Switching Careers, Part 4

After returning to college, it’s time to update that resume. Writing your resume shouldn’t be intimidating; after all, you’ve been employed for years and you must have done something right or your boss wouldn’t have kept you on his payroll!

The key to writing a great resume is to make sure what you put on paper matches the job requirements of the job you’re applying for. If you’ve just graduated from college, you’re expertise in that field may be limited, but what have you done, in your previous jobs, that can be transferred over to your new career? Those are the skills you need to list on your resume.

The key elements your resume should have are:

1. Objective: What position do you want and why?
   
   
2. Experience: What skills, from previous jobs, are transferable to the job you are applying for? What skills, from your college courses, are transferable to the job you are applying for? List them here.
   
   Make sure you keep everything in present tense. Use a bullet point list and break your skills up into no more than 4 main categories. Keep your bullet points short and concise. Use action words and don’t ramble.
   
   
3. Employment: List all relevant jobs, starting with last position held. Include company name, job title, and years of service. Don’t go into details about what you did on the job as they are covered under the experience section.
   
   
4. Awards: Leave high school awards out of the equation, unless you’ve just graduated from high school—same with college awards. Your awards should come from your current employer, past employers, and prestigious companies.
   
   
5. Education: List all relevant educational institutions. Colleges, seminars, and workshops. List them by name, degree or certificate received, and year graduated.
   
   
6. References: It’s always best to state “references available upon request.” That way, you can prepare your references for the calls they are about to receive and they won’t be taken by surprise.
   

Here’s a great tip: When applying for a new job, incorporate words the company used in the “help wanted ad” in your resume. In other words, match their needs. But never lie. Only include skills, talents, and degrees you actually hold.

Come back on Wednesday as we continue our discussion in switching careers.