Your career doesn't need a reinvention. It needs release notes.
Every few years it happens. The job changes, or I change, and the way I describe myself stops fitting. The LinkedIn headline is stale. The bio sounds like someone I used to be. And the answer to "so what do you do?" comes out as a long, wandering list.
For a while I read this as a sign I hadn't figured it out yet. Now I see it differently. I'm not lost. I'm chronically rebranding. (Hence the name.)
Careers ship in versions
Software teams don't rebuild an app from scratch every time it changes. They ship versions: small updates, the occasional big change, and a short note telling users what's different.
Careers work the same way:
- New: you added something. A skill, a side project, a stretch assignment.
- Big change: a pivot. New field, new title, new team, a layoff, a promotion.
- Update: the story catches up. Your résumé, bio, and elevator pitch finally match where you are.
Most of us skip the last one. We ship the change and forget to write the notes. So people keep seeing an old version of us, and we keep explaining ourselves.
Write your own changelog
Here's where I'd start. Open the changelog workspace, or a blank note, and list your versions:
- What was v1.0? Your first real job or role.
- What did you add along the way? Side projects count.
- Where were the big changes?
- When did you last update the story?
Give it 10 minutes and don't edit. Then look at what you wrote. You'll spot patterns: the skill that shows up in every version, the pivot that wasn't as random as it felt, the update you've put off for two years.
That last one is usually the most useful. It tells you what to fix first.
What's coming here
This site is my release notes for rethinking a career. Expect frameworks, templates, and honest notes written from the middle of the process, since there's no finish line.
Next up: how to tell your career story in one sentence.