How to Write a Resume for a Career Change

Most people will go through a career change at some point during their lives, with the average professional switching jobs five or six times during their working years.

Changing careers means creating a new resume that is tailored to the new chosen industry. Yet, one of the biggest challenges people face is demonstrating how their previous experience fits the new sector.

So how can you adapt your resume to effectively showcase your transferable skills, and how can you convince potential employers that you’ve got what it takes to thrive in a new industry?

Here’s a few steps to get you started:

Study your new career : Do your research to ensure you know as much as possible about your new career path. Review relevant job descriptions and make a list of the most frequently appearing requirements.

Upskill yourself : Take online courses or sign up for volunteer work in your new chosen field, whatever can help you increase your knowledge. Work towards gaining new relevant experience and qualifications.

Start from scratch : You will be creating a new resume tailored to the job.

Highlight your valuable talents : Here is where your transferrable skills take centre stage.

Cut out any irrelevant information: It’s vital that you understand how crucial the first quarter of your resume is, as recruiters only spend an average of 6 seconds reading an application. Because of this, you need to grab their attention right away. Ditch information that is not aligned to the job.

Create a strong and impactful Professional Summary and Highlight of Qualifications as the first two points on your new tailored resume.

Visit our Virtual Resource Room at Calgary Career Hub. Check out the category on Writing Resumes. You will find excellent resources, including our samples for both Chronological and Combination resumes, both of which include a section for Professional Summary and Highlight of Qualifications.