Pivot Your Career Without a Pay Cut! 💰 | Career Chat with Rhona Barnett-Pierce

Meet the “Queen of Pivots”! In this Career Chat, Rhona Pierce shares how she overcame years of job search rejection after moving to the U.S. by thinking outside the box. Her 90-second video cover letter changed everything—landing her interviews almost instantly!

What You’ll Learn:
✅ How to pivot careers without taking a pay cut
✅ Why video cover letters can transform your job search
✅ How to use personal branding & networking to land better jobs
✅ The power of LinkedIn voice recordings in catching recruiters' attention

If you’re struggling with career transitions, don’t miss these game-changing tips! 🎯 Listen now!

Connect with Rhona:

💼 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rhonabarnettpierce/

🌐 Website: https://perceptiblestudios.com/

🎙️ Podcast: https://www.throwouttheplaybook.com/ 

📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rhonabpierce/

Chapters

• 0:00 Welcome and Introduction
• 0:31 Fear of Career Pivoting
• 1:42 Video Cover Letter Success Story
• 4:28 Personal Connections in Job Hunting
• 6:14 Pivoting Without Taking a Pay Cut
• 11:32 Episode Closing and Next Episode Teaser

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:09

Welcome to another Career Chat. Bite Size Inspiration on the Transparenature Podcast. Today we have Rona with us as we dive into our Career Chat. Rona, welcome to the podcast.

Speaker 2: 0:23

Thank you so much for having me on the podcast today.

Speaker 1: 0:27

So let's get into this career chat. Here's a thought to kick us off. Okay, If fear of the unknown is holding you back from a career pivot, remember growth and comfort rarely exist. Actually, they rarely coexist. Stepping into the unknown could lead to your greatest opportunities. Rona, you are the queen of pivoting. Tell us what do you think about this quote, and even diving into your career journey to help our listeners today.

Speaker 2: 0:58

Yeah, I 100% agree with that quote and, like you said, yes, I call myself the queen of pivots and I am a self-described and very proud job hopper. And I'm proud of it because I think as humans we change, our interests change, and a lot of my pivots have been because I've changed what I've wanted to do, but they've also been because I've been forced to do things for external circumstances. I am from Panama, in Central America, and I moved here to the US 15 years ago and what I thought my career was going to be here, which was a continuation of what I was doing back home, didn't exactly work out to be that way. So I had to pivot, because I always think of it as, like, there's two options I can sit here and feel sorry for myself and that things aren't going the way that I want, or I can take control of my career and do what I need to do, because, at the end of the day, we all have bills to pay. That's really why we work. Yes, I absolutely love what I do, but I 100%. If I did not need to pay bills probably wouldn't work. So I always I always figure that out and I always think, like, look, I can sit here and I can feel sorry for myself. I'm not getting jobs, I'm not doing this, I'm not doing that, and when I talk about my story I tell people so back home.

Speaker 2: 2:28

I was a regional operations manager for a software development company. I thought I'll just move here, I'll take a few months to be a new wife in a new city and then I'll apply for jobs, right? Well, it took years to get interviews. Wow, I live in a city that maybe isn't that immigrant friendly, and I'm sure people had ideas in their head of like they're seeing this resume with a ton of international experience but no experience here. So they were probably thinking I needed a visa, sponsorship or any of these things, you know. So what I did was you know what, if they aren't going to invite me to an interview, I'm going to invite myself. And no, I didn't barge into anyone's office.

Speaker 1: 3:10

I'm an introvert. I didn't do that. Tell us how you did that.

Speaker 2: 3:14

I created a video cover letter and I shared a quick video. It was a 90 second video where I shared about my background and my experience. I kid you not, I started getting interviews. I like, literally after years of of not getting anything, of getting ghosted or getting rejected, I started getting interviews and I got a job within a couple of weeks.

Speaker 1: 3:36

Wow, that's an amazing story. And and really, when you said that like doing a 90 second video, and really when you said that like doing a 90 second video, really thinking outside of the box, Right, Because I think in the challenge in today's workforce and trying to apply for jobs and get interviews is that it's just so many people out there gunning for the same role that you're trying to search for. And again, you talked about your challenges with coming from a different country, right.

Speaker 2: 4:08

Yes.

Speaker 1: 4:09

Country right, and so that alone within itself. Again, you talked about, you know, having visa and sponsorship, and a lot of companies just don't want to deal with that. So, really finding opportunities and ways to bring yourself out, I think that's an amazing story. A portion of my career. There was a time where I had a terrible leader that came in and just had a different vision for where I seen myself growing into and I had to pivot not necessarily outside of HR, because my career has been, or my professional career has been 100 percent HR Right, but, you know, finding other job opportunities, and one of the things that my God brother shared with me is, hey, you need to reach out to those hiring leaders on LinkedIn or find their emails so you can have a conversation with them and guess what. You can have a conversation with them and guess what.

Speaker 1: 5:18

I reached out and this one particular lady responded, but then I didn't hear her for maybe another month and then she came back and said, hey, are you still interested? And I was like, absolutely, and believe it or not, that's the job that I end up selecting, even though I had multiple job offers. I selected hers because we made a personal connection and I believe in my leader that is hiring me, that we have to connect on a certain wavelength, because if we don't connect, then that kind of shows me are you really interested in me or just what I have to offer? So again, pivoting in your career, man, that's awesome. Can you tell me, because you went from that and you end up working in talent acquisition how did you pivot in that?

Speaker 2: 6:13

So that job. I was in the middle of a pivot before moving, but I understood that I wasn't going to be able to. So I was very vocal with the CEO of that company where I worked at back home about my distrust and not I wasn't pleased with our talent partner and he was tired, literally I think he was tired of hearing me complain about this. Not complain, but like say, like hey, this isn't working, this isn't working.

Speaker 2: 6:40

Yeah, and he's like you know what operations like. He's like you're the head of operations, now recruiting is under you. Oh, wow, okay, he's like and I think he was saying it to like call my bluff. But I was like, yeah right, challenge accepted, um, and I really loved it. But then I moved and I knew I wanted to get into talent acquisition, but I also knew I didn't have a ton of strong experience in that. So I went back to my roots. The job that the first job that I got here was back in so I'm a software engineer was back in my roots and in the engineering side of things. And then after a while, it's like okay, I have the experience here in the US which everyone needed you to have, us company experience. Now I have that. Now I'm ready to pivot. Well, of course, I created another video, like I mean, after I saw how that worked.

Speaker 2: 7:28

I'm never doing another thing without a video and literally that every time I want to pivot.

Speaker 1: 7:35

Just make a video.

Speaker 2: 7:36

And I did a video and I explained yeah, I explained all of my experience and why I wanted to pivot and why I was the right person for it and got jobs in that way. And every time I've wanted to pivot, that video has been my secret weapon. Really, I believe in it.

Speaker 1: 7:55

Yeah, yeah. So if you're listening to this career chat, maybe something you want to do is create a video. But you know what? On LinkedIn, they have these voice recordings where you can record your voice. Another podcaster sent me a voice memo and I was like, oh wow, I didn't know you could do this. And I was like, well, hello, how are you? You can do this. And I was like, well, hello, how are you? So that may be another good tool to utilize on LinkedIn. Last question before we end this career chat so one of the biggest challenges that people face in pivoting is the money. Right, you may be used to making six figures in your current position, but you know, hey, I want to pivot from, for example, from HR to marketing. But how do I really do that if I have zero experience in marketing and knowing that you'll have to take a pay cut? So what advice would you give our listeners regarding pivoting through finances?

Speaker 2: 9:02

First advice is you don't necessarily have to take a pay cut. And I used to believe I had to take a pay cut and, I'll be honest, I took a pay cut the first time. I pivoted and it absolutely sucked because, yes, it was still good money. But if you're used to a certain level of money when you don't have it, and then you're grinding because it's a new thing, so you're working even harder than you were before, it doesn't feel good at the end of the month where it's like, oh, I don't have enough money to do all the things I used to do. So that's my main thing you don't necessarily have to take a pay cut, and if you do, it doesn't have to be a significant pay cut.

Speaker 2: 9:40

Lean in on your transferable skills and what you really bring. So, for example, I came from engineering and I wanted to pivot into talent acquisition. I leaned in on the fact that I am more effective than 99% of the recruiters out there, because not only do I know how to recruit, I absolutely can speak the lingo of the engineers. I know exactly where they hang out, what they're looking for, because I was one of them. So I leaned in on that and I was able to get more money than my peers because I presented myself in a way that I was worth more.

Speaker 1: 10:20

Yeah.

Speaker 2: 10:21

So that's my advice, like lean in on your transferable skills and what makes you be able to command that money. Are you always going to get a ton more money than everyone else? No, but you don't necessarily have to. If you, if you're in that mindset that you don't necessarily have to take the significant pay cut, things will work out better for you.

Speaker 1: 10:43

Yeah. So don't be afraid. Don't, don't be afraid, man, that that is awesome. And I think that you know again. So many, so many people think like, hey, I have to take a pay cut, going into a different job or a different role. But something that you didn't say vividly was you honed in on that same industry so you can pivot? Right, you said you knew where the engineers were. Right, if I'm a hiring manager and you're telling me I know how to recruit uh other engineers, guess what I'm gonna be like. You know what she may be, uh, it may be a learning curve, but she may add a whole lot of value that we may not see uh into our department or in that role. So thank you, rona, for um, all of those great insights, bite-sized inspiration here. On the Transparent HR podcast, hey, we want y'all to listen in on the latest episode with Rona, as she shares with us valuable nuggets on building your personal brand. We'll see you on the other side, you.