Change career CV: what to look for after redundancy

A career change CV has a different job from a CV that stays in the same field. You are not proving you already hold the title. You are showing that the work you have done maps onto the work you want next. After redundancy that can feel urgent. It is not a verdict on you. Redundancy is about the role, not the person.

If you want to start now, open the CV builder. You write every word. It lays out a clean two-page UK CV beside you as you type. Building and previewing is free.

What a career change CV has to do

Recruiters skim. A career change CV has a few seconds to answer three questions:

• What do you want to do now?
• What can you already do that fits?
• Where did you prove it?

If the first third of the page is an old job title and a list of duties, the new field never gets a look in. Lead with skills and a short personal statement that names the direction. Keep the work history. Do not pretend the last decade did not happen. Translate it.

Career change CV advice, and career change CV examples, only help when they show transfer. If an example still reads like the old job with a new title, skip it. If you are working out how to write a CV for a career change, start with the profile and the skills, not the oldest job.

Skills-first or chronological

Layout	Lead with	Suits	Watch for
Skills-first	What you can do, then where you did it	Career changers, returners, people moving field after redundancy	At least four concrete skills, not slogans
Chronological	Most recent job, then older roles	People staying in the same field	Old titles that lock you to the last sector

Skills-first is the layout to try first if you are changing career. You can switch later. Chronological still works if the new role is a close cousin of the old one and the titles already read across.

How to write a career change CV

Write it yourself. Nobody else sat in your jobs.

Personal statement (profile). Four or five lines, not a biography. First line: the role family you want. Next: two or three strengths you can back with work you have already done. Last: the setting you are aiming at. Leave out any line that could sit on anyone’s CV.

Career change CV personal statement examples are useful when they show transfer, not poetry. Here is a short example with a made-up background. It is an illustration, not someone’s real CV.

Example: “Supervisor moving into project coordination. 12 years planning rotas, contractors and budgets in logistics, used to hitting dates with mixed teams. Looking for a junior project coordinator role in housing or local government.”

That names the new field, proves the old work, and does not apologise.

Skills. Pick skills the advert actually asks for. Then add one proof note: a number, a tool, a type of stakeholder. Four real skills beat twelve vague ones. “Stakeholder updates to senior managers” is better than “excellent communicator”.

Work history. Keep dates and employer names. Rewrite the bullets so a stranger in the new field can see the overlap. Cut “responsible for”. Start with a verb and, where you can, a number. Do not write “I”.

Education and training. A short course, licence or volunteer role in the new field can sit high in this section. Your degree still belongs, even if it is old. You do not need to list GCSEs if you have later qualifications.

What UK CVs leave out. Date of birth, age, marital status, nationality, a photo, and National Insurance number.

Length. Aim for two pages. One page often cuts the proof a career changer needs. Three pages is usually padding.

Match the job advert clearly. Read the essential criteria. Use the same plain words where they are true for you. Most applicant tracking systems do not automatically reject CVs. A person still reads them. Clear wording matters more than tricks.

What to look for in a CV tool

You do not need a subscription, an account, or someone else to write it. Before you pay, check:

• You type the words. The tool only lays them out and flags problems.
• There is a skills-first layout, not only a timeline of old titles.
• It uses a single-column UK format with standard headings, so the text stays readable.
• It warns you about phrases like “responsible for”, jobs with no numbers, “I” in bullets, American spellings, and personal details UK CVs leave out.
• You can preview before you pay.
• You pay once. Nothing renews. You can come back and edit.
• There is a matching cover letter, because a career change often needs one short explanation of the move.
• You can check the finished CV against a real advert.

Second Wind is built around that list. You fill in boxes for your details, profile, key skills, work history, education and a cover letter, in your own words. A two-page UK CV takes shape beside you and saves as you type. Choose skills-first if you are changing field. Switch to chronological if you are not. Nobody at Second Wind writes or reviews your CV. You can edit and download again for 12 months.

When a draft is ready, the free CV Match Check lines your wording up with one job advert.

Time off while you still have notice

If you are serving notice and you will have two years’ continuous service by the end of it, you can ask for reasonable time off to look for work or arrange training. The employer only has to pay up to a maximum of 40% of one week’s pay in total (GOV.UK, redundancy: your rights, checked 2026). How you use the hours is up to you: interviews, a short course, or sitting down to rewrite the CV.

This is information, not legal advice. For your own situation, Acas is free on 0300 123 1100, or talk to Citizens Advice.

Write it, then send it

A career change CV is a translation, not a new identity. Keep the facts. Change the order and the words so the next reader can see the fit. You write it.

Start on a skills-first CV you write yourself with Second Wind’s CV builder.