Career change resume: how to write one, with a before and after example

What a career change resume has to do

Every resume answers one question for the person reading it: can this person do this job?

When you stay in the same line of work, your job title does a lot of that for you. When you change careers, it does the opposite. "Contact centre officer" tells a claims team leader very little about whether you can handle a claim. Your resume has to close that gap on the page, before anyone meets you.

That changes how you write it. You are not listing what you did. You are showing proof that you can already do parts of the new job.

Not sure which roles you are closest to yet? The free career change check takes about three minutes. It shows roles people from your kind of work have moved into.

Step 1: Pick one role to aim for before you write

A resume aimed at every job is aimed at none. Pick one role and write for it. If you are looking at two kinds of role, write two resumes.

The best guide is a real job ad. Read it and pull out what it asks for: the tasks, the skills, and any qualification or check. How to read a job ad walks through a 15 minute way to do this.

No ad yet? A role page works too. The Claims Officer role page, for example, lists the skills the role asks for, with what the ABS and Jobs and Skills Australia publish about it.

Step 2: Open with a summary that names the move

Put two or three sentences at the top, under your name and contact details. Say what you have done, what you bring that this job needs, and which job you are going for.

This is the one place on the page where you explain the change. Do it once, plainly, and move on.

Before:

Hard-working and reliable customer service professional with excellent communication skills, looking for a new challenge.

After:

Contact centre officer with six years on insurance enquiries, moving into claims. I explain what a policy does and does not cover every day, and I write case notes that other teams act on.

The before version says nothing a reader can check. The after version names the move and gives two facts a claims team leader can picture in their own team.

Step 3: Use a layout that puts skills first and keeps your history

There are three common layouts:

Chronological. Your jobs in order, newest first. Best when you are staying in the same line of work.
Skills-based, also called functional. Skills grouped by type, with little or no job history.
Combination. A short skills section first, then your jobs in order, newest first.

For a career change, the combination layout usually works best. The skills section puts the matching proof at the top. The work history underneath shows where and when you did it.

We suggest you do not use a skills-only layout with no dates. A reader who cannot see where and when you worked has to guess why, and that guess rarely helps you.

Step 4: Turn duties into proof

Most resumes list duties. "Responsible for answering customer calls" tells the reader your job existed. It does not tell them what you can do.

Rewrite each line as something you did, with a detail the reader can check. Then use the words the new job uses.

Before: Responsible for answering inbound calls and resolving customer issues.

After: Explained claim decisions and policy exclusions to customers by phone, often after a claim had been declined.

Before: Data entry and record keeping.

After: Checked customer documents for missing or inconsistent details before files moved to the next team.

Before: Dealt with complaints.

After: Handled complaints that first-level staff could not resolve, and kept notes clear enough for the next person to act on.

Only write what you actually did. If you cannot point to a real moment behind a line, leave it out. How to do a skills audit shows how to find that moment for each skill, transferable skills examples has more rewrites like these, and resume examples for call centre workers has bullets for four common moves.

Step 5: Translate the jargon from your old job

Every workplace has its own words. Your new reader may not know yours.

Contact centre resumes are full of them. Swap them for plain words:

"AHT" or "average handle time" becomes "average call length".
"FCR" or "first contact resolution" becomes "sorted the problem on the first call".
"QA scores" becomes "quality checks on my calls".
"Took escalations" becomes "handled complaints a first-level officer could not resolve".
"Wrap time" becomes "writing up notes after each call".

If a number means something in your old team, say what it means. A reader in a claims team will not know whether your call length was good.

Step 6: Put training where it can be seen

If a role needs a qualification, the reader will look for it. Do not bury it at the bottom.

If you have started a course, list it near the top with the words "in progress" and a finish date:

[Course name], [provider]. In progress, due to finish [month and year].

Check what the role actually needs before you enrol. Each role page on this site shows what the ABS and Jobs and Skills Australia publish about qualifications for that job. Check whether a course is free or subsidised in your state at dewr.gov.au/skills-reform/free-tafe, and compare courses at yourcareer.gov.au. A course costs time and often money, and finishing one is no promise of a job.

Step 7: Cut what does not help

Personal details. Leave out your date of birth, gender and marital status. ASIC's careers advice says not to give personal details "that are not relevant to your ability to complete the role" (ASIC Careers, Resume tips). Macquarie University's careers service also lists a photo among the things to leave out of an Australian application.
Old roles. ASIC's tips say the last 10 years is generally enough. Sum up older jobs in a line each, or in one line in total.
Length. There is no official length, and advice varies from two pages (Macquarie University Careers) to up to four (ASIC Careers). Aim for two, and follow any limit the ad sets.
Lines that do not serve this job. If a line does not show something the new job needs, cut it.

Worked example: contact centre to claims

Here is a full before and after. The person is made up. The changes are the ones described above.

Before:

Customer Service Officer, insurance contact centre, 2019 to now

Responsible for answering inbound calls

Achieved AHT targets

Processed policy changes

Dealt with complaints

Team player with great communication skills

After:

Summary. Contact centre officer with six years on insurance enquiries, moving into claims. I explain what a policy does and does not cover every day, and I write case notes that other teams act on.

Skills for this role

Reading policy wording and explaining what is and is not covered

Checking documents for missing or inconsistent details

Clear, factual case notes

Staying calm with upset customers after a declined claim

Customer Service Officer, insurance contact centre, 2019 to now

Explained policy cover and exclusions to customers by phone, including after declined claims.

Checked supporting documents before passing files to the claims team, and flagged gaps early.

Handled complaints that first-level staff could not resolve, with notes clear enough for the next person to act on.

Kept average call length within the team's target while passing quality checks on my calls.

Look at what changed. The summary names the move. The skills section uses words from a claims job ad. Every bullet is something a claims team leader can picture you doing in their team. And nothing is made up: each line is something the person did.

Want to see how close you are to that role? Could you become a Claims Officer? is a free two-minute check of your skills and qualifications against it. Getting into claims from customer service covers the move in more detail.

Common mistakes

Apologising. "Although I have no direct experience" puts the gap first. Lead with what you have.

Copying the ad. Using the ad's words is good. Pasting its sentences is not. If you cannot back a line with a real example, it will come apart at interview.

One resume for everything. A claims resume and an NDIS resume should look different.

Hiding the dates. Changes and gaps are normal. Unexplained ones make a reader guess.

If you want help with this

This is the work the Sprint is built around. For each gap in your resume, it asks you one plain question about a real moment at work, and only credits a skill you describe actually using. It then writes your resume for any role in the catalogue, and again, with a cover letter, for each real job ad you bring in. An Australian career coach reviews a targeted resume or an application, up to three times in all. The Sprint runs for 12 weeks and costs A$299, paid once.

Frequently asked questions

Should I use a functional resume for a career change?

Usually not on its own. A combination layout, with a short skills section first and your work history underneath, shows the matching skills and still tells the reader where and when you used them.

How long should a career change resume be?

There is no official length. Advice ranges from two pages to four. Aim for two, cover about the last 10 years in detail, and follow any limit the job ad sets.

Should I explain my career change on my resume?

Briefly, in the summary at the top. One or two sentences that name the move and what you bring are enough. Save the longer story for the cover letter and the interview.

Is it a resume or a CV in Australia?

The two words are often used for the same document in Australia, and a resume, the shorter summary, is often the one employers ask for (James Cook University Careers). Some academic and research roles ask for a longer CV. Follow what the job ad asks for.