For example, if your entire resume is filled with healthcare experience and you’re now seeking a position in law enforcement, it’s up to you to show the employer how important and relevant the skills you used in the past are for your new target jobs.

How can you be sure the employer knows you are perfect for the job? Follow the following advice to help showcase your transferable skills, and no one will question if you are qualified. 

Identify your skills. You can’t showcase your transferable skills until you know which the employer will think are the most important. What did you do in your previous positions on a daily basis? Make a list. Once your list is complete, pair skills you used with each task with job descriptions that interest you. Pay special attention to skills you can easily use in different organizations. Don’t ignore your “soft skills,” or emotional intelligence. For example, are you a good communicator? Do you have a knack for leading teams? Maybe you’re a great negotiator. Identify your best skills and include these on your list.

Research opportunities. Once you have your lists, plug your skills (your keywords) into job-board search engines to see what types of positions come up. For example, you may include terms such as “supervise,” “oversee projects,” or “leadership” in your searches. Keep an open mind and look for a pattern or type of job that keeps coming up.

Use your target employer’s language to describe your previous experience. You don’t want to make the employer try to figure out what you did in the past. Avoid jargon, abbreviations and other words specific to your old industry. Describe your background, skills, experiences and accomplishments using easy to understand language that relates to what you want to do next. For example, if you were solving problems, managing people and overcoming obstacles in your past job, describe that background in words your new employer will understand and appreciate.

Use social media tools to feature your expertise. One of the best things about social media is it allows you to showcase what you know and to communicate that expertise to exponential numbers of people. When you share news and information relevant to your industry, you become a go-to source. People will naturally view you as an expert in your arena, which helps fill in perceived experience gaps.

Network all the time. When you’re changing careers, your network is even more important than ever because you may need to rely on someone to take a chance on you. Make an effort to tell people what you’re doing. For example, attend professional networking events and take on volunteer roles. Ideally, you’ll be able to fill a role that uses some of the same skills you’ll need on the job. The best way to showcase your transferable skills is to use those skills with people who can influence your career path.

Focus on your transferable skills and put these action tips to use and you’ll discover how much easier it is to land a job in a new industry.

Who qualifies as a mentor? A mentor can be anyone willing to take a strong interest in another person’s professional success. Typically, the mentor is more experienced and connected in the job seeker’s field, but that doesn’t necessarily mean older. If you’ve changed careers, it’s possible you’ll connect with a younger mentor who has more experience and connections in your new field.

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It’s worth looking for a mentor to take on the following roles:

Suggest Strengths

Sometimes, our most marketable strengths aren’t obvious to us. A mentor can hone in on what you offer and suggest how to market those skills to be attractive to your target employers.

Point Out Weaknesses

Is a weakness preventing you from landing your dream job? Perhaps it requires someone experienced in your field to notice you’re missing a key skill necessary to win the job. A mentor can step in and help you fill in the missing pieces so you’re competitive for the job you want.

Create a Plan

A mentor can help you strategize about a plan to accomplish your goals. Whether this involves focusing on strengths or addressing weaknesses, the mentor can help guide you to your goal based on his or her experience in the field.

Offer Connections

The best mentors open up their networks to their mentees and make introductions likely to lead to new professional relationships. A great mentor can make all the difference for a job seeker, because all it takes to find an opportunity is one great connection. An experienced mentor can be the bridge to that connection for you.

Give Advice

It’s great to read job search advice, but sometimes, having someone with their personal best interest at heart makes all the difference for job seekers. A mentor can provide insider knowledge on everything related to your search. For example, how to apply, when to follow up, how to prepare for an interview and what’s negotiable in an offer.

Teach You By Example

One of the best ways to learn how to do something well is by watching someone else who’s already mastered what you hope to accomplish. A mentor can teach you what you need to know to get the job you want.

Push You to Succeed

Sometimes, you need a pep talk from someone who has been in your situation and succeeded. A mentor can give you that boost and encourage you to stick to your goals.

Inspire You

The best mentors will inspire you to be the very best you can be, which should lead to new professional opportunities.

You’ll never know how much a mentor can help you unless you try to connect with someone willing to serve in that role for you.

You know you’re going to be seeing lots of new and old friends and family members this holiday season, so you may as well make the most of the season to improve your opportunities for jobs or gigs! Make this season your best ever; end this year with some strong holiday networking. Keep these Thanksgiving networking tips in mind.

Self-assess. Know what job you want; be specific and targeted. Identify companies where you’d like to work and be prepared to mention several organizations’ names. Do not plan to be the “I can do anything” job seeker. While you may think it’s a good idea to keep your options open, this approach usually backfires. No one wants to hire or refer someone who seems unfocused or confused about next steps.

Learn how to introduce yourself. We’ve all heard of the “two-minute elevator speech.” Forget everything you know about that and pare your talk down to 30 seconds or less. In less than 100 words (35-50 is better), practice saying what skills you have and mention a key accomplishment. While you won’t launch into this pitch the moment you meet someone, when you’re prepared to discuss your best professional qualities, you’ll be able to make the most of a good contact.

Research the guest list. It’s always best to be prepared, and when you do a little sleuthing, it’s not difficult to find out who plans to be at the event. Many invitations are electronic, and the social profiles of attendees may be prominently displayed on RSVPs. Look up the people who plan to attend. Find their LinkedIn profiles and read their Twitter streams. Identify several interesting contacts and make a point to speak to them.

Keep in mind: you want to identify people who could know someone working at your targeted list of companies. Be aware: these networking contacts may come in surprising packages. For example, the neighborhood busy-body probably has all kinds of great contacts. So does the bartender at your neighborhood pub—or the person tending bar at the party you’re attending. Don’t cross anyone off your list of good people to meet.

Create snazzy business cards. Even if you’re not currently working, you should have professional looking business cards that give the recipient easy access to your social media profiles (for example, your LinkedIn URL). Include your pitch on the card. For example, for an accountant: “Save clients an average of 20% off their tax bill using time tested, effective accounting strategies.”

Dress the part. Even if it’s a casual party, make sure to choose something to wear that looks sharp and in style. If you haven’t bought clothing in years, it’s a good idea to shop the sales and pick out one or two items that really flatter and make you feel confident. Consider wearing a conversational piece to help make yourself memorable. A colorful, in-style scarf or tie can do the trick.

Be a listener. Make sure people don’t sense that you have an agenda when you meet them. Ask questions so you can learn something about the person’s hobbies and interests. Use your research to help you ask quality questions and be a good listener. Everyone likes to talk about themselves, so if you’re a good listener, people will remember you.

Ask for a follow-up meeting. Use your in-person networking time to request another meeting in a quieter location. For example, if you’ve had a great talk, and you think there is potential for you to be able to help each other, say, “I’d love to follow up with you and explore how we may be able to be good resources for each other. How about if I send an email tomorrow suggesting some dates to meet for coffee?” You may even want to ask the best way to get in touch—email or phone.

Say thank you—and good bye. Don’t forget your manners. Be sure to thank the party organizer, even if you have to stand around to have an audience. It’s extra nice to send a card or a note after the event. Remember, you want to make a positive impression. When you go the extra mile to say thank you, people will remember that.

Keep in touch. Depending on the nature of your interactions at the party, you have a lot of options for following up. For example, if you know a new contact’s daughter is moving to Chicago soon, you can send a nice note with an article about fun things for newcomers to do in the Chicago area. Always make a point to connect via social media channels—especially LinkedIn. Make sure you follow through with anything you said you’d do during your first conversation and don’t squander potential opportunities by failing to keep in touch. When you do, you’ll have a better chance of adding new allies to your job search efforts.

Identify Your Relevant Skills

The first step to a great career story is to outline your best skills and accomplishments. What do you want people to know about your work history? How can you explain what you’ve done in your past in a way that convinces your target employer to want to hire you? You need to understand what you offer before you can decide how to market yourself. Think about examples of times when you navigated problems and challenges at work and when you delivered measurable results.

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One easy way to help you decide on a focus for your story is to study the job descriptions that interest you. Highlight all of the skills listed on the job description you’ve used. Use the highlighted skills to help you decide what parts of your story will interest the employer.

Mold Your Stories

With a list of skills and accomplishments that interest the employer, you can begin to outline your career story for each part of your job search.

Networking. Share your story in person and online. Showcase your best skills in your LinkedIn profile. Use the “Summary” to feature a conversational bio demonstrating what you do and why you’re good at it. You can use the first person (I, me or my) in the summary to speak directly to readers in LinkedIn. For example, if you’re in customer service, may say, “Growing up, I always helped all of my friends solve their problems. Today, I do it for a living.” When you meet in person, remember to tell your story succinctly and directly. No one is interested in long, drawn out tales about your skills and background. Narrow your story to a quick “pitch” of about 30-40 words at the most.

In your resume. All of your bullet points should focus on your career story. Include important information about how you solved problems by using the “PAR” method; include details about the problem, the action you took and the results you created. Focus extensively on the job description and incorporate keywords that match the employer’s needs when you explain why you are a good match.

In the interview. Don’t schedule an interview until you’re ready with several stories that will address typical interview questions. Use the “PAR” approach when you prepare so you’ll be able to discuss problems you’ve solved, explain how (what actions you took) and discuss results during the interview. Spend the majority of your time explaining how you overcame the problem and the rest of your time detailing the results of your efforts. Ideally, you’ll mention the long-term impact you had on your organization. For example, “One year later, the office is still following the protocols I instituted.”

Remember, in all cases, be brief, focus on results, address the items the employer wants to know and practice your stories so you’re able to flexibly adjust based on the situation and question. Once you identify the stories to tell, you’ll be well on your way to job search success!

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How can you really make the most of time you spend using social media?

Identify the best networks for your industry. If you’re putting out amazing content on networks where no one will see it, the value is questionable. Identify where your network spends time online and share content there. Options include LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, Google+, Instagram, Pinterest, YouTube, Periscope — the list is endless. It’s up to you to decide where you’ll find your audience.

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Create magnetic profiles. You want to attract your audience to your online profiles. What can you include in your profiles to make sure people are both drawn to it and impressed once they get there. Start by creating a LinkedIn headline with the important elements of key words and a direct pitch. Don’t use your job title!

Decide what you should post online. What do you want people to know about you and your expertise? That’s what you should share.

Be active on social media. Having a profile isn’t enough. If you want to impress and engage, you can’t have stale and dull profiles.

Showcase your critical thinking and writing skills. These are important for just about any job, and it’s easy to let people know you have this skillset.

Pay attention to what organizations that interest you post online. Follow their accounts and keep up with what they post so you can use that to your advantage.

Don’t post anything that will give employers pause. If you’re mentioning your illegal drug use, just assume you’ve missed an opportunity with most employers who notice it.

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Incorporate these plans into your networking:

Learn how to introduce yourself. This is more important than you may think, and you’ll want to spend time planning out your pitch so it will interest other people, not bore them to tears. (In other words, don’t plan out a two-minute elevator story. It is unlikely to amaze and impress your new contacts.)

Do not go around telling everyone you are looking for a job. No matter what your friends told you, if you focus on your status as a job seeker, people may lose interest in your story from the start.

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Be generous with your expertise and identify ways to help your network. What problems do they have that you can help solve?

Listen carefully. Don’t talk so much when you network. People appreciate a good listener. Let that be you.

Find new places to network. You can meet a new contact while in line at the post office, but it may be worth your time to target professional groups where your target audience is likely to gather.

Track your contacts. Use all the tools at your disposal so you don’t waste any opportunities. If you meet someone and never follow up, that’s a lost opportunity.

Click through for details about these topics, including specifics about how to create a great pitch, how to keep the proverbial doors open when you’re networking, details about ways to be helpful for your network, techniques to be a better listener and suggestions about how to track your contacts.

Read the entire article on Vault.com.

If you’d like a guide to help you through every step of your networking journey, I authored one for Vault.com, and it’s available now. Vault is known for its influential rankings, ratings and reviews of thousands of employers and hundreds of internship programs. Vault.com also shares information about what it’s really like to work in an industry, company or profession—and how to position yourself to launch and build the career you want. You can find the Vault Guide to Networking available online.

In the meantime, click through to learn:

• Compelling statistics to prove networking deserves your attention.
• What is networking — and what it is not.
• Networking myths.
• How to network for success (including some tips to help you become a networking sleuth).
• How to look beyond the obvious.
• Understand what you offer.
• Why networking isn’t about asking for a job.
• How to time your networking to your best advantage.
• Why it’s important to be a good listener.
• Why it’s important to be persistent.

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Read the entire article on Vault.com.