How to Advertise Your New Education on your Resume When You Switch Careers

You're changing careers. You've just taken a series of courses but have no job experience in your new field. Common practice dictates that your resume should list your education last (with the exception of attorneys). But what if you're changing careers and your education is the only credential you have to offer in your new profession? How do you position it?

The answer has much to do with the type of position a job seeker is after. For example, while a background in Information Technology is certainly desirable for the position of IT manager, a hiring company wouldn't dismiss out of hand an application from someone brand new to the field, but who has a demonstrated skill as a leader or manager.

"In today's environment, most business leaders understand that being an effective leader is about leading people, systems and processes," said Stephen Van Vreede, a certified professional resume writer who works with The Ladders. "So in a lot of cases an IT manager doesn't need to be a techie. Obviously ... technical training or schooling will be helpful in providing some background as an IT person. But without that (training), relying solely on your work history isn't going to do it."

Don't put education or certifications at the top of your resume

Job seekers entering a new field often make the mistake of putting their new education credentials at the very top of their resume in an attempt to convey the impression that they're prepared to take on a professional role in their new field.

That's a mistake, Van Vreede said. Instead, career changers should put the primary focus on their accomplishments, particularly those that are relevant to the position, even if it's in a profession or industry that's new to the job seeker.

In the IT management example, that would mean listing management accomplishments from prior work history.

"There's a lot of good management accomplishments that a person probably has from their prior work history that they're lessening or getting rid of entirely by taking the approach of listing education first," Van Vreede said. "I would recommend trying to consider what you've done and accomplished in past positions and how you can position that or gear that for a new audience."

One example is Andrew, a 49-year-old from Rhode Island, who was laid off in 2008 after many years working as a manager for a company that installed and maintained ornamental plantings in corporate settings. Andrew, who asked that his name not be used, received a certificate in software programming in May from a Rhode Island technical school and is trying to use it to become a software development manager. But he has been stymied about how to position his newfound education on his resume.

What Andrew is overlooking and his resume is lacking, Van Vreede said, are facts such as the size of the team he managed for the company, the type of corporate accounts he managed, and the level of management with which he interacted throughout the organization.

"That type of thing is applicable for management in any industry or field," Van Vreede said. "An IT director or IT hiring manager will find value in those types of activities. In that way you're getting the most out of that prior work history and trying to lean on whatever new training or education you have."

Leave education at the bottom

Even if you're new to a field, leaving education at the end of your resume is likely still the best tactic. But don't ignore it until the end of the resume either, Van Vreede said.

The formal recitation of your degrees and certifications should remain in the typical placement toward the bottom of your resume, but they should get a mention in the summary at the top of the resume (previously called the resume objective statement, van Vreede said.

He recommends clients refer to their new credentials and education in the summary statement in a way that relates it to his prior experience to position him as an ideal candidate.