If you are considering a career change, you should spend some time refocusing your resume. A lot of candidates are able to translate their past experience and skills across many different industries and roles.
Consider this helpful guide if you are looking to rewrite your resume for a job change:
Research
If you are changing careers one of the best things you can do is research the position or industry you want. First, try to speak to someone who does what you want to do or works in the same industry. Learn first-hand about what areas you need to develop for this career and what is transferrable. Read professional publications, online articles and other industry news to deepen your knowledge in these areas as well. In order to communicate your value to a new type of role, you need to understand its demands.
Keywords
First, find a target job in this industry as an example for you to develop your first resume. Look for keywords, skills and qualifications that the industry requires. See how this list compares with the research that you’ve already done. Keep a running list of keywords that you want to include, whether in your objective or summary statement, highlighted skills, experience or cover letter. Your list of keywords will help you express how suited you are to this new role, using language the recruiter or hiring manager is looking for.
Cover Letter
Begin your cover letter by expressing your interest for the job you are applying to and why you think you will be a good fit for the role. In the next section, highlight a few bullet points that underscore how your experience relates to the new role. You can either do this in a side by side comparison highlighting the position’s requirements and your related experience, or by simply listing the most applicable skills and accomplishments. Even though your experience may be from another industry, you should try to illustrate how it can translate to this new role.
Objective Statement
In this section, be sure to include the title of the role you are applying to and highlight the overall body of related experience that is relevant to the position. If there are one or two requirements you meet in particular, you may want to highlight them here as well. This is a short, introductory statement, so keep it to two to three sentences.
Highlighted Skills
This is a good time to bring out your keyword list again. Highlight the skills that you are confident in and know will be valuable to this new role. If you have knowledge in an area, but no work experience in it, it is sometimes a good idea to list it in this section, so that it is still included in your resume.
Experience
Review your current resume and bring to the top of each section any experience that supports the skills, knowledge, or abilities required by your new role. Next, work to make sure that your resume includes achievement-based statements that focus on what actions you took and the results. These types of bullet points are much more likely to highlight transferrable skills, such as what you can do to create time efficiencies, cost savings, process improvements, etc. Lastly, make sure you remove any bullet points that highlight work that isn’t relevant or doesn’t express key information that would pertain to this new role—especially if it is a job duty that you no longer wish to perform.
Education
Don’t forget to include any schooling, classes, or certification you are currently working on in your new field. If it is a degree or program that you haven’t completed yet, just indicate that this coursework is still “in progress” in the dates or list the projected completion date. It’s important to demonstrate that you are taking the steps to learn more about the field and deepen your expertise.
Professional Associations
If there is a professional association that is well-known or supported in your new target area of work, be sure to become a member and get involved. List any memberships in professional associations on your resume to indicate to the hiring manager that you are active in the new industry. Your involvement in these groups not only expresses your interest in the field, but can be a great opportunity to deepen your understanding of the profession as well as expand your network of contacts.