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Experience the Power
of a Winning
Resume...
Success!
"One last quick note to thank both yourself and Kim for doing
an excellent job on my resume and cover letters...I sent out my
resume this past Friday and I've already gotten 3 calls and 1 interview
lined up. Even though it's "my past," it was your groups'
expertise in putting it together on paper for me and I am grateful."
-- K.G., Sales Director
Resume Relief!
"Just wanted to drop you a line to say THANKS for the great
job you did on my project. (Resume and Cover Letter.) I took one
look at it and had to say "Wow, I'd even hire me now."
Everyone I've shown it to said what a great job you (all) have done
on it. I'll keep you all updated how things turn out. Again, Thank
You Karen!" -- M.D., Manager
Client Satisfaction is Our #1 Priority!
"I would like to extend my gratitude for all the time and effort
you and Karen spent on my resume. I told Karen that the resume looks
incredible and different from my original draft. More power to you
and your colleagues. Again, thank you..." -- R.R., Management Consultant
Results!
"I must take some time from a very busy career transition
effort to thank you for the splendid work you did in editing,
formatting, and adding an "executive polish" to my resume.
Your precise and hard-hitting words have, within one week,
caused an incredible interest in me from some very impressive
companies." -- J.B., Information Technology Executive
 Did You Know?
You may be able to deduct resume writing services on your
taxes! Check with your tax advisor for details.
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When Changing Careers, Highlight Transferable
Skills
by Kim Isaacs, Monster Resume
Expert
A huge challenge career changers face is preparing a winning
resume. After all, it's arduous enough when you have ample
related experience. Writing this crucial document becomes
even more painstaking when you're looking to take a completely
new career direction.
Your saving grace: Transferable skills.
What Are Transferable Skills?
Career expert Richard Nelson Bolles pioneered the idea
of transferable skills in his perennial best-seller What
Color Is Your Parachute? A Practical Manual for Job-Hunters
and Career-Changers. According to Bolles, we are all born
with skills we take from job to job. These transferable
skills can be broken down into three categories: people
(communicating, teaching, coaching and supervising), data
(record keeping, researching, translating and compiling
data), and things (operating computers/equipment, assembling
and repairing).
If you take the time to identify your transferable skills,
you can convince employers that you have the core skills
necessary to excel in your new career choice.
Where to Find Transferable Skills
-
Job Ads: Search for your target job on Monster.ca,
and review the skills it requires. You may not possess
all of them, but look for skills that are somehow related
to those you developed via another career, hobby or educational
pursuit. For example, a teacher transitioning to sales
might find that presentation, organizational and interpersonal
skills are desirable for salespeople. She could then highlight
her experience giving daily group presentations, creating
and launching educational programs, and building team
morale. All of these are examples of transferable skills
you may overlook, because they come easily to you.
-
Occupational Information Network (O*NET): The
site provides a keyword search tool that lists job skills
based on career field. Search the list for those of your
skills you can transfer to your new industry, and check
out this list of all-purpose skills. http://online.onetcenter.org
-
Industry Networking: Speak with workers in
your desired field, read trade publications, study employer
Web sites, network at industry events and connect with
industry associations to learn which skills are important.
Once you have a good understanding of desirable skills,
you'll know which ones to emphasize.
Identify Your Transferable Skills
Career coach Christine Edick works closely with her career-change
clients to identify transferable skills. In one exercise,
she asks them to create a chart of old job skills, new job
skills and transferable skills. "Most clients find
that they have at least 50 percent of transferable skills
needed for their new job," she says.
Emphasize Your Transferable Skills
Demonstrate you're qualified for your career change by
prominently displaying your transferable skills on your
resume. "Showcasing transferable skills up front helps
the human reader see the keywords they are looking for,
and then they can look to other parts of the resume for
more details," Edick says.
Your transferable skills may be included as a key skills
list within your qualifications summary. You can lead with
a statement like, "Highlights of my related skills
include:" followed by a bulleted list of your transferable
skills. When creating your Monster resume, you can use the
skills section of the Monster Resume Builder to list skills.
Back up your transferable skills by including examples
of how you successfully used the skills in another career
field or other experience. Edick uses the CAR (challenge,
actions, results) approach by asking her clients:
-
Challenge: What were some of the challenges you faced?
-
Actions: What actions did you take to overcome the
challenges?
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Results: What were the results of your work?
"That way, career changers build confidence that the
basic skills they developed in one career transfer to a
new career," Edick says. The CAR stories can be added
to a key accomplishments section to demonstrate previous
success using these transferable skills.
This article was written by Kim
Isaacs, director of ResumePower.com
and author of The
Career Change Resume book. Visit the ResumePower.com
site to learn more about resume services to jump-start your
career.
Copyright 2007- Monster Worldwide, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
You may not copy, reproduce or distribute this article without
the prior written permission of Monster Worldwide. This article
first appeared on Monster, the leading online global network
for careers. To see other career-related articles visit http://content.monster.com.
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