Recent late nights (or early mornings) at work have forced me to consider trying a different career path which offers me more flexibility to pursue things I like to do (e.g. tai ji). So I flipped the newspapers and tried applying for something totally unrelated to what I’m doing now.

It was fun looking for something new. It feels like a kid in a candy bar, or in my case, a chocolate factory! My eyes were scanning for anything which seemed interesting to me at that time. So I picked a few - writing for a magazine, a teacher, a librarian. I probably don’t have the credentials to do any of those, but I thought I try anyway. It was fun choosing the adverts, but writing a resume for a different career was much harder than expected.

I couldn’t list out my normal jargon I have used for years within the insurance industry, so I have to stick to common themes in companies. Things like - organisational skills, communication skills, writing skills, computer skills, thinking skills etc. And I have to draw experience from jobs and put them in a “different language” so that others outside the insurance industry can understand them. And I had to do 3 different resumes for all 3 different positions!

The process actually forced me to focus on what I’m really good at. Because I was trying to find common themes among companies, I did not have the luxury to mask my abilities (or inabilities!) under the various jargon. And I had to think hard for examples such as writing skills - I could say that i have a blog, which doesn’t say much about my writing skills! Instead, I put down in my CV about that time when I translated a Chinese article into English for a tai chi magazine - anything goes i guess.

So if you’re thinking of changing career, try writing a resume for it first. Write a resume for your ideal career. Go wild. Assume that it is somewhere out there. You might find out what you’re really good at, and possibly also find out what you really want to do. Hey, it’s a very low risk way to find out more about yourself before quitting your day job!