Christine Carter
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Career Change: Rebuild Identity Beyond Your Job Title
Bold headline reading You’re More Than Your Title on a soft lavender background with a friendly person adding value icons to a blank name badge, representing personal branding beyond job titles for career changers and professionals in transition.

Your Identity Isn’t Your Job Title: Rebuilding a Self Beyond the Resume

You can lose a role and still keep yourself.

The week after a layoff can feel strange. The quiet gets loud. Your phone stops buzzing. You refresh LinkedIn like it might tell you who you are now. If you are here, you are not alone. Christine Carter wrote Restart Strong for this exact moment, when a career shift shakes your identity and you need real steps that work. She has lived through big change herself, including a cross-country move and a full career pivot, then wrote the book she needed when life went sideways .

Who This Is For

  • You lost a job or chose to pivot. Your old title is gone, but the questions are loud.
  • You are fixing your resume and LinkedIn, yet you still feel blurry inside.
  • You want a story that sounds like you, not like a template.

If you are asking, Why didn’t I see this coming, Did I miss my chance, or Am I even capable of fixing this, the book calls out these doubts so you know you are not the only one who thinks this way. Those questions can guide you to what really matters next .

The Shift That Changes Everything

Here is the quiet truth: who you are is bigger than any role you have held. In Restart Strong, Christine gives a simple anchor for your brand. Your brand is the energy, skills, values, and results you bring into any room. It is your essence, which goes beyond a job title. When you build from this core, your tools start to feel true, and doors begin to fit the person you are becoming .

The Career Story Trifecta That Works

Christine targets three public touchpoints that must tell one clear story, your resume, your LinkedIn, and your elevator pitch. She calls this a back to basics focus for any transition, and it is where she has seen people get unstuck fast. The book gives plain, step by step exercises for each, so you are not guessing your way forward .

  • Resume: shift from tasks to outcomes using strong verbs and proof.
  • LinkedIn: align your headline and About with the future you want.
  • Elevator pitch: connect the dots in one breath so people get it.

A 20 Minute Reset That Calms The Noise

Start small so you start for real. Christine suggests 20 minutes per exercise the first time through. This short sprint gets you moving and cuts overwhelm. You are not crafting a masterpiece. You are starting the engine .

Here is how to do your 20 minute “no title” bio:

  1. Set a timer for 20 minutes. Write your “tell me about yourself,” but do not use any job titles.
  2. Start with energy. What problems do you like to solve. What results repeat in your story.
  3. List 3 skills you enjoy using.
  4. List 3 values you want your work to show.
  5. End with a direction sentence. For example, I create clarity in messy spaces, and I am focused on roles where I can streamline operations and grow people.

When the timer ends, pull your best lines into:

  • Resume summary. Use crisp verbs to frame wins, like transformed, streamlined, secured, accelerated. The book gives a full list so you can be specific and strong .
  • LinkedIn headline and About. Keep the same forward aim and let people see where you are going. There is a dedicated LinkedIn exercise to guide you step by step .
  • Elevator pitch. Short, clear, confident. There is a full exercise that helps you link your past to your next step without oversharing .

If Your Identity Still Feels Fused To Your Last Role

Try the Stop, Start, Continue exercise from the book. One of Christine’s examples says, “I will stop clinging to the job title I once held.” Then, “I will start embracing new opportunities for learning and growth.” Small choices like these make room for a new chapter to begin .

Give Your Story A Spine People Can Trust

A clear transition story lowers anxiety for you and builds trust with others. Restart Strong offers a Career Transition Story Tool that helps you name the moment that changed you, the lessons you gained, and the direction you choose now. You will craft a brief, positive exit statement you can use in networking, interviews, and online. It turns a hard season into a credible next step .

Tiny Bravery Beats Big Overwhelm

You do not need to feel fearless. Christine reminds us that it often takes only “20 seconds of bravery” to send an application, message a hiring manager, or ask for a warm intro. Those tiny acts shape your path and break the fear loop .

Keep Your Momentum Steady And Real

Choose a one word motto

Pick a touchstone word for this season, like Clarity, Courage, or Renewal. Put it where you see it often, your desk, mirror, or phone. A single word can help you act in line with your intent when emotions swing .

Write a simple mission statement

Not a title. A why. For example, to do work that rewards me mentally, emotionally, and financially. The book shows how a personal mission guides choices when options multiply .

Design your life, then choose the role

Think about the life you want first, remote or hybrid, travel or local, more time with family or new challenges. Some dream jobs do not match your values day to day. Get honest before you leap. Talk to people who are already in that lane. Then pick roles that fit the life you want to build .

Ask for accountability and support

Do not go it alone. A small group or a coach can turn hope into a plan. The book shows how shared goals, steady check ins, and clear action steps help you stay on track and notice chances you might miss alone .

A Note From The Heart Of Restart Strong

Christine wrote this guide after her own reset. She left corporate life, traveled across the country, then started over in a new city. With support from mentors and friends, she found her lane in coaching and mentoring people in transition. She wrote Restart Strong to help you do the same with clarity and purpose .

She also closes one section with a line she keeps close from James Clear, author of Atomic Habits, “Move toward the next thing, not away from the last thing. Same direction. Completely different energy.” She shares it to help you choose with calm, not fear .

Your Next Right Move

  • Set a 20 minute timer. Write your “about me.”
  • Pull one sentence into your resume, one phrase into your LinkedIn headline, and one line into your pitch.
  • Send one message to someone who might open a door. Give yourself those 20 seconds of bravery today .

If you do this, you are already Restarting Strong. What is the one sentence you want your future self to thank you for writing this week?