Career Change Resume Example: Changing Careers From Medical Device Sales To Advertising & Technology
This section is contributed by: Austin Belcak Founder at Cultivated Culture
When your changing careers, one of the biggest resume challenges is getting visibility on the transferable and relevant experience that you have.
Maybe you worked on a relevant project two jobs ago, maybe you took a course thats buried in your education section, or maybe youve been working on a side hustle but are worried about leading with that vs. your current job.
Using resume objectives is a good way to combat this issue.
Resume objectives allow you to cherry-pick the most relevant work experience from your career, education, and side projects and feature it right at the top of your resume. This gives you the chance to lead with the most relevant transferable experience so you make sure its seen instead of getting lost in the mix.
This is the exact tactic I used when I was switching careers from medical device sales into advertising/tech.
My day job was in healthcare, it didnt offer much in the way of traditional skills, but I had been spending nights and weekends learning digital marketing. I took courses, got certified, and even started doing a bit of freelancing. I wanted that to show at the top of my resume so I used an objective to highlight that ahead of my current role:
How To Write A Career Change Cover Letter
Done with your resume?
But wait, before you get too excited – youre still not done.
You need to back up your resume with a career change cover letter.
And no – its not like the usual cover letter youre used to writing.
When youre switching careers, you want to use your cover letter to highlight WHY youre switching fields and WHY your skills are a good match for the new role.
To do this, make sure you bring up a ton of examples and call out any key statistics or measurable results to draw upon, if possible.
To help you craft the best career change cover letter, check out the example below:
Heres whats done right with this cover letter:
- Addresses the reader .
- Makes it clear they want to transition into a different career .
- Shows theyve done the research and the letter is tailored to the company’s products and brand.
- Provides specific examples and achievements .
- Ends on a confident note and provides a call-to-action .
Think your cover letter game is lacking? Check out our complete, step-by-step guide on how to write a cover letter.
If you’re thinking about a career change, and want to join a community of global professionals who are also re-designing and reframing their careers, then consider Unsettleds Lifestyle Incubator.
Unsettleds Lifestyle Incubator program is a 4-week highly interactive virtual retreat for professionals seeking to redefine their career trajectory and be more intentional about designing their next steps.
Example : Human Resources
Adaptable and emotionally intelligent professional seeking a human resources specialist position at Main Corporation. Possesses an extensive background performing administration for mid-size employers. Experience documenting internal operations and assisting new hires through the onboarding process.
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Pro Tips For Your Career Change Resume
Why are career change resumes so hard for most people to write from scratch? The answer is simple: you need to think about your work experience in new ways, writing about it on your resume in ways that make it relevant to your target new career. This is challenging to do. And, even harder to show on a resume. You can see some career change resume examples and get some pro tips for writing your career change resume, here.
Once you have identified how your skills and experiences will be transferable to your new career, you need a resume format that will help highlight your transferable skills. Traditional chronological resume formats dont work for a career change. Instead, you should choose a career change resume template specifically designed for that purpose. These resume examples for changing careers will help you understand the best way to format your resume.
Each career change resume template in our portfolio of premium, custom-designed MS Word templates, includes a chronological section. This employment chronology is necessary for an ATS. But, our resume templates designed specifically for career changers also include a strong, functionally formatted summary section that will help you to bring relevant transferable experiences and skills to the forefront of your resume. You can learn more about making a successful career change in this blog post.
How To Write A Resume For Changing Careers
When you make the difficult choice to look for a job in a new industry, its important to write a career change resume.
Your old resume, tailored to your old career, wont suit your new field. For your job search to succeed when you make a career change, you have to make sure that your resume is tailored to the right positions and highlights the right skills.
Important steps for creating a career change resume include:
- Picking the right resume format
- Highlighting transferrable skills
- Tailoring your resume to suit your new industry
- Emphasizing your most relevant experience
Anyone can reach a crossroads in their profession and decide that it’s time to make a change. Maybe you’ve developed new skills, run out of opportunities, or realized that your current career doesn’t motivate you like it once did. Whatever the reason, if you want to change jobs, you will need to know how to write a resume for a career change.
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The Resume Format Is Consistent
There are an endless number of formats people choose for their resumes. The key is to be consistent with details like capitalization, numbers, dates, and abbreviations. For example, if you spell out a state in one job role, don’t abbreviate it in another. When it comes to making a first impression with your resume, it’s all about the details. A resume that has consistent formatting and is free of grammatical errors will look more polished and professional.
List Any Relevant Certifications
Many fields require specific credentials and certifications. If you have them, position the certifications on your resume where they can be easily seen, like in this example:
f youre unsure what certifications to get for your target industry, look at job analysis sites like Onetonline. Online resources like these have detailed information about what certifications, skills, and education are required for a wide variety of professions.
If you dont have job-specific certifications that apply to your new career but have other ones that are relevant to the job, you can mention those too.
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Show The Benefits Of The Career Transition
Consider illustrating how your previous experience can benefit your coveted role, even though it’s in a different industry. You can show the hiring manager you can bring a unique perspective to the team. For instance, if you’re pursuing a position as an academic adviser, you might explain how your 10 years of experience in mental health counseling can help you better address students’ needs. Positioning different employment or education background as beneficial can also distinguish you from other candidates, making your resume more memorable.
Related:
Here’s a list of sample resume summaries for career changes in a variety of industries:
Here’s The First Template:
Ex- transitioning into an role after and . Diverse experience , and . Over 5 years of experience managing global teams of 5-20 people and working with C-Suite executives. .
This template quickly summarizes the achievements you most want to highlight while remaining concise. Here are a couple of examples of what that template can look like in action.
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How To Make Resume Summary Examples For Career Change
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So you are thinking about making a career change but unsure how to do it? The first step is creating a resume that will help you stand out from the competition. A resume summary is a great way to showcase your skills and experience and can be especially helpful if you are making a career change. This article will give tips on how to write a resume summary that will help you stand out from the competition. We will also provide some resume summary examples to help you get started!
Making a resume is hard, but it can be even harder if you are trying to make a resume for a career change. When making a resume summary for a career change, it is important to focus on the skills and experience you have that are relevant to your new field. You should also highlight any accomplishments or awards you have received in previous roles. If you do not have much experience in your new field, you can still include resuming summary examples demonstrating your transferable skills. For example, if you are changing careers from teaching to marketing, you could highlight your experience developing and delivering presentations.
How To Write A Professional Resume Summary For Career Change?
Be informative
Know Your Resume Summary Audience
Tailor Your Summary For The Job Posting
Use Keywords
Focus On Your Strengths
Highlight Accomplishments
Describe Your Interest in the Job
Check For Grammar
Ask For Feedback
Career Change Cv Education Sample
Your ability to learn new skills is a big attribute. You can decide whether you think your experience or education should take priority however, if you have recently retrained or earned certification in your targeted field, your CV education section may mean more to recruiters.
Either of these actions shows your willingness to exert yourself and your ability to learn and adapt. It also shows your growth potential and that you have the self-awareness to assess your skills and fill in any deficiencies.
McKinsey Global Institute projects that by 2030 about 14 percent of the global workforce may have to switch careers because of technological advances.
List any degrees, certifications, or licenses you have earned here. If you have several certifications or licenses, consider adding a separate section so that they stand out. Drop your high school diploma if you have a masters degree or higher.
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Choosing The Best Career Change Resume Format
A big part of creating an effective resume is choosing the right resume format to tell your story with.
You need to structure your resume in a way that best shows your transferable skills and experience.
And when it comes to switching careers, the combination resume format does that best.
Heres why:
This format places equal emphasis on skills and important work experience.
This way, you can show you have the right industry transferable skills, even if you havent had the actual job title.
The format is ideal for people:
- Making a career change with transferable skills or work experience.
- With some employment gaps.
- With a diverse range of skills and experience.
- Applying to both creative and traditional roles.
And heres what you include within this format:
- Contact information
Now, were going to go over each of those sections and explain how to write them step-by-step.
Heres what you need to know:
How To Show Off Transferable Skills In Your Work Experience
The resume experience section can feel tricky to write when youre navigating a career change. You might not have any relevant industry experience to show off.
Thats okay – you can lean on your transferable skills and past career accomplishments.
Hiring managers wont care about the responsibilities and tasks you completed in your former roles especially if theyre irrelevant to the job you want.
They want to know if you have relevant skills and the ability to make a positive impact.
Again, the first place to look is the job description. What do they value in their ideal candidate? What results do they expect from the role?
Weave these points into your past experience.
Highlight your results from past roles and support your statements with real numbers.
Think about these questions to inspire your writing:
- Did you increase profits? By how much?
- Did your work contribute to any cost savings for the company?
- Did you create more efficient systems or processes?
- Did you hire and manage a team?
- What was your client or customer satisfaction rate? Did you reduce cancellations?
Most roles and industries are set up to accomplish universal goals:
- Increase profits
- Improve systems
- Give customers a better experience
If you can emphasize how you achieved those goals in your former roles, recruiters are much more likely to trust your ability in this new industry.
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Career Change Resume Skills Example
Assuming the job ad is for a junior front-end developer who has:
- 2-4 Years of professional experience using JavaScript, CSS, and HTML.
- Up to 1 years of visual design experience focusing on strong UX/UI.
- Good communication skills and team-player
Youd want to list the following skills:
So, all you have to do is mention these skills, and youre good to go!
- Not sure which skills are a must-have for your role? Check out our complete list of all must-have skills for any given field or position!
The Resume Is Optimized With Relevant Keywords
Many companies use applicant tracking systems to pre-screen resumes and rank them based on content. Only the most qualified candidates are then forwarded to HR for review. Ensure your resume includes keywords that are included in the posted job description or a position similar to what you’re looking for. It will help your resume from getting overlooked.
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Make Your Education Section Shine
Your education section is going to be an important requirement for just about any position above entry-level.
Listing education on your resume is pretty straightforward.
All you have to do is list your latest educational entry , and then include all the important stuff below it.
For example, you can include things like:
- Name of degree : e.g. B.A. International Business Administration.
- Name of educational institution: e.g. University of Groningen.
- Years attended: e.g. 2015 – 2019.
- Location of the program : e.g. Groningen, Netherlands.
- Courses that are relevant to the job : e.g. Advanced Business Finances.
- Exchange programs : e.g. exchange program in Florida, U.S.
Heres what the full listing for this educational entry might look like:
You might be wondering, what if I dont have the right education for the job? Maybe, you have an M.A. in Philosophy, but youre applying for a job in marketing. Do you still list it?
The answer is a definite yes.
Even if the degree is not relevant at all, it still shows that youre passionate about learning and education.
In some cases, you might even be able to show off some transferable skills with your degree.
Lets say, for example, you have a B.A. in English Literature, and youre applying for a job in
You could stress on how your degree gave you amazing writing skills , like so:
- Excelled in creative writing courses
- Part-time as a reporter for the university website
Done with your education section? Awesome!
Career Change Resume Faq
Functional Format
This does not mean that you put only the necessary profiles, but that you must include the necessary contributions or achievements.
- Making general claims
- generic resume summary for career change
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Connect Your Experience In Another Industry To This New Career
List positions you have held that relate to the career you are looking for, and use the rest of the space on your resume to highlight areas of competence, education, knowledge and character traits that point to you as being the most desirable person to hire. For example, if you may be able to change the phrasing or skills that you include in your job descriptions to better match the ones common to your new field or are included in the
Read more:5 Steps for Updating Your Resume in a Career Change
Write A Resume Objective
Use your resume objective, which appears on the top of your resume, to highlight what type of job you’re seeking. The objective, just like the rest of your resume, is all about you. But the true purpose of the objective is to sell hiring managers on your candidacy.
In your objective, connect the dots for hiring managers. You can use this space to make it clear how your former career has provided you with the skills you need in your new field, and for this job in particular.
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How To Write A Career Change Resume
All resumes contain sections in common and you need to know what to include when writing a resume. Because you are changing careers, the sections you use, and the organization of your resume will be a bit different from a job-hunter staying within their career. Your sections should be listed in the following order:
- Objective statement or career summary
This organization allows you to showcase the attributes that your new career will require.
Changing Careers 7 Details To Include On Your Resume
Here are seven ways to refresh your resume if you’re seeking a career change.
Many people cruise along on their career path only to eventually come to a fork in the road and decide it’s time for something new. The average employee changes jobs 10 to 15 times throughout his or her entire career, and switching careers altogether has become part of the norm. If you’re ready for a career switch, the last thing you want to do is start over. After all, you already have years’ worth of education, experience, training, and credentials under your belt. So how can you best apply these qualities to your career transition?
It’s important to organize and update your resume, making it applicable to the new kind of position you’re looking for. Our resume experts at TopResume can help, starting with a free resume review with personalized feedback and recommendations as they pertain to new job opportunities and career growth.
You don’t have to start from a clean slate, but there are some essential elements your resume should include , as illustrated below. It may look a whole lot different than what you’re used to!
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