Recruiter Spotlight: John Kearney — Helping a Candidate Navigate a Cross-Industry Career Pivot

Career pivots are terrifying. Leaving an industry you know, stepping into unfamiliar territory, and convincing a hiring manager to take a chance on you — it takes courage. And it takes a recruiter who believes in transferable skills over checkboxes. That recruiter, for one lucky candidate, was John Kearney.

As an Account Manager and Executive Recruiter at Engage Partners' New York office, John works across multiple verticals — from IT to sales & marketing — giving him a unique vantage point on where skills translate between industries.

The Candidate Who Didn't Fit the Mold

A professional with eight years of experience in hospitality management wanted out. They'd built teams, managed multimillion-dollar budgets, and delivered exceptional customer experiences — but their resume screamed "hotel manager," not "corporate operations." Every application to corporate roles went unanswered.

They connected with John through a referral, and from the first conversation, John saw what the algorithms missed: a natural leader with operational excellence, people skills, and the adaptability to thrive in any environment.

Reframing the Narrative

John worked with the candidate to completely reframe their experience. Budget management became financial oversight. Guest satisfaction became client success metrics. Team leadership became cross-functional management. The skills were the same — only the language changed.

Then John went to bat. He personally presented the candidate to a client looking for an operations manager, walking the hiring team through exactly why this "unconventional" background was actually their ideal profile.

The Result

The candidate was hired. Within their first year, they streamlined operations, reduced overhead by 15%, and were named to the company's emerging leaders program. The hiring manager later told John it was the best hire they'd made in five years.

"Resumes don't tell the whole story," John says. "My job is to read between the lines and connect the dots that others miss."

Thinking about a career change? Talk to the team at Engage Partners — recruiters like John Kearney specialize in helping you tell your story.