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Powerful Resumes for Career Changers

by Linda Guedry-Babst

"Besides proving you have the expertise and credentials to take on the major aspects of the job, you're telling the potential employer that you also pack the personality traits, good judgment, energy, and drive to make even more happen for them."
—Linda Guedry-Babst

Your resume challenge is to convince an employer that you have what it takes to excel in the targeted position. Your challenge is to market your unique "fit" to make them want to talk with you. Besides proving you have the expertise and credentials to take on the major aspects of the job, you're telling the potential employer that you also pack the personality traits, good judgment, energy, and drive to make even more happen for them.

How do you say all this in a resume? A few suggestions:

Know and analyze the job description.

Address each job requirement with corresponding information on your resume that shows you have the required credentials, talents, and/or experience.

Prioritize your resume sections.

Resumes have sections such as: Objective, Professional Summary, Experience, Education and Training, Additional Work Experience, Professional Affiliations, Military, Publications, Skills, and Interests. Since a recruiter may spend as little as 7 seconds reviewing your resume, you must state your most relevant and impressive categories on the first page*. As a career changer, a new degree in your Education section* may apply to your next position more than your work experience. For example: an engineer changing into a finance role would do well to list the Education section—including that MBA degree with a finance concentration—before listing work experience in engineering.

Use a chronological format—unless it hides your talents.

Present your information in reverse chronological order: that is, state most recent information first. If this style makes it difficult for the reader to gather key information, consider using a functional resume style that groups information by competencies such as management, marketing, finance, and so forth. Always include a Work History section* in a functional resume. Reviewers in traditional fields such as banking and law tend to suspect the functional style—in such cases, consider grouping your "competencies" under the jobs you list in chronological format.

Keep it readable and computer-search friendly.

Use a font such as Ariel or Times New Roman no smaller than 10 pts. Also, display your information with ample white space (for easy reading) on white or cream bond paper. Since resumes may be electronically scanned for the first cut, place your name on a line by itself and include keywords associated with your targeted position and industry in the resume's body. On subsequent lines in your heading include your additional contact information.

Show that you have career focus.

You may have to do some soul searching to determine what talents and skills drive your work and what work will provide the lifestyle you need for career satisfaction*. State your job search focus in the Objective section. All other sections of the resume then build the case for your qualifications in that capacity. Example:

OBJECTIVE: Position as a financial analyst using my MBA and strong quantitative, analytical, and organizational skills as I transition from an engineering career*.

Wow the reader with all you've done!

Stating your work experience* in terms of employer name, location, job title, dates of employment, and an overview of responsibilities is fine for starters. Don't stop there! Go on to bullet accomplishment statements under each of your positions. These statements should begin with action words and honestly reflect the results of your efforts: how you helped raise profits, eliminate problems, expand the customer base, spur results, instill successful strategies, and so forth. In the case of the engineer transitioning into finance, instances of successful analysis, organization, communication, and team work are important transferable skills that require elaboration—but no chemical formulas or technical details. Just concisely demonstrate what you are most proud of and your value to the company. Include numbers where possible that show the scope of your responsibilities and also quantify/qualify your results in a way that the reader understands your impact. These achievements are viewed as predictors of future performance and help you stand out. Example:

Analyzed technical data management system and made modifications that reduced annual engineering expense by $34,000.

Make yourself interesting.

I've often heard interviewers say they ask themselves how it would be to spend long hours working alongside a given candidate. Having interests outside of work can be important and can be reflected on your resume*. From among all of the technically qualified applicants, recruiters often look for those they would consider as "fun" to have on their team.

A final note.

Before distributing your resume, proofread it carefully and have others proofread it for accurate spelling and grammar. If you're not impressed with "you," after reading your resume, get help from a career counselor. Your resume is the brochure featuring you as the product!

Linda Guedry-Babst, LPC, is a career consultant in the Career Management Center of the A. B. Freeman School of Business at Tulane University. The Freeman School is ranked among the top 50 business schools in the U. S., with its main campus located in New Orleans and a satellite campus in Houston. The CMC helps students find internships and jobs as they matriculate through the MBA, MFin, MACCT, and BSM degree programs.

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