entire direction of Derrick's thinking. He realised there was a path he hadn't even considered. He went on to make two business acquisitions.

Rather than finding the role through a job board, he found it through a conversation that opened a different path. 

How to Actually Reach Out (Without It Feeling Awkward)

Let's talk about the message itself. Because this is where a lot of people overthink and then do nothing.

Keep it short. Keep it honest. Make it about them, not you.

Here's a rough structure that works:

Start with a real point of connection. Open with something specific that makes the message feel intentional. That could be a shared background, a similar transition, a post they wrote, or a project they worked on. “I found your profile on LinkedIn” is easy to ignore. “I noticed we both started our careers in investment banking” gives the conversation somewhere to begin.

Show that your interest is specific, not generic. Broad praise rarely lands. A more thoughtful line usually comes from naming something concrete about their path that stood out to you. “Your career is inspiring” does very little. Referring to a podcast interview, a LinkedIn post, or a move they made that genuinely resonated with you makes the message feel far more credible.

Give just enough context about yourself. The goal is not to summarise your whole career history. A short line is enough to explain why you are reaching out to them in particular. Something like, “I’m currently in equity research and trying to figure out whether climate investing is a realistic next step,” gives clarity without turning the message back onto you.

Be clear about why you are reaching out. People respond better when they can immediately understand the purpose of the message. “Can I pick your brain?” is vague and puts too much work on the other person. A more grounded ask sounds like: “I’ve spoken to a few people in the industry and would value your perspective given the path you took.”

Ask for a conversation, not a favour. The tone of the message changes completely when the request feels light and easy to answer. “Can you help me get a job in X?” creates pressure. “Would you be open to a brief 15-minute chat sometime in the next few weeks?” feels respectful and realistic.

Keep it short enough to make replying easy. Three or four sentences is usually enough. Long messages often signal a high-effort ask before any relationship exists. Shorter messages tend to feel more thoughtful because they respect the other person’s time.

Write in a way that feels human. Most people can tell when they are receiving a copy-paste networking message. What makes outreach work is not polish for its own sake, but specificity, honesty, and a sense that the message was actually written for them.

The key is that it has to feel real. People can tell when they're receiving a copy-paste message. Write like a human. Be specific. Don't pretend you're not pivoting — your honesty about where you are is often what makes people want to help.

The Informational Interview: Your Most Underused Tool

If there is one tool career pivoters in Singapore tend to overlook, it is the informational interview. On paper, it sounds simple: a conversation with someone already working in the space you hope to move into. In practice, it can be one of the most valuable parts of the transition process, because it gives you access to something a job application never can — lived insight.

These conversations help you understand what the industry actually looks like from the inside, which skills matter most, and where your gaps may be more perceived than real. They also change how you are received. Once someone has spoken with you, your name no longer appears as a completely cold application. There is already some familiarity, however small. Someone can place your resume in context, recall the quality of the conversation, and connect your application to a real person rather than a document in a queue. In some cases, that can help your application move further than it otherwise would, whether by getting more internal attention, avoiding an early screen-out, or making its way into a first-round interview.

This is also why outreach matters. Many people assume they should only speak to recruiters or submit formal applications, but some of the most useful momentum comes from conversations with people who are already in the field, especially those whose paths feel relevant or aspirational. A thoughtful message, sent with genuine curiosity and a clear reason for reaching out, often opens more doors than people expect.

Over time, these conversations do more than build information. They also build confidence. Networking often feels intimidating when it exists only in your imagination. Once you have done it a few times and realised that many people are far more generous than expected, it begins to feel less like self-promotion and more like research.

My client Kim was a Chief of Staff at a VC. She used the Ctrl Alt Career networking methodology — which is built around exactly this kind of intentional relationship building and ended up creating a conversation with a hiring manager at a global investment bank. That conversation went so well that the hiring manager created a job posting specifically for Kim. Kim was the top candidate — because the job description was essentially written with her in mind. She landed the role within a month of their first meeting.

There was no mass sending of CVs and no recruiter involved, just one conversation that turned into a relationship, and eventually, an opportunity. 

Build in Public Before You Have the Title

Here's something I did during my own pivot that I didn't fully appreciate at the time.

I started creating content — a fashion blog — before I had any credentials in the industry.

I wasn't trying to build an audience. I was just trying to document what I was learning and thinking. But what that blog did was signal to the world that I was serious about fashion. It helped people see me not just as a girl with a decade of finance experience and no fashion experience. It made me visible in a space where I had no official presence.

You don't need to start a blog. You can start a podcast, a Youtube channel, a portfolio. But you do need to do something tangible that shows you're already living in the direction of your pivot.

Write a LinkedIn post sharing what you've been reading about the industry. Start a small side project. Volunteer for an organisation in your target space. Build a simple portfolio.

This matters because it shifts the conversation from "I want to work in X" to "I'm already doing something in X." That shift is enormous when trying to get someone to take you seriously without the traditional credentials.

My client Izza always loved writing but never thought it could be a career. When we worked together, she realised the pivot she actually wanted to make was into journalism — not tech, which she'd been chasing because it seemed safe and future-proof. She overcame her imposter syndrome, leaned into the writing she'd always loved, and successfully pivoted into Channel News Asia. Without going back to journalism school. With a 16% pay raise.

How? She started writing publicly and shared her content with the editor who was hiring. 👉 If you're not yet sure what you're building toward, start with the FREE masterclass. It covers how to identify what actually fits you — so the networking has a clear direction.Watch it free here.

When You Feel Like You Have Nothing to Offer

This is worth sitting with for a moment, because it comes up in almost every career pivot conversation.

If you're coming from finance and you want to move into health & wellness, you might feel like you have nothing relevant to bring. If you're an engineer wanting to move into creative industries, you might feel like your background is a liability rather than an asset.

It's not.

Your background gives you a perspective that people inside the industry don't have. The finance person who wants to work in wellness brings commercial rigour and analytical thinking that most wellness brands desperately need. The engineer pivoting into design brings systems thinking and precision that purely creative people often lack.

The framing is everything.

And when you're networking, your story — your genuine, personal reason for wanting to make this move — is what makes you interesting. Not your job title. Not your years of experience. Your why.

Linda had spent her whole career in Sales and Trading at Citi. Everyone called her the "finance girl." She felt completely boxed in. But she had always loved skincare — she just never thought it was a real career option. After working together, she successfully pivoted into Business Development at a science-backed skincare startup. 

How? By showing just how passionate and knowledgeable she was about the industry with her beauty podcast. 

A Simple Framework to Get Started This Week

If all of this feels overwhelming, here's a place to start.

Day 1: Go through your LinkedIn and identify ten people in your extended network who work in or adjacent to your target industry. Don't overthink it. Just make a list.

Day 2: Write a short, honest message to three of them. Not a pitch. Just a genuine hello and a request for a twenty-minute conversation.

Day 3: Write a post on LinkedIn about the industry you’re interested in. This is a simple way to start showcasing your expertise and building a new personal brand for yourself. You know more than you give yourself credit for. And if this seems too hard? Just repost an article in the industry you’re trying to get into.  

This week: Attend one event — online or in person — that your target industry is part of. Not to pitch yourself. Just to listen, learn, and see if there's one person you'd genuinely like to follow up with.

That's it. Four small actions. None of them require a perfect CV, a polished pitch, or years of industry experience.

They just require you to start.

The Network You Build Is the Career You Create

Looking back on my own journey, that truth becomes very clear.

The career I have now — building Ctrl Alt Career, helping high achievers in Singapore find work that genuinely fits them — wasn't something I planned. It came through a series of conversations, connections, and experiments that didn't feel like a strategy at the time.

The fashion blog led me to Style Theory. The career podcast I started led me to building my career coaching business. 

Every time I took imperfect action that led me to my dream career. 

So if  you're in the middle of a career pivot right now, and you're looking at your LinkedIn contacts wondering where to even begin — start small. Start honest. Start with one message to one person today.

You don't need the perfect background to have the conversation.

You just need to have it.

If you're ready to make your career pivot but don't know how to position yourself or where to start with networking, this is exactly what we work on inside the Ctrl Alt Career coaching programme.Book a free 45-minute clarity call and let's figure out your next step together.