A resume is a snapshot of our work history.  Its main purpose is to act as a recorder for all the things that we have done in the past.   I encourage you to re-think  what you know about resumes and instead use your resume as a tool to get what you want, especially if it’s different from what you did in the past.

Let’s say that in the past you worked in both sales and operations.  You’d like your next position to be in operations because sales wasn’t really your favorite thing to do.  Tailor your resume to highlight your past operational experience and downplay your sales experiences since it’s not your future focus.

Everyday I talk with candidates who want to make a career transition because they don’t want to do what they have done in the past.  I always ask, “Then why is it ALL OVER your resume, if it isn’t something you want to do in the future?”.  If it is all over your resume you can bet your bottom dollar that recruiters will call you because you have the necessary experience that matches their job order.

Change your focus and make it obvious which direction you want to head in the future and it will change the perspective of the recruiter or HR person reading your resume.  They can discern that you have, in fact, both operations and sales experience but operations is your future focus and the direction you plan to move going forward.

If you do not feel that you have all of the necessary skills for the career that you want then take the time to find out what skills you would need and find the easiest and fastest way to obtain those necessary skills.  I am not encouraging anyway to be dishonest about their past but I am suggesting that you highlight what you want for yourself in the future by downplaying what you don’t want from your past.

Change Your Stars

This is a simple concept but few people follow this line of thinking which is why people change jobs and then again end up not liking what they are doing…over and over and over again.  Yes, sometimes a new company, a new atmosphere, a new office with new coworkers seems exciting but after the newness wears off, you still have the same old “job” that you didn’t like before.

Think about what you want in your next position and do everything you can to move in that direction.   Don’t let your past dictate your future.