Career Change?

Are you considering a career change? If so, you are not alone. Statistics show that the American worker will change jobs at least 11 times in his/her lifetime and will change complete career fields three times. Whereas 20 or 30 years ago, workers went to work for one company and stayed with that company until retirement, workers now change jobs and even entire fields much more frequently. Career paths have moved from the rigidity of railways to the free-wheeling nature of an ATV; instead of a straight path in one direction, people are following opportunities and interests over sand dunes in every direction.

A career change brings many challenges, many obvious and some not so obvious. Retraining or obtaining new education is something that usually occurs with a career change. New approaches to problems may be called for. But how do you handle a career change in your resume? Two words – transferable skills.

Transferable skills are skills that you have used in the past with success and which will be needed in your new career field. For example, if you are a realtor and you are making a career change to a mortgage broker, your knowledge of home financing will be a transferable skill. Other transferable skills might include attention to detail, ability to work well with numbers, creativity, and sales skills. All these will be of benefit to you in your new career and can be framed in the resume.

A well-crafted resume can make your career transition much easier. Knowing what to showcase to bring to light your suitability for your new career field is the job of a professional resume writer. What you may see as a skill that is totally unrelated to your new career field, a professional resume writer will see as fodder for good marketing of your skills and abilities.