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7 Tips for Health Care Professionals Making a Career Change


February 25, 2016
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By the WoundSource Career Center Editors

Whether you're seeking a new position in your current facility or switching industries entirely, making a career shift in the opportunity-rich field of health care can seem daunting. You've decided what the career path of your dreams is, but it's so different from what you do now, how will you find a new job in this area? It's all about positioning yourself.

Our resume writers see this all the time, so you're not alone! Just be sure to follow some of their expert advice and your career will be moving in the right direction before you know it.

  1. "If the industry to which you're switching is significantly different from your current field, consider creating a functional resume and incorporating sections that play up the strengths you have which do transition well to a different career/industry." – Resume writer, Joanna
  2. "State your career change intention in the cover letter." – Resume writer, Cheryl
  3. "I highly recommend using a functional resume in this instance." – Resume writer, Keith
  4. "Research keywords of the new market and rewrite your resume to match those words. But don't lie. Always tell the truth, and don't stretch the truth." – Resume writer, Mark
  5. "Consider how your skills apply to that new industry or career. You're going to be asked it a lot and even if you know it in your mind, hiring managers and HR may not. Spell it out for them." – Resume writer, Tara
  6. "Volunteer in anything transferable. Research the industry first. Be humble and willing to start where you need to in order to gain experience. Your life skills and experience will guarantee you will advance quickly, but not if you act entitled." – Resume writer, Carrie
  7. "I believe the best option for folks looking to switch career fields are to use a skill-focused functional format rather than a standard chronology-based resume. This places focus on the value a candidate has to offer and the skill categories can be customized to be relevant to the candidate's new desired field of choice. From there, I take the info from the original resume and 'fit' it into the categories within the functional resume. Then the document is ended with a short job chronology to show that the candidate does, in fact, have a work history to back up their skill sets, albeit one based in a different field." – Resume writer, Lauren

What skills have you acquired over your health care career that apply to the new space you're looking to move into? Take a moment (or a few) and figure it out, that's what you're going to want to highlight for potential employers!

The views and opinions expressed in this blog are solely those of the author, and do not represent the views of WoundSource, HMP Global, its affiliates, or subsidiary companies.