Resumes for Career Changers

Changing careers can be one of the hardest things that a person does. You are going from what you know to something completely different. However, switching careers can be extremely rewarding as well. Perhaps you have always wanted to be an educator, but continued on in business, receiving promotion after promotion, until you lost sight of your dream. But now you are ready to get back on track and follow through with your desired career path. The first step is creating a whole new resume that highlights your education, relevant experience, and transferable skills.

If while in school you completed a degree in education, you are already one step ahead of the game. Though you might not have hands-on experience in a classroom, you have a solid foundation of the fundamentals and understand how to teach. On the other hand, you may have completed a degree in business, and have no post-secondary education relating directly to teaching. If this is the case, do not feel discouraged. There is still a good chance that you have done something in your life that relates to education, even if it is not apparent. Think back to any additional duties you have performed or roles you have played that involved instruction or training. For instance, maybe you trained colleagues in a new computer program or developed and presented internal workshops for your company. These tasks required planning and instructional skills that are key for becoming an educator. Make sure that you highlight any of these additional responsibilities under each job position. Use a bullet point format to make them really stand out.

In addition to teaching colleagues in the workplace, there are other positions that you may have held that require similar skills or characteristics including: parent volunteer, after-school tutor, adult educator, coach, big brother or big sister, etc. All of these positions focus on working with youth and/or students. Assess and list the responsibilities you had with each role. Evaluate what kind of skills you were able to develop as a result of these opportunities such as: communication, interpersonal, problem solving, organizational, leadership, etc. Summarize these skills in the introductory paragraph of your resume and extract core competencies that you can list in a separate section for areas of expertise. These newly recognized skills and competencies can also be written into your cover letter.

After your resume’s introductory paragraph that outlines your commitment, goals, traits, and skills, and following your areas of expertise/core competencies, include the section (either “education and credentials” or “professional experience”) that is the most applicable to your desired career. For example, if you have more relevant education than experience, list education and credentials first. However, if your post-secondary education was geared toward a different field, yet you have at least some related hands-on experience that correlates with the job your are applying for, then list the experience first. If you do not have relevant education or experience, put the education and credentials section first, and try to strengthen your introductory paragraph instead.

If you are worried about writing a career changing resume, do not hesitate to contact a professional resume writer. They are trained in handling all types of resumes and extracting relevant experience and skill sets.