How to write a CV for a career change
A career-change CV has one job the average CV doesn't: convince the reader you can do a role you've never officially held. That comes down to framing, not fabrication.
Lead with transferable skills
Put a short summary at the top that names the skills that carry over - project management, client communication, data analysis - before the reader hits your job titles from a different field.
Reframe your experience
Rewrite bullet points around the transferable part of each achievement. "Managed a retail team of 12" becomes relevant to an office-management role once you highlight scheduling, budgeting, and conflict resolution rather than the retail-specific tasks.
Address the "why" briefly
One sentence in your summary or cover letter explaining the shift is enough - "moving from operations into product after leading three cross-team launches" - then let the rest of the CV support it.
What to leave out
Don't over-explain or apologise for the change across multiple sections. Say it once, clearly, and spend the rest of the CV proving you're qualified regardless of the label on your last job title.
Use a hybrid template that leads with skills without hiding your real history - free to build.
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Comments (2)
Moved from teaching to corporate training - reframing "lesson planning" as "curriculum design" made a real difference in callbacks.
That's a great example - the skill was identical, only the vocabulary needed to shift.
Kept apologising for my "unrelated" background in three different places - cutting it to one line was the fix.