Resumes for Career Changers

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When you are ready to change careers, to a new field, a new position in your existing field, or a new industry, make sure your resume is ready for the change. By thinking ahead, you will be prepared to create a resume that is attractive to hiring managers and recruiters in your new career.

First, find out if you will be a more attractive candidate with certifications or classes in your new career. Someone moving from hands-on product development to project management might, for example, want project management certification.

Second, examine ways you can demonstrate appropriate skills for the new career either through volunteering or part-time work. For example, someone moving from for-profit to nonprofit organizations might begin by volunteering for nonprofit boards and events.

Third, read job postings for your desired career to identify skills you already have that are transferrable to the new career. Those skills should play a prominent role in your resume. Accomplishments and skills that are not needed in your new career should play a secondary role, no matter how impressive they are. For example, if you are moving from a receptionist to a sales position, your ability to interact with people at all levels, to keep accurate records, and to make connections with visitors are all important soft skills for a salesperson.

Fourth, network, network, network, both in person and online. The more people you connect with in your desired career, the more likely someone will think of you when an opportunity arises. Have a professional resume available so that you can send it to them immediately, before memories fade and opportunities vanish.

Finally, work with a professional resume writer who is familiar with the process of changing careers. I am a Job and Career Transition Coach (JCTC) with Master Career Director certification and I have myself transitioned careers. I know change is possible, and I can help you on your way to a new career.

Defining Some Resume Terms

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Often in these blogs I speak about achievement, hard skills, soft skills, knowledge, and experience. Here briefly are definitions of those terms with examples:

  • Achievements describe what you accomplished by applying your skills, education, and experiences—for example, “Saved $250,000 annually by renegotiating vendor contracts.”
  • Hard skills are those you accumulate through education and experience, such as the ability to code software, speak Italian, build a house, or audit finances. The best way to demonstrate hard skills is to incorporate them in an achievement. They can also be listed briefly at the top or bottom of the resume (language fluency or financial skills are often handled this way), depending on their importance to the job.
  • Soft skills include leadership, teamwork, and the ability to handle difficult situations (for example, difficult customers)—anything that reflects on who you are as a person. These are best shown as part of achievements: “Led team of technical writers and designers in developing user manuals.” If you simply state that you are a great leader, the hiring manager or recruiter has no incentive to believe you. You must demonstrate through an achievement that you practiced your leadership ability and that your leadership had an effect on the company.
  • Knowledge includes education, both college degrees and continuing education through workshops, seminars, post-graduate courses, and so on. (High school education is generally not mentioned unless you are applying for your first job as a teenager.) You should mention if you are working toward a degree or if you fulfilled some of the requirements toward a degree.
  • Experience includes board memberships, volunteer work, participation in professional organizations, publications, and relevant hobbies (for example, membership in a softball team when you are applying to sell sports equipment).

Your resume should highlight achievements, hard and soft skills, education, and experience because they are unique to you and make you stand out from the competition. Whether you call it “branding” or a “unique value proposition” or any other name, what employers want to know is why they should hire you and not the other guy.

Having trouble identifying and writing about the achievements, skills, knowledge, and experiences that make you a valuable employee? Contact Robin’s Resumes® for the help you need.

Will a New Resume Help?

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Alison was skeptical about whether a new resume could help her job search. She believed that her current resume gave employers all the facts they needed and anything I could add would be, as she put it, “sugar coating.”

The first thing I explained to her is that relaying “facts”—where you worked, how long you worked, what duties you performed, what responsibilities you had—were certainly important but were only a small part of her career history. “You received several promotions,” I said. “What did you do to deserve that first promotion?”

Alison’s said, “I did what anyone would do in my job.”

“Okay,” I answered, “how many people at your company held a job similar to yours?”

“There were five of us.”

“And were they all promoted?”

“No, I was the only one.”

“So let’s think about why you were promoted. When you had your annual review, did your boss praise you for any specific reason? Did you do something at work that the other five did not do?”

“My boss said several customers had spoken to him about how knowledgeable I was about our products and how I helped them to make a decision about which model to buy. He said the senior sales person mentioned that I asked excellent questions about the new products and seemed to understand how they would help customers solve their problems.”

I said, “That is wonderful, Alison, but none of that information is in your current resume. Companies are always looking for salespeople who are eager to learn, understand their products and form relationships with customers that result in sales. Your promotion was due to real accomplishments on your part. The bare fact that you received a promotion is only part of the story. The rest of the story is the why and how of the promotion. Your accomplishments make you stand out from the competition, including your four co-workers who were not promoted.”

Alison and I then worked through her resume and found several more instances of accomplishments that showed her potential value to a new employer. When we were finished, I rewrote her resume to emphasize her achievements, as well as her skills. Her resume and her job search were revitalized!

How a Great Resume Prepares You for a Great Interview

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Your resume introduces you to a company and puts you in line for an interview. But your resume is also an essential part of your preparation for that interview.

First, suppose you tried, without a resume, to keep the exact same information on employment websites, social media like LinkedIn, personal contact, networking, email and snail mail. It would be very difficult to avoid minor errors and contradictions while juggling all those resources. However, an employer who reads one thing on-line and hears another at the interview becomes confused and even suspicious. A resume is a standard resource you can consult to keep all your communications on point and consistent all the time.

Second, suppose you interviewed for a job without a resume. Would you be able to remember every position you held, every skill you learned, every achievement you accomplished?

The resume reminds you of the facts of your employment (exact name of company, exact dates of employment) but more importantly it reminds you of the journey you have taken, from new hire to experienced professional with value to contribute. Memory might trick you into believing that your skills and accomplishments were easily gained; the resume reminds you how hard you worked for your success and how much acquired talent you bring to a new employer. That confidence boost is essential to interviewing well.

Last, at some point in the interview, you will need to convince an interviewer that you have the “soft” skills that most companies want—ability to work in a team, accept feedback, find solutions rather than dwelling on problems, and so on. Through the story told by your accomplishments, a resume prepares you to answer interview questions like, “What is the hardest challenge you have overcome in your career?” or “How would you handle a difficult subordinate?”

I write resumes that help job candidates at every stage of their job search, from first contact through final interview. Contact me today.

Three “Hidden” Accomplishments That Companies Love

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I was talking to a woman recently who had left the workforce to look after her children. Then her husband was fired from his job and she had to find a job herself. She obsessed over how she would bridge that employment gap in her resume. But during her time off she had worked on nonprofit boards and suggested improvements at one nonprofit that saved thousands of dollars in overhead. Most companies value nonprofit successes as highly as for-profit and are overjoyed to find applicants who made a strong contribution as a volunteer.

 

Another client dismissed his participation in company committees because he never served in a leadership position. “I was just one of the troops,” he said. But he was also one of the few people selected to serve on those committees—in itself a measure of his value to the company—and his participation confirmed his ability to work in a team and across departments. That is another valuable skill.

 

A third client kept a department running while her boss had health issues and ultimately resigned. She guided the department through a period of chaos and kept it on track. But without the title, she thought, her efforts meant nothing. Companies look at accomplishments more strongly than titles. Titles vary from company to company and industry to industry; accomplishments are what sell one job applicant over another.

 

If you have teamwork, volunteer and leadership accomplishments, make sure to mention them in your resume. They may seem minor to you, but they make you stand out. I constantly search for skills, accomplishments, or educational experiences that will differentiate my clients from the thousands of others looking for the same sort of job. Let me help you, too.

© 2006-2017 ROBINS RESUMES

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