How to Write a Career Change Cover Letter

A career change cover letter is used when an individual is looking for a position in a different career field to the one they are currently working in. As you may know, a cover letter is used to introduce yourself to an employer, but it can also be used to further elaborate on your circumstances. In this guide, we'll be showing you a sample cover letter for career change needs.

# Career Change Cover Letter Sample
# Tips for Writing Career Change Cover Letter
# How to Edit Career Change Cover Letter Template

Career Change Cover Letter Template

This is a free cover letter template for career change. Free Download and customize it according to the sample text below.

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Career change Cover Letter Sample (Text)

In this section, you'll find our career change cover letter sample, as well as a guide on how to structure each section as we go through it:

Start with contact information. Yours and the company's contact information should be the address headers of your professional cover letter. It should look a little like this:

"Your Name
Address Line 1
Address Line 2
Address Line 3
Postcode
Phone Number
Email

Company Manager
Company Name
Address Line 1
Address Line 2
Address Line 3
Postcode
Phone Number
Email

Day/Month/Year"

Address a person at the start of your letter. If you can't find the name of an individual or manager to direct your cover letter to, call the company and ask, or use something ambiguous. For example:

"Dear Recruiting Representative,"

Now add a subject line. A subject line is used to direct the letter reader's attention to the reason behind the letter before they read the whole page:

"Re: Open position for Customer Service Manager"

Start the first paragraph. Your first paragraph should explain why you're writing to the company. It usually briefly outlines a previous or current position that you can relate to the job you're applying for, but, for the purposes of a career change cover letter, you'll be noting your current position, but telling the reader that you want to change careers. See below for example:

"I am writing to express my interest in the Customer Service Manager position that you have advertised on your website. I am currently working as an Operations Manager and I am looking for a change in career path. My CV is attached for your viewing leisure."

Second paragraph. The second paragraph of your cover letter for career change purposes should outline your skills and experience which you can relate to the job position that you're applying for. This is vital in a career change cover letter. See below:

"In my current position as an Operations Manager, I have spent a large amount of time around clients, getting to grips with their needs, and soothing any disputes that happen. In addition to these customer service skills, I am highly organised, and have great attention to detail. I am able to recognise recent and frequent clients, and I have build up a good rapport for being the friendly go-to face of the company."

Third paragraph. In the third paragraph you should further outline your experiences, your skills, and what makes you stand out as an applicant. For example:

"In my current position, I lead a team of 6 associates, all of which I have trained personally. Some of them came to the company as interns, and others were brought aboard as associates straight away. It's my job to train them in human resource tasks, and how to deal with particular clients that need specialised services."

Closing paragraph. The closing paragraph in a career change cover letter in used to further elaborate on why you believe this new position would be an effective career step to you. It is here that you appeal to the employer to give you a chance, based on your skills:

"I hope that you'll find my skills and experiences interesting enough to consider a face-to-face meeting. I am very excited about the prospect of changing careers, and this position at your company feels like a perfect fit. I can identify with your mission to provide excellent customer service, and you'll benefit from a manager who has had experience in dealing with customers and training employees."

Closing statement. Politely inform the employer that you're looking forward to hearing from them soon, and sign-off with a closing salutation and your name.

Tips for Writing Career Change Cover Letter

The above career change cover letter sample with its structure broken down should help you write your own career change cover letter, but just in case you get stuck, here's a few more tips:

Emphasise your transferable skills. When you're writing a cover letter for career change applications, your transferable skills will be what gets you noticed by the employer.
Highlight your performance. Talk about the things you've done for your current company, the training you've had, the people you've trained, and your successes.
Express a want to work at the new company. It's not just about a change in career, you need to be passionate about the company you're applying for, too.
Don't use text language.
Don't go off on a tangent during your email cover letter and keep it under a page.
Tell a story. Employers like hearing about your experiences, they want to know how you've handled situations, or what your current job is like.

We wish you the best of luck in your career change.

How to Edit Career Change Cover Letter Template

To edit the beautiful career change cover letter template in this page, you need a professional PDF editor: PDFelement. It will help you make any changes to the PDF templates, including the texts, images, graphics, forms etc.