For example, if you want a job in sales, the sales manager will not care about the job you had as a medical transcriptionist or your degree in music, but he will care about your top salesperson award for highest gross profit margin in your school's fundraiser or your sales experience in retail or car sales or whatever other experience you've had that is relevant to the position he or she is trying to fill. So that is what you focus on in the resume you send in for the sales job.
Don't limit yourself though. Especially in this economy, you need to be open minded. Take that experience in medical transcription for example and focus on your words per minute skills your 10-key skills and your administrative experience in another resume and use that resume to send out for any administrative positions you might be interested in.
Now, if you have no experience in the field that you want to enter, what do you do? Good question. That is when you have to get creative and write a letter of interest to send with your resume that makes those connections for the recruiter between the experiences you've had and how it could correlate to what you need to be successful in the job that you are applying for. This will take some research on your part to make sure you understand the position that you are applying for and the requirements of the job as well as the company that you are applying with. For example, take your music degree (to stay consistent with the examples used above), it has nothing to do with technical support but let’s say that is the job you are seeking. Also, the sales experience in retail we discussed above, again it is not tech support, but let's make some connections for the recruiter so they know you are serious about making the career move you are considering.
First, you would want to point out the drive to succeed that pushed you to complete your 4-year degree and that although your major is not in technical support you took many classes that gave you great exposure to current technology and are familiar with programs such as the Microsoft Suite of products and point out that you have an Apple Mac at home and have learned a great deal about conversion from Windows to Mac and have become a self-taught technician of your personal laptop to avoid hour long hold times with tech support. Then point out how your experience in retail has helped you learn to relate to the customers and to be empathetic to their needs which is key when dealing with a frustrated customer whose computer is not working and allows you to be patient and understanding over the phone while working on their technical problem. Pointing out these key strengths will help the recruiter understand that you are serious about making a career transition and have put the thought into it which gives you an advantage.Now, one last thing to remember, when you put your resume together REMEMBER TO USE SPELL CHECK! That is a common mistake that is a big pet peeve of many recruiters; if you can't properly spell the job title that you are applying for, you will not get the job. So get started... the resume is a tool to spark a recruiter's interest and to get you that all important interview. Stay tuned for interview tips coming up in my next blog.
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