Highlight transferable skills when changing careers

Dear Sam: At the end of 2007 I sold an insurance business I owned and worked in for a little more than 10 years. I now want to re-enter the workforce as an event planner or writer. I am unsure how to address my previous experience. I received my bachelor's degree in 1982. I would appreciate any advice and suggestions you may have. – Dee

Dear Dee: I’d first ask what you did in the 15 years between graduation and launching your own business. Is that experience in line with your current objective? If so, you would want to highlight that experience prominently on page one of your résumé in a career highlights section, presenting the high points of your writing/event planning experience, pushing the day-to-day functions and dates of employment to page two of your résumé in the professional experience section.

If however you do not have hands-on experience in those fields, then you are going to really have to package your experience carefully. First, go through your background with your business and identify your transferable skills. Review postings of interest and write down the required qualifications and cross reference with your background. The list you derive will be what you need to highlight prominently on your résumé. I’d suggest using a combination format, meaning you would have a qualifications summary followed by a career highlights section, and in your case organize by functional area, followed by a professional experience section. Using this strategy will satisfy your desire to focus on related experience and transferable skills, while still satisfying the reader’s desire to know what you did when and where. In the career highlights section, present experiences by functional area and create two versions of your résumé, one for writing and the other for event planning. For each, present subheadings that would pique the interest of the reader. For example, for your event planning résumé you could present headings such as Marketing & Promotions, Relationship Cultivation, and Project Management. I am certain in your background you have touched all these areas. The key is to relate what you have done to what you now want to do; hitting the key areas hiring mangers will be looking for in a competitive candidate. You can also be very creative in your formatting. Doing so will reinforce your creativity and position you as a creative and not a business manager. I hope this helps get you on the right track to your new career.

Dear Sam: I am trying to figure out how to write an objective statement but am struggling as I don’t want to close the door to opportunities based on what I state in the opening of my résumé. On the flip side, I don’t want to be so broad as to not really sell myself to anyone. What should I do with this part of my résumé? – Stanley

Dear Stanley: One word…delete! You have just explained how ineffective objectives statements tend to be. An objective statement generally serves only the candidate, not the employer, by presenting what one wants in his/her next position. They are typically so self-serving and vague that they serve no purpose. Additionally, objectives statements waste valuable real estate. The only time I use an objective statement is when I have an entry-level client who really has no experience or transferable skills and we need to make their goal/desired career path quite clear. The vast majority, 99%+, of today’s “value-based” résumés should instead open with a qualifications summary. Quite the contrast, qualifications summaries tell the hiring manager what you can do for them, rather than an objective statement which only tells the reader what you want to do. I urge you to omit your objective statement and spend time exploring your “value,” the key experiences, qualifications, skills, and credentials you offer that are aligned with the positions you are seeking. This will yield a much stronger résumé and a more successful job search.

Dear Sam: I am re-entering full-time teaching after 8 years in a part-time position. I haven't interviewed for a job in 23 years! I have lots of experience and a good reputation in the community, but I'm not familiar with changes to résumés for teachers. Help! – Mary

Dear Mary: The most common fault I find with teaching résumés is that the candidate assumes that hiring managers know what they do in the classroom. Additionally, I hear from my clients that they feel most in the teaching profession all do the same thing, so why explain the obvious on a résumé. While it is true that there are common elements in most teaching positions, there are also other responsibilities and/or achievements that differentiate teachers from one another, and this is what your résumé has to focus on. Teaching résumés should showcase a blend of both what the candidate did on a daily basis, in addition to where they went above-and-beyond. For example, your achievements could include committees or initiatives you supported, after-school activities you led or participated in, or times when you worked one-on-one with a student with a specific need.

As a teacher, you can also be a little more creative on your résumé. As you will see from the samples on my website, I often use images on teaching résumés, excerpts from performance reviews, or even comments from handwritten notes teachers have received from their students. These elements add a tremendous amount of interest to a teaching résumé and really differentiate you from the competition.