Career change resume advice

question. Been learning web development since dec 2016. Want to have a career change from a Appliance Technician to a web developer role. Only problem is I have “official” work related experience to put on my resume. Should I put my previous jobs (which was a appliance technician and other years in sales). Any suggestions?

If I were you, I would have a healthy balance of displaying your past professional experience as well as a clear outline of what you have done with Web Development. In my opinion, your Portfolio that displays your web dev skills will be FAR MORE important than anything on your resume. As you approach this transition, you will need to clearly demonstrate what you can do and what you know. Therefore, having that type of focus on your resume will be the best thing for you to do along with a top-of-the-line portfolio page.

For what its worth, I would also be sure to optimize the heck out of your LinkedIn profile…it’s 2018 and that is more important than what is on a paper resume. Keep that in mind as you switch careers. Last piece of advice is for you to start networking in your local community with other tech people. Add them on LinkedIn, chat with them, build relationships…that will get you a job way faster than a good looking resume!

I listed my unrelated work experience to show a work history. When I see a resume I definitely do wonder about a lack of employment. I didn’t emphasize these though, and the only bullet points I included were the ones that highlighted transferable skills.