Career Change | Resume Writing

Career change resume writing can be a challenge.  The key is in highlighting your skills and abilities which can be transferred from job to job, and providing evidence or proof of your abilities.

Firstly, before writing your career change resume, visit the sample resumes page on the left hand navigation bar.  Search for the graduate resume sample.

This highlights an approach which I often use in writing a resume where there is little work history, or the history highlighted in the resume is not applicable to the position currently being applied for.  This same approach can be used in resume writing for a career change.

Think of four or five projects you have worked on.  Situations in which you solved a problem.  Did you work alone or as a team.  What was the problem?  How did you decide to resolve it? Did you brainstorm with the team, or maybe the problem itself was a team issue, and you assisted to solve it.  Refer to the sample provide, and read through the four projects, and how these are described.  

Apply this same process to resume writing for your career change.   Demonstrate, with evidence, your unique and valuable skills.  Underneath this section (which could be called "Transferable skills" or similar" include your "Career History" 

You are always welcome to submit your newly created career change resume to me for a free critique!

In relation to job opportunities and where to find them, and where to turn with your transferable skills, the following may be of benefit.

Previously, when it came to job hunting, the worst part was simply the waiting.   Waiting for the mail, checking email, waiting for the phone to ring.  After all, there were jobs out there and it was just a matter of time before you found and landed the one you wanted.  And those were the good days!  Fast forward one single year and we here we find ourselves in an economic situation that our world leaders said never could happen.  Entire industries are collapsing and taking other businesses with them.  Companies based in the United States are begging the government for financial help to stay in business, otherwise their Australian branches and subsidiaries will go under along with their U.S. counterparts.

Ford Motor Company who has been in business for over one hundred years can barely see the light of day and may soon be no more than a mention in a history book.  Smaller companies such as retailers, neighborhood banks, and grocery stores are failing at record numbers because workers already affected by companies like Ford can't afford most of the basic necessities, never mind luxuries.   If you have spent the majority of your professional career in a particular industry that is now going down the drain, what are your chances of finding another job?  Well, let's say it will be tougher than before.  Keep in mind that you aren't losing your job because of a short term financial issue with one particular company.  Chances are, you are losing your job because the industry itself is having major financial issues and can barely sustain itself.

So, what are your options?   Expand your horizons and explore every possibility.  That might mean changing industries.  I know it's not easy, but nowadays it is becoming a necessity we had never even envisioned as we left school and planned careers years ago.  Oh sure, people have always changed careers – but it was usually a matter of choice, not survival.
Making any change is difficult, that's a given.  Job hunting in a good economy is bad enough.  But learning a new industry can't be easy, right?  Well – you may not have to!

Certain professions undoubtedly have a specific niche they must focus on.  For example, aeronautical engineers probably would have a difficult time finding gainful employment as perhaps a software engineer at Apple Computer.  
However, they have experience and skills which can be transferred and upon which a new profession can be built.  Yes, it may require additional training including some formal education, but at least it's not impossible.
Remember – it's not necessarily the industry you come from, it's what your job was in that industry!    Many jobs remain virtually identical across the board.  For example, the CEO of an international cookie manufacturer came from the automotive field.  And he brought a large portion of his previous staff with him (along with a large supply of cookies, I understand).  What does the auto industry have to do with making cookies?  Nothing!  But they didn't make cookies where they used to work, nor are they making cars at their new job.   See my point?  They had skills that were relevant to both industries – if not all industries!

In a situation where you need to increase your exposure and your possibilities by seeking employment in a new industry, your first line of defense is to use a Functional Resume .  The purpose of this type of resume is to get your skills, accomplishments and experience right at the top of the resume so the recruiter can be impressed immediately.   The layout will downplay the company names, and emphasize job functions and titles. For example, instead of putting FORD MOTOR CO. in "bold", you will leave it as plain text, but you will highlight "Sr. VP of Consumer Relations".   It puts a whole new spin on things for the person reading it.

You also have an incredible opportunity to put a very targeted Objective Statement on there that might even point out your desire for such a change, and then – here's the clincher – add something in your cover letter about the industry that explains why you would like to work in it.  Don't make it appear you are desperate, just job hunting, will take anything, or are mass producing generic cover letters.  Target your objective statement and your cover letter to the new possibilities in a particular but new industry.  Almost everyone has some skills that can be transferred to a different job or a new industry.

• Were you a long distance truck driver?   Check out limo services.  Sometimes the tips can make up for the decrease in pay.

• Did you work in a retail store?  Then you dealt with customers all day and handled money.  Try customer service (anywhere!) or a banking/teller position.

• Did you work for a car manufacturer?  No problem!  Unless you designed the cars, and that's all you know how to do, you're fine.  Even assembly line work can be transferred to other manufacturing arenas.   Check out food packaging plants.

• Perhaps your entire department got sacked from the phone company?  Big deal!  Land lines might soon be a thing of the past anyway.  Apply at mobile phone stores.  You could sell the product or work at a regional customer service center helping customers.

No matter what you do, you can do the same thing almost anywhere else.  Don't get discouraged!  The fact that you just opened up your possibilities means your chances of landing a new job have just grown incredibly!