It can be challenging to write a CV, but it can be even more challenging for a person who is changing their career.
There is a good chance you will go through a career change at one point of your life. This could happen as a result of long-held aspirations or discovering a new dream. It can also be because of logistical or financial reasons.
Whatever the reason for changing your career, you will need to have a killer CV. Below are nine tips from Exceptional Resume Writers that will go a long way in helping you with writing a good CV that will impress potential employers and get you your dream job.
Starting afresh
You should start a new CV because you are getting into a different career.
People usually make some changes to their CVs before they apply for a new job.
If you are changing your career, then you will need to do an overhaul. This will provide you the chance of reanalyzing your experiences and skills and make it a fresh beginning.
Making a great first impression
You should take some time to write a compelling and engaging cover letter that you are going to accompany the CV with. A cover later provides you the opportunity to sell yourself and impress recruiters.
It can be obvious how past experiences will be relevant in your new position, but don’t assume that the recruiters are going to see the connection.
There will be many other candidates with even more relevant backgrounds that you are going to compete with, making it important to spell out how the skills and experience you have will help with the new role.
Start with an opening paragraph and ensure you have used the new job description.
Make sure it has an opening summary when writing a CV when changing careers. This will help in highlighting the connection between your past achievements and job description.
You should use keywords from the job description then link them to the relevant experience and skills from your previous roles.
Choosing a mixed format
If there is a lot of difference between the old and the new career, then it might be the best of ideas to choose a chronological CV format.
Instead, you should have your career goals and qualifications on the first page, then have categories that show relevant skills and experience.
The second page should cover your work history in a chronological format.
Knowing what to leave out
While you should share your accomplishments and skills, you don’t have to share every minor achievement you have had in your career.
You should be focusing on the ones that will show you are a fit in your new role.
When you use the chronological format when listing your work history, have job descriptions that have the same skill requirement for the new role. You should not fill your CV with irrelevant roles.
Highlighting valuable experience not related to the work
The professional experience might be unrelated to the new role, and this is why extracurricular activities might have some weight.
You should have relevant education, volunteering, internships, or training you have undertaken.
This is going to help in demonstrating skills that can be used for the new role and also show that you are dedicated, passionate, and enthusiastic about the new career.
Using numbers to show your value
When listing accomplishments, add bullet points showing the contribution you made to the bottom line.
Numbers show the contribution and achievements you got, regardless of the field you worked in.
Numbers are important when it comes to making a CV because it lets recruiters relate to unfamiliar work history, and can picture the things the candidate is going to do for them.
Finding natural crossovers
There are some skills and accomplishments that are same across different management structures or even industries. You should for some aspects from previous roles that can be significant for your new role.
Things such as social media marketing, project management, and securing sponsorship tend to be the same no matter the organization or company you are working for, making it important to have them on your CV.
Regularly Monitor Your Progress
You can call it anything you like, but keeping track of your progress can serve many purposes. For starters, it can be a source of motivation. And if you are going to be your own career coach, maintaining motivation is critical. But you also take note of mistakes and breakthroughs, which can give you more insight into what you are doing wrong.
While it just sounds like an unnecessary obligation, over time, your notes can be invaluable. And whether you believe it or not, they will teach you many things about yourself you probably didn’t realize. Ultimately, they can lead to making the best decisions for your career.
Don’t bother with gaps in qualifications
When changing careers, there are some qualifications you will have to deal with, especially when the professional background is not related to the new one.
You should not be discouraged when this is the case. You should always keep in mind that not all the candidates are going to have all the desired qualifications.
Employers are usually okay with hiring a person meeting 80% of their criteria, but this happens when a person has drive and enthusiasm.
You should focus on selling your abilities and skills, but you need to keep in mind that your decision to change careers is a show of passion, motivation, and confidence.
All of this will help you to change your career and in doing so create a better and happier work environment for yourself as well as more opportunities for you and your family.
In the end we all spend a lot of time at work and in our jobs and as such we need to ensure we are happy and can enjoy the thing we do. These tips will help ensure you can do this and this will make you a better person.
