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11 Career Change Resume Examples Designed for 2024

Stephen Greet

Marketing Manager

Best for senior and mid-level candidates.

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  • Career Change Resumes
  • Changing Careers To Resumes
  • Changing Careers From Resumes
  • Career Change Resumes for Teachers

Perhaps you’ve spent decades crafting your profession only to feel drawn toward a new challenge. Maybe you’ve only spent a few years in your job but realized it’s not everything you’d hoped for. 

While the decision to pursue a new career can be thrilling, it comes with a challenge—convincing hiring managers to employ you. Whatever else, don’t let  building your resume  or writing a cover letter be a source of anxiety.

We’ve compiled  11 career change resume examples and a free guide to help steer you toward your dream job in 2024 . 

Even if your new career isn’t in our samples, that’s okay! What’s essential in these samples is the how and why, so keep reading because we’re sure there’s something here for you!

Career Change Resume

or download as PDF

Career change resume example with 14 years of experience

Why this resume works

  • A summary merges your background with the opportunities you’re seeking. In other words, a summary demonstrates how your experience has prepared you for your new field. However, you should only use a summary if you’ve had  at least 10 years of experience.
  • Choosing a  professional resume template  and  resume format  can help make your resume look professional and cohesive without much effort.

Multiple Career Resume

Multiple career resume example with 13 years of experience

  • The keywords you include will help tie your expertise together and prove that you have the right abilities for the job. 
  • Start by listing hard skills (aka technical, learned skills) listed in the job description. If you don’t have a lot, then simply use soft skills like “analytical” and collaboration.”
  • Whatever jobs you’ve held, find a common thread between them and the new job, then sew that thread into every job experience. It’ll be a subtle but powerful tool to increase credibility despite multiple career changes. 

Career Change To Accounting Resume

Career change to accounting resume example with 10+ years of experience

  • If you’re applying to be an accountant but it wasn’t your most recent role, be sure to add a certifications section highlighting that you are a Certified Public Accountant (CPA).

Career Change To Administrative Assistant Resume

Career change to administrative assistant resume example with 7 years of experience

  • Enhance your career change to administrative assistant resume with a short summary that shows recruiters where to draw parallels between your past experience and target title.

Marketing Manager Career Change Resume

Marketing manager career change resume example with 12 years of experience

  • There are numbers everywhere; look for percentages relating to your skills, like how you boosted efficiency or increased sales from last quarter. The sky’s the limit!
  • If you can’t find (or don’t have access to) percentages, then use plain numbers relating to how many team members you worked with, how many clients you took on, or how many referrals you gained.
  • Things like only using active verbs and avoiding personal pronouns might seem minor, but they make reading your resume easier, which is huge for recruiters and hiring managers.
  • And speaking of details, always  double-check your resume  for proper grammar, punctuation, and overall flow.

RN Career Change Resume

RN career change resume example with 17 years of experience

  • An objective is only two to three sentences, so make sure each word packs a verbal punch by showing off your years of experience, skills, and desire for the role you’re seeking.
  • For example, mentioning your adherence to HIPPA guidelines can demonstrate to hiring managers that you will stick to the rules. On the flip side, explaining how you used active listening to assist patients will show your compassion and customer service skills.

Journalist Career Change Resume

Journalist career change resume example with 7 years of experience

  • Start by keeping your resume to a single page. Otherwise, you’ll overwhelm hiring managers (who will likely toss your resume into the recycling).
  • It’s best to use reverse-chronological formatting on your resume to keep your most relevant job history at the top. While other formats are necessarily wrong, they aren’t standard, and they’re harder for hiring managers (and the ATS) to read.
  • In your contact header, include your email address (make sure it’s a professional email), your phone number, and your location. 
  • Consider adding a hyperlink to your LinkedIn profile if you have a LinkedIn account.

Mechanical Engineer Career Change Resume

Mechanical engineer career change resume example with 17 years of experience

  • Consider asking a friend, relative, or even a career advisor from your alma mater to scan your resume for errors and discrepancies.
  • Nothing tells a recruiter you’re not the right person for the job like saying you’re great at “time management.” 
  • Put color in your section headers (or company titles) and your contact header. This will add visual interest without being overwhelming.
  • If you’re applying to work at a conservative financial firm, you may want to stick to traditional colors rather than pastel pink or lavender.

Teacher Career Change Resume

Teacher career change resume example with 10 years of experience

  • Look for ways to connect your previous duties to the responsibilities listed in the job description.
  • Many skills  indirectly  transfer from one job to another. Consider your collaboration skills: your ability to work well with fellow teachers will help you work on team projects at your next job.
  • Of course, if you have any skills, projects, or experience in your new field, include them, and explain how you’ve mastered them in your career change cover letter .
  • Using a  resume template  is invaluable here, as you can easily scooch sections to the side, adjust your margins, and fix your font type to give you some extra wiggle room.

Teacher to Project Manager Resume

Teacher to project manager resume example with 6 years of experience

  • The work experience bullet points to occupy the largest share of your CV—no more than four bullets for each role. As for your contact info, education, skills, hobbies, and certifications, a side column will do the trick. The cherry on top is restricting the entire resume to one page.

Teacher to Human Resources Resume

Teacher to human resources resume example with counseling experience

  • But more importantly, mention the relevant transferable skills you bring to this entry-level role, a requirement Elijah executes well in his teacher to human resources resume. Better yet, let your bullet points show how you used these proficiencies in previous teaching roles.

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How to Write a Career Change Resume [With Template]

Young woman writing resume on laptop

Starting a career in a new field is exciting, but getting your foot in the door often presents a challenge. If you’re worried about your application being overshadowed by candidates with more experience than you, don’t underestimate the role that a well-written resume can play in the hiring process. Even if you don’t have the work experience an employer is looking for, your resume can effectively convey why you’d be a great fit for the job. 

According to iHire’s 2020 Talent Retention Report , 66% of survey respondents have recently considered changing careers. The report also found that not knowing how to write a career change resume was a commonly cited roadblock for would-be career switchers. 

In this guide, we explain what a career change resume is and how to write one. We’ve also included a free template, so you can get to work on crafting a resume for your dream role.

How to Write a Resume for a Career Change

In general, most best practices for writing a resume also apply to career change resumes. However, there are a few areas you’ll want to be sure to emphasize when writing a resume for a new career path. While a traditional resume focuses heavily on work experience, career change resumes focus more on transferable skills.

In terms of how your resume is structured, a combination resume format may be the way to go. This type of resume places an equal emphasis on both skills and experience. Instead of starting the resume with your work experience, combination resume templates typically begin with an objective and a summary of relevant skills. 

The steps listed below can help you adapt your existing resume into one that is tailored for career switching. 

1. Craft a resume objective  

A resume objective is a short summary of your professional experience, skills, accomplishments, and career goals. 

Resume objectives and summaries are often considered optional, especially if you are trying to save room on your resume, but this section is crucial for those looking to change careers. The hiring manager may not make an immediate connection between your experience and the role you’re applying for, so your resume objective is essential for helping convey why you’re interested in this industry. 

Your objective should be no longer than a couple sentences. If it takes up more than two or three lines on your resume, try to shorten it.

2. Include a skills summary 

If you’re in the midst of changing careers, you’ll want to feature your skills prominently on your resume. In fact, we recommend listing them above your work experience. 

In the skills summary section, list a few skills you want to highlight, and add bullet points underneath each skill that provide examples of when you’ve used this skill. 

Not sure what type of skills to include in this section? Scan the job description for the position you’re applying for and use some of the required skills as your starting point. Some soft skills—such as leadership skills —are applicable for almost any job. Including some of the same keywords as the job description can help ensure that your resume makes it past automatic review filters.

In some situations, you might also choose to make a separate section for “Technical Skills.” In this section, you can briefly list your proficiency with various industry tools or software. This can be a great way to capture additional keywords from the job description, without having to list full examples of when you’ve used each tool. 

3. Focus on the most relevant work experience 

For a career change resume, the work experience section is all about transferable skills. You don’t necessarily need to list all of the responsibilities you had at your old job. Instead, focus on the responsibilities that are the most relevant for the new position you’re applying for. For example, if you’re a customer service representative hoping to land a job in digital marketing, you may choose to narrow in on your ability to find creative solutions for your customers. 

Here are a few tips for describing your work experience:

  • Connect your work experience back to the skills listed in your skills summary section
  • Focus on achievements, providing numbers and data whenever possible
  • Tailor your descriptions to each job you apply for, working in keywords from the job description

If you’re running out of space on your resume, keep in mind that you don’t need to list every job you’ve ever had. Stick to your most recent two or three jobs, and leave older, irrelevant jobs behind. 

Related: How to Successfully Navigate a Midlife Career Change and Avoid a Crisis

4. Highlight your education (including certificates) 

Whether or not your education is directly related to the job you’re applying for, it’s still important to include this section on your resume. If you have limited professional experience, you can bolster your resume with some descriptions of your academic achievements, such as your GPA or relevant coursework you’ve completed. 

For example, imagine you have an undergraduate degree in history and are applying for a role as a business analyst. If you took any courses in business or analytics during college, be sure to mention them. They might not have been a part of your degree, but they show that you’ve had an ongoing interest in understanding how businesses operate. 

If you’ve earned any certificates outside of a degree program, be sure to list these, too. Online programs and certificates offer a way to expand your knowledge in a specific subject area, without the time commitment of a full degree program. They can show employers that you are serious about your professional development and would like to gain more experience in a particular industry. 

Related: Top 10 Most In-Demand Online Courses from Wharton Online Right Now

5. Add in notable projects and accomplishments 

Dedicating a section of your resume to projects and accomplishments isn’t always necessary, but if you’re changing careers or do not have much work experience, this can be a valuable way to round out your resume. You can use this space to highlight any personal achievements that are not directly related to work or school—for example, personal projects, volunteer work, or involvement in industry-related clubs or organizations. 

If you choose to include a section for projects or accomplishments, make sure that everything you list ties back to a key skill or characteristic that is relevant for your desired career path.

Career Change Resume Example 

Now that we’ve covered some tips for creating a resume tailored to a career change, let’s explore an example. We crafted this resume for a customer service representative who is applying for a digital marketing specialist position. 

Name and Contact Information 

Abigail Jacobs 

Philadelphia, PA

267-555-0176 | [email protected]

linkedin.com/in/abigail-jacobs-example

Driven and hardworking professional with a proven track record of increasing customer satisfaction levels. Looking to leverage my problem-solving skills and build upon my 3+ years of customer service experience by transitioning into the digital marketing space.

Professional Skills 

Problem Solving

  • Developed creative solutions for unsatisfied customers at Platinum Auto Insurance and Accelerate Call Center
  • Lead brainstorming sessions with team members to improve customer satisfaction metrics

Communication 

  • 3+ years of experience in customer services roles, frequently communicating with customers both on the phone and over email 
  • Completed a B.A. in Communications and was an active member of the Public Speaking Club while in college 

Organization 

  • Used Excel to organize and track customer service metrics, and compiled these metrics into weekly reports for management 

Technical Skills 

  • Microsoft Word
  • Google Suite 
  • Google Analytics 
  • Google Search Console 

Work Experience

Senior Customer Service Advisor

Platinum Auto Insurance | Sept 2019 – Present

  • Resolved over 100 customer complaints per week, communicating with customers via phone and email 
  • Tracked KPIs for each ticket and delivered weekly customer satisfaction reports for management, consistently exceeding target satisfaction ratings by 5-10%
  • Collaborated with team members to identify creative solutions for customers

Customer Service Representative 

Accelerate Call Center | Jul 2018 – Sept 2019 

  • Responded to 50+ calls per day, answering questions from customers and redirecting to other departments as needed 
  • Demonstrated written communication skills by revamping customer service phone scripts, resulting in a 20% increase in customer satisfaction ratings 

Bachelor of Arts in Communication

University of Pennsylvania | Jun 2018

  • Completed courses in advertising and social media

Digital Marketing Certificate 

Wharton Online | Mar 2022

  • Completed a six-week program from The Wharton School
  • Learned about topics such as marketing analytics, customer relationships, social media, and e-commerce marketing 

Personal Projects

Marketing Assistant for Public Speaking Club 

2017 – 2018

  • As a member of the Public Speaking Club at University of Pennsylvania, assisted the club with creating a monthly newsletter
  • Managed social media accounts for the club, consistently posting content and engaging with followers 

Marketing Consultant 

2020 – Present 

  • Assisted a friend with the creation and management of photography business website
  • Used Google Analytics and Google Search Console to measure the performance of website content 

Career Change Resume Template

We’ve adapted this example into three different template formats, with the hope that it can serve as a jumping off point for your own career change resume. Click on the links below to download the template:

  • Microsoft Word .DOCX
  • Google Docs (click on “File > Make a copy” to save to your own Google Docs folder)

Screenshot of an example career change resume

Stand Out From the Crowd With Wharton Online

If you’re looking to switch careers in the near future, an online certificate program can help set you up for success. In addition to gaining valuable insights into a specific industry, you’ll be able to list your certificate on your resume and LinkedIn. This can give you a competitive edge during your job search. 

Wharton Online offers certificate programs in subjects such as leadership and management, asset and portfolio management, and digital marketing. All of our courses are conducted 100% online, giving you the flexibility to complete coursework on your own schedule. Explore our online programs today , or reach out to us with any questions. 

For more tips on how to navigate a career change, download our free guide, “ The Career-Switching Handbook for 30‑Somethings .”

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Download our eBook: The Career-Switching Handbook for 30‑Somethings

Job-hopping is a growing trend among young professionals, and for many good reasons. Download our free eBook, “The Career-Switching Handbook for 30‑Somethings,” for the latest career-switching tips, strategies, and data.

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Career Change Resume for 2024 [9+ Examples]

Background Image

Thinking of switching careers?

It might feel a lot like taking a leap of faith. 

You’re stepping into the unknown - that alone takes a lot of courage and determination.

You might even feel like a recent graduate all over again.

You have 0 experience, entering an entirely new field, competing with people who’ve been doing it forever!

That sounds pretty scary.

But here’s the thing:

As long as you’re armed with the right resume, the transition can be a piece of cake.

And luckily, we’re here to help and guide you through the process.

So, if you’re thinking of breaking into a new career industry, be sure to read on.

  • How to pick the best resume format for a career change
  • How to create a skill summary and wow the recruiter
  • How to show off transferable work experience
  • 3+ other ways to impress the recruiter (even if you have 0 relevant work experience)

Choosing the Best Career Change Resume Format

career change resume

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.

career change resume example

Here’s 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 haven’t 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 here’s what you include within this format:

  • Contact information
  • Resume objective or summary
  • Skills summary
  • Work experience
  • Certification

Now, we’re going to go over each of those sections and explain how to write them step-by-step.

Here’s what you need to know:

How to Add Your Contact Information the Right Way

Your contact information is arguably the most important part of your resume.

Even if you’re the most qualified person in the world, it’s not going to matter much if you misspell your email and the HR manager can’t contact you.

So, here’s what you should include in this section:

  • First name, last name 
  • Phone number - Make sure to include your country code if you’re applying outside your country.
  • Email address - Something professional like [[email protected]].
  • Location - The company needs to know if you’re located in the region or if they may have to sponsor your relocation.
  • Title - Either your current professional title or your new desired one. We’d recommend including the job title you’re applying for word-for-word.

Once you’re done, we’d recommend that you double-check, even triple-check everything. You wouldn’t want to miss your chances of landing the job because of a typo, would you?

  • Got an online portfolio? You can also mention the links here. For example, if you’re a developer, you can include a link to your GitHub profile. If you’re a writer, a Medium link, and so on...

All clear? Good!

Now, let’s cover how to write a successful career change resume objective or summary.

Impress the Recruiter With a Career Change Resume Objective or Summary

So you’ve got your contact details down.

Now, you need a reason for the HR manager to continue reading the rest of your resume.

So, how do you get the recruiter to stop and read your career change resume when they only look at resumes for 6 seconds on average?

The answer: by using a resume objective or summary.

Both of these sections explain why you’re the best person for the job and act as a preview to the rest of your resume.

Here’s how the two differ:

Your resume summary shows your best accomplishments that are relevant to the job you’re applying for.

Your resume objective highlights how your current skills are relevant and will transfer to your new position.

As someone going through a career change, you can include either one.

But as a rule of thumb, if you were working in a related field and have some transferable skills, go for a resume summary.

On the other hand, if you were working in a completely unrelated field, go for a resume objective.

Check out these examples to get a better idea of what both of these might look like:

Career Change Resume Summary Example

  • “Customer support specialist with over 4+ years of experience in over-the-phone technical support looking to leverage communication skills as a Sales Agent at Company XYZ. Excellent track record of delivering quality support, with an average rating of 4.6/5 over the past 2 years.”

A career change resume summary helps the HR understand how your skillset from your previous job can translate into your new one.

In that case, it’s best to mention:

  • Your current relevant skills or experience.
  • How your background can help you excel at the current job.

Career Change Resume Objective Example

  • “Organized and hard-working employee looking to join XYZ as a marketing assistant. Looking to take advantage of my skills in Photoshop, graphic design, and creative copywriting to help XYZ with their marketing efforts.”

See the difference here?

Even though the person doesn’t have any relevant work experience, their resume objective still shows how their skill set is relevant to the new job.

Show Off Your Know-How With a Skills Summary Section

Your resume summary / objective is only an introduction. Now, you need to show the HR what you’ve got.

To do that, you need a good skills summary section.

Skills summary is a must-have section for just about any career change resume.

It puts more emphasis on your skill-set, as opposed to your work experience. This allows you to show how you’re a qualified candidate, even though you haven’t done the job before.

Here’s what a sample skills summary section might look like for a front-end developer.

Career Change Resume Skills Summary Example

  • Built an online personal portfolio and resume website using HTML, CSS, JS.
  • Created an online JS/jQuery quiz game that takes multiple answers and shows results to the user.
  • Built a beautiful weather app with Angular 8 from scratch, designed UI with Sketch.
  • Created responsive website templates (that are also mobile friendly) using modern CSS techniques and JS libraries.
  • Worked with design and development groups to create applications from mock-ups in Sketch, Illustrator, and Photoshop.
  • Familiar with Git, XDebug, and Chrome Developer Tools.
  • Debugged over 10 JS web apps for a SaaS project.

Simple enough, right?

You list out each of your key skills, and then back it up with how you’ve used it in the past.

Now, you might be thinking, “what about the work experience section?” Do I just skip it, and use a skills summary instead?

Nope - you still need to list your work experience.

In this case, though, you’d want to use it to show off your transferable skills. Here’s how:

Use Your Work Experience to Show Off Transferable Skills

Let’s take a different example and say you’re moving from a job in sales to copywriting.

A resume you’d use for sales compared to a more creative field like copywriting is probably going to be a bit different.

But what do both of the roles have in common?

Well, for one, they both require you to have excellent communication skills. You also need to be good at understanding your target market and conveying complex information in simple language.

And that’s the common thread you want to focus on in your work experience section.

So, when listing your previous jobs, think of some transferable skills that you bring to the table that are going to be relevant.

Even unrelated jobs have some universal skills that are helpful everywhere.

To give you a better idea of what we mean, let’s look at some examples:

Sales Executive

Company X - 11/2016 - 04/2019

  • Created and presented pitch deck that secured a $500,000 deal - largest for Company X to date.
  • Boosted sales for the most underperforming product by 40% by developing helpful and instructional material for prospects.
  • Created and edited sales materials, scripts, and technical documents for accuracy and consistency.

Here’s what’s done right:

  • Shows transferable skills and achievements.
  • Highlights only the parts from the experience that are related to the new role.

While the above example doesn’t talk about product descriptions or ads, communication materials and sales scripts do show that the candidate can write.

So, for a copywriting position, it’s going to be relevant and worth mentioning.

Now, compare that to the career change work experience below:

  • Cold-emailed 100+ prospects daily.
  • Closed 14+ deals in 2019 so far.
  • Hit and exceeded company KPIs for the past 2 years in a row.

Sure, this example is good. But only if the candidate is applying for a sales job.

For copywriting, though, none of the skills mentioned are going to come in handy.

So, when listing previous job positions, you should focus only on what’s relevant.

job search masterclass novoresume

Now that you know how to properly list work experience, let’s move on to the next section: Education.

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 (e.g. college degree), and then include all the important stuff below it.

For example, you can include things like:

  • Name of degree (Minor - optional): 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 (optional): e.g. Groningen, Netherlands.
  • GPA (optional): 3.84 (only include if you excelled).
  • Courses that are relevant to the job (optional): e.g. Advanced Business Finances.
  • Exchange programs (optional): e.g. exchange program in Florida, U.S.

Here’s what the full listing for this educational entry might look like:

career change education on resume

You might be wondering, what if I don’t have the right education for the job? Maybe, you have an M.A. in Philosophy, but you’re 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 you’re passionate about learning and education.

In some cases, you might even be able to show off some transferable skills with your degree.

Let’s say, for example, you have a B.A. in English Literature , and you’re applying for a job in marketing. 

You could stress on how your degree gave you amazing writing skills (a must-have for most marketing roles), like so:

B.A. in English Literature.

University XYZ - 2014-2018

  • Excelled in creative writing courses
  • Part-time as a reporter for the university website

PS - Do you still have some questions on how to list your education section? Maybe you’re wondering what else you can include? Check out our full guide on how to list education on a resume with 13+ real-life examples.

Done with your education section? Awesome!

This brings us to the next section on your career change resume.

How (and Why) to List Skills On a Career Change Resume

skills on career change resume

When it comes to the skills section, what most recruiters want to know is if you can actually do what the job ad asks for.

And like with the other sections till now, relevance is key.

You should only ever list skills that are appropriate to the job you’re applying for.

To find out what’s relevant, start by scanning the job listing.

Most job ads usually include a list of requirements or skills they expect for a good candidate to have.

So, all you have to do is mention those exact skills on your resume.

Let’s take a look at an example.

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

You’d want to list the following skills:

  • Communication Skills
  • Team-Player

So, all you have to do is mention these skills, and you’re 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!

Showing Career Certifications on a Resume

When you’re switching careers, certifications are an amazing way to show you’re serious about your craft.

This shows you’re willing to put in the work and that you’ve already taken the first steps.

When listing certifications though, make sure they’re relevant to your field.

For a marketing role, here’s what that might look like:

  • HubSpot Inbound Marketing Certified, 2019.
  • Google Analytics Individual Qualification, 2018.
  • SEMrush Content Marketing Toolkit Course, 2018.

And here’s an example done wrong:

  • TechCamp Python Bootcamp, 2019.
  • Udemy JavaScript 101 Course.

For a marketing role, those certificates are completely irrelevant and aren’t even in the same field.

While they might be impressive on their own, that doesn’t mean they make you a better marketer.

Listing Personal Projects

Another great way to show that you’re the right person for the job is to list personal projects.

This can be just about anything:

  • Founding a sports team in university
  • Project you did for business class
  • A Part-time online store you created on Etsy
  • Passion-project for wood-working
  • And whatever else you love (that’s relevant for your new career)

Pretty much anything that can make up for your lack of experience in the field counts.

But of course, keep in mind that your projects should be relevant to your new job.

Getting into coding? Here’s what your projects section could look like...

personal projects in career change resume

Make sure to stick to relevant projects, though.

The HR manager cares about your CODING experience, not about the fact that you started a basketball team in college.

Now, compare that to:

  • Excelled in Anthropology and Archaeology classes at University X.
  • Self-taught knitting pro.

You shouldn’t list projects just for the sake of standing out or filling up space. 

The more irrelevant information you mention in your resume, the more likely it is for the recruiter to accidentally skip out on all your must-have sections.

  • Still have some space on your resume? You can also include the hobbies & interests section. Check out our guide to learn how (and why)!

How to Write a Career Change Cover Letter

Done with your resume?

But wait, before you get too excited - you’re still not done.

You need to back up your resume with a career change cover letter.

And no - it’s not like the usual cover letter you’re used to writing. 

When you’re switching careers, you want to use your cover letter to highlight WHY you’re 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:

career change cover letter sample

Here’s what’s done right with this cover letter:

  • Addresses the reader (i.e. “Dear Doris” or if you can’t find their name, “To Whom it May Concern.”).
  • Makes it clear they want to transition into a different career (from marketing and retail sales into public relations in this case).
  • Shows they’ve done the research and the letter is tailored to the company's products and brand.
  • Provides specific examples and achievements (“raised more than $ 10,000 for the event.”).
  • Ends on a confident note and provides a call-to-action (and where to contact them).

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 Unsettled’s Lifestyle Incubator.

Unsettled’s 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.

Through original workshops, weekly live sessions, practical tools, frameworks and peer-to-peer conversations with a global and diverse community of professionals, they will help you identify the core tensions between the lifestyle you want and the career trajectory that aligns your values, interests, and skills.

Key Takeaways

To recap, going through a mid-career transition probably sounds intimidating. 

But if you craft your career change resume focusing on transferable skills and experience - then you’re good to go!

Just make sure you follow these main key tips while working on your resume:

  • Use the combination resume format to highlight your transferable skills and work experience.
  • Include all the essential career change resume sections - contact information , resume objective or summary , skill summary , work experience , soft and technical skills , certifications and personal projects.
  • And while doing so, highlight only what’s relevant to your new position.
  • Finally, make sure you attach a tailored cover letter to your resume and mention WHY you’re switching fields and what unique skills you’re bringing with you.

At Novorésumé, we’re committed to helping you land your dream job, every step of the way. Be sure to check out our career blog to stay up to date with the industry-leading advice and more actionable tips.

Suggested Reading:

  • How to Get Your Resume Layout Right [3 Free Templates]
  • How to Write an ATS Resume
  • 20+ One-Page Resume Templates [Free Download]

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Career Sidekick

If you want to change careers, you’re going to need a great resume to show employers why they should take a chance on you.

You need to convince them that you’ll succeed in their role, even if you’ve done different work in the past.

And while you can do some of this convincing in the job interview, you aren’t going to get interviews if your resume or CV isn’t great , too, so it all starts here!

Don’t worry if this sounds intimidating – this article has everything you need to write an effective resume for career change…

I spoke to multiple professional resume writers, coaches, and other experts and put together this list of resume tips for career changers, as well as real-life examples of resumes that got interviews.

Here’s what you need to know…

Career Change Resume/CV Format

The best resume format for a career change is the chronological resume (also known as “reverse chronological resume”). With this format, your resume or CV lists your work experience in the order it happened, starting with your most recent or current position at the top.

This is what most hiring managers and recruiters are used to seeing and prefer to see, so it’s the best format to use when switching careers (or in any job search, for that matter).

So the first thing to do with your resume is to make sure you’re using this format. Put your most recent position at the top of your “Work Experience” section , and then go backward from there. You’ll see examples of this coming up – don’t worry.

The bottom line is: You aren’t going to hide something or “sneak” through the process by using a less-common (and more confusing) resume format like a functional resume.

This will just confuse and frustrate the hiring manager or recruiter .

So rather than trying to hide gaps in your experience, you should tailor your experience to be as relevant as possible for the job you’re applying to. That’s how to approach resume formatting as a career changer.

Career Change Resume Objective (And Why NOT To Include This)

You should not include a resume objective when changing careers (or on any resume, in fact). A resume objective is an outdated section that should be replaced with a resume summary section – a brief intro summarizing your experience, skills, accomplishments, and anything else you’d like to share.

Coming up next, we’ll look at examples of how to write this “summary” section as a career changer.

Writing Your Resume Summary for Career Change

Rather than a resume objective, you should include a brief Summary section to show employers what you’ve accomplished and how you can help them in their role.

I asked multiple experts for tips and examples of how to write a resume summary for a career change, so here are some tips from coaches, resume writers, and other experts.

Career Change Resume Example: Switching Careers from Business Development at a Skilled Nursing Facility to Medical Device Sales 

This section is contributed by: Virginia Franco – Executive Resume Writer at Virginia Franco Resumes

When writing a summary section for a career change, think about what you bring to the table that aligns with the role you seek, and what makes you less of a hiring risk for the hiring manager or interviewer.

vfr sample resume summary for career change

In the example above, my client wanted to pivot from a business development role at a skilled nursing facility into medical device sales. In writing his summary, I:

  • Chose a headline that contained some keywords related to the role he currently held AND the role he was targeting.
  • Created a tagline that spoke to his success in Skilled Nursing using language that was industry-neutral.
  • Identified a few differentiators that would make him appealing to a hiring manager and help outweigh the fact that he was new to the role and industry.

In this case, the fact that he:

  • Knew lots of key players meant he could hit the ground running and build a sales funnel fast
  • Was multilingual but raised in the U.S. meant he could interface well with many cultures – important in the area where he lived, and in working with surgeons that are often from other countries.
  • Kept abreast of the industry and trends meant he was passionate about the industry and that he embraced continual learning.
  • Established trust by working to overcome obstacles in a creative fashion meant that he was a problem solver – a trait that would make him attractive to a hiring manager.

In other words, I worked to make him seem like a candidate that was a risk worth taking!

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 that’s buried in your education section, or maybe you’ve 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 it’s 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 didn’t 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:

example of how to write a resume summary for career change

Tip: Target Everything for the Role You Want

This section is contributed by: Sarah Johnston – Former Recruiter, Executive Resume Writer, and Job Search Coach at BriefcaseCoach.com

When writing a resume for a career change, it’s important to target your resume for the role that you want. I recommend finding a few job descriptions that interest you and scanning for keywords and themes. Use the target job title or skill set in the header to frame the resume.

The Ladders did an eye tracking study that found that recruiters and hiring managers only spend 7.4 seconds scanning a resume before deciding to pass or read more. The heat map showed that better-performing resumes have keywords at the top to immediately draw the eye.

Attached is the top of a career changer sample resume. This hypothetical job seeker is wanting to transition from an account manager role to being an executive assistant . The resume plays up her transferable skills and includes a header that references the job that she wants.

Sample Career Changer resume

As a former corporate recruiter, I am not a fan of functional resumes. Recruiters are taught to scan resumes chronologically. When you take the experience out of context or “order,” it often gives the recruiter the impression you are trying to hide or fudge experience.

Tip: Use Bullets to Stand Out

This section is contributed by: Madeline Mann – Human Resources Leader & Career Coach, Creator of Self Made Millennial

Consider writing your resume intro or summary in bullet format, as this makes it easier for people to quickly scan it.

The first couple of bullet points should emphasize the most important keywords from the job description.

Get creative with how you integrate these terms into your summary. For example, use phrases like “experience with” and “knowledge of” to indicate tasks that you have become familiar with inside or outside of your job.

Personal projects, volunteering, and education should all contribute to what you describe here. If the most prominent keywords in the job description are tasks and concepts that you are unfamiliar with, that is a sign that you need to build those skills on your own time. Here is a video on how to build these important skills without getting hired.

The next couple of bullet points should focus on the most relevant accomplishments to the role you are pursuing, which may not be from your most recent role.

This is where the magic of the summary section comes into play. Pull in early-career achievements, side projects, and unpaid work where you did tasks that are more closely aligned with your new career. For example, if you are a Psychology Lab Assistant, and you want to be a Building Manager, many of your lab tasks won’t translate.

But, five years ago you were the treasurer of your sorority (budgeting is a keyword), and you handled many contractors to ensure the house was renovated and maintained (knowledge of the trades is a keyword). While that experience may be buried due to it being 5 years ago and not a paid position, it can hop to the top of your career change resume as a highly relevant accomplishment in the summary.

The summary section is an opportunity for you to truly spell it out for the hiring manager where your transferable skills will be too well-matched to ignore!

Editor’s note: Bullets are also a great way to make your resume work history section stand out. This article explains how to do this with 22 resume bullet examples. 

Career Change Resume Work History Section: Samples and Tips

After a brief summary or intro paragraph, you’ll need a powerful employment history section to continue to impress the recruiter or hiring manager. Use the tips below to help you write yours.

Write Your Resume by Working Backward from the Job Description

This section is contributed by: Kyle Elliott – Career & Life Coach and Resume Writer at CaffeinatedKyle.com

The key to a successful career change resume is to work backward from the job posting. I encourage clients to literally pull language from the posting of the job they are targeting, then massage it until it truthfully reflects their experience. You really want to speak the language of the industry you are moving into.

In the example below, my client was targeting sales roles. However, she has several years of impressive experience from working in higher education that we wanted to include on her resume. So we repositioned her earlier experience as a “customer experience manager” role, pulling language directly from the job postings she was targeting.

career change resume - example of work history

Add Keywords to Get Past the ATS

This section is contributed by: Susan P. Joyce – Publisher of Job-Hunt.org

When your goal is a career change, be sure that your resume contains the relevant keywords for the career you want. Without these keywords, your resume will not be found in a recruiter’s search of the applications and resumes stored in the applicant tracking system (ATS).

Analyze the job description and pay attention to the job’s requirements as well as the nice-to-have skills. Make a list of the skills and other job requirements you meet. Those terms are typically the terms that will be used most often when the employer is searching for qualified job candidates.

If you have acquired skills or experience outside of work, don’t be afraid to include them, too. These include skills you have acquired while volunteering or participating in other non-work activities, especially if those skills are required for this job (and, thus, important keywords).

One of the best places to start including keywords on your career change resume is your “Skills” section.

The Skills section provides a quick way to show employers that you have the skills they’ve listed on their job description.

For example: Assume the job requires hard skills like QuickBooks or SQL, and you have experience with them or have certifications from training you have taken. Include the appropriate term in your Skills section, like “QuickBooks” or “QuickBooks Certified”.

Then, in the “Experience” section of your resume , include those skills in the descriptions of your past jobs (or volunteering) where you acquired and/or used those skills. This will show the employer when and where you demonstrated your skills, which they always want to see!

Repetition of keywords is usually a good thing when the repetition is natural, relevant, and appropriate. So, having these important terms in both the Skills and Experience sections of your resume will help your resume be found.

However, simply repeating keywords at the bottom of your resume is not smart or useful.

Career Change Resume Templates

You should now have a general idea of how to format and write your resume or CV for a career change.

If you need a great starting point and don’t want to create your resume from scratch (or if your existing resume is outdated and doesn’t look great) then this job search resources page has multiple free resume templates that are great for changing careers.

After clicking the link above, scroll down to the section titled: “ATS-Compliant Resume Templates.” All of the templates on that page are free to use and download.

Recap: How to Write a Resume for Career Change

If you’re planning on switching careers, you should write your resume to make your experience seem as relevant as possible for the job you want next.

Always think of the employer’s perspective when deciding what to put on your resume and what to leave off.

Write your career change CV or resume based on the employer’s job description and you’ll be much more likely to win the interview.

That’s how to get a new job in a new field. Employers want candidates who can step into a role, learn the position quickly, and succeed. They want low risk.  The more you can show similarities between what you’ve done and what the employer needs for this job, the better!

To summarize: Your CV or resume for a career change will be most successful if you start with the employer’s needs in mind, work backward, and think carefully about how to position your own experiences – both professional and personal – to make yourself seem capable of stepping into their job and being a success!

Biron Clark

About the Author

Read more articles by Biron Clark

Read our Resume Essentials Guides

10 best free resume builders, what to put on a resume: 9 things to include, sample list of accomplishments for resume (35+ examples), top 14 resume skills to add on your resume + examples, does a resume need an objective, resume summary with no experience: examples for students and fresh graduates, resume keywords: 80+ verbs and power words to use, previous work experience examples for a resume, 24 resume summary examples that get interviews.

resume template career change

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Switching Careers? Here’s How to Write a Strong Resume.

  • Benjamin Laker,
  • Vijay Pereira,
  • Abhishek Behl,
  • Zaheer Khan

resume template career change

Start with a personal statement.

When you’re switching career paths, there’s one essential thing you need to focus on: updating your resume. Crafting a smart resume is key to showing your potential employer why you wish to make a change. While there’s no one right format to write a resume, here are some tips you can follow:

  • Begin the resume with a personal statement. This is a short description about who you are, your reasons for changing your career, your new goals, how your previous experience can be transferred to the new industry, and why you’re perfect for the job.
  • Next, instead of highlighting your work experience first, showcase the skills you’ve learned throughout your career. That’s because when changing careers, the hiring managers reviewing your application may not always be familiar with the roles and responsibilities of a different industry.
  • Below your skills, you can include a more traditional description of your relevant work history. You don’t need to include every job you’ve ever had, especially if you’ve held a number of positions that don’t highlight any essential skills required for this role.
  • Finally, end with a chronological list of your educational qualifications. You can also include details about any certifications or courses that you may be undertaking that may be relevant to the position you’re interested in.

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Where your work meets your life. See more from Ascend here .

Switching career paths and trying something completely new can open you up to exciting opportunities, help you learn new things, and even earn you more money. But it’s not always easy — especially if you’re looking to move into an entirely different field. Apart from doing your research and unearthing opportunities, there’s one essential thing you need to focus on before you make the leap: updating your resume.

resume template career change

  • Benjamin Laker is a professor of leadership at Henley Business School, University of Reading. Follow him on Twitter .
  • Vijay Pereira is a professor of strategic and international human capital management at NEOMA Business School.
  • AB Abhishek Behl is an assistant professor of information management at the Management Development Institute Gurgaon.
  • ZK Zaheer Khan is a professor in strategy and international business at the University of Aberdeen.  

Partner Center

  • • Spearheaded a digital transformation project, integrating innovative patient education tools into our services, leading to a 40% increase in patient engagement.
  • • Managed a team of 15, fostering a culture of continuous improvement and collaboration, which reduced patient wait times by 25%.
  • • Oversaw the implementation of a new EHR system, improving data accuracy and accessibility for medical staff.
  • • Negotiated with vendors to secure state-of-the-art medical equipment, staying within budget constraints and ensuring high-quality patient care.
  • • Led cross-functional teams in the development of healthcare programs that received national accreditation, enhancing the hospital's reputation.
  • • Initiated community health outreach programs, increasing healthcare access and preventive care awareness.
  • • Directed multiple healthcare projects with budgets over $500K, completing all on time and under budget.
  • • Implemented a patient feedback system, analyzing data to drive continuous service improvements.
  • • Collaborated with IT and medical staff to enhance patient care technology, resulting in a 15% improvement in treatment outcomes.
  • • Managed vendor contracts, ensuring compliance and maximizing investment in healthcare technologies.
  • • Facilitated training sessions for medical staff on new protocols, ensuring high standards of patient care.
  • • Coordinated patient care plans, improving efficiency and patient satisfaction by 20%.
  • • Assisted in the development of an innovative care model, reducing hospital readmission rates by 15%.
  • • Led community health workshops, increasing public knowledge on preventative care.
  • • Managed scheduling and logistics for patient services, enhancing operational workflows.

5 Career Change Resume Examples & Guide for 2024

Customize this resume with ease using our seamless online resume builder.

All resume examples in this guide

resume template career change

Resume Guide

How to format a career change resume

How to write your career change resume experience

How to list your hard and soft skills on your resume, how to list your certifications and education on your resume, how to write your career change resume summary or objective, key takeaways.

Career Change resume example

Embarking on a career change is an exhilarating journey filled with opportunities for growth and discovery. Whether you're transitioning from healthcare to graphic design, from education to IT, or from hospitality to digital marketing, the process of reinventing your professional self can be both thrilling and challenging. Crafting a resume that captures your unique blend of skills and experiences is a critical step toward securing your dream job in a new field.

As you navigate this transition, it's essential to focus on the transferable skills that bridge your past and future careers. Highlighting your adaptability , problem-solving abilities , and lifelong learning mindset can make your resume shine, even if your direct experience in the new field may seem limited at first glance. It's about painting a picture of a candidate who is not only capable but eager to embrace new challenges and contribute meaningfully from day one.

A recent poll found  that approximately half (52%) of American employees are considering making a career change this year. 44% are already planning to make the switch.

While the task may seem daunting, especially when trying to align your previous experiences with your new career goals, remember that your unique path adds value. Your diverse background brings a fresh perspective that can differentiate you from other candidates. Embrace the narrative of your career change with enthusiasm , focusing on how your journey has equipped you with a rare and valuable combination of skills.

Yes, there may be moments of doubt or hurdles along the way, such as mastering new industry jargon or gaining specific technical skills. Yet, with persistence, a willingness to learn, and a strategic approach to your resume, you're not just changing jobs—you're stepping into a future brimming with possibilities. Let your resume be a testament to your journey, an invitation for employers to be part of your exciting next chapter.  Remember, every skill you've acquired, and every challenge you've navigated, has prepared you for this moment. Now, it's time to leap confidently into the new adventure that awaits.

Making a big life change is pretty scary. But, know what’s even scarier? Regret.

Looking for some more information related to career change? Here are some further links that may be interesting for you:

  • Career Change Cover Letter Guide
  • How to Write a Career Change Resume Summary
  • LinkedIn Headline for Career Changers
  • How to Answer the "Why Do You Want to Change Your Career Path" Interview Question
  • Tried and Tested Career Change Resume Tips
  • Which Resume is Considered Most Useful for Changing or Starting Careers

How to format a career change resume

The most effective way to format a career change resume  is by using a combination or hybrid resume format  as opposed to reverse-chronological  or functional formats . This approach allows you to showcase your transferable skills and competencies upfront, followed by a reverse-chronological listing of your employment history.

Here’s why this format works best for career changers:

  • Highlights transferable skills:  Start with a strong summary  or objective statement  that articulates your career change goal and value proposition. Follow this with a skills section  that highlights transferable skills  relevant to the new field. This setup ensures that your applicable abilities capture the hiring manager’s attention first.
  • Demonstrates relevant experience:  After the skills section, include a "Relevant Experience" section where you can list any direct experience, projects , or roles (including volunteer work ) that relate to your new career path, even if they weren't part of your main job duties previously.
  • Includes professional experience: Continue with a reverse chronological order of your professional experience , focusing on achievements and responsibilities that demonstrate skills applicable to the new field. Use bullet points to quantify achievements  and show how your work contributed to organizational goals.
  • Education and continuous learning:  Clearly list your educational background  and any additional certifications or courses that are relevant to your new career. This shows your commitment to developing the necessary skills for the transition.
  • Custom sections for extra impact:  Depending on your unique situation, you might add sections for projects, certifications , or professional affiliations  related to your new field. These can further demonstrate your interest and engagement with the industry you’re moving into.

Remember, the key is to tailor your resume  for each job application, emphasizing the skills and experiences most relevant to the job description. This targeted approach, combined with a hybrid format, can make your career change seem not just plausible but advantageous to potential employers.

It’s not all smooth sailing though.

The biggest challenges facing individuals making a career change resume

We have gathered several common issues that many career changers come across while creating a resume for a new position in a new field. Have a look before we go on to remedy them:

  • Writing a compelling career objective: Career changes often necessitate a brand new objective or personal statement at the top of the resume. The challenge is making this compelling and convincing to prospective employers.
  • Translating skills and experiences to fit the new industry:  Many skills learned in one profession may be transferable to another. The challenge is translating these applicable skills on paper in a way that the hiring manager from the new industry can appreciate and value.
  • Understanding industry jargon:  Different professions have different vocabularies. Making a career change may mean encountering unfamiliar terms, tools, or protocols. Without a good understanding, it can be a challenge to create a resume that speaks to the specific needs of the industry.
  • Using relevant job posting websites: Every industry has its specific job boards . If switching from tech to finance, for example, platforms like Dice or TechCrunch might not be as relevant as eFinancialCareers or Wall Street Oasis.
  • Identification of relevant further training or certification programs:  Depending on the industry you're moving into, you may need to highlight in your resume relevant qualifications or certifications that demonstrate your dedication and eligibility.

Here are the most important sections you’ll be focusing on while crafting your next resume.

The top sections on a career change resume

  • Objective or professional summary : It helps recruiters understand your career intent and how it aligns with the role.
  • Skills:  This section helps showcase your capabilities and proficiencies, as they relate to your new career path.
  • Relevant training and certifications:  Detail any training you've taken or certifications earned to show you're acquiring the necessary skills for the new job.
  • Transferable experience:  Highlight your past experiences that apply to the new role, showing you have a relevant background.
  • List of references:  It adds credibility and allows recruiters to verify your skills and capabilities.

It’s not all about format, it’s about content, too. Throughout your resume aim to communicate and demonstrate the following elements.

What recruiters want to see on your resume

  • Relevant skills:  These are prioritized to see if you possess the necessary capabilities for the role you're transitioning to.
  • Transferable skills: Recruiters look for these to gauge if previous experiences can benefit the current role.
  • Willingness to learn: Emphasizing this shows your initiative and drive, crucial for someone changing careers.
  • Networking connections:  If you have connections in the new field, it may indicate a smoother transition.
  • Career change rationale:  Your reasons for changing careers are crucial; they can demonstrate your commitment to the new path.

This can be the trickiest section for anyone changing careers. When writing the work experience section on a career change resume, focus on transferable skills that align with the new role.

Unlike a regular resume, you need to:

  • Emphasize how your past experiences, though in different industries, have equipped you with skills relevant to the new job.
  • Highlight achievements and tasks that demonstrate universal competencies like leadership, problem-solving, and communication.
  • Use action verbs and quantify achievements to show impact.
  • Tailor each entry to reflect how your background is an asset to the new field, making connections between your past roles and your future career goals clear and compelling.

Let’s take a look at one possible experience entry and how to direct it towards a career change.

  • • Spearheaded a team of 10, enhancing team productivity by 25% through strategic leadership and effective communication skills.
  • • Implemented a customer feedback system that reduced response times by 30%, demonstrating keen problem-solving abilities and a focus on efficiency.
  • • Led cross-functional training programs that improved team adaptability and technical knowledge, showcasing an ability to educate and empower others.
  • • Negotiated with suppliers to reduce costs by 15%, highlighting strong negotiation and financial management skills.

So although the actual position may not be related the skills are. They highlight transferable skills like leadership, efficiency, problem-solving, and financial savvy, making the candidate's experience

How to quantify impact on your resume

On a career change resume, quantifying impact, once again, involves highlighting accomplishments that demonstrate transferable skills and relevance to the new field, similar to a regular resume but with a focus on universality and adaptability .

Here’s how:

  • Use numbers and percentages : Just like on any resume, include data and metrics to quantify your achievements. For example, "Increased sales by 20%" or "Reduced customer complaints by 30%."
  • Emphasize transferable outcomes:  Choose metrics that showcase results relevant to your desired field. For instance, if moving to project management, highlight achievements in organization, leadership, and efficiency, like "Managed a team of 5" or "Completed projects 10% under budget."
  • Highlight efficiency improvements:  Demonstrate how you made processes more efficient or saved time/money, as these are universally appreciated skills. For example, "Streamlined inventory management, saving 5 hours weekly."
  • Focus on problem-solving:  Quantify your impact by showing how you addressed and solved problems, "Resolved a recurring issue, improving customer satisfaction by 25%."

The key difference is ensuring that the way you quantify your achievements not only reflects success in your past roles but also aligns with the priorities and values of your new industry, demonstrating your potential for impact even without direct experience.

In the skills section of your resume  prioritize transferable ones. List hard skills relevant to the new field first, followed by soft skills demonstrating adaptability and potential. Unlike a regular resume, emphasize how each skill applies to the new industry, even if acquired in a different context.

Hard skills  are technical abilities or knowledge learned through education or training, specific to a job (e.g., software proficiency).  

Examples of transferable hard skills for a career change resume

  • Technical proficiency:  Skills in software and applications relevant across industries, such as Microsoft Office, Adobe Creative Suite, or programming languages.
  • Data analysis:  The ability to collect, analyze, and interpret data, using tools like Excel, SPSS, or Google Analytics.
  • Project management:  Experience with project management methodologies and tools, such as Agile, Scrum, or project management software like Trello or Asana.
  • Foreign languages:  Proficiency in additional languages can be a significant asset in many fields.
  • Financial literacy:  Skills in budgeting, financial forecasting, and using financial software.
  • Digital marketing:  Knowledge of SEO, content marketing, social media marketing, and using platforms like Google Ads or Facebook Business Manager.
  • Technical writing:  The ability to produce clear, concise, and useful documentation and reports.

Soft skills  are interpersonal attributes and traits that affect how well you can work or interact with others (e.g., communication, teamwork).

Examples of transferable soft skills for a career change resume

  • Communication:  Effective verbal and written communication skills.
  • Problem-solving:  The ability to identify problems and find effective solutions.
  • Adaptability:  Being able to adjust to new environments and challenges.
  • Teamwork:  Working well with others towards a common goal.
  • Team leadership:  The ability to lead and motivate others.
  • Time management:  Efficiently managing your time to meet deadlines.
  • Emotional intelligence:  Understanding and managing your emotions and those of others.
  • Critical thinking:  Analyzing information and making reasoned decisions.
  • Creative thinking:  Generating innovative ideas and solutions.
  • Interpersonal skills:  Building and maintaining strong work relationships.

Properly listing certifications and education on your resume is crucial for career changers for several reasons.

On a regular resume, education, and certifications complement your work experience directly related to the job. For career changers, these sections are critical to highlight transferable skills and new knowledge that align with the career shift.

By strategically presenting your certifications and education, you can bridge the gap between your past career and your desired new path, making it easier for employers to see how your background equips you for a successful transition.

Here’s what you should consider while you list them:

  • Prioritize relevance:  List the most relevant education and certifications near the top of your resume. If you've taken courses or earned certifications specifically for your new career, highlight these first.
  • Include details:  For each certification or course, include the name of the certification/course, the issuing organization, and the date of completion or expiration. For education, include your degree, field of study, and the institution.
  • Explain relevance:  Briefly mention how specific certifications or aspects of your education are relevant to the new field, especially if it’s not immediately obvious. This can be done in a short bullet point or parenthetical note.

It’s time to explore perhaps the most essential element of your career-changer resume— the resume profile .

The resume summary or objective statement is crucial on a career change resume as it immediately clarifies your intent to shift fields and highlights your transferable skills and motivation.

A resume summary  highlights your top achievements, skills, and experience relevant to the job, aimed at experienced professionals. An objective statement  outlines your career goals and what you aim to achieve in the role, often used by new graduates or those changing careers, focusing on how they can benefit the employer.

For a career change, focus on crafting a compelling objective statement that outlines your career goals, why you’re transitioning, and how your existing skills and experiences align with the new field.

Include specifics about your professional background, emphasize your eagerness to learn, and mention any relevant skills or training you have undertaken to prepare for the change. This approach personalizes your application and demonstrates your commitment to the new career path.

Below you can see an example of an effectively written objective statement doing just that.

This is what’s done right:

  • Clear transition:  It explicitly states the shift from healthcare to tech, guiding the employer through the career change narrative.
  • Highlights transferable skills:  The statement emphasizes skills like project management and communication that are valuable in both sectors.
  • Demonstrates enthusiasm:  Shows eagerness to contribute to the new field, which can be compelling to potential employers.
  • Focuses on contribution : It's oriented towards how the candidate can benefit the new industry, not just what they wish to gain.

Tailor your objective statement to the specific job and industry you’re targeting by incorporating keywords from the job description. This customization not only shows your genuine interest in the role but also helps your resume pass through Applicant Tracking Systems  (ATS), making it more likely to reach the hiring manager.

Crafting a career change resume is a strategic endeavor that highlights your transferable skills, showcases your adaptability, and demonstrates your passion for a new field. With careful tailoring and a focus on your unique journey, your resume can open doors to exciting opportunities and mark the beginning of a fulfilling new chapter.

Here are some key takeaways from our article:

  • Focusing on transferable skills is crucial for a career change resume.
  • A combination or hybrid resume format is most effective for career changers, allowing them to showcase transferable skills and relevant experience up front.
  • Including a clear objective statement helps articulate career change intentions and how past experiences align with new roles.
  • Translating skills to fit the new industry, understanding jargon, using industry-specific job boards, and identifying relevant training are common challenges.
  • Demonstrating suitable skills, related experiences, willingness to learn, and networking connections are key.
  • Hard skills like technical proficiency and soft skills such as communication are equally valuable in new careers.
  • Education and certifications should be listed with relevance to the new field in mind, showing commitment to transitioning successfully.

career change resume example

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How to Write a Career Change Resume With Examples

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What are some important elements of a career change resume?

How to write a career change resume, career change resume example.

There are many reasons why you might decide to change careers.  A career change resume allows you to show transferable skills that are relevant to your new industry when you may not have relevant experience yet. Use these tips and examples as a guide when writing your own career change resume.

When changing careers, it’s important to show employers you have the skills needed for the new industry. Your work history will likely be less important than listing the skills you have with specific examples. You want to explain your transferable skills to the hiring manager and explain how qualifications from your past career are relevant to the new industry. 

You can follow these steps to write a career change resume:

1. First, identify transferable skills

Take time to get to know the industry you are moving into. Read industry news and job descriptions to get an idea of skills employers are looking for. Review your current resume and the skills you’ve gained and used during your career. See if there are any skills that you can transfer to your desired field. Many soft skills, like communication and organization, are skills that transfer well.  

Remember that non-professional experience can also be included in your career change resume. Volunteer work and sometimes even hobbies, such as writing blogs or playing a sport, can show specific knowledge and skills. 

2. Second, update your resume objective

Building from the resume objective that appears on the top of your current resume, highlight the type of job you’re looking for. Make sure you explain that you’re seeking a career change in your objective so hiring managers understand immediately. 

Your objective should provide hiring managers with details on how your former career has provided you with the necessary skills for the new industry and the position you’re applying for. If you have any goals you want to achieve in your new career, add those as well. These goals can show the hiring manager why you want to work for them.

3. Third, identify the resume format that works best for you

There are several kinds of resume formats available for you to choose from. A reverse-chronological resume format lists your most recent work experience to your oldest. A functional resume format places more focus on skills instead of where you’ve worked in the past. A combination resume includes components from both the reverse chronological and functional formats. 

For career change resumes, functional and combination templates usually work best as they focus more on what you can do instead of past jobs, which may not be as relevant in a new industry.

4. Next, add a skills section

When hiring managers look through your resume, they most likely will not see familiar responsibilities or job titles from their industry. This makes highlighting your skills important. By adding a skills section to your resume, you can include soft and hard skills relevant to the position you’re applying for. To make this section easier to read, you can separate your hard skills and soft skills so employers can scan them quickly.

5. Then, leave out unnecessary information

Your resume doesn’t need to list every position you’ve ever held, programs used and tasks completed. Your work experience may not transfer to a different industry, so you may be able to exclude a lot of it. In your work history section, include your most recent experience followed by any other jobs that may have similar duties to the position you’re applying for.

Try to include the skills used in your job duties so employers can read specific examples. For example, if you want to highlight your customer service skills, a job description bullet item could be: ‘Assisted over 30 customers per day by making purchasing suggestions and troubleshooting issues.’

6. Finally, use simple, clear language

Explain achievements, job-related tasks, programs and job titles in language that is clear to anyone reading your resume. Try to translate responsibilities and skills into the language used by industry insiders in the field you are moving into. Simple language can also make your resume easier to read quickly, which can help busy employers. 

Writing a career change resume can be challenging. 

Here is an example of a career change resume you can use to get started:

Lee Chang 540 Jeffery Blvd. Chicago, IL 12345 555-555-5555 [email protected]

Engaging and charismatic marketing professional seeking a career change to be an Adjunct Professor of Marketing. Superb presentation talents and communication skills underscored by 15 years of experience in strategic management, financial management, operations management, marketing strategy, market data analysis and technology sales team training. 

  • Successfully directed global marketing operations for a new technology business, increasing international sales growth by 87% within 18 months of being hired
  • Led an international technology company into untapped western Europe and China markets

SALES TRAINING: 

  • Created effective online training modules that were implemented by all company sales offices
  • Trained more than 125 Sales Managers in technology sales strategies across Western Europe, Canada and the U.S.

PRESENTATION AND COMMUNICATIONS: 

  • Interpersonal strengths and communication skills that motivate success through one-on-one advertising, discussions and multimedia presentations
  • Contributor to trade publications such as Global Marketing News and Tech Marketing Today

TECHNICAL PROFICIENCIES: 

  • Adobe Marketing Cloud
  • Microsoft Office Suite
  • Microsoft Dynamics 
  • Google Analytics

Work History

Global Marketing Manager, Franklin Technologies, Chicago, IL, 2012 – Present

Market Research Analyst, Integrative Software Corporation, Milwaukee, WI, 2007 – 2012

Sales Manager, Global IT Communications, St. Paul, MN, 2004 – 2007

Master of Business Administration; 3.8 GPA University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN

Bachelor of Business Administration; 3.9 GPA St. Cloud State University, St. Cloud, MN

Career Change Resume: Examples, How to Write, and Other Tips To Support Your Career Transition

Career Change Resume: Examples, How to Write, and Other Tips To Support Your Career Transition

Ben Temple

When you make the difficult choice to look for a job in a new industry, it’s important to write a career change resume.

Your old resume, tailored to your old career, won’t 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 writing 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.

  • What is a Career Change Resume?

A career change resume is a resume specifically designed and written to explain a career transition. From the objective to the mentioned skills, everything highlights the transferability of past experiences and skills to a new job.

Let’s say, you are a marketer who is trying to transition to a project management position. If you send over a generic resume that lists your marketing skills and experience - it would leave the hiring manager confused to see your resume.

If there’s no explanation of why you are even applying for a job, you would be rejected as the hiring manager would assume you are randomly applying for jobs.

  • Why Write a Career Change Resume?

A career change resume better connects your professional work experience and skills to a job when you are applying for either a new job or entering a new industry. You stand out as an applicant as it makes it extremely easy to see relevant past experience and skills that you have is relevant to the job you are applying for.

In our example of marketing to project management career transition, without a career transition resume a hiring manager would not understand:

  • Why do you want to apply for this role?
  • What relevant skills do you bring to this role?
  • What past experience do you have that’s relevant to this role?

Now, some assume that the HR or hiring manager is going to read through their resume and extract the right information. But that in 2023 is a big mistake. No one is going to take the time to read through your resume when there’s no explanation to support the questions above.

But let’s say you did the following to show your marketing management skills are relevant to the project management skills:

  • Highlighted how you did planning, organizing, and execution of projects along with timeline management and
  • Showcase how your collaboration skills for marketing project management required you to foster collaboration with stakeholders and other employees.
  • If you practice agile, scrum, etc highlight that and show how you improved project management through tactical changes (e.g. story points to iteratively improve epics).

The career change resume tips alone make a big difference. But, the real difference maker is how you show relevance for the role through each individual section and your resume layout as well. A good starting point would be to understand how to write a career transition resume.

  • How to Write a Career Change Resume

To write a career change resume and explain your career transition better, follow these steps:

  • Select the right career change resume format. Reverse chronological isn’t the best choice here. We recommend selecting either a functional or a hybrid resume format.
  • While writing your resume header, instead of your current job title, write something like “Entry-level {job title}” to show relevance.
  • Write an objective instead of a resume summary and mention that you are changing careers in it.
  • While listing your work experience, reduce the focus on non-relevant job responsibilities and achievements. Increase focus on relevant responsibilities and achievements. Go as far as removing irrelevant ones. Do this for each job you apply for.
  • The skill section of your resume should be changed based on what skills the job actually needs. And, do it for all jobs.
  • Highlight relevant education or certifications in your resume.
  • At the end, your resume should support your intent to transition in the new role from top to down.

Now that we have looked into how to write a career transition resume, let’s look into each of these in depth.

  • The Right Career Change Resume Format

There are three resume formats that you can consider for a career change resume.

  • Functional : This format emphasizes skills above work experience, and groups past positions by topic rather than chronologically.
  • Combination : This format emphasizes your skills, but still uses a reverse-chronological work history section.

The third resume format is reverse chronological resume format, but we don't advise to use it for you career transition.

We recommend using a combination format for a career change resume. This resume format allows you to showcase your skills while maintaining a clear timeline of your career.

To write a combination resume , create a Skills section near the top of your resume, above your Work Experience section. This is where you can highlight and explain your most impressive and most relevant skills. Your Skills section will be the focus of your resume, as this section is where you can make the case for your skill set, even if your past positions were in a different field.

Your Work Experience section will follow your Skills section. This section can be shorter than in a typical reverse-chronological resume, with less detail than your Skills section, but it should still have a clear timeline. Even if you are changing industries, hiring managers will be interested to see how your career has progressed. A reverse-chronological work experience section allows you to clearly tell that part of your story.

Of course, these aren’t hard and fast rules. You can use a typical reverse-chronological resume format if you prefer. Just make sure you can highlight the right skills and experience for your new industry.

  • Selecting the Right Career Transition Resume Template

Any resume for changing careers needs a great template.

Your resume won’t do you any good if it’s difficult to read, no matter how well-targeted your skill set is. Make sure your resume is easy to read, with simple organization and clear headings.

Additionally, ensure that you choose a resume template suited for the industry you want to work in.

If you want to move into a more formal industry, like law or accounting, find a traditional resume template with simple formatting and no colours. If you are moving into a more creative field, like marketing or design, you can look for a more modern template, with pictures or colours.

To find the perfect resume template for your new career, check out these VisualCV resume templates .

  • What to Add in Your Career Change Resume Header

Your career change resume should begin with your name and contact information. The hiring manager needs this information to contact you, so you should make it easy to find.

Your resume header should include:

  • Prospective job title
  • Phone number
  • Email address
  • City of residence

You can also include hyperlinks to your professional online profiles, such as LinkedIn or Twitter. If you’re applying for a software development position, you can link to your GitHub profile. If you are moving into a creative field, you might have an online portfolio to link to.

Career change resume contact information example

You may also want to include a headline or job title in this section. However, if you are changing careers, this could confuse the hiring manager. Avoid using a job title that isn’t supported by your resume.

  • Write an Objective instead of Summary for Career Change Resume

A resume summary fails to explain career transition.

For example, consider this resume summary below of a marketer applying for a project management role: Results-driven marketing professional with extensive experience in developing and implementing successful marketing strategies. Demonstrated expertise in brand management, digital marketing, and campaign execution, driving revenue growth and customer engagement.

The candidate would be rejected right away as the hiring manager would find it difficult to understand why this candidate is even apply for a PM job.

Now, let's use an objective instead of summary to better explain career transition.

Career Change Resume Objective Example

Aspiring project management professional with a proven track record of successfully leading and executing complex projects. Skilled in strategic planning, cross-functional collaboration, and delivering results that drive business growth and exceed client expectations.

Notice how this objective better explains career transition here by:

  • Clearly stating that the applicant is aspiring to become a project management professional.
  • Shifting the focus towards past work experience and achievements relevant to project management.

This would compel a hiring manager to read further dive deeper into your past work experience and skills.

  • Highlight your transferrable skills

Your Skills section is the key to your career change resume. Your past roles may not be directly relevant to positions in your new industry, so your Skills section is where you will need to demonstrate that you have what it takes to succeed.

To identify the skills you will need in future roles, study job postings in your new industry, network with professionals in that field, and learn as much as you can before you start applying.

Then, look back on your career and think about the skills you've developed. Some of them will be relevant to the new industry, and will be perfect for your career change resume.

By reading as much as you can about your target profession and brainstorming your existing skills, you should be able to figure out which transferrable skills to highlight. These may be soft skills like leadership, teamwork, creativity, or problem-solving, or hard skills like writing, software expertise, or bookkeeping. Identifying transferrable skills is the key to a successful career change resume.

Once you’ve settled on the right transferrable skills, think about the best way to showcase them. It may be that a simple list will do the trick. If this is the case, create a simple bulleted list for your most relevant and impressive skills.

Career change resume skills

To really sell your skills, however, you may want place more emphasis on the skills section. Make each skill in the list a heading, and then provide evidence for each skill in bullet points below. The best way to do this is to give concrete, measurable examples of achievements relevant to that skill.

For example, if you count Leadership as a transferrable skill, provide examples of projects you have led, teams you have managed, or decisions you have been responsible for.

Clear, concrete examples are the best way to showcase your skills. When your skills are the focus of your resume, as they will be in a career change resume, it’s important to give your Skills section the attention it deserves.

Career change resume example skills section

  • Time Management
  • Problem-Solving
  • Adaptability
  • Communication
  • Project Management

How to Support Career Change through Resume Work Experience Section

  • Use numbers and measurable successes as much as possible. For example, if you worked in sales in a previous job, give your sales revenue or the number of clients you gained. This approach makes your claims more concrete and impressive.
  • Use action words to describe your duties. Terms like accelerated , spearheaded , generated , centralized , and mentored can add some energy to your work experience section and make your roles sound impressive.
  • Emphasize any transferrable skills. Your resume should be focused on your next job, including when you describe past ones.
  • Make it clear to the hiring manager that you have the skills to succeed in the new industry.

In each job description, be sure to focus on the accomplishments that could be relevant to your new industry. Think about the requirements listed in the job posting, and consider what employers in your new field are seeking. Every job may not be perfectly relevant, but it’s important to show that even though you are changing careers, you have what it takes to be successful in a challenging role.

Career Change Resume Work Experience Example

Researcher ABC Labs, New York Sept 2018 - Present

  • Instrumental part of a team that completed government-funded research on Alzheimer’s Disease, resulting in a second phase project funding of $5 million
  • Managed and coordinated a 200-person volunteer research program that examined neurological diseases
  • Conducted in-depth research to understand the current state of medications and their efficacy for Alzheimer’s Disease
  • Collaborated on data analysis and contributed to research paper on progressive neurological disorders
  • Presented findings at three annual conferences
  • Wrote monthly press releases to update the public about our work and findings

How to List Education on a Career Change Resume

Your education is an important part of your career story. You should list your any degrees, diplomas, and certificates in your resume, even if they aren’t immediately relevant to your desired field. It’s important to show that you can work towards a goal and complete a degree, even if that degree is in an unrelated field.

If your education is completely irrelevant, simply listing your degrees and the institution name is sufficient.

If you would like to give your education more emphasis, however, you can give more details. For example, you may want to give your GPA, list academic awards, or describe relevant projects or areas of study.

Example of a Career Change Resume Education Section

MSc in Mechanical Engineering University of Iowa

  • New Product Development
  • Advanced CAD
  • Advanced Static Analysis

BSc in Mechanical Engineering University of Iowa

  • Engineering Concepts
  • Systems modelling
  • Material analysis
  • Customize your Career Change resume for every application

You should customize your resume for every application.

While this is true for any resume, it is especially true for a career change resume. Your resume has to be perfectly targeted to prove that you have the right skills not only for a new job, but for a new career.

To do this, study each job posting and identify the specific keywords that the company is using. They will be looking for specific skills and experience. Then, look at your own background and identify the skills that overlap, and use the same words or phrases to describe your skills. This will ensure that the keywords match, and get your resume to the next round.

  • Career change resume example

Experienced accounting professional and recent Bachelor of Education graduate seeking a role in education. Proven ability to communicate clearly to all levels of an organization, including legal, technical, and executive, to ensure objectives are met. Versatile mentor with experience teaching and training new hires. Several years of experience in financial analysis, accounting, and auditing. Excellent financial reporting, budget forecasting and team management skills. Experience closing leads and building and maintaining a client base. Established track record of successfully managing and executing multiple projects under tight deadlines to achieve successful results.

  • Team Management
  • Financial Analysis and Reporting
  • Client Education
  • Financial Statement Analysis

Bachelors of Education State University

Master of Business Administration University of Northampton

Work Experience

Financial Accountant Andrew Industries Limited

  • Manage and oversee the daily operations of the accounting department.
  • Hire, train, and mentor new employees.
  • Meet accounting financial objectives by forecasting requirements, preparing an annual budget, scheduling expenditures, analyzing variances and initiating corrective actions.
  • Educate department heads regarding important accounting processes.
  • Analyze and interpret financial information that corporate executives need in order to make sound business decisions.
  • Communicate with other departments by researching and interpreting accounting policy.
  • Recommendations courses of action in plain language.
  • Monitor and analyze accounting data.
  • Produce financial statements and reports.
  • Confirm financial status by monitoring revenue and expenses.
  • Preparing special reports for Banks, creditors and for investors.
  • Maintain accounting controls by establishing a chart of accounts, defining accounting policies and procedures.

Senior Accountant Ambition UK

  • Prepared individual and consolidated financial statements and other accounting reports as per defined policies and applicable accounting standard.
  • Prepared monthly and quarterly management reports with evaluation of divisional performance.
  • Developed and implemented in the effective internal control system to enhance the company financial performance.
  • Set policies for transferred pricing and critical success factors for divisions & branches and relevant financial key performance indicators to align the division’s goals with the organization.
  • Monitored and controlled the costs of activities under different projects. Monitored revenue growth and margin.
  • Monitored the liquidity in banks accounts, management of Daily working capital & liquidity planned.
  • Letter of Credit, Bank Guarantee, Performance bound & other banking transactions.
  • Ensured the maintenance of day to day financial records & transactions as per Group policies and procedures.
  • Ensured the arrangement of funds for timely Processing of payroll.
  • Ensured the proper recording of inventories and monthly adjusting entries.
  • Finalized financial statements, Trail Balance, & formulated various analyses of general ledgers & other documents for submission to external auditors.
  • Participated in various internal audit reviews in the Group as directed by Group Chief Financial officer.

Career change resume example

Community Success Manager & CV Writing Expert

Ben is a writer, customer success manager and CV writing expert with over 5 years of experience helping job-seekers create their best careers. He believes in the importance of a great resume summary and the power of coffee.

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How to Write a Resume Summary if You're Changing Careers

A resume summary is especially useful if you’re changing careers, and it helps hiring managers and recruiters understand why you’re a good fit. Here’s how to write one with a few examples for inspiration.

3 years ago   •   5 min read

A resume summary is a short, optional section at the beginning of your resume highlighting something that might not otherwise be obvious. It can be used to direct a recruiter’s attention to a specific role you’re interested in or to highlight specific skills or achievements that don’t have a place elsewhere in your resume. It’s also commonly used as a space for career changers to explain the context of their application and why they’re a good fit for the role, even if their experience is in a completely different field.

Do I need a resume summary?

Not necessarily. If your skills and job history are relatively straightforward and in line with the type of jobs you’re applying for, you probably don’t need one. Despite the name, a resume summary isn’t just a place to rehash the information already in your resume, which should already be a concise summary of your achievements. A resume summary should only be used to add extra information or context, like drawing attention to the fact that you’re changing careers or illustrating how seemingly-unrelated experience is relevant to the role you’re seeking.

Related: How To Write an Executive Summary

Example resume summary templates for career changers

Writing anything from scratch without a guide can be daunting, so we’ve put together a handy template you can use to structure your resume summary. This template has everything your summary needs to include — it quickly explains that you’re changing careers, emphasizes the transferrable skills you’ll be bringing with you to the new role, and draws attention to a specific accomplishment to help you stand out. What it doesn’t do is exhaustively list your past experience or explain in detail why you’re changing careers — those things are better suited to the body of your resume and cover letter.

Here's the first template:

Ex-[Current Job Title] transitioning into an [Future Job Title] role after [completing X relevant certification] and [relevant accomplishment]. Diverse experience [doing X transferrable skill in new job], [Y transferrable skill in new job] and [Z transferrable skill in new job]. Over 5 years of experience managing global teams of 5-20 people and working with C-Suite executives. [Describe one significant accomplishment in the format of Action Verb + Accomplishment + Metric].

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.

Example #1 (Sales Manager moving to an HR Manager role)

Ex-Sales Manager transitioning into an HR Manager role after completing HR CIPD Level 5 certificate. Diverse experience creating hiring plans, setting performance objectives and OKRs, conducting interviews and delivering 7-figure projects that create lasting organizational change. Over 5 years of experience managing global teams of 5-20 people and working with C-Suite executives. Promoted three times in 24 months due to strong performance and organizational impact.

Example #2 (Product Marketer moving to a Project Manager role)

Ex-Product Marketer transitioning into a Project Manager role after completing PMP certification. Diverse experience managing advertising campaigns, partnering with sales and development teams to ensure on-time project delivery and maintaining successful customer relationships. Over 5 years of experience managing global teams of 5-20 people and working with C-Suite Executives. Successfully organized a marketing fair which resulted in a 45% increase in company clientele over the next quarter.

If you are not changing careers and want examples of other resume summaries, use our resume summary generator .

What makes a good resume summary?

A good resume summary provides a recruiter with at-a-glance information about why you’re applying for a specific role. To do that, it needs to be concise — generally, no more than 2-6 lines or 100 words, and shorter is better. Anything longer than that means that you’re probably including way more details than is necessary and will prompt a recruiter to skim over what you’ve written, which you don’t want. If you find yourself having to leave out information you consider essential — like why you’re changing careers or what draws you to the new role — consider featuring it in a cover letter instead.

Your resume summary should draw particular attention to any transferrable skills that you’ve acquired. These can include technical skills — for example, proficiency in specific programming languages, graphic design skills or experience with software programs or social media platforms — as well as soft skills . Make sure these skills are relevant to the role you’re applying for — for example, a data analyst is better off highlighting their experience with machine learning than their video editing skills. This also depends on what industry you’re in — a creative director for an advertising campaign likely has no need for C++, but it might come in handy for the creative director of a video game.

When including skills and achievements in your resume summary, remember to be specific. This can be a great place to include any skills or keywords from the job description that don’t have a place elsewhere on your resume, which in particular can help you get past any resume screeners or applicant tracking systems . Limit yourself to your single biggest accomplishment, using specific metrics if you can (similar to how you should be listing accomplishments in the body of your resume).

An easy way to find out if you’ve added the right skills and keywords to your resume, is to use the tool below to search for skills for the job you’re applying to - it’ll provide you with a list of skills relevant to the job. It also gives you the option to scan your resume and tells you which skills are missing.

Find out if your resume summary is effective enough

A good resume summary needs to be clear, concise, and for a career changer, it also needs to highlight any transferable skills you’ve acquired. A good way to find out if your resume summary properly explains the context of your application and shows hiring managers why you’re a good fit for the role, is to upload your resume to the tool below. You’ll get an instant, confidential review of your resume, powered by Artificial Intelligence and backed by insights from hiring managers and recruiters.

Quick Tips: Here’s what does not belong in your resume summary.

  • Personal pronouns . This is a formal document, which means no ‘I,’ ‘my,’ or ‘we.’ Save the personal touch for your cover letter, where it belongs.
  • Details that are already included in the body of your resume . The resume summary is a place to highlight information that doesn’t have a place elsewhere, not to repeat information the recruiter already has access to.
  • Buzzwords . Phrases like ‘team player,’ ‘flexible,’ and ‘hardworking’ might sound like what a recruiter wants to hear, but the reality is that they’re vague, overused, and ultimately meaningless. There’s no quicker way to make a recruiter’s eyes glaze over than by filling your resume with endless fluff. Instead, demonstrate these qualities through well-chosen examples of your experience and achievements.

I'd recommend uploading your resume to Score My Resume . It takes a minute to scan your resume for common errors that cause your resume to get instantly rejected.

Remember: Not everybody needs a resume summary. If you’re including it just because you think you need one, consider what purpose it’s serving.

If you’re applying for jobs in line with your industry experience and background and can highlight relevant achievements in the body of your resume, leave it out. On the other hand, if you’re looking to change careers and want to draw attention to transferrable skills and achievements that might not otherwise be readily apparent, a concise, well-written summary might be exactly what you need to make the leap.

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Thank you for the checklist! I realized I was making so many mistakes on my resume that I've now fixed. I'm much more confident in my resume now.

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How To Make A Resume (With Free Template)

Christiana Jolaoso

Published: May 7, 2024, 9:00am

How To Make A Resume (With Free Template)

Table of Contents

What is a résumé, how to make a résumé, 7 tips for writing a résumé, free résumé template, bottom line, frequently asked questions (faqs).

Whether you’re a college graduate entering the workforce or a parent returning to work after a long time, you need a compelling résumé to show recruiters you’re the best fit for an open position. We’ve compiled the steps you need to take to create your résumé and included a few tips to guide you when building your résumé. You’ll see what goes into a résumé that hiring managers respond to.

A résumé is a formal document recruiters ask applicants for as part of a recruitment process to assess their suitability for a specific role. A résumé provides an overview of your professional background and history, including your qualifications, work experience, skills and notable achievements. It records your professional development and is a potential employer’s first impression of you.

Here’s what a résumé does for you:

  • It allows you to market yourself
  • It shows recruiters how your experience can contribute to the organization’s growth
  • It helps recruiters determine whether or not to call you for the next recruitment step

While there are different types of résumés with various content arrangements and formatting styles, here is the information required to build your résumé.

Add Your Name and Contact Information

When creating your résumé, the first item on your list should be your first and last name and primary contact information—phone number and email address. Also, adding a link to your website, portfolio or professional social media account gives potential employers multiple contact options and insight into your work, especially as a creative. Including your complete mailing address, city and state is also okay if the job listing calls for local applicants.

Include a Professional Summary or Objective

Your professional summary highlights your qualifications, skills and career goals. So, focus on concisely showing how your experience relates to the role you’re applying for. If you’re just getting started, changing careers or returning to the job industry after a break, opt for a professional objective, a summary of how your skills and qualifications can help you do well at the job. However, highlight something valuable the company can gain from you.

Add Your Work Experience

To determine your value, prospective employers examine how you’ve practicalized your knowledge and skills in your previous roles. So, include your previous job titles, organization names, company locations and employment dates. Then, include three to five accomplishments under each role.

Use action words, numbers and outcomes to explain your accomplishment while carrying out your responsibilities. For example, instead of saying you worked on a software updates team, say something such as “developed over 50 software updates that enhanced consumer productivity by 55%.” First-time job seekers can include internship and volunteer experience, but ensure you indicate that it was unpaid.

Include Your Education

List your education history, leaving the highest level at the top. Here are a few things to keep in mind when drafting this section.

  • If you graduated more than 10 years ago, there’s no need to include your graduation year
  • If you don’t have any work experience, indicate relevant coursework or internship
  • If you’re still pursuing a degree or diploma, include the start date, but leave the completion date blank, unless there’s a graduation date
  • Include your high school diploma or General Educational Development (GED) only if you don’t have a college degree
  • If recent, include awards, honors and scholarships and the year you received them

Highlight Relevant Skills

Dedicate a section of your résumé to highlight your hard and soft skills to show recruiters that you’re well-rounded. Aim for six to eight of such skills as are relevant to the role. Soft skills are people skills such as leadership, interpersonal and communication skills, while hard skills are the technical skills required for a specific job. Adding your aptitude, such as “proficient” or “intermediate” can also enhance your value. If applying without work experience, focus on transferable skills such as critical thinking and communication, which are helpful for any role.

Add Relevant Certifications, Licenses and Training

If your job requires certifications, include a section for that below the Education section. List the following.

  • Certification or license title
  • Certifying body or agency
  • Date of certification
  • Expiration date (if applicable)

Leverage Your Achievements

To make your résumé set you apart from other candidates, include a section to outline achievements and awards that further highlight your accomplishments and what you can contribute to an organization. These include honors, projects, publications (online or print), volunteer work and leadership positions. Awards show your commendation by those you’ve worked with, while volunteer experience augments your résumé as an applicant without work experience.

Below are a few tips to follow when preparing your résumé.

1. Ask for Help

Speak with those in your field, including peers and career counselors. Glean from their recommendations and pay attention to shared resources’ general language and formatting style.

2. Use the Appropriate Format

Make your résumé easy to scan. A few formatting tips based on what recruiters prefer are:

  • Keep your résumé to one page, unless you have over 10 years of work experience. In that case, a two-page résumé is okay
  • Set an inch margin on each side of the document
  • Use popular fonts such as Times New Roman, Arial, Georgia or Helvetica, and stick to font sizes of 14 to 16 for headers and 10 to 12 for the body
  • Choose 1.0 or 1.5 inch line spacing
  • Set margins to 1 inch on all sides
  • Save your résumé as a PDF or Docx, using your full name and sometimes the job title as the file name
  • Adhere to the specific résumé format instructions that came with the call for application

3. Tailor Your Résumé for Each Role

While it’s common to want to include every experience, include only the experience relevant to the role you’re applying for and adjust your summaries, skills, certifications and other information on your résumé to fit that role.

4. Include Necessary Keywords

Since many companies use applicant tracking systems (ATS) , which use keyword algorithms to filter résumés, ensure you incorporate keywords in the job description. Such keywords will fit right into your work experience and skills highlight sections.

5. Use a Résumé Builder or Template

Consider using a professional résumé template, which only requires you to fill your information in the blank spaces. Human resources (HR) experts design these templates so you can trust them. Plus, they make it easier to build your résumé.

6. Proofread Your Résumé

Review your résumé for grammatical errors, typographical errors and inconsistencies to show recruiters how well you pay attention to details. You can ask someone to read through your resume before sending it over to a recruiter.

7. Keep to Instructions

If a job listing gives specific instructions on the format or content of your résumé, adhere to them to avoid sifting out at an early recruitment stage.

Using a résumé template makes it easier and faster to make a résumé recruiters expect from job applicants. Several résumé templates are available for download, but consider using only those from reliable résumé builders. Customize any of these résumé templates from Indeed and Canva .

Here’s a minimalist résumé template typed out for you.

Name Location Phone number Email address Summary

Work Experience Position Company name Location Description

Skills Skill Years of experience Skill Years of experience

Education School Degree Field of study Location

Your résumé goes ahead of you to help a recruiter determine whether or not they want to interview you to learn more about how your background and experience can fit into an open role and grow their organization. So, ensure you include the necessary information and build your résumé with the tips we’ve collated from HR professionals. They will help you nail your dream job, even if you’re starting out or resuming your career.

What do you put on a résumé if you lack experience?

Even as a fresh graduate or parent returning to the job market, you can draft a résumé that catches a recruiter’s attention by highlighting your transferable skills and completed projects. For example, a fresh graduate can include certifications, volunteer or community service, apprenticeship or internships and extracurricular activities such as club and sports participation.

A returning parent can include nontraditional experiences such as homeschooling and babysitting to demonstrate their leadership and problem-solving skills, amongst the several skills and experiences that come with parenting.

How do I write a résumé to pass an ATS?

You’ll need to study the job post carefully and customize your work experience and keywords to match the primary keywords in the job description . You can also use a résumé writing service to run a free review of your résumé or build a new one from scratch.

Should your résumé be concise or detailed?

Recruiters often spend less than a minute on a résumé since they usually have to review several applications. So, make sure your résumé is concise—comprehensive but brief. “Remember, the goal of your résumé is to land an interview, not to provide every detail about your experience. Once you’re in the conversation, you can share more information about your qualifications.” —Shannon Burkel

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After 23 years in corporate America, I took a career-change course to figure out what's next. Here are 9 tips that actually helped.

  • After 23 years in corporate America, I decided I needed a career change and signed up for a course.
  • Throughout the program, I learned how important it was to build a network and test out new things. 
  • After eight months, I was finally able to confidently start doing more fulfilling work.

Insider Today

Career change, shift, pivot. Whatever you call it, after 23 years in corporate America , I wanted out.

I didn't know what I wanted to do next, but I was sure it wasn't what I was doing now.

Luckily, the US job market is more stable now than it's been since before 2020. But changing careers is more than finding a new boss or moving to a different company.

During one marathon search session, I stumbled upon Careershifters and paid $1,175 for its eight-week Career Change Launch Pad course.

Now that I've successfully pivoted, here are the best tips I took away from the course.

Step back and assess where you're at

We started the course by taking a quiz that was supposed to help us determine what stage of the pivoting process we were in (questioner, browser, explorer, pathfinder, and shifter).

These kinds of assessments can sometimes feel gimmicky, but it was helpful to zoom out a bit and reflect on where I was at.

The categories stretched from questioner (wondering whether you need to make a change) to shifter (successfully finding more fulfilling work), and the assessment told me I was an explorer (ready to change but not sure what to do).

Look for people, not jobs

Building my network was exponentially more helpful than skimming through endless job descriptions.

I recommend talking to everyone about your shift — family, friends, former colleagues, yoga teachers, LinkedIn connections . You never know what or who they know.

I met a McDonald's Happy Meal toy designer through a former boss, and my chiropractor connected me with a lifestyle magazine.

Don't try to do everything alone

Surrounding myself with a community of other people going through a career change made all the difference in my process.

My program included coaches who had changed careers and about 65 fellow participants from around the world — including a programmer in the UK, a writer in Greece, and an accountant in Brooklyn.

They all understood what it was like to feel stuck and overwhelmed, and we shared ideas, work experiences, and networks.

Related stories

Even if you don't want to do a course, there are career-change coaches , podcasts, books, and so many other resources out there to help.

Career shifts don't happen overnight

We're asked what we want to be when we grow up all the time as kids, but I hadn't had the opportunity to explore that question as an adult.

Deciding to pivot allowed me to take the time to discover more about myself, explore my options, and experiment with different possibilities.

Changing careers is a process — don't rush it. I was eight months into my career shift before I felt confident about what I wanted.

Don't start with updating your résumé

A résumé is all about where you've been. But a career shift is about what you want in the future.

Instead of rushing to update résumés or spruce up my portfolio, I tried to trust the process and focus on figuring out what I wanted.

My career experience up to that point had been something like, "You're perfect. You're hired. Now change."

But after a career-shift coach told me she gets paid to be herself, that became my new mission.

Physically try new things that get you out of your head

It's going to be really hard to find fulfilling work if you're just sitting behind your desk all day looking for opportunities online.

Instead of endlessly searching job boards , I did an informational interview with an author, ran promotions for a high-school musical, and went behind the scenes at a local bakery.

Even if I wasn't necessarily interested in those fields, physically getting myself out there and trying new things helped me along in my process.

Expand your reality bubble

Everyone has what I like to call a "reality bubble," and they're full of different ideas, perspectives, people, and experiences.

Simply expanding that bubble a little bit opened my mind to new possibilities for my career shift.

When I pushed myself to have new and different conversations, I met a gift concierge who helped me identify small businesses that needed marketing help and a Disney travel planner who ended up being my first client when I started working as a career-change consultant.

Take your ideas for a low-risk test drive

Attending workshops and testing things out with friends are great, low-risk ways to experiment with different career possibilities.

I did pro-bono marketing for a doggie day care , took an hourlong course on book publishing, and designed a line of 1980s-themed scented markers — along with 25 other short-lived experiments.

Through all these different experiences, I figured out what gives me energy, what I could get good at, and what I might actually be able to get paid for.

Holding one salaried job isn't the only way to work

When I started this process, I knew I didn't want to do one thing in one place with one company anymore.

Just because having a single source of income is the norm doesn't mean that's where you have to wind up. Eventually, I was able to create a hodgepodged career that met my goal of feeling like I was getting paid to be myself.

Now I work with a variety of people and companies as a freelance writer, career-change consultant, and small-business marketing strategist.

Watch: Marketing leaders from Amazon, LinkedIn, Lego Group and more tell Insider what pandemic-fueled business changes are likely to stick around

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Free CV maker.

Make a standout curriculum vitae in minutes with our free CV templates.

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Create a custom curriculum vitae using free CV templates.

A curriculum vitae offers an excellent way for job seekers to showcase their academic background, career experiences, and skills. Now, you can customize your CV using professional layouts and graphics from Adobe Express. Print, email, or share your CV digitally with potential employers. Select a template to get started and see how easy it is to create an impressive CV. No design experience required.

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How to make a CV.

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Launch Adobe Express.

Stand out with branding., publish and share., an easy-to-use cv builder..

Showcase your breadth of experiences while letting your personality shine when you upload your own logo and apply a color scheme to your Adobe Express CV template of choice. You’ll even get curated font recommendations for your project, so you can be confident your design looks good. In minutes, you’ll have a polished document ready to be printed or sent out via email. Go back anytime to edit or update your CV as your professional experiences grow.

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Free CV templates for every possible career.

Build a CV in any style for any industry with the free Adobe Express editor. Then, duplicate your CV in the same project and use it as a template to make a matching cover letter or resume. When you’re finished, save your file as a PDF, JPG, or PNG to publish on your website and LinkedIn, or email it to the recipient in mind. You can print and mail it out, too.

Showcase your line of expertise.

A good CV allows you to promote yourself to potential employers and show them why they should hire you. Making a custom CV design lets you highlight skills or experiences that help you stand out and make a good first impression. The Adobe Express CV maker helps you create a CV in just a few clicks, no prior design experience necessary. Whether it’s for a part-time job or a full-time position, you can use the Adobe Express CV maker for free to create a CV online.

Impress recruiters with an up-to-date CV.

When writing a CV, include your general contact information and references. Also include important sections, such as your education and experience, honors or awards, publications and presentations, relevant professional activities, and skills. Format your CV in a way that makes it easy to read and carefully check your CV for any typographical or spelling errors. The online CV maker from Adobe Express gives you plenty of customization options so you can create a CV that best fits your needs quickly and easily.

Create easier with the Adobe Express CV maker.

With the Adobe Express CV, you can make your own CV design in minutes, no creative experience required. Choose from tons of CV templates to help you bring your CV vision to life. Drag and drop icons, graphics, and shapes to liven up your custom CV using simple editing features. If you plan on sharing your CV digitally, you can even add animated effects to any element and make your design pop. Making a CV from start to finish couldn't get easier with Adobe Express. All you need is an idea to get started.

Frequently asked questions.

7 Best ChatGPT Prompts To Help You Write Your Resume

Looking for a job? You’re going to want to perfect your resume. The hard thing is that writing a resume is time-consuming, and it seems like tips for writing a resume are always changing. This is where ChatGPT can be of service.

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Experts told GOBankingRates that there are certain prompts that can help craft your resume into something that will catch recruiters’ eyes. Here are the top prompts for ChatGPT to help you write your resume. 

Ask ChatGPT To Create a Custom Resume for a Specific Job

The more specific a resume is, the better. Recruiters are looking to see that you have the exact skills that fulfill the job they’re hiring for.

Career expert Michael Gardon says there’s a simple method to create a specified resume using ChatGPT. “Here is the best prompt: ask ChatGPT to ‘please personalize my resume for [this job] at [this company]. Here is the job description [paste it]. Here is my resume [paste resume],'” Gardon advised.

See Also: 5 Ways To Use AI To Generate Passive Income

Get Keywords Based on the Job Description

The truth is most recruiters — or systems they use — are looking for keywords to separate your resume from those that aren’t qualified. ChatGPT can help you find those keywords.

“You can share a job posting and ask [ChatGPT] to provide you with a list of keywords or skills from the job description,” said Laci Baker, a career advisor at University of Phoenix . “You can then share your resume with [ChatGPT] and ask if all those keywords and skills are present on your resume, which can help with ensuring you are tailoring your resume to the job description.”

Ask ChatGPT To Follow a Resume Template

Found a resume template you like online? Phil Siegel, the founder of AI nonprofit CAPTRS , says you can submit that to ChatGPT and ask for a similar resume based on your experience.

“Start from a template you like (they are all over the web) and give ChatGPT some detailed information about you. Ask it to create a resume using the format and your data. The advantage is it will give a more detailed resume and it can be done fairly quickly,” Siegel said.

Use Your Experience To Create a Professional Summary

Writing the professional summary at the top of your resume can be challenging. It’s hard to know how to speak about your personal experience in a way that hiring managers will gravitate toward.

Baker suggests typing elements of your past job experience into ChatGPT and asking it to write a professional summary. “You can share your past experiences and a target role you are hoping to apply to, and [ChatGPT] can give you a career summary that you can then edit and make your own,” Baker said.

Use ChatGPT as a Career Expert

Siegel says there is a way you can “chat” with ChatGPT that can help it create a resume for you. “‘Pretend’ ChatGPT is a friendly expert and hold a conversation with it about creating your resume. Tell it you’re creating a resume for a job role and ask it to ask you about the most important information to build a strong resume.”

Siegel notes this will take more time than other prompts but will help create a stronger and more focused resume that’s tailored to your strengths.

Change the Tone of Your Resume

Sometimes you know what you want to say, but you’re not sure how to say it in a professional tone. ChatGPT can help tailor your wording to fit what a recruiter is looking for. “[ChatGPT] can rewrite resume elements to be more focused and more formal if those are elements you need assistance with,” Baker said.

You can even prompt ChatGPT to make your resume sound more impressive with this prompt from Juliet Dreamhunter, the founder of Juliety : “Here is the experience section of my resume. Rewrite it in bullet points and use powerful action verbs to highlight my expertise and achievements. Make it sound more impressive and professional.”

Reduce the Length of Your Resume

Generally speaking, you want your resume to be 1-2 pages. If your resume is longer, ChatGPT can help reduce it. “You can ask [ChatGPT] to take the content you already have and rewrite it to reduce the length to 2 pages,” Baker said.

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This article originally appeared on GOBankingRates.com : 7 Best ChatGPT Prompts To Help You Write Your Resume

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COMMENTS

  1. 11 Career Change Resume Examples Designed for 2024

    Whatever else, don't let building your resume or writing a cover letter be a source of anxiety. We've compiled 11 career change resume examples and a free guide to help steer you toward your dream job in 2024 . Even if your new career isn't in our samples, that's okay! What's essential in these samples is the how and why, so keep ...

  2. How to Write a Career Change Resume [With Template]

    We've adapted this example into three different template formats, with the hope that it can serve as a jumping off point for your own career change resume. Click on the links below to download the template: Microsoft Word .DOCX. Pages. Google Docs (click on "File > Make a copy" to save to your own Google Docs folder)

  3. Career Change Resume for 2024 [9+ Examples]

    Career Change Resume Objective Example. Resume Objective Example: Changing Careers. "Organized and hard-working employee looking to join XYZ as a marketing assistant. Looking to take advantage of my skills in Photoshop, graphic design, and creative copywriting to help XYZ with their marketing efforts.".

  4. Resume Examples for Making a Career Change (Plus Tips)

    Examples of resumes aimed at a career change. When crafting your resume, you may want to review a few examples. Here are three sample resumes for people looking to enter a new field: 1. Teaching resume for someone with experience in customer support.

  5. Career Change Resume Examples for 2024 (+Templates & Tips)

    A switching careers skills summary does just that. These career change resume examples give a map: Career Change Resume Samples—Skills Summary. The job ad wants skills in (1) Java (2) C++ (3) debugging. Let's say you've never had the job title, but you've done side-tasks and projects. Skills Summary.

  6. Career Change Resume Example (Guide, Samples & Tips)

    Career Change Resume Sample: Skills Summary. Here's a sample skills summary from a resume for a career change. It targets a job that seeks skills in Python, Ruby, and debugging. Python Skills . Built a Python-based stock tracking webapp with 545 interactive, real-time graphs. Site gets 8,000 visits/month and was cited in "Fortune."

  7. How to Write a Career Change Resume (3+ Examples)

    Anyone can write a strong resume to change careers by emphasizing these two things in their application: 1.) relevant experience, and 2.) transferable skills. To make sure you cover all the information hiring managers want to see on a career change resume, follow these five steps: Use the functional resume format.

  8. How to Write a Career Change Resume (Guide, Templates ...

    And one way to prove your value to recruiters is by creating a career change resume that will grab their attention. Here's how you write one. 1. Study the job description to match up your transferable skills. First things first, you need to carefully read the job posting and understand how your past achievements and transferable skills can ...

  9. Career Change Resume Examples & Writing Tips (2024)

    Career change resume 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 resume education section may mean more to recruiters. ...

  10. Career Change Resume: Examples and Tips from Experts

    This article explains how to do this with 22 resume bullet examples. Career Change Resume Work History Section: Samples and Tips. After a brief summary or intro paragraph, you'll need a powerful employment history section to continue to impress the recruiter or hiring manager. Use the tips below to help you write yours.

  11. Switching Careers? Here's How to Write a Strong Resume

    Begin the resume with a personal statement. This is a short description about who you are, your reasons for changing your career, your new goals, how your previous experience can be transferred to ...

  12. 5 Career Change Resume Examples & Guide for 2024

    Examples of transferable soft skills for a career change resume. Communication: Effective verbal and written communication skills. Problem-solving: The ability to identify problems and find effective solutions. Adaptability: Being able to adjust to new environments and challenges.

  13. How to Write a Career Change Resume

    Step 1: Choose a template. You'll discover several options when choosing a resume template or format. Many templates can work, depending on your experience, skills, and education and how they relate to your career change. Functional or skills-based resumes are excellent for a career change because they focus on skills over experience.

  14. Career Change Resume

    How to write a career change resume. You can follow these steps to write a career change resume: 1. First, identify transferable skills. Take time to get to know the industry you are moving into. Read industry news and job descriptions to get an idea of skills employers are looking for. Review your current resume and the skills you've gained ...

  15. Career Change Resume: Examples, How to Write, and Other Tips ...

    Write an objective instead of a resume summary and mention that you are changing careers in it. While listing your work experience, reduce the focus on non-relevant job responsibilities and achievements. Increase focus on relevant responsibilities and achievements. Go as far as removing irrelevant ones.

  16. How To Write a Functional Resume for a Career Change

    Here's a functional resume template you can use if you're planning to change careers: Contact information. [Name] [City, State] [Phone number] [Email] Objective statement. [In one to three sentences, briefly describe your career goals and the relevant skills you can bring to a new position.] Skills.

  17. Updating Your Resume for a Career Change

    Here are 6 steps to follow to write a resume that can get you hired, even without direct experience in your new target field: Use a combination resume format. Include a resume summary or objective. Add a skills section. Showcase certifications/courses. Revise your professional experience. Include projects.

  18. 5 Career Change Resume Examples with Template and Tips

    5 career change resume examples. To help you craft your career change resume, here are five career change resume examples: 1. Marketing resume for someone with experience in sales. Here's a resume for a candidate looking to pursue a new career in sales: Max Bush. Beaconsfield, Sydney.

  19. Career Changer Resume: Writing Guide & Template

    Step 5: Proofread your career change resume. To make sure that your career change resume is correctly written and flawless, go through every detail upon the text and formatting. Numerous research has revealed that almost 60% of resumes have been submitted with poor spelling and grammar mistakes.

  20. Functional Resume: Template, Examples, and Writing Guide

    4. Write your employment history. The work history section of a functional resume is short. You only need to list the names of the companies you worked for, as well as each job title. You don't have to list your previous jobs in a specific order either, because adding employment dates for those jobs is optional.

  21. How to Spin Your Resume for a Career Change

    Check out the same bullet on both resumes: Sales Resume. "Prepare and execute presentations / demos, and provide solutions to customer inquiries (traveling as needed)". Copywriting Resume. "Created content for and presented a pitch deck that secured a $15M deal—Vitrucon's largest ever". In addition to your career timeline, use your ...

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