Are you ready for your career change? Does your resume generate enough impact to get interviews with perspective employers? Does it make a splash? Before you send it out, be sure it does!
Pursuing a New Career
For the sake of this article, let’s say you’re a teacher and your contract was not renewed. Your district made budget cuts and the inevitable finally happened – your job was eliminated along with many others. You were smart though – you saw the writing on the wall long before your job was eliminated. A while ago, you decided to go back to school to pursue a career in nursing. You took the proactive approach and took charge of your career.
Now, you’re wondering how you write your resume to reflect your career change. Here are five tips to help you create a career change resume that will get interviews.
- Tailor your resume to the job for which you are applying and not for the job you had.
- Remember, your teaching career is important, but ask yourself what your perspective employers want to know.
- Write your new resume with the job description in mind.
- Highlight all of the qualifications you have; your resume should align as closely as it can to the job description. Do not copy the job description – you won’t be invited to interview if you do that.
- Add in all of your relevant transferable skills.
Career Change Resume
When you write your career change resume, don’t forget about the purpose of the document. Remember that the employer is looking for an individual to fill an open position and for someone with the right skills, education, and professional background. It is easy to see that the most effective resume is one that clearly demonstrates just how closely your skills match the employer’s job opening. This is the best way to show your level of expertise and how well you will fit into the new role.
Write the Resume for the Job You Want
An employer looking for a nurse is looking for someone with the necessary medical training as well as a nursing degree. Since you already have the necessary credentials, you’re right on track. Now ask yourself whether it is wise then to go into a lot of detail about how you exceeded district reading and math test score objectives. Or, do you think it would be better to go into greater detail about your nursing skills, coursework, intern/externships, and the medical volunteer work you did? You get the picture.
Just remember, your new employer will be looking to see if you know your stuff when it comes to nursing. Be sure to get an interview by targeting your resume to the job you’re looking for and appropriately addressing the needs of the employer as closely as your skill set will allow. Use these tips and your resume will definitely get you an interview.
Making a career change does not have to be an agonizing process. Patricia Erickson discusses the ins and outs of career change in detail in her new book entitled Career Management Guide: A Practical Approach To Career Change In Any Economy.
Patricia is a highly regarded career management expert and certified professional resume writer with over twelve years of executive recruiting and coaching experience. She partners with career changers and job seekers to design strategies that transform careers. Patricia has helped clients to navigate toward their true career aspirations as well as finding purpose and personal fulfillment.