There comes a time in our careers when we look for a change in direction – however with a tightening market and risk averse hiring managers blinkered to anything different form their industry, it has become a difficult task for job seekers to make that move.

Project management is a skill set which should transfer fairly seamlessly depending on the projects you are managing or supporting – particularly for the support roles, as promoting governance should take a pragmatic approach in best practice. Project managers should look to demonstrate their transferable skills and experience with projects which are common place across any sector or industry.

Here are some suggestions when preparing your CV for a change in industry:

1. Keep the focus on your skills – don’t get bogged down with terminology from your industry field.

2. Look to emphasise the projects which may be transferable into other industries such as IT, business change, office moves, equipment roll out etc.

3. Make sure you talk about the role more generically – not only are you being clearer for the hiring manager (who probably has not worked in your current business so doesn’t understand acronyms and typical terminology for that field); you are presenting a professional document to a variety of readers from recruiters, HR staff through to senior management.

4. Write a good cover letter – make sure you go the extra mile, recognising that you are effectively making a big career change – what can you give back? Match up your skills and experience specific to the task in hand.

When applying for a new role, do take into consideration what the job advert asks for – if it states youmust have experience in a particular field then it is highly unlikely you will pass through the filtering process. However if it states ideally then you are in with a chance if you can match up your experience to the projects and competence requirements. When you make an application, take time to tailor your CV to the role requirements ensuring you are ticking the boxes for the recruiter / HR staff – yes they will, generally speaking, have a must have list which needs to be complete for your CV to be placed in a shortlist for serious consideration. Do not assume the reader knows what all aspects of your role are, spell it out.

The CV Righter has a tailored service which specifically addresses your needs as a project professional making that next move – get in touch to discuss how we can assist you in creating that all important CV aiding you in a career transition into a new field. www.thecvrighter.co.uk