How to make a transferable skills CV

I've been working with Abi and Adam this week. They come from completely different sectors and backgrounds but share a desire to switch careers and take their tranferable skills with them.

Adam has been working in estate agency and has a hankering to harness his photography and film making abilities to the world of TV and movie making. Abi has had years of running successful sales teams and is now looking at project management.

I advised both to think about the world they want to enter and what is required from it, and then to dice and splice their own relevant skills and experience to match what the new roles are looking for.

For Adam this was about identifying "bridging" jobs in film and TV, such as locations expert or production worker, where his transferrable skills would sit nicely with the new world. In this case, we were selling his understanding of the property market and his experience of working in fast-paced environments, large teams and meeting tight deadlines.

For Abi, it was about selling her experience of project managing sales campaigns, hitting targets and managing complex teams, that would open her up to project management roles.

Selling these attributes at the top of the CV , after the contact details, gives the recruiter what they want in the 20 seconds they are prepared to devote to a resume. It tells them, in this case, that Abi and Adam understand what is required of the job, and that the candidate has made the effort to provide the evidence that they can do it. Immediately the connection is made for the recruiter that the candidate gets it.

Here's Adam's pitch to the creative world he wants to enter:

Career Highlights

Collaboration: Understanding needs of different teams, communicating and adapting across roles, industries and personalities to ensure success.

Pressured environments: Priced & managed 13 different new build developments across London, properties in excess of £6 million; 9 managing teams and 4 solely. Managing time expectations to ensure crucial timings are achieved in the financial sector.

Digital: Production management of websites; skilled in Microsoft Office, Photoshop, Lightroom and Bridge, all linked to advanced photography. Quick to understand and interested to learn about new programmes.

Workplace Adaptability: Working across and within many mediums; theatre & film, photography, financial print, property and events. This includes being a volunteer team member of teaching Shakespeare in numerous schools.

By the way, your work history, recent role first, then follows.

I've had loads of success with this style of CV so if you'd like me to help with yours, drop me a line at : helen.slingsby@careerbreakthrough.co.uk to book a session.