7 Tips For Crafting A Career Change Resume

Going through a career change can be difficult. You may have been with the same company for many years. Circumstances make it necessary to begin the process of changing jobs.

You begin thinking about how to write your resume to get you hired. How you present yourself on your resume will make a big difference in how successful you are. You don’t have to start from scratch. You might need to do some tweaking and ensure these essential elements are included in your resume.

1. Discuss Your Transferable Skills

Some of your skills may transfer over to your new career, but many of them won’t. Depending on the nature of your career change, some that may not transfer would be your more technical skills. Don’t try to force this information into your resume, since it can seem like you’re trying too hard and can hurt you in the long run. Your main goal should be to discuss in your resume which skills you can use from your previous career.

Every company wants new employees to have a solid mix of both technical skills as well as soft skills. Focus on soft skills like your personality, work ethic, leadership, communication, and more. Strong soft skills are transferable to almost any profession. Showing your strongest skills backed by examples will make the most significant impact.

2. Identify Your Goals

Obviously, your resume format should be easy to read and display information clearly. But when you are changing careers, you need to take this a step further. It needs to be clear to the potential employer you are seeking a career change and why you think you are qualified for the job. You can do this by highlighting relevant achievements and certifications. Summarizing your most important responsibilities and how they relate to the new job you’re applying for.

3. Highlight Specific Achievements

As an executive, some achievements are impressive across multiple industries. So highlight the most relevant achievements and quantify them. Use numbers and statistics to show how you cut costs or turned a profit for your previous company. The more specific you are, the higher likelihood of your resume getting noticed. Every company can relate to these aspects, so they are the most applicable skills to show on your resume.

4. Target the Company

Recruiters and hiring managers can spot a generic resume and may not even consider it. The key to writing an effective resume is targeting the specific company you’re applying for and demonstrating your understanding of their needs. The same is true even if you’re going through a career change.

You may not have the hard skills listed in their job requirements right now. If you have a complete understanding of what the company’s overall needs and goals are, you can shift your resume to target those aspects.

Using examples from past experiences to show how you helped previous companies. Make sure they understand how you met their goals. This will show your track record of success.

When you show an understanding of the company’s goals, they’ll be more impressed that you’ve done your homework. They will then know you’re serious about the career change.

5. Optimize For ATS

Applicant tracking systems are used to filter out resumes that do not fit the job description. This is so hiring managers don’t waste their time on unqualified applicants.

You may not have the exact experience required in the job requirement listing, if your resume has the right keywords, chances are it will get read. Not including these keywords may not even get your resume in the hands of a human.

6. Demonstrate Your Passion for the Career Change

Employers today don’t necessarily like taking chances on candidates. They would rather hire someone with the exact experience they desire in their industry. That’s why you need to write your resume to show a clear passion for what you want to accomplish with your career change.

Demonstrate how thoroughly you thought the career change through and why the position is exactly what you’re looking for.

Employers will look for any reason to not hire a person in your position. When you show your passion on paper, they’ll be more likely to at least give you the opportunity to interview.

7. Social Media Accounts to Include

LinkedIn is the number one professional social media platform that should always be included on your resume. Simply having an account won’t do you any good, so make sure it is up to date and optimized for your job search. If you include your LinkedIn account on your resume, you have to assume the recruiter or hiring manager will look at it.

Twitter is another account that could add value to your resume, depending on how you use it. Your Twitter feed can demonstrate your beliefs, personal interests, and other aspects you normally wouldn’t put on a resume. Just be sure to clean up anything you don’t want others to see before you make your account known on your resume.

It is difficult to change careers. When you put forth the effort to write resumes that get you hired, the result is well worth the time and energy.

Your resume always needs to be perfect regardless of the situation, and everything is magnified when you’re changing careers.