Academia, in its quest to attract and hire qualified faculty, can capitalize on recent trends as reflected in career trajectories. One such trend includes practicing professionals, who make the decision to engage in a career pivot from industry into academia. Two recent shifts in academia highlight the importance of attracting practicing professionals into higher education: faculty shortages and the demand for more experiential learning in programs. To understand why practicing professionals might engage in a career pivot from industry into academia, research was conducted through a survey with recruitment for respondents taking place within a leading online university, an on-ground state university, a community college, and a LinkedIn group focused on education. By concentrating on the reasons why professionals pivot into academia, institutions of higher education can restructure their recruitment strategies to more effectively target professionals to create a bigger source pool that should lead to a more successful search and, ultimately, filling the faculty position.