3 BEST Resume Tips for Career Changers

When you’re switching careers there are 3 things you want to make sure you’re doing on your resume to demonstrate you are a great fit. Here are my 3 BEST resume tips for career changers.

Tip 1: Summary of Qualifications

Some people put a paragraph at the top of their resume, I still like bullet points, as I think they read easier, but either way, have a summary at the top. 

Think of this summary as a “Best of” section- a highlight of the top reasons you are a fit for the job and why they should keep reading further. 

The beauty of this section is it can highlight a mix of experiences, skills, software, etc. without them having to scan down the page. 

For example, maybe you want to get into event planning but all your event experience is in a volunteer capacity and you have it lower on your resume under volunteer. Now it can be up in the Summary sharing that you have “Executed events for up to 300 people with a budget of $10,000” or something to that effect.

The summary will change every time as it should highlight what’s needed for that job.

Tip #2: Use jargon for the industry

Some people wouldn’t even think of what I’m about to say as jargon, but let’s just say the nomenclature changes industry to industry.

For example, I know plenty of people trying to leave higher education to work in ed tech and they are changing everywhere that says “students” on their resume to “clients”

In higher ed we would also talk about recruiting and hiring staff, now that might be “Talent acquisition”.

Check over your resume and see if terms may need to change in order to showcase your talents to a new industry. 

Tip #3: Show results

Okay, really you need to do this in ANY resume, but when changing careers it is definitely helpful to show the results you have achieved, not just the work you have done. 

Make sure your resume is sharing achievements, improvements, RESULTS. And of course, quantify as many of those results as possible. 

Those are the top 3 places I would get started to improve your resume for a career change.