This is generally not a problem if you have been working in a particular industry for a while and it is your intention to stay in that field.  But, what happens if you are changing careers?  What happens if your work experience and skills do not really relate to the field you’re changing to?  How do you make them fit to the jobs you want?

There are a few things you can do:

1. Identify what your “transferable skills” are.  These are the skills that you’ve acquired which you can bring with you to your new career.  For example, if you have experience in customer service and you now want to work in the home care support field, you can transfer your “people skills” to your new work. 

2. Build your resume in such a way that you highlight the skills you bring with you rather than the specific employers you’ve worked for.  To help you, you can visit our Resource Room and find sample “functional” or “skills based” resumes.

3. Write a cover letter that explains to a potential employer how the skills you have from your previous work experience can be applied to your new job.

Once you have these things in place, you will feel more confident about relating your work experience and skills to the job you want.