It’s not always easy to change lanes and make a 180-degree turn. So here are our tips for highlighting your background even if it has nothing to do with the career you are considering. Leave everything behind to raise. Are you tempted? Without going as far as such a radical change, you may dream of retraining and taking another professional path. What are your chances of getting this job? How can you put yourself forward to convince the recruiter that, even without experience in the field, you have the skills and adaptability that are required to meet their expectations? Here are some tips to enhance previous experiences to make this change of direction a success.
Why this conversion?
Ideally, the first step is to think calmly about your ideas for retraining. You will have to prove that you are taking a thoughtful approach and that you have the means to adapt to your new position. You will not be able to convince anyone of the consistency of your choices if you yourself are not convinced.
Do not neglect your academic curriculum
If you have a long academic course, highlight it. Even if it is a field of study totally different from the field to which you wish to convert. It is also a good idea to indicate the professional training you could have benefited from during your past experiences. Detail as much as possible the areas of teaching and work you have carried out, this will allow you to make your professional skills more interesting.
Highlight transversal skills
Highlight the fact that you are a person interested in always learning more and being trained, in order to be operational as quickly as possible. Through all the various experiences you have had, you have a different outlook on your work and the company and this is what you bring in part to the team. You are starting from scratch but you have the ability to go to the essentials, to be focused and to understand the levers of efficiency that constitute your next job. You have the maturity to quickly acquire the necessary skills, which you have certainly already developed a little in another environment before.
Finally, highlight your professional retraining process . Through it, you prove that you are a curious, determined person who knows how to adapt, synonymous with motivation for the recruiter. You know what you want, and these are qualities that your future employer is looking for.
Also read: What skills are most valued in any profession?
Your strength: the multiplicity of your past experiences
Your main asset lies in the multiplicity of experiences you may have had. Whether it’s multi-year experiences or more one-off jobs that would eventually come close to the job you’re applying for, talk about it. Indeed, knowing that you have already approached the job or that you are aware of the expectations of the company because you have already touched it a little gives meaning to your application.
In addition, your various experiences prove your knowledge of the business world . Of course, you are new to beginners, but you have experience. And this allows you to gain perspective on your work and quickly understand the expectations of your employees.
Finally, these experiences prove that you have been able to integrate into very different environments. You may need to show your future employer that you are capable of a form of loyalty to the company. You decide to change the environment but this does not mean that you will leave your new job in a few months. But rather than your application is the result of a reflection on your career . You know how to work with people with varied backgrounds and working methods. You are able to meet, share and move forward in the same direction as people you know little about. Or you can even be a driving force for these people, bringing them a new external vision. In short, you have plenty of assets.
Also read: What are transferable skills?
Form is everything
In the case of professional retraining, the cover letter plays a fundamental role in the application. It allows you to explain your approach and give the recruiter proof of your ability to occupy this new position. Take the utmost care .
The CV is a showcase tool to highlight your profile. It is essential to indicate a title that takes up the title of the position for which you are applying. since this is not visible in your experiments. Consider adding an “objective” section to make your application more relevant. You can also indicate some “key skills” to make your profile transversal. Avoid technical terms specific to your former position(s), and prefer more general descriptions of the positions occupied and easily transposable.
Finally, do not be discouraged during your retraining process, it is a long-term reflection on yourself and your expectations of your job. It is also a long-term choice for the employer, which may explain the sometimes long recruitment process. But if you know what you want and you will achieve your goals.