Resume Tip--Changing Direction or Careers

Preparing a Résumé for School When You Are Changing Direction or Careers

Very often graduate school applicants are either changing careers or shifting direction within an industry or function. In either case, the résumé that accompanies the application should not just detail past accomplishments and responsibilities, but also reflect your preparedness for your new path. That preparedness involves transferring skills from your current to your future role.

In writing such a résumé, the first and key step is to identify the skills you have developed that are relevant to your new career. Here are three examples:

You are assistant manager of product development in a pharmaceutical firm and are applying to medical school. Transferable skills relevant to medicine include problem-solving (indicate how you approach the process), communicating technical information to non-specialists, leading and/or working on cross-functional teams, dealing with government regulations and requirements, and evaluating the needs of prospective patients/end-users.

You are a process consultant applying to MBA programs and intending to pursue a career in finance. Skills that would be relevant to finance include analytical thinking, quantitative analysis (you may not be doing financial modeling, but you probably project budgets, perform statistical analyses, and/or calculate staffing needs and expenses), interfacing with clients, and synthesizing data from disparate sources.

You are a high school teacher applying to law school to work in contract law. Relevant skills include analyzing data and making judgments and decisions based on your analysis (for assessments of students), synthesizing information from various sources, breaking down and communicating complex ideas, drawing out people's ideas and facilitating discussion to identify key points, and communicating critical issues with diverse parties - students, parents, administrators, peers, and various specialists.

In presenting the relevant skills, don't just describe or explain them, but portray them through specific accomplishments and experiences. The readers will see that you both understand and have what it takes to excel in your new career.It's a challenge to effectively portray your responsibilities while keeping the focus on the accomplishments, but by following the simple approaches above, you'll find it's quite manageable.