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Job Search Success Strategies: Proven Job Hunting Strategies You Want to Land Your Dream Job? Learn How to Impress Recruiters, Beat the Competition and Win Job Interviews!

Changing Careers

Whatever your reasons for switching careers, it’s important to realize that a new career may require a different approach than you have been using. You will need a resume that will highlight your best transferable skills.

Hiring managers have short attention spans. If you want your resume to get past the initial screening phase, you’ll need to polish your resume such that you don't appear over qualified in the field you are leaving, and under qualified in the field you are trying to break into. 

1. Make a strong first impression.

You will need to make a lot of effort writing a compelling cover letter. The cover letter is your first impression. Many recruiters never look past this unless they see what they like. It is also an opportunity to connect your professional past and the skills you can bring to the new field going forward.

The connections are not always obvious. Don’t assume that the reader can make the leap between your old experience and the new position. Spell it out. You’ll be up against candidates with job experience that seems a more obvious fit, so do your best to convey WHY your nontraditional background makes you a better fit for this new role than your competition.

2. Rewrite. Rewrite. Tweak. Rewrite.

Never use the same resumes that worked in your previous career. You will need to rework the whole thing...perhaps even the type of resume you use.  Functional resumes ofte work better for this type of job leap - especially if the jobs don't have a lot in common. Be especially careful about job descriptions - changing them to better fit the job you want to transition to. Make sure your grammar and spelling are impeccible.

3. Pick the right resume format.

There are several different types of resume formats that can work well for career changers:

A "Mixed" Chronological Resume is a chronological-style resume (meaning it lists your past work experience in reverse chronological order) that leads with a qualifications summary. This one is best for career changers with transferable skills from their professional past. The summary highlights your most relevant qualifications to easily point them out to the hiring manager.

In this qualifications summary, it is also important for you to mention your new career objective, so employers don’t assume you’re staying in your old field. If a glance at your last few positions doesn’t make it obvious that you’re a great fit for the job you're applying for, make sure you spell it out in the summary.

Within your chronological work history, you should focus on the skills, tasks and accomplishments most relevant to your new career, not the old one. This is the part that makes it "mixed".

 Functional Resume  allows you to emphasize your related skills and downplay your work history. This format works well if you’re pursuing a new career that is very different than your existing career.

At the top of the resume, begin with a career goal and qualifications summary, and then create categories that highlight your related skills and experience. Your work chronology is listed at the end of the resume, with no job description for unrelated positions. Just list them.

A Letter-Style Resume is really a cover letter that substitutes for a resume.  For some jobs, or job changes a resume is just not that important. A letter that emphasizes your passion for the job and any related experience/training is all you need. The letter format allows you to control the information you provide. You can leave out the unimportant, and hightlight the important. Keep your letter focused on how your passion for your new career, combined with your transferable skills and experience, would benefit your potential employer.

This format works well for networking scenarios in which you are referred by a mutual contact who vouches for you. You will still need to have a more traditional resume format on hand in case it’s requested, but the letter will serve as a good introduction and pique the hiring manager’s interest to interview you. If the job advertisement specifically asks for a resume, you must provide one - this won't do.

4. Don't get bogged down in the "format".

Format is not as important as highlighting those skills that would be most interesting to the person looking to fill the position.

5. Some gaps are OK.

Though large, unexplained gaps in the resume should be avoided, you don’t need to list every position you’ve ever had if they are not relevant. Your job here is to demonstrate your qualifications for this new career. Stay focused on relevance as opposed to volume.

This is particularly important if you are a relatively experienced candidate who is willing to take on a more junior role in exchange for the opportunity to switch fields. Some employers have a bias against the “overqualified” — worrying that you may turn up your nose at more junior work or that you can’t possibly be truly interested in the job. Play down your overall years of experience and emphasize your commitment to the career change and your willingness to do the work needed.

6. Highlight valuable experiences.

If your past  experience has little application this career switch, you may be able to make up for it by emphasizing work done outside of office hours. Volunteer work, or even work for a friend can apply. The best web job I've ever had was based on building my own personal website.

7. Gaps? No problem.

All but a few hardy individuals will have qualification gaps. Even if there are no gaps, few job candidates meet 100% of every single desired qualification. Many employers would rather hire someone who’s a 80-90% fit, but has great enthusiasm and willingness to learn.

So don’t be intimidated at the thought of being less than 100% qualified. Focus on showing your strengths and abilities in the most compelling way possible. Your enthusiasm and determination in switching fields will come through in your cover letter and resume. Your enthusiasm will come through in the interview.  Be that person!