Career Change Resume Guide: How to Translate Non-Traditional Experience

Changing careers should be an exciting undertaking, but it also comes with its fair share of stress. You're stepping from the known into the unknown, both in terms of your day-to-day work experience and in how you're viewed by potential employers.

One of the most reassuring quotes I've seen recently says 90% of jobs are teachable — a sentiment I tend to believe is true. However, it seems like hiring managers never got this memo. (Side note: I'll never forget how, when going on one of my first post-college job interviews, the hiring manager literally laughed in my face when I said I didn't have X skill yet, but I was a fast learner. Those things stick with you.)

So how do you prove you can do a job you've never done before?

The key is translating your relevant experience into terms that matter for the career pivot you have in mind. Often, you already do have the relevant skills; you just need to adjust the language and the framing. And where gaps still exist, there are ways for you to demonstrate your capabilities.

Keep reading to approach your career pivot with confidence. This career change resume guide will show you how to reframe your experience for maximum impact.

Why career changes are hard

You probably don't need an article to tell you that career changes are hard. Not only does it take courage to make a switch in how you earn your living, but it also requires a heady dose of risk tolerance. Yes, the upside could be more stability and better pay, but there's no guarantee you'll get your foot in the door properly, at least quickly.

Some other reasons that career changes can be difficult:

• Your old titles don't match the new job description.
• Your job responsibilities and skills are from a different industry — with different lingo to match.
• Hiring managers want "relevant" experience, but you're redefining what "relevant" means when you make a career switch.

The good news: You're not alone, and transferable skills are everywhere

According to research from Indeed, 2.6% of users switched to new jobs every month, and 64% of those job switchers moved to different occupations or industries entirely.

That's a lot of people making a career switch. You obviously can't trust the hive mind on everything, but when it comes to decisions that affect one's livelihood, you can trust that people aren't making these changes lightly.

The other piece of good news: You probably have more transferable skills than you think. These are existing competencies that set you up for success in a new role, and it really comes down to repackaging the talents and capabilities you already have.

How to Write a Career Change Resume: The Transferable Skills Framework

Updating your resume for a career change is a process best approached step by step. Here's where to start.

Step 1: Decode what the job actually needs (not just what it says)

It's SO easy to get bogged down in jargon and lingo and lose sight of what a job description actually entails in plain English.

As you look at job descriptions in a new field, focus less on the job titles and keywords and instead identify the underlying competencies required.

I'll use myself as an example. I'm a writer and editor with 10+ years of experience covering tech, travel, and personal finance. I've been exploring content marketing roles, and I'll admit it — I'm still terrified every time I see "marketing" in a job title, because my internal voice of doubt goes, "you can't do that."

But when I take a step back, most marketing and brand content strategy roles share underlying competencies I've demonstrated in my senior editorial roles: leadership, clear communication, creativity, ability to make data-driven decisions, and cross-team collaboration.

Step 2: Map your experience to those competencies

Just what you need when you're switching jobs: more work!

Bear with me, though, because this exercise can be really valuable.

Create a two-column table. Column 1: Job Needs, Column 2: Your Experience

Look at the job description, and go line by line. Don't force any 1:1 matches — just look for evidence based on your actual experience.

For example, if a job description mentions "leading cross-functional teams" and you've coordinated school events across four departments, that's leading cross-functional teams!

If a JD mentions "building scalable processes," don't get overwhelmed by the lingo. Scalable processes = frameworks you can use repeatedly. That could be creating a training curriculum, developing content templates, or designing prompt libraries for AI-assisted editing workflows.

Step 3: Rewrite your resume bullets using industry terminology

Going line by line with a job description should help you start to feel familiar with your target industry's lingo and how that relates to your previous experience. The next step is to take that foundation and rewrite your resume to adapt the terminology of your target job description.

Read several other similar job descriptions first, so you can start to notice patterns in the language (maybe words like "scalable" and "frameworks" keep popping up, which would indicate these are phrases you should work into your updated resume).

When rewriting your bullets, use every opportunity possible to replace generic verbs with precise ones. This helps you clarify your role and, most importantly, your impact.

For example, let's say your resume says you "managed a team of 10."

This is much more descriptive: "Led a team of 10 direct reports through monthly product sprints, including the launch of a flagship company feature that led to 100% revenue growth in one year."

That's just an example, but you get the point.

Step 4: Quantify scope and outcomes

That word "impact" is key here. Whether you're changing careers or not, hiring managers want to see the results of your work, not just a list of your responsibilities. That means adding outcomes wherever possible. Outcomes could be anything from revenue to search ranking improvement to new clients; the main idea is that you're showing what you did and what the result was.

But what if you don't have metrics galore to add into your resume? Focus on scope. Show the scale of your role with things like team size, budget, number of stakeholders, and relevant timeframes.

Examples:

• "Designed onboarding process for 50+ new hires annually"
• "Managed $40K annual budget for department supplies and events"
• "Collaborated with 12 cross-functional stakeholders on quarter-long projects"

Before/After Transformations for Career Change Resumes

Here are three examples of reframing resume experience for specific career changes.

Common Career Change Mistakes

Mistake 1: Listing duties instead of demonstrating competencies

Don't just say what you did — show how it transfers to your target role.

Example: Don't say "Answered customer questions" → Say "Resolved 50+ customer inquiries daily, de-escalating conflicts and maintaining 95% satisfaction score"

Mistake 2: Using jargon from your OLD industry

Avoid acronyms and terminology that only insiders understand — especially because you're dealing with different insiders now.

If you must use specialized terms, translate them: "Led IEP meetings (individualized education plans for students with learning accommodations)"

Mistake 3: Apologizing for "lack of experience"

Never write "Although I don't have direct experience in X..." You don't need to point that out, and framing things negatively will not serve you.

Instead, lead with what you DO have — as discussed above, you likely have some very relevant transferable skills.

Mistake 4: Hiding your past instead of owning it

Don't delete entire roles from your resume to "look more relevant." Your varied background can actually be an asset; you just need to reframe your previous experience strategically.

Mistake 5: Overstating to the point of dishonesty

Don't invent metrics or inflate titles. The last thing you want is the stress of living up to invented results when you're already moving into new, uncharted territory.

Instead, use honest proxies: If you didn't "manage a budget," but you "recommended purchases and tracked expenses," that's worth mentioning.

The "Interview-Defensible" Test

Everything you adjust in your new resume for your career change should hold up in an interview. Before you submit for a job in your new field, ask yourself if you could speak to each bullet.

If someone says "Tell me about when you led cross-functional teams," do you have a real story? If not, that's a good sign you need to make an adjustment.

Remember: Rewriting for clarity is good. Fabricating experience is not. It may help you get one step further in the interview process, but it's not worth it if you won't be able to back it up when you get to the final stages.

This is where Notch Resume helps — it only suggests rewrites you can actually defend. It's not because we're obsessed with being modest; it's because, when you look critically, you probably have a lot of transferable skills already. You have permission to stop underselling yourself, and the Notch Resume bullet variants can help you with just that.

How to Bridge the Gaps You Can't Fill

This brings us to an important point: Not everything is a transferable skill, and certain career changes work more seamlessly than others. If you're looking to go from being a marketing coordinator to a doctor, there's no way around the fact that you'll need to go back to school to get the required degree(s).

Even if the leap is less drastic, there may be gaps you can't bridge. There are two things you can do here.

First, use your cover letter to address these gaps.

For example: "While I haven't directly managed vendor relationships in a corporate setting, my experience negotiating with 15+ freelance contractors for event planning has given me strong skills in stakeholder management and budget negotiation."

Second, consider whether pursuing a course or certification for a given skill is worth it. I've personally considered this for SEO — something I have years of experience with in editorial roles, but potentially a little light for roles with "SEO" in the title.

Frequently Asked Questions About Writing a Career Change Resume

What to put on a resume when changing career?

When changing careers, evaluate your current resume against your target jobs. Look for transferable skills — capabilities that you'll need in your new role that may be phrased differently (managing an editorial calendar vs. project management, building content templates vs. scaling frameworks, etc.).

What resume is appropriate when you are changing your career completely?

If you're changing your career completely, you should update your resume to reframe your existing experience in the terminology of your new industry. Look at job descriptions for jobs you're interested in and look for words or phrases that appear repeatedly. You may be able to rework your existing resume bullets to fit the new job by just reframing your experience in different words.

What is the best answer for a career change?

The best answer to questions about why you're pursuing a career change is an honest one. Be clear about why you're looking to pivot, and then think about how to frame that in a way that appeals to the hiring manager. For example, maybe you're looking for more responsibility, and you realized that you excelled at a certain aspect of your previous job that you weren't able to fully utilize without changing focus.

How do you say you want a career change professionally?

To communicate that you want a career change in a professional manner, make sure you're framing your most recent experience in a way that relates to your desired role as much as possible. Highlight any transferable skills that bridge from your previous position to the new one you're targeting, and make sure to explain what about this new career path is most interesting to you and why.

Use Notch to see how your experience translates in under 3 minutes. Try it free.