Worksheet · About 7 minutes
Career-change CV: show the experience that transfers
Build a CV for a new direction with a requirement-to-experience worksheet and a worked example. Keep past job titles, new training and remaining gaps clear.
A career-change CV should show why your existing experience matters to the new job. Keep your real titles and dates, then give more space to the tasks, projects and training that relate to the work you want. A new summary can explain the change; it cannot supply experience or qualifications you have not gained.
How do I know what experience will transfer?
Start with one real vacancy, not a list of desirable personal qualities. Pick out the work the employer needs someone to do. Then find examples from your jobs, education, projects or volunteering that show similar work.
“Communication” is too broad to be useful on its own. Handling a difficult customer, explaining a process to a new colleague or writing a clear incident handover gives you something to describe. The connection still needs to be plausible: resolving a hotel guest’s booking problem does not establish that you have administered a corporate network.
The federal employment service recommends tailoring applications to the advertised position and making relevant qualifications clear. Use that as a starting point, then check what the new role actually requires. Read the federal application guidance.
Make a requirement-to-experience worksheet
Copy this for the vacancy you are considering:
TARGET ROLE AND EMPLOYER:
CURRENT ADVERT URL AND DATE CHECKED:
TASK OR REQUIREMENT:
EXAMPLE FROM MY EXPERIENCE:
WHAT I ACTUALLY DID:
TOOLS OR METHODS I USED:
RESULT OR USEFUL CONTEXT I CAN SUPPORT:
WHAT IS DIFFERENT IN THE NEW JOB:
TRAINING OR PRACTICE THAT HELPS:
WHAT I STILL CANNOT CLAIM:Complete a few strong examples before rewriting the whole CV. If every important requirement has an empty evidence field, that tells you something about the role you are targeting. More polished wording cannot solve the missing experience by itself.
Worked example: hospitality to IT support
Nico, his employers and the vacancy are fictional. Nico has worked on a hotel reception desk and wants to move into entry-level IT support. The advert asks for clear user communication, accurate ticket notes and basic troubleshooting. It also asks for Microsoft 365 administration experience, which he does not yet have.
| New job requirement | Nico’s actual experience | How he can use it |
|---|---|---|
| Explain next steps to users | Explained booking changes and payment problems to guests | Describe the situation and the explanation, without calling it IT support |
| Keep useful ticket notes | Recorded unresolved guest issues for the next shift | Show what the handover contained and who used it |
| Troubleshoot simple faults | Checked connection settings and followed a documented process for guest Wi-Fi issues | State the limited troubleshooting he actually performed |
| Administer Microsoft 365 | No workplace experience | Leave the gap visible; distinguish any practice project from employment |
Nico can make the relevant tasks easier to find under his actual title, “Receptionist.” He should not rename it “IT Support Specialist.” If he has completed a course or a personal practice project, he can add it in a separate section with its real scope.
IT support specialist with enterprise infrastructure experience.
Receptionist moving into IT support, with experience explaining problems to guests, recording clear shift handovers and following a documented Wi-Fi troubleshooting process.
Fictional example. This describes a starting point; it does not establish the technical qualifications needed for every support role.
What should go at the top of the CV?
A short profile can name your previous work, the direction you are pursuing and two relevant strengths supported elsewhere in the document. Avoid writing a long explanation of why the old career no longer suits you.
For Nico, the opening could be:
Receptionist seeking an entry-level IT support role. Experienced in helping
guests resolve problems, documenting handovers and coordinating with technical
colleagues. Completed [actual course] and practised [specific task] in a personal
project.The bracketed material is a prompt, not an invitation to fill in something impressive. Remove it if there is no completed course or project to describe. Put the supporting detail in the relevant sections below.
Keep recent experience in an understandable order. You can reorder bullets within a role to emphasise the relevant work without hiding the rest of the timeline. A separate “Relevant projects” section can help when the project is real and you explain whether it was paid work, study or independent practice.
How do I show training without overstating it?
Name the course, provider, date and what you completed. If it is in progress, say so. A practice exercise can show learning, but it should not read like a client assignment or a system used by real employees.
For example, “Configured user accounts in a personal test environment” is different from “Administered user access for a company.” Both can describe useful activity; only one describes work responsibility. Keep the distinction visible.
Check required qualifications separately. If the advert requires a particular diploma, licence or professional registration, a transferable-skills paragraph does not establish that you have it. Ask the employer about an unclear requirement rather than implying that a different course is equivalent.
What if I do not have Swiss work experience?
Describe the work you have actually done, wherever it took place. Add the city and country, explain an unfamiliar title briefly, and show the tasks or operating context that matter to this employer. You do not need to turn an overseas company into a familiar Swiss brand for the experience to be understandable.
Keep qualification names accurate. A short explanation can help the reader understand an award, but avoid presenting your own translation as an official Swiss equivalence. Deal with any required recognition or work-authorisation question separately from the CV wording.
Should I apply for a junior role or an internship?
Compare the actual tasks and entry requirements. Titles alone do not tell you whether a role offers the supervision or learning you need. An internship may have student-enrolment requirements; a junior vacancy may still expect experience you do not yet have. Check each advert instead of assuming that one label is always the right route.
If you are not ready for a particular vacancy, save the missing requirement as a research or learning question. You can also identify employers beyond job boards and compare the entry roles they actually advertise.
Review a career-change CV
- The new direction is clear in a short opening
- Past job titles, employers and dates remain accurate
- Relevant tasks are supported by concrete examples
- Practice projects and training are labelled honestly
- I have checked mandatory qualifications separately
- Gaps remain visible rather than being filled with invented claims
Put the selected examples into the Swiss CV template. Use a motivation letter to explain why you want this role and employer, rather than making the CV carry your whole career story.