[quuquuquu]

>"Also, don't say you're 'pivoting' yout career. Just don't."

I tend to find such polemics unhelpful. Usually when someone tells me "just don't", I end up really wanting to know the mechanism behind what is causing such a stern warning.

For example, if I asked someone, "should I jump out of an airplane with no parachute",...

and someone says...

"just don't, because unless you have lots of luck and can defy lots of laws of physics, you will most likely be killed"...

then they have revealed a very clear and concrete reason, which strengthens their assertion of "just don't".

I see no such evidence for or against using the word "pivot", and I can imagine scenarios where the word even resonates with certain types of people.

[infinii]

Startups "pivot" because they failed in some way.

Pivoting your career can be construed as having failed somewhere and needing to find something else.

In the context of a career, phrase it as evolving your skills to match market demand. The very people who "pivot" resonate with will immediately associate it with failure.

[caseysoftware]

Pivoting sin't because they've failed. It's because the path to their goal has changed or isn't what they previously thought. Basically, they're adjusting to new information (market, industry, etc) just like the rest of your definition.

Yes, it's an overused term but it's NOT a sign of failure.

[aptwebapps]

I think this is bordering on a no true Scottsman argument, although maybe unintentionally. But whether that's true or not, I think lots of people take it as a euphemism for failure.

[TheTrueTDF]

They are pivoting because they don't want to fail. They maybe made a mistake or the market changed, acknowledged it and took action based on this information.

For me this is not something negative at all

[infinii]

I agree with your comment except the last sentence. Negative or not, I think it's a poor choice of word to use in the context of a CV/career.

When interviewees are asked "So why are you looking to move from your present job?". Saying that you need a new challenge sounds very different than "needing to pivot".

[bryanrasmussen]

it can be construed that way, but it can also be construed other ways. Perhaps how it is construed acts as a filter on who you want to work for.

[danesparza]

^^^ This ^^^

[rpedela]

I agree with you in general but I agree with parent about the use of the word pivot and its synonyms in this case. By using that word in an interview, you are signaling inexperience which the OP is trying to avoid.

[ptero]

This not only signals inexperience, it also invites questions on why did you decide to pivot (did you fail? any other negativity there?). This is not necessarily bad, you can theoretically use those questions to your advantage.

However, interview gives one a very limited time to impress. Better use it to discuss your strength and the future, not invite archeological queries.

[jonahx]

The reason, at least to me, was implicit: Because the word itself is a signal of bullshit and is likely to raise flags for many people doing the hiring.

There isn't anything more concrete than that. YMMV. In this particular case, it rings true to me.

[EnderMB]

My thoughts exactly. Software development in general is a high-bullshit career, so I think anyone involved in either building software or hiring people to build software is going to have an extremely well-tuned bullshit detector.

[stephengillie]

Pivoting is the new failure. It casts you in a bad light, like putting a reason for leaving as being fired. Additionally, pivoting means you're trying something new, and this is less valuable than having experience in the job. It means you'll have to spend a lot of the employer's time (money) messing around, making mistakes, breaking things, etc - as is necessitated by learning.

[dharness]

100% with regards to "just don't".

Independent of that, I think using the word 'pivot' here is fine. We all know what he means. There might be a different word with a different connotation that some people may be more receptive to. But, pivot is well within the realm of reasonable words to use here.