If you have been working in the same industry for the last 10 years, or you finished your degree and realised you have changed your mind on the career path you want to follow, don’t panic.  There are hundreds of transferable skills which could see you reshaping your CV to make the most of your experience.  Let’s take a look at a few skills which are relevant across loads of different industries.

If you have spent the majority of your time in sales but have realised you want to make a move into another career, you have a pretty great head start.  Regardless of the career you are moving to, most people need to implement some kind of sales technique during the working day.  Be it to help promote a pitch, to increase confidence in other staff members or to defuse situations with unhappy clients or stakeholders.  Not everyone knows how to be a good salesman so you already have extra experience on your career peers.  Start to think about how sales tactics could work to your advantage in a new role and make sure you highlight those on your resume and talk about the potential doors your sales experience may unlock.

PR and Marketing

The art of being a good PR or successful in marketing is pretty similar to sales, except you will have been used to a more analytical approach.  Your skills are about generating new business and putting a positive spin on any situation.  You will understand how to turn a customer complaint into a PR success story.  This is a great attribute to have regardless of your new career.  Even if you decide to go into nursing, PR will be a daily part of your role.  Highlight particular moments in your career that have made you proud or changed a client’s view on your company.  Then pitch yourself to your new employee.  You are a PR whizz, this should be simple!

Accounting

There are very few careers where the ability to work through things with logic and method won’t be put to good use.  You have a natural flair with numbers and this shows a mind which can see patterns with ease.  You just have to look at everything in the way you look at a maths equation.  If there is a problem, you can solve it.  Your mind is naturally drawn to things that don’t add up so regardless of if you choose a career in an office or fancy the challenge of being a police officer, your skill with finding issues and being able to solve them will stand you in good stead.

Don’t write yourself off if you don’t tick all the boxes on the adverts for a career you dream of.  Take a good look at what you do now and find a way of making it fit the role you want.  Potential bosses love to see initiative and out of the box thinking, so put yourself forward and take the chance!