Career Transition Insights: How to Manage a Career Change with Confidence

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I never set out to be an Entrepreneur. I grew up with the idea that you should work hard in school, go to college, find a single career path, and progress to retirement. You know…the traditional American Dream.

 

Life, however, had different plans.

 

I started college as a Music Education major, with the goal of becoming a high school Band Director. I was always excited about the idea of helping kids become kind, responsible, intelligent adults.

However, poor decision-making in my early adulthood (we were all young once, right?) led me to struggle through the first several years of college and eventually drop out. After that, I took some time to re-evaluate myself, my situation, and my future.

I started working full-time as a restaurant server and made good money by providing a high level of customer service and “up-selling”. From there, I landed my first ‘corporate’ job as a Customer Service Rep, which I was able to parlay into a position in radio advertising sales.

While I was able to find at least marginal success in all these jobs, I never felt passionate about anything I was doing.

 

It didn’t take long for me to realize that I wanted to get back into a job where I was helping people again.

 

This was when I began working in college Career Services, with very little knowledge of the industry other than the job description. I spent the next two and half years providing career and resume writing assistance to students and graduates.

 

And then my campus closed down. And I went into a mild panic.

 

But with some encouragement from Andy (my partner in life and now in business), I realized that it was possible for me to take my resume writing skills and branch out on my own. Now ResumeLezlie.com is growing, and I owe a lot of my success to a…let’s call it non-linear…career path.

 

I tell you all of this to let you know that I am no stranger to career transitions.

 

Through the career changes mentioned above and more than 6 years’ experience as a professional resume writer, I have developed insights into career transition resumes.

This blog offers job search and resume tactics I’ve learned that can help you successfully tackle even the most complex career transition.

 

Getting Started

With the growing number of professionals who seek a career change at some point in life, the topic of career transitions has gained a lot of traction. A big part of the mystery surrounding the modern recruitment process is focused on Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS).

This technology, used by recruiters and hiring managers to scan and sort resumes and determine which ones to pass along for further review, often determines ‘best-fit’ based on the presence of industry-relevant and position-relevant keywords. Because of this, resume effectiveness is often contingent upon strategic keyword usage.

 

It is incredibly important to have a job target in mind when writing a resume.

If you are unsure about the types of positions you’d like to pursue, an effective starting point is online research. For those who truly have no idea what positions you are interested in and/or qualified for, then I recommend using Google first. You can search things like, ‘career transition from [teaching/accounting/marketing/etc.]’ to understand the best options for you.

Don’t be afraid to go ‘down the rabbit hole’ a little. Spend time researching to discover off-shoots from your original search. This is often the best way to find something new that excites you.

 

Once you’ve narrowed it down to an industry, job type, or concentration, you can search online job boards to find open positions that interest you. You don’t even have to look in your area – you can look anywhere in the country.

The goal of this exercise is to find positions that you, (a) are interested in, and (b) feel qualified for. This will help to narrow down a focus and will ultimately help to craft a resume that is targeted and effective.

 

Job postings can be found on online job boards like Indeed, ZipRecruiter, LinkedIn, Snag-A-Job, SimplyHired, Monster, CareerBuilder, Glassdoor, etc. These websites will post listings from companies across the country and will often have hundreds of examples in any given industry or job type.

Company websites can also be a great resource for finding available positions. This typically starts by researching something like ‘good companies to work for in [city]’, or ‘companies with the best [whatever it is you’re looking for – or you can choose from one of the options populated by Google]’.

From there, you can decide which companies sound right for you, and visit those companies’ websites to find open positions. Usually, job listings are under a tab labeled ‘Careers’ (or something similar).

 

Once you have a good sample (at least 4-5) of job descriptions that match what you’re interested in and qualified for, then it’s time to prep your resume.

 

Refocusing Your Resume

Transitional resumes are a bit more complex than many resumes that follow a straight-line career path – but they don’t have to be intimidating.

I’ve learned that even though each person has their own unique qualifications and each resume should be crafted to showcase their distinct value, there are Best Practices for transitional resumes that can help maximize your potential for success.

The most important thing to remember (with any resume, really) is to think of your audience and focus on what is relevant to them. Let me say that again:

 

Think of your audience and focus on what is relevant to them.

For career transition-ers to do this effectively, it often means thinking of your career history and job functions in a whole new way and analyzing the similarities between your current/post jobs and the new ones you’ll be pursuing.

 

Career transition resumes (as a general rule), should be short and concise.

As mentioned above, most professionals managing a career change probably won’t have a lot of matching experience to offer, and there’s no need to ramble about details that won’t matter or make sense in the new industry. So, be especially scrutinizing about the work history details that make it into your new resume.

It’s not uncommon to go from two pages down to one, when drafting a transition resume.

 

 

Emphasize transferable skills.

This is done by (1) identifying skills used in previous positions that can prove valuable in the new target positions, then (2) rewriting resume job descriptions to clearly demonstrate how those skills relate and add value.

This often requires some outside-the-box thinking and is probably one of the most difficult aspects of writing a transitional resume versus other, straight-line career path resumes. But it is a key part of the process.

 

Show your potential.

Given that most professionals managing a career change probably won’t have a lot of matching experience to offer, it’s important to find other ways of demonstrating value to let recruiters know you are a candidate worth exploring.

One way to do this is by showcasing notable career achievements. Even if the work history doesn’t match the positions being pursued, showing a history of consistent achievements is a great way to prove you have the potential to do the same for future employers.

Another effective tactic is to emphasize versatility, resourcefulness, and/or ability to quickly engage with new concepts in order to achieve business objectives.

 

Avoid industry-specific ‘jargon’.

It’s common for those who have been in one industry throughout their career to consider industry-specific ‘jargon’ as common-knowledge language for everyone. But often this is not the case.

Carefully reviewing your resume from an objective standpoint with that in mind can help you to be more mindful of recognizing the terms specific to only your industry. You may also benefit from having a trusted friend (ideally a business professional) from another industry review your resume to let you know if the resume contains any terms they are unfamiliar with.

 

Don’t be afraid to ask for help.

Seek advice or guidance from a professional in the industry you’re looking to get into. Use LinkedIn to network and connect with people in that industry. You can even try reaching out to ask for an informational interview.

It’s also smart to get a professional to review your resume and give you feedback. I offer free resume consultations which will provide you with targeted resume feedback with suggested improvements and job search insights to help you move forward successfully. (Don’t’ worry – there’s absolutely no obligation, and many professionals find the tips and feedback helpful even without engaging my services.)

Changing careers can feel intimidating, confusing, and sometimes overwhelming. But I promise they’re not as complex as they seem. Once you dial-in your focus on understanding your audience, how best to target them, and how to effectively implement your efforts to meet their needs, it all starts to fall into place.