How Can I Transfer My Current Experiences into a New Career Field Without Having Any Prior Relatable Work Experiences or Internships?

Your Corporate Black Girl

Dear Nikki,

I graduated from college in Dec ‘18 w/ a bachelor’s in communication studies and a minor in business. The problem is that I did not participate in any internships during college because I was always working.

I have experience in customer service as a sales associate. I am now currently a collections agent at a large bank.

How can I transfer my customer service experience into a career in HR without an internship or HR experience?

Entry-Level
Overland Park, Kansas

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This is always a little bit tricky...

Dear Career Pivoter,

Don't be discouraged! Most people have the unfortunate tale of starting their working lives in fields or spaces that they didn't want to really be in. The great news is, you haven't gone so far down the rabbit hole that you are starting completely over.

Career pivots can be done and done effectively. Your job history is just a part of your overall story. You paint the picture when selling yourself in the interview process but the introduction begins with your resume.

Anytime you're ready to pivot roles, I think it's a good idea to have someone review your resume and update it. Tailor your resume (past and current experience) for the job you want.

Here are things to ask yourself and to update on your resume:

1. How can your experience and work history become relatable to the role you want? Most resume systems will parce out your resume, looking for key words. You need to find out what those key words are for the role you want. Plug and play from there.

2. You may want to review the job description for the job opening you're looking to apply for and see if you can plug in bulletpoints that you can relate to.

3. Include an objective at the top of your resume. Tell them what your goal is. For you, here is where you can speak to adding your "unique skillset to a progressive Human Resources team within an organization", for example.

4. Be dynamic! Always. Don't allow the weight of your past history not being what you want or need it to be, hold you back from getting you where you need to be!

Good luck!

You've got this,

Nikki Davis

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NIKKI

Your curly girl manager, just trying to live her happiest life! 

Wife, new mom, member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. with 11 years industry experience, 6 years of management experience. Manager a team of men in a male dominant industry, while being the only woman on the team. DIY fashion blogger, a self taught seamstress. Owner/Creator of a monthly subscription service, SewConscious.com. 

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