You’re looking for a new beginning, and you’ve decided to switch careers. So, how do you go about starting over? Use these three steps to transfer your skills to a new career.
Tips for Transferring Your Skills to a New Career
List ALL Your Skills
Your first step should be to compile a list of ALL your skills. At this point, don’t worry about what might not be relevant. Just pull out a blank sheet of paper and brainstorm. Fortunately, most soft skills ARE transferable between jobs. These are qualities and characteristics such as leadership, communication, critical thinking, time management, and flexibility. However, in many cases, you can build off, or even directly use, technical skills too. For instance, if you worked as a technician at an auto repair shop, you’ll have extensive mechanical training. Therefore, it would be relatively easy for you to transfer into a role as a machine operator or forklift driver.
Identify Cross-Career Similarities
Next, you’ll need to find similarities between your two careers. Although this may seem challenging, most jobs have more in common than you would think. Let’s say you were a daycare attendant for five years. That means you have experience working with people plus problem-solving skills, patience, and empathy. These skills overlap nicely with qualities needed to be a successful home health aide for the elderly. Similarly, if you worked in a call center, this skill set transfers well to an administrative assistant job.
Focus on Your Relevant Qualifications
Once you know WHAT your skills are and WHICH ONES apply to your new career, focus on those qualifications. Begin by thoroughly reading any job descriptions of interest. Then, compare your skill list to the desired qualifications. Next, add any transferable or close-to transferable qualifications to your resume and highlight them during interviews. Finally, remember to be specific. Rather than saying, “very creative,” give an example of HOW you were creative in your last role. Maybe you redesigned a workspace to make daily procedures more efficient? Found an innovative solution to a technical glitch? Or discovered a clever way to appease a difficult client? These stories will be much more powerful than simply claiming to have a certain skill.
Could You Use Some Help Launching Your New Career?
Anodyne Staffing places home care, healthcare, administrative and light industrial workers throughout Eastern Massachusetts. If you’re considering a career change, our recruiters would be happy to help you navigate the process. We can match you with the right positions so you can transfer to the role you love. Learn more about the benefits of job hunting with Anodyne today!
