The Biggest Mistake in My Career: Reinvention and Career Support | CV Pilots
The Biggest Mistake in My Career
If you'd asked me ten years ago what my biggest mistake was, I might have said taking time out of my career. But if you ask me now, with the benefit of hindsight, and a little more compassion for my younger self, I’d tell you the real mistake came earlier.
It wasn’t the career break.
It was the industry I picked in the first place.
Let me explain.
I started my career in financial services. At the time, it was a great fit: dynamic, intellectually demanding, high trust, and high stakes. I worked as an independent financial adviser and thrived in the fast pace and autonomy the role offered. I trained hard, built strong client relationships, and stayed on top of new regulations - because you had to. It was a sector where standing still meant falling behind.
What I didn’t fully appreciate back then was just how unforgiving fast-moving industries can be for professionals who need to take a break, even a short one.
From Career Clarity to Obsolescence in 24 Months
When I stepped away for two years to raise my children while living abroad, I thought I was simply pausing. I planned to return, pick up where I left off, and keep climbing.
But financial services hadn’t just evolved during that time, it had reinvented itself. To make things worse, my career break spanned the global financial crash. The qualifications I held were suddenly outdated. Clients were demanding digital-first solutions. Legacy systems had been replaced with tools I had never used. It was like returning to a different industry entirely.
I went from expert to outsider in under 24 months.
It wasn’t just frustrating, it was disorienting. I’d poured years into building a career I was proud of, and suddenly it didn’t seem to count. And with my priorities now shifting as a parent, I knew I needed to rethink what a sustainable career could look like for me.
Reinvention Isn’t Always a Choice… Sometimes It’s a Necessity
Back in the UK, I explored re-entering the industry, but it quickly became clear that it wouldn’t be a simple return. I would need to requalify, retrain, and rebuild my network - without childcare in place, and while starting from a lower salary than before.
It wasn’t just a professional challenge. It was a financial risk.
So, I pivoted. I looked at my transferable skills, what I enjoyed, and what my life required now. A sales role in publishing gave me space to breathe and time to think. And during that time, something else happened: friends started coming to me for help with their own career transitions.
They were smart, capable professionals, many of them women, struggling to re-enter the workforce or explain their value after a break or change in direction. I realised I had a knack for pulling out the key themes in someone’s experience and turning them into a compelling narrative, whether for a CV, an interview, or a career pivot.
What started as a side project soon became a calling.
From Reinvention to Career Support Ecosystem
Fast forward to today, and I’m now CEO of CV Pilots, an executive CV writing service and career consultancy that helps professionals around the world articulate their value and shape their next chapter.
We support clients navigating promotions, board-level transitions, redundancy, and return-to-work scenarios. Our team of professional CV writers, LinkedIn profile specialists, and career coaches help clients reposition themselves for the roles they want next.
We’ve helped people land C-suite positions, change industries entirely, and rebuild their confidence after long absences from the workforce. We offer far more than CV writing. We provide:
- Career coaching for professionals and women re-entering the workforce
- LinkedIn profile writing services to support your online presence
- A growing library of downloadable CV templates for key career moments
- A CV review service that predicts how well your CV matches a role - before you hit submit
- Interview preparation and First 100 Days onboarding support
- A personal brand-first approach that helps clients feel seen and valued
In many ways, I’ve built the very service I wish I’d had during my own reinvention.
The Hidden Costs of Stepping Away
I’m proud of what I’ve built. But I won’t sugar-coat it, there’s a cost to stepping away from a fast-paced career. The income gap still lingers. Not just in lost earnings, but in missed promotions, pension contributions, and momentum. There’s a confidence cost, too. That quiet doubt that creeps in when you feel left behind.
And this isn’t just my story.
I hear it daily from our clients, most often from women who’ve taken time out to care for children or elderly relatives, or who simply stepped away from burnout or uncertainty. They return with incredible skills: emotional intelligence, strategic thinking, resilience. But the job market doesn’t always know how to measure that. And that’s where we come in.
What I’d Do Differently
If I could go back and give my 25-year-old self one piece of advice, it wouldn’t be “don’t take the break.” I needed that time.
But I would have thought more carefully about the industry I entered in the first place.
I would’ve asked:
- What happens if I pause?
- Will this role still value me later?
- Can this career evolve with my life?
In some industries, stopping even briefly means starting again. And we don’t talk enough about that, especially with young women.
We need to help people plan not just for success, but for sustainability. For careers that flex with life, not break under pressure. And we need to support reinvention as a strength, not a liability.
Turning Mistakes into a Mission
What began as a mistake, entering a sector that punished flexibility, became the foundation of something far more meaningful.
At CV Pilots, I’ve made it my mission to help others rise faster than I did. We offer the kind of career change support I wish had existed when I needed it most.
So yes - my biggest mistake was choosing a career that couldn’t pause with me. But that mistake gave me the insight and empathy to build something that now helps thousands of others feel seen, empowered, and ready for what’s next.
And if that’s the cost of learning, I’ll take it.
If you’re ready to take the guesswork out of job applications and give yourself a genuine competitive edge, our CV Reviews and CV Template Bundles are designed to help you stand out in even the toughest hiring markets. To find these offers, visit https://www.cvpilots.co.uk/pages/product-list
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Zoe Price, CEO
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