You’re ready to wash your hands of your current job and make a major career (and life) change. It’s all there, right in front of you. There’s only one thing between you and that career transition—a job interview.
Or really, a cover letter and then a job interview. Because before you get suited up (maybe literally) for an in-person meeting, you’ll have to sell yourself on paper.
When you’re transitioning careers, a cover letter is your new best friend. Given the fact that your resume is probably what we might call “non-traditional” for the role you’re after, you need a chance to explain and enhance your standard work experience. That’s where the glorious cover letter comes in. It’s a page-long opportunity to give everything a positive spin. Once you’ve created your angle, you can use the same argument in your interviews as well.
Here are five tips for making the most of your cover letter and in-person time during your job search.
1. Show Don’t Tell
Because your resume doesn’t “tell” the full story (since you haven’t worked in the industry or role you’re after), use your cover letter to show the ways that you have that experience. This can include highlighting some ways you’ve successfully used applicable skills to get results in your current industry, or referencing some ways you’ve pushed past your job description to learn the skills you need for the new role.
The best opportunity? You can use your cover letter to point the recruiter or hiring manager to your personal website—where you’ve set up a portfolio of projects that align well with the new positions you’re applying for. Most people read resumes and cover letters on their computers these days, so make the PDF interactive, hyperlinking to your URL or even to specific project pages. It’s a great way to illustrate what you’ve been up to. If you need help setting up a personal website, check out our online course, Digital You.
Here’s one last bonus tip: if you own (or can borrow) an iPad or tablet, you can take your website into interviews with you, so you can show, not tell, about all the work you’ve been doing to prepare for a career transition.
2. Don’t Be Afraid to Acknowledge Their Concerns
Much like if you’re applying for a job in another city, recruiters or hiring managers will often cross someone off the list after a quick scan of their resume and cover letter if something seems amiss. So it’s better not to avoid the situation.
In the case of applying for a job in another city, you’d be better off saying “I’m not living in the area currently, but for personal reasons, I’m planning on relocating and would be available to start work quickly after hiring.” In the case of a career transition, own up to it and then own it.
Tell them why you want to switch industries and (this is the most important part) why their company and the open role is particularly important to you. In the case of both cover letters and interviews, this is a great golden rule: it’s about them, not you. Focus on what you can do for them, why they’re special, and why you want to be a part of the team.
3. If You Don’t Have Certain Skills, Address How You’ll Take Initiative to Learn Them
When we hired an editorial assistant, she’d been working in a law office.
Her cover letter, though, made it abundantly clear that she loved and knew the work Career Contessa was doing (see point #2) and also outlined ideas she had for contributing. But it was in the interview that she clinched the offer. She acknowledged not having experience in a CMS or Google Analytics but had already started studying them. If hired, she assured us, she’d be well-versed by the time she walked into the office on her first day.
The hiring team doesn’t expect you to have every skill they’ve listed in the job posting—but they do expect you to be willing to learn them. Be sure to show that you’re eager to study up on the new programs, software, tools—whatever you’re lacking. Not only does this show that you’ll be able to tackle learning on the job, but that you’re already invested in the opportunity, and taking the initiative to grasp some new concepts.
4. Stay Cool
Impostor syndrome is real, and it’s particularly difficult to feel in control when you’re out of your usual element. So, interviewing for a job in a new industry or a new role is particularly daunting.
The best way to handle this situation is to over-prepare. Before you start applying to jobs, you can use informational interviews to talk to women and men in your dream roles and ask them what they think the most important aspect of their job is, as well as their biggest challenge. You’ll start to learn the lingo, find gaps in your skillset, and who knows? One of those people might just let you know when they hear about an opening. If you're looking for another confidence boost, check out our online course The Confidence Crunch.
When reaching out, don’t forget to include your personal portfolio URL in your email signature. Beyond just giving them an idea of who you are, it will also show them how seriously you’re taking this career transition thing.
5. Follow Up Every Time
After submitting a job application, make sure to follow up in the next business week if you haven’t heard back. In your follow up, you can acknowledge (again) that you’re coming from a non-traditional background—just make sure you specifically mention a couple of the skills they have in their job description and explain how you have them.
Likewise, after an interview, you should always follow up, but the thank-you note is a particularly great opportunity for job transitioners. Based on the questions or concerns the hiring manager voiced in your interview, you can address them more thoroughly in the thank you letter.
So if someone was concerned about your lack of work with clients, that follow-up could say something to the effect of, “I’m particularly excited to sharpen my skills working directly with clients. While I haven’t had that type of experience per se, working with large, diverse teams at corporations have made me particularly adept at managing expectations, problem-solving, and keeping the peace while executing innovative projects.”
See?
P.S. The follow-up email is also another great opportunity to link to projects to your website. If something comes up in the interview that you realize you haven’t included in your portfolio, it’s easy to add a project to your site (like, 10 minutes easy—from someone who’s done this) before emailing your thank you so that you can link your interviewer to it.
6. Don’t Get Discouraged
You’re asking someone to take a chance on you, and not everyone will. Some companies won’t have time for a long training process, others will just be too nervous. If you keep hearing no’s, use it as energy to keep studying up on needed skills and informational interviewing. Every extra bit of experience you gain can only help—and it only takes one person deciding you’re worth a shot to change your entire trajectory
