Ten years ago, if you’d told me I’d one day be helping C-suite tech leaders shape their personal brands instead of debugging backend systems, I would have smiled politely and gone right back to chasing bugs!
Back then, software engineering was my world. And coding was my identity, writes Amanda Fuller, leadership, branding and career strategist at the CV & Interview Advisors.
Then and now: my career transition as a female coder
My life revolved around clean logic, complex systems, and the quiet satisfaction of making something work. Tech was how I solved problems and made sense of the world.
Fast forward to 2025, and I’m today a storyteller, a strategist, and a leadership branding specialist.
Quite the career transition, you might say!
But actually, while the medium for me has clearly changed, the mission hasn’t.
Daily job tasks in software and strategy are analogous
In terms of my day-to-day tasks and objectives, I still:
- Build systems;
- Ask lots of questions;
- Know ‘My work here is done’ when I’ve fully translated the complex into clarity.
Debugging, my career constant
So moving from software to strategy means I’m still debugging, but I’m now debugging different kinds of problems.
The human kind of problems!
From a technical standpoint, the further I seem to get from the codebase, the more I see how much it taught me; about software, certainly – but also, about building a career.
Writing software versus writing job applicants’ stories
There’s a symmetry between writing software and writing stories.
Back when I was an engineer, I obsessed over structure, logic, and user experience. I wrote for readability. I anticipated edge cases. I thought about scalability and long-term maintenance.
Nowadays, I use that same mindset to shape leadership narratives in:
- CVs;
- LinkedIn profiles;
- Website biographies and ‘About Us’ pages, and;
- Board statements.
From code to content, but always a 'Meaning Architect'
I still architect meaning. I still build for clarity. The only difference is that the language has changed — from code to content.
What I didn’t realise back then is that coding was teaching me how to write. Not just how to structure ideas, but how to communicate with precision. It gave me the discipline to build things that people can understand — and use. Those qualities, functions and traits are just as vital in a job application as they are in a software release.
Considering career transition? Remember, ladders are overrated, lattices aren’t
We love the image of a clean, upward trajectory.
But my experience has taught me that tech is a sprawling network of possibilities, and success doesn’t always mean moving straight up.
Sometimes, succeeding at career transition means stepping sideways, or exploring a path you never expected to take.
Pivot, but make sure you bin those ‘Progress Reports’ from others
For my career leap from software to strategy, my ‘step up’ was actually more of a pivot. I brought the same analytical mindset, the same systems thinking, the same curiosity.
I just applied them to people instead of platforms.
In tech, success can mean lots of things to lots of people!
Broadly speaking, though, and certainly for me, it’s about building deeper expertise, stepping into leadership, trying something lateral, or even starting something entirely new.
The point is; it doesn’t have to look like ‘progress’ to anyone else. It just has to feel like growth to you.
Sideways tech career move 101: Identify, then Detect
So think of your career not as a ladder, but as a lattice. Your next step doesn’t have to be vertical; it just has to be yours.
If you’re umming and erring over whether a career transition is doable for you as a woman technologist, I’d recommend identifying the fundamentals of your current role that you like, and then detecting where else they show up in the professional IT jobs market.
Good work doesn’t speak for itself — you have to
For years as a coder, I believed that if I just kept my head down and delivered, someone would notice.
Like many women in tech, I thought delivering high-quality work would be enough. Someone would reward the quality. Recognise the impact. Tap me on the shoulder and say, “We see you.”
They didn’t. Not because they didn’t value me, but because I had not learned to showcase my value effectively.
I’m now helping who I once was
Ironically, my role today as a woman mentoring techies puts me in the corner of IT and technical specialists or leaders who face the very same issue!
Many are extraordinarily talented problem-solvers, yet without my help, they often feel invisible outside of their immediate teams. They’re doing vital, strategic work behind the scenes — but they still get overlooked for the next job, or promotion.
The external recognition just isn’t there. Why? Invariably, it’s because they haven’t built the muscle to talk about their work in ways that resonate with hiring decision-makers or key stakeholders.
Gain visibility: How to make your work, value, and input win recognition
Sometimes we focus so much on ‘doing the work’ that we forget to pause and share why it matters. But visibility isn’t vanity or arrogance, it’s a learned skill.
And in the tech industry, it’s a differentiator. Quality work alone isn’t enough, you need to learn how to tell your story in a way that opens doors. Your career narrative is one of your most powerful tools. It helps others see your potential — sometimes even before you see it yourself.
Shaking off the ‘precise’ that tech employment drums into us IT workers
Based on the tech leadership job candidates that we act as a mentor to, my conclusion is that lack of confidence is NOT the biggest block. It’s a lack of practice.
Most people just don’t know how to talk about their work in ways that show impact. In tech, we workers are trained to be precise, not promotional.
But your story is part of your toolkit.
It shows others what’s possible. It reframes your work in terms of change, not just output. You don’t need to rewrite your history — just learn how to narrate it!
Storytelling is a skill, so that makes it learnable
One of the most common things I hear from the technology professionals I assist and work with is:
“I don’t know how to talk about what I do.”
They’re not alone.
Most of us were never taught how to communicate our career stories, and certainly not in a way that gets traction in job markets, boardrooms or LinkedIn searches!
How to create a compelling career story: four top tips
Here’s what helps create a compelling career story, which is invaluable to succeeding at any job pivot or career transition:
- Start with the why. What CHANGED because of what you did? What problem were you solving? How did you add value?
- Zoom out. Don’t just list the tools you used, explain how your work created IMPACT, saved time, reduced risk or drove results.
- Show your fingerprints. Talk about YOUR approach, not just the team’s approach, and not just the outputs. Let your audience see how you think.
- Tell stories, not just summaries. “I led a team” is fine. “I led a team through a complex systems migration during significant organisational change” is much better.
Three aims of career storytelling to help jump from job to job
The goal of your career storytelling whether you’re eyeing a corporation or a start-up, is NOT to brag.
Rather, it’s to help someone who doesn’t know you (but might want to hire you) understand:
- How you think;
- How you solve problems, and;
- What you bring to the table.
Staying in tech as a woman but on your terms…
I may not be deploying code anymore, but I’m still building systems, solving problems, and iterating every day.
I just do it through language, strategy, and stories now.
Tech gave me the structure. The mindset. The ability to hold complexity and make it simple. And that foundation lets me help others find clarity in their careers too.
TL;DR: Career move - from software job to…[insert ‘world-is-your-oyster’ role]
So if you’re in tech and wondering what’s next, whether you want to lead, pivot, or perhaps even leave your current tech position or IT assignment, be aware that you already have more tools than you think. Your skills are adaptable, your experience is valuable, and your story is still being written.
And, trust me, your next employer or end-client will agree it’s a story worth telling.
Amanda Fuller
Amanda Fuller began by debugging code, and now decodes careers. After years as a software engineering director leading high-stakes teams and navigating complex systems, Amanda traded programming languages for career narratives. Drawing on a Master’s Degree in Creative Writing and CVIA accreditation, Amanda helps technical leaders transform deep expertise into compelling personal brands that resonate in boardrooms and beyond. Blending an engineer’s precision, a writer’s craft, and a strategist’s insight, she brings clarity to the most intricate career paths, helping brilliant minds get noticed, get hired, and shape the futures they deserve.
