Career change and job search strategyCreateCV Editorial TeamSep 1, 2026قراءة 8 دقيقة
الصورة الرئيسية
A layoff creates pressure to apply quickly, but the fastest route to a better job is not always sending the same resume to every opening. If your previous occupation no longer feels secure, or you want to change industries without starting from zero, begin by identifying realistic adjacent careers. The goal is to find occupations that use substantial parts of what you already know while revealing any new training or evidence you may need.
mySkills myFuture is useful at this early stage because it starts with a current or former job title. It generates occupations with similar skills, knowledge, and experience, then lets you compare the requirements of your original occupation with possible targets. That makes it a research tool, not a substitute for judgment. Use its results to create a short list, verify each option with additional evidence, and only then rewrite your resume.
Start with your previous occupation, not a job ad
After a layoff, your most useful starting point is the work you have actually performed. Write down the job title you held most recently, along with one or two earlier titles if your responsibilities changed over time. Choose the title that best represents your strongest recent experience. If your title was unusual or company-specific, try a more recognizable version that describes the same kind of work.
Then enter that current or former job title into mySkills myFuture. Review the occupations it returns as related possibilities rather than treating the first result as a recommendation. The tool is designed to identify occupations connected through skills, knowledge, and experience. Your task is to determine whether the connection is strong enough for your circumstances, location, income needs, and timeline.
CareerOneStop’s official change-occupation pathway places mySkills myFuture alongside the Skills Matcher, demand research, informational interviews, and resume updating. Read the CareerOneStop change-occupation user guide as a companion to your search. Its sequence matters: research first, narrow the options, and create a targeted resume after you understand the strongest direction.
Keep a research record
Create a simple worksheet before comparing occupations. Record the original job title, each possible target occupation, the skills that appear to overlap, the skills that appear new, and the questions you still need to answer. Add columns for education or training, wages, openings, location, and evidence from current job postings. This prevents an attractive title from becoming a decision before you have checked its practical requirements.
Enter the clearest version of your current or former job title.
Save several related occupations instead of choosing immediately.
Mark the skills, knowledge, and experience that appear in both occupations.
Note missing or unfamiliar requirements that may need training or proof.
Write down questions about pay, location, hiring demand, and daily work.
Do not start a new resume until one or two options remain.
Interpret skill overlap without overestimating your fit
A related occupation is not automatically a qualified occupation. Skill overlap tells you where to investigate, but it does not establish that you meet every requirement. Separate the result into three groups: skills you can already demonstrate, skills you have used in a different context, and skills or credentials you do not yet have. This distinction gives you a more honest starting point for applications and training decisions.
For example, suppose your previous work involved coordinating schedules, resolving customer issues, documenting activity, and using business software. A related target may value some of the same abilities, but the target occupation could require different knowledge, tools, or preparation. Instead of writing “qualified for everything,” translate the overlap into evidence: what did you coordinate, which problems did you resolve, what records did you maintain, and what changed because of your work?
Use a three-part test for every promising result. First, can you point to a specific accomplishment that demonstrates the shared skill? Second, can you explain how the skill would transfer to the target occupation? Third, is the gap small enough to close through reasonable training, practice, or a stronger example? If you cannot answer the first question, the occupation may be less adjacent than the tool’s similarity suggests. If you cannot answer the third, it may not fit your immediate job-search plan.
Do not limit the comparison to generic soft skills. Look for concrete activities, knowledge areas, and experience patterns that can be supported by your work history. Later, those details can become resume bullets, interview stories, or questions for people already working in the target field. The more specific the overlap, the easier it becomes to decide whether a target deserves further research.
Screen adjacent careers by requirements and demand
Once you have a list from mySkills myFuture, screen it instead of collecting occupations indefinitely. Start with the constraints that matter most to you: required education or training, acceptable pay, the kind of work you want, the time available for transition, and where you can work. A career that looks related but requires a long preparation period may be unsuitable if you need income quickly. Conversely, a modest gap may be worth addressing if the occupation fits your longer-term plan.
Next, review demand and openings using more than one source of evidence. The latest BLS employment projections cover 2025–35 and were released August 27, 2026. However, the BLS employment projections FAQ explains that these projections are national, cover a 10-year horizon, and do not predict labor shortages or surpluses. They should not be read as precise forecasts of hiring conditions in your city or region.
That limitation changes how you use the numbers. Treat national projections as background context, not as a promise that employers near you are hiring. Check current postings in your target location, note how often the occupation appears, and compare the requirements employers repeat. Live postings can also show whether your existing tools and experience are relevant or whether a particular credential is appearing consistently.
O*NET can add another layer of occupation discovery. Its documented filters include job families, career clusters, job zones, Bright Outlook occupations, and technologies frequently appearing in employer postings. Use those filters to organize possibilities and investigate the requirements behind an occupation. The O*NET occupation-finding guide is especially useful when a mySkills myFuture result is broad or when you want to compare related occupation groups.
BLS also publishes occupational skills information alongside its employment projections. Its AI-exposure categories may be relevant to career planning, but BLS explicitly states that AI exposure is not a forecast of employment growth or automation. Use that information as one planning consideration, never as a conclusion that an occupation will disappear or expand.
Use a practical decision rule
Keep a target on your shortlist when it passes all four checks: you can demonstrate meaningful overlap, the education or training gap is manageable, the work fits your location and constraints, and current postings show a plausible hiring path. Remove or defer it when the main appeal is a national projection, the required preparation is unrealistic, or you cannot explain why your experience belongs in that occupation.
Validate your top choices with people and postings
Research tools can show similarity, but people doing the work can reveal the difference between a plausible transition and a misleading title match. CareerOneStop recommends conducting two to three informational interviews before narrowing your search. These conversations are not requests for a job. They are short research discussions with someone who can describe the work, common entry routes, useful skills, and gaps that applicants often overlook.
You can adapt this script: “I am researching a move from [previous occupation] into [target occupation]. I noticed overlap in [specific skill or activity]. Could I ask you a few questions about the work, the requirements employers actually look for, and the gaps a career changer should address?” Keep the conversation focused, ask what a typical week involves, and compare the answers with the requirements you found in postings.
Ask interviewees which parts of your background would be most credible, which tools or knowledge areas matter most at entry, and what would make an application seem unfocused. Also ask how they would describe the occupation to someone coming from your field. Their wording may help you recognize the difference between a transferable accomplishment and a task that only sounds similar.
After two or three conversations, return to current job postings. Look for repeated requirements rather than copying every phrase from one advertisement. Compare those requirements with your worksheet. If a skill appears repeatedly and you cannot demonstrate it, decide whether to gain evidence, pursue training, or choose another target. If your strongest experience repeatedly matches what employers request, you have a stronger basis for a focused application.
Choose one or two targets, then build the resume
The recommended endpoint of this process is not a list of ten possible careers. CareerOneStop’s pathway advises narrowing the search to one or two occupations and creating a targeted resume after the research is complete. Limiting the scope makes your evidence clearer: you can select relevant achievements, use the target occupation’s language accurately, and address the most important gap without making unsupported claims.
Build the resume around proof of transferable value. For each target, select accomplishments that show the shared skills you identified in mySkills myFuture. Describe the situation, your action, and the result when the evidence is available. Then connect the accomplishment to the target occupation without pretending that an old task was identical to a new one. A credible transition argument explains both the overlap and the learning still required.
For example, instead of listing “handled customer concerns,” specify the type of issue, the process you used, and the result you achieved if your experience supports those details. Instead of merely naming software, explain how you used it to coordinate work, maintain records, or support decisions. These details help employers see the underlying capability that can transfer across occupations.
Use CreateCV.io’s resume examples for ideas about organizing evidence, then adapt the content to your selected occupation. If the transition requires a deliberate explanation, review the cover letter examples for ways to connect your previous work with the target role. The tools and examples should support your research, not replace it.
Before submitting, run a final check: does the resume clearly name the target direction, lead with the most relevant transferable evidence, avoid claiming skills you cannot support, and address the repeated requirements you found in live postings? If not, return to your worksheet. A targeted resume is the final expression of a focused decision, not the first step in making one.