How to Write a Career Change Resume (With Examples & Best Practices)

You've been through it all—the contemplation, the deep conversations, the sleepless nights—and you've finally decided to make a career change.

And whether you've dedicated just a few years or what seems like a lifetime to your current profession, you know deep down that now is the time. You're ready to look for your dream job.

But, let's be honest, switching careers is both exhilarating and scary. It requires careful planning, self-awareness, and the ability to articulate all that you've done in a way that highlights just how successful you'll be in a new career.

Now that you've set your mind on this new direction, crafting a resume for a career change becomes the crucial first step in taking control of your future and embracing the exciting possibilities ahead.

Need help compiling all your skills and experience so you can build a resume that stands out to hiring managers? Get started with Teal today!

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How to explain a career change on a resume

Explaining a career change on a resume is important to show prospective employers you have a clear and thoughtful approach to your professional development.

Below are some strategies for effectively explaining the "why" behind your career change.

Use the professional summary: Begin your resume with a concise, professional resume summary that briefly explains your career change. Emphasize the skills and experiences where you excel that will help contribute to your success.

Highlight transferable skills: Clearly demonstrate how the skills and experiences from your previous career are transferable and relevant to the new field. Focus on those you can apply in both contexts and showcase how they align with the new role.

Showcase relevant education and training: If you've pursued additional education or training related to your new career, make sure to highlight it prominently.

Address the career change in the cover letter: Use your cover letter to explain more detail. Share your genuine interest in the new field, your passion for the work, and the reasons behind your decision to transition (as long as they're positive).

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How to write a resume for a career change

Landing a role in a new industry or field requires a strategically crafted resume—one that highlights your transferable skills and aligns with the specific needs of your targeted position.

Below is a step-by-step guide to write a career change resume that grabs attention, highlights your relevant experiences and skills, and showcases your potential to excel in a new job.

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1. Choose a strong career change resume format

Before you begin creating your career change resume, choose the resume format that will best highlight your relevant skills from past experiences. Here are the most common resume formats to use for your resume as you transition careers:

• Chronological resume format: The most widely recognized format, a chronological resume, details your work experience in reverse chronological order. If you opt for this version, make sure your transferable skills are evident within your " Resume Summary," "Work History," and "Skills" sections.
• Functional resume format: A functional resume allows you to group your experiences by skill rather than a job, helping to showcase your relevancy for the new role.
• Hybrid resume format: The hybrid resume format combines the chronological format with a strong skills section just under your professional summary, providing a well-rounded view of your experiences.

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How to choose the best format for a career change resume

As you switch careers, how you format your resume is important, and can make a difference in landing the first interview. When changing careers, you want your resume to bridge the gap between your previous experiences and your new career path. When choosing which resume format to use, consider your past experiences and identify your experience gaps.

While a chronological resume (the type most commonly used) highlights a continuous progression in a single profession, using a hybrid or functional resume format for a career change resume allows you to focus more on communicating relevant skills (especially transferable skills or soft skills), knowledge, and achievements in a new context.

If you've held similar responsibilities in past roles, you may choose to stick with a chronological format, and focus on highlighting your transferable skills throughout other sections of your resume. For professionals who are making a more significant career pivot, you may find that a functional or hybrid resume format better articulates your transferable skills to hiring managers.

Pro Tip: Explore Teal's library of over 100+ free resume templates to help you get started!

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2. Write a career change resume summary

Your resume summary (also known as your professional summary) is often the first thing people see when they look at your resume. Starting your resume with a strong introduction helps establish the value you have to offer, showcases transferable and relevant skills, and provides hiring managers with context on your professional experience.

Use a resume summary when you have several accomplishments that are relevant to the position you're applying for, and opt-in for using a resume objective when your relevant experience spans across your volunteer, educational, and professional background, or you have minimal relevant experience.

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How to write a career change resume summary

1. Focus on skills: Be specific about how your previous experiences apply to the new role. Always include your relevant hard or technical skills, and use your soft skills to explain how you've achieved the results. (If you don't know where to start, check out these soft skills for your resume for over 200 examples.)
2. Be open and honest: Let the reader know you want to change careers and express your passion or interest in the new field. Avoid including any negative details about why you're leaving your current role. However, this may be brought up during the interview process, so it's best to be prepared with an answer that focuses on the positive experiences you gained in your previous job or industry.
3. Be concise: Write a focused and compelling career change resume summary to make a strong impression. Focus on articulating the value you have to offer, and highlighting how the skills gained in your past jobs have prepared you to excel in the new role.

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Resume summary examples for a career change

Curious what a resume summary looks like for professionals changing careers? Check out these 3 examples, or explore our guide of 70+ resume summary examples for more inspiration.

Example 1

Example 2

Example 3

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How to write a career change resume objective

It's important to note, that when writing a career change resume, it's also acceptable to use a resume objective in place of a resume summary. A resume objective is more of a mission statement that includes your overall career goals, and is best for professionals who have minimal relevant experience to their new career. Using a resume objective allows you to highlight your professional background and how you plan to use your soft skills in your new career.

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Career change resume objective examples

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3. Use your work experience section to highlight relevant skills

Your relevant skills and experiences are the bread and butter of a career change resume. After all, this is how you showcase your true potential to perform successfully in a new job or industry.

Highlighting your skills and experience goes beyond just including a skills section. When possible, it's crucial to showcase how you've used those skills and experiences to drive impact in past jobs. Use your resume's work experience section to bridge the gap between your past achievements and the job description.

Using data, numbers, and metrics to showcase results, provides concrete evidence at how you've used your relevant skills and experience to achieve results. Your work experience section offers the hiring manager tangible evidence of your skills and ability to succeed in the workplace. As you write your bullet points, you'll want to include: the problem or task, the skills used, and what the outcome was, using quantifiable results.

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Example bullet point highlighting transferable skills

For example, imagine you're a social worker who wants to transition to a career in copywriting. In this case, you could include an achievement like, "Authored over 300 comprehensive court reports within two years, showcasing a strong ability to communicate complex information clearly and concisely."

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4. Add relevant education experience

Adding your previous education can help highlight transferable skills that you gained from your academic achievements. While not all careers have minimum education requirements, it's still a good practice to include an education section to highlight your academic efforts whether you've completed a degree, relevant coursework or certifications.

Your education section should live below your work experience section, and should always include your most recent and highest level of education. Be sure to also include the degree earned, area of study, institution name, and graduation or completion date.

For education still in progress, you list that it's "in progress" or add an "expected graduation date" for further context. When including certifications, you'll format these the same as the rest of your education section, however it's important to only include certifications that are relevant to to the role or industry.

Pro Tip: When adding certifications or relevant courses to your resume, always reference the job description to ensure you're meeting the minimum education requirements.

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5. Include volunteer experience and projects 

Adding volunteer experience to a career change resume is optional, however if you have volunteer experience or projects that are relevant to the role or industry, including the experience can help fill experience gaps. You can include these in your resume summary, or choose to include these in a separate, dedicated section when you have several experiences that are worth including.

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Example resume summary with relevant volunteer experience

Maybe you volunteered at the local animal shelter, and beyond working with the animals, you spearheaded a fundraiser that brought in financial donations. On your career change resume, you could include this in a professional summary: 

"Detail-oriented administrative assistant with over 10 years of experience managing client communication and project coordination. In addition to my professional experience, I've demonstrated initiative and leadership in the community by spearheading a fundraiser at the local animal shelter resulting in $10,000 in financial donations. This experience and my ability to understand and meet client needs have fueled my desire to transition into a sales role where I can leverage my knack for relationship-building and results-driven approach."

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6. Create a dedicated "Skills" section

A dedicated resume "Skills" section should highlight a combination of soft, technical, and hard skills that align with the job description. Depending on the resume format you choose, this section can sit beneath your professional summary or work history, and serves as a snapshot of your overall strengths.

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Example of transferable skills for a career change resume

Imagine you're a sales rep with experience in various industries who wants to transition into a new role in health tech as a customer success manager. Your "Skills" section could look like this:

• Account Expansion
• Adaptability
• Communication Skills
• Contract Negotiation
• Cross-functional Collaboration
• Customer Advocacy
• Customer Relationship Management
• Data Analysis
• Empathy and Active Listening
• Feedback Collection and Analysis
• Negotiation Skills
• Presentation Skills
• Problem-solving
• Project Management

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Career change resume examples

Here are two career change resume examples to check out for inspiration.

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How to tailor your resume for a career change

When creating a career change resume, tailoring the information you include is vital. Hiring managers, recruiters, and prospective employers want to see how your overall career trajectory aligns with their specific job requirements. 

Tailoring—customizing and adapting your resume summary, skills, and work experience for every job application—allows you to address the unique demands of a desired field or role strategically, even without the experience.

Wondering how to tailor your resume to a job? Below are some actionable steps you can take.

1. Include transferable skills: Emphasizing skills that are applicable across industries helps demonstrate versatility and relevance. (For example, strong communication, problem-solving, leadership, and project management skills are valuable in almost any role.)
2. Don't focus on irrelevant experiences: When changing careers, your past work experience may not directly align with your new career path. It's important to minimize the focus on unrelated roles and responsibilities, so you can create more space to showcase the relevant skills and accomplishments you do have.
3. Address experience gaps: You might be worried about facing concerns regarding your lack of direct experience. Addressing these concerns through a well-crafted career change resume summary will build confidence about your potential to excel in the new role.
4. Incorporate relevant keywords: Incorporating industry-specific keywords and skills can grab attention and increase your chances of being noticed by a hiring manager or recruiter. Often, companies use Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS) to manage their job postings. Then, those on the hiring team can search those systems for specific keywords that align with the role they're looking to fill. 

Pro Tip: Teal's AI Resume Builder extract the top keywords for any job description so you can quickly customize your resume with the right keywords for every job application. 

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Save time managing multiple career change resumes with Teal

Once you've created a master resume that contains all your skills and experiences, Teal's AI Resume Builder makes it easy to create, manage and tailor multiple versions of your resume––allowing you to create a tailored resume for each job application.

With Teal, you can pick and choose which skills and experience align most with a particular role and toggle on and off those elements with the click of a button. 

To streamline the process further, Teal's Resume Syncing feature allows you to easily make changes to one resume and sync your changes as desired––saving you time, to find a job you love.

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Create a resume that lands you your next role today

Embarking on a career transition is a significant milestone that opens doors to new professional horizons. While making a career pivot presents both opportunities and challenges, how you effectively communicate your professional narrative can make all the difference in getting your foot in the door as you make the career transition.

Crafting a career change resume that showcases your potential in a different industry is the key to making a success career pivot. Focus on showcasing your transferable skills, highlighting relevant achievements, and demonstrating how your unique background and experience positions you for success in your target field.

Make pivoting careers easier, and get started with Teal to craft a resume that authentically represents your potential and positions you confidently for your next professional chapter.