Perhaps the largest group of job seekers I help are those who wish to change industries or positions within their industry. The good news is that, although most job seekers believe they have to take a big pay cut to do it, this has been the exception and not the rule with my clients.

How did they do it? Once they determined their industry or position of choice and upgraded their resume and other marketing materials to support them, they learned how to tap into the hidden job market and go direct in order to make their move. Learning how to tap the hidden job market is by far the most valuable skill you can learn in your job search. Please see my book in this same series on this critical topic: The Career Artisan Series: The Hidden Job Market – Guide for the Perplexed.

Resume Tips for Changing Industries

• Create a functional resume. Format your resume in a “functional” style that highlights functional strengths and transferable skills that match your new position/industry.
• Outline quantifiable achievements in the strengths you want to highlight. Example: customer service—“increased customer satisfaction by 79%.”
• Group keywords under a list called core competencies or key strengths. You can include areas of study that match your new industry and secondary things that might be important in your new industry like speaking more than one language or cross-cultural communications.
• Volunteer activities: if you have been involved in volunteer or community activities that enhance or match your industry of choice, you can put that together with your academic achievements on the first page of your resume.
• Use the indeed.com mirroring technique outlined in Chapter 1 of my book, The Career Artisan Series: The Hidden Job Market – Guide for the Perplexed, to make certain you have all the right keywords in your resume:
  • Go to indeed.com.
  • Find an example of your ideal job.
  • Highlight all the keywords and phrases you see where you match.
  • Weave those keywords throughout your resume.

Here is an example:

VP Marketing—XYZ Corporation

Summary of Position

The Vice President Marketing is responsible for the planning, development and implementation of marketing plans and activities including the identification of markets, estimations of sales volumes and profits, the pricing and margin strategies of product lines, drive strategic growth strategies and assures a consistent marketing and communication approach across business units.

The position requires an understanding of global markets, latest electronics industries technology trends, and competitive market strategies. To be successful in this role, the candidate must have a solid understanding of our (or similar) Electronic, Electrical and Transportation product and the global routes to market.

The success of the position is measured by increased sales penetration into existing accounts, by sales growth with new customers and markets as well as leading our marketing strategy and strategic growth initiatives across all business units.

Principal Accountabilities

• Lead strategic development of marketing strategies that develops and implements plans and activities including identification of market, estimates of sales volume and profits; and pricing and margin strategies for specific products to establish, enhance or distinguish product placement within our markets.
• Lead growth and emerging market initiatives leveraging direct and dotted line resources. Own and report on pro-forma P&Ls on key initiatives.
• Utilizes market research, monitors competitive activity, trends and selling strategies and identifies customer needs. Works with engineering, manufacturing, sales and outbound marketing to develop new products or enhance existing product(s) based on internal and external needs and capabilities, including market size, user needs and available technology.
• Recruit, develop and motivate a skilled Marketing and Product Management team capable of growing the business significantly in the years ahead.
• Lead or direct implementation of tactics and resources necessary to achieve Product Management and Marketing Communication objectives, including advertising, media, public relations, trade shows, web presence, e-marketing.
• Develops portfolio business plans, strategies and product positioning for strategic growth initiatives. Responsible for coordination of product/program development, including financial, market and technical justification for product selection and definitions.
• Perform financial justification of new products; help establish and manage pricing policy for the full product line, working with Finance to meet the organization’s financial goals.
• Lead the Company’s efforts to acquire & analyze customer and market data to understand our customers’ requirements and our competitors’ activities, and steer our organization and marketing efforts accordingly.