Recruiters and human resources professionals understand that employees make successful leaps from one profession to another every day. Your job is to make it easy for them to see how your outstanding past accomplishments (not skills) translate to a smooth transition into a new field.

Step #1. Create a Unique Resume and Cover Letter for Every Position. If you are seeking a new position, the first things you need to know is that you must tailor write your resume for every position you are seeking. For instance, if you were in software development for one company and are transitioning into business development for another, be sure to list how you prospected clients' needs in order to develop a valuable solution. You will also need to tailor write your cover letter to demonstrate that you understand the mission of the organization, what specific attributes you bring to that mission in terms of your greatest measurable accomplishments (which you will define below) and the reason for a personal dedication to the business. Show don't tell. You don't tell them you will be one of their strongest candidates. You demonstrate the fact that you increased sales by 23% in your last position and generated a 10% increase in new clients. Allow them to draw their own editorial conclusion. Show don't tell.  

Step #2. Define Your Transferable Skills and Key Accomplishments. If you are attempting to change your area of expertise, you want to identify your transferable skills that can be applied to any profession. These skills fall into three categories: Your ability to communicate, organize information, and operate/fix equipment. You may be good at instructing others and writing. You may be good at organizing data and keeping records. You may be good at fixing things and making things work. Demonstrate in your resume your accomplishments in these three areas. Employers know these to be the transferable skill categories.   

How to Determine Your Transferable Skills and Key Accomplishments: 

Create four columns on a piece of paper.   

Column #1) "Skills from Last Job or Volunteer Work."

Column #2) "Transferable Skill - Yes? or No?" (Based on the above criteria)

Column #3) "How Can This Skill Be Used in the Desired Position?" 

Column #4) "Related Key Accomplishment."   

Execute this exercise for each of the positions you have held and adapt it for each position you seek. At the end of this process you will have a deeper understanding and confidence in how your past experience most certainly prepares you to be a lead candidate for your new pursuit.  

Step #3. Apply Your "Key Accomplishments" to Each Work Section of Your Resume. Include a "Key Accomplishments" segment for each position you've held that will showcase your transferable skills as they relate to the desired position. Doing so will help employers quantify the pace of your professional growth.    "Key Accomplishments" are measurable ways in which you met obstacles and solved problems. What were some of the challenges you faced? What actions did you take to overcome the problems? What were the measurable results of your work? You didn't do two jobs when someone was laid off in your department. You produced twice the number of reports after the company downsized.   

Think of your Key Accomplishments in the framework of transferable skills that can be applied to any career. You may be good at instructing others or writing. You may be good at organizing data and keeping records. You may be good at fixing things and making things work.   

Remember that responsibilities are not achievements. You may have been responsible for book keeping, entering data or running an event. But your achievements are that you created new strategies that enabled the organization to save $10,000 in expenses, created a database that allowed the company to process customer information twice as fast, or created an event that raised $47,500.  

Again, the most important thing to remember is that employers are looking for people to help them solve problems not complete tasks. Continue to communicate in the interview, on your resume and in the thank you letter how you can and have helped to solve problems for others. Your goal is to solve a company's "pain" and eliminate any risk in hiring you. 

About the Author: Mary Lee Gannon went from being a stay-at-home mother with four children to divorce, poverty and then on to become a newspaper reporter, trade association executive director, public relations consultant, and foundation president and CEO. View Mary Lee's free career tips, worksheets and Blog on her website at http://www.startingovernow.com