Ageism is not an uncommon concern for those switching careers. It can work both positively and negatively depending on how you present it. The main thing is to make sure that you do not seem out-of-touch or outdated on your resume. Instant call outs could be things like "use of MS Word, WPM, etc". On the positive side, years of experience in transferrable skills, such as drafting (like you mentioned), and managing an independent studio show that you are seasoned and have good worth ethic and discretion. Do you have experience running a team, finances, managing stakeholders, etc? That's an angle that shows more managerial skill and perspective that a new grad typically doesn't have.

Do you have PE or P Eng (credentials are location dependent)? What kind of engineering are you specialized in? Do you have a portfolio?

At the top of your resume, you can have a sentence or two with your elevator pitch. Try not to keep it too fluffy and keep it concise and easy to remember. Some of the other life experiences can go in the cover letter. Interesting school projects can be added to a github or added to the bottom in an "Interests" section. (I believe that some of the newer tech companies are starting to ask for this).

It's not necessarily true, but I think it's easy to get jaded when we hear a lot of emphasis on ATS. ATS is mostly used for light screening, and rarely used for "volume" screening. After all, employers want to find good candidates, and not unnecessarily screen people out. I have found that more people get cut out from not following the instructions than ATS.

Make sure that your resume is easy to parse. That means it should be text-based (word or PDF). I have a hard time with JPG and image-based resumes and it doesn't print very well. Make sure your resume has a single-column. The flashy "designer" resumes look cool, but if you're not in design or marketing, it might not screen through as well.

The winning resumes are concise. Word soup won't get very far.

Focus on the transferrable skills and results of your past positions. You may need to rethink what is relevant and no longer relevant on your resume. To do this, you may need to research a few target job posters and assess what are the common qualifications they are looking for. Sometimes, you may have most of the qualifications they are looking for. It also helps to speak to the magnitude of the work that you did. eg: The industries that you worked with, the amount of people that you worked with, and $ amount.

A good technique is to have a "dump resume". This is where you brainstorm everything you did and your results. Do not worry about the page limit. Once you are done, then you copy and paste the relevant parts into your good copy.

In your cover letter, you should speak to why you want to switch careers. This way, they will know that you intentionally are making a change in career and aren't leaving wondering if you would go back.

There are many jobs in most industries that only require a bach degree as the baseline education, with no preference for specialization.

You could still qualify for data science/data analytics jobs with just excel, and a bit of updating yourself online (eg Lynda) on R or python. It just depends on the learning curve you would be willing to put the effort in.

The main question is to find some areas you think you would be good in and try a few of those. Tailor your resume to a few different types, then adjust as you find out what you like/don't like. I have met some folks who were high school teachers that have turned into HR Training and Development Specialists, Meditators, and some who have worked as managers in government. In regards to jobs that work less with people, there is payroll and bookkeeping, although in some regions, you may need some certification/licensing (check your local postings to see), but generally those are considered easier to get into.

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The goal of the resume/application is to get an interview. Most recruiters scan a resume within 6-7 seconds. This means that your resume should be concise and easy to scan for humans AND ATS (software). It's important to read the job poster carefully for instructions as it's very easy to get screened out if something required is missing. For example, in some corporate/government postings, there are very specific instructions and documents you may need. Additionally, resumes should be single columned. The fancy "Designer" resumes or resumes with multiple columns are difficult for ATS to parse. It also helps to match the keywords if you have the time to go through it. This way, you get a better match and a stronger bias for the recruiters as you would be the most similar to the poster.

If you have any referrals or know anyone who works at that company, this could potentially be an easy way to get to the interview stage.

For being interviewed, it depends on where you're at. You can look at glassdoor (website) to prepare and research interview questions for some companies. It also gives you an idea of the salary range. Another website is payscale. I find it very helpful if a candidate comes prepared with real samples or a portfolio of their work. This is relevant for non-art professions too. If you are a business professional, perhaps you have made reports, marketing materials, etc. Pictures speak louder than words.

There have been anagogical experiments of resumes with a gap and without a gap. The results were that the same resumes that had a gap did not fare as well in screening. A solution to this is to "fill" that gap with listing it as a "sabbatical", caregiver, or projects you might have done. If you put caregiver in and they ask, just say you had to deal with a family situation that has now been resolved. That way, it keeps their mind at ease.

Radio silence is not uncommon as there tends to be many applicants who apply. Employers might want to keep the doors open in case they have a vacancy on short notice and call you later. This disincentives them from telling you that you didn't get the job. It may or may not be due to the gap at all.

When you meant "local", did you mean USA or another country? Other countries may have different resume conventions, so you may want to look into that. For example, in some parts of Asia and Europe, it is not uncommon to attach a headshot in the resume. Certain countries may expect certain personal information as well. In France, it is considered strange to talk about yourself in first person in the cover letter (I'm not sure why, but it is the standard). These practices are the opposite in UK, USA, and Canada.

If you're not getting enough responses or invitations for interviews, you might need to revise your resume and application strategy. If you had interviews but not enough offers, you may need to revise your cover letter. Your cover letter is usually reviewed at the later stages.

Without looking at your resume and based on the post, it may be possible that you need to emphasize the transferrable skills and align yourself more with the job posters to be more compelling. I would not delete your international experience, as that would put you in competition with new grads.

It depends. In most countries, there are protections against unlawful discrimination at the job assessment stage, meaning that it theoretically should be safe to disclose. It is true that there is some bias so it's important to handle it tactfully.

A good way to deal with this is to consider if your need for a medical accommodation (any adjustments) is relevant to the interview stage. If not, then there is no need to disclose at that point. Common examples are, if you lost your voice and are sick and need to reschedule for the interview, or having adjustments to an interview because of hearing difficulties.

Regardless, in my personal opinion, it is better to leave it up to when you need it. If you need it for the job later down the road, that can be discussed and determined later. Don't leave yourself open to discrimination. At the same time, you don't want them to be biased because it may seem like extra work for the candidates (when in fact it is a normal part of the manager workload). Some people are of the mindset to disclose it earlier on to see if they're an employer worth working for. In reality, it may take time to figure out the accommodation and it has to be adjusted for each job, so it might not be the best way to screen.

Tell me about yourself: This is your chance to pitch yourself and help me remember you. Prepare an elevator pitch.

Why did you leave your last job: Are there any red flags? How do you treat those who you no longer have a relationship with?

Walk me through your resume: I want to make sure you are telling the truth on your resume and can recall it

Why is there a gap in employment: Are there any red flags? Are you going to be away again?

Tell me a challenge or conflict you've faced at work and how did you deal with it: Do you work professionally and tactfully?

Your weaknesses: Are you actively working on it and how do you overcome it

Avoid trying to "hide" gaps with functional resumes or removing dates. These are instant red flags. Have an explanation ready to explain in the interviews, but do not make it a big deal.

It is fine to take time to work on themselves and figure out what they are interested in. A good way to get something on their resume is by doing projects or volunteer work that is relevant to what they are interested in. It's a low commitment way and lesser barrier to enter. You can write it just like work experience on your resume.

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1 logo is fine. Additional photos belong in a portfolio and not a resume. (Exception is that in some countries like Japan, candidates are expected to attach a headshot).

I do not recommend "skill bars" on a resume. This is because it is very arbitrary and not factful. For example, if you are a 10/10 in excel, does this mean you can program and recreate excel? Can you do everything in excel? If you can do VBA but can't do linear regression, is that a 5/10 or 8/10? It's overall not a good way to assess candidates. I would rather have something more concise and concrete such as hard skills.

Yes, most hiring managers prefer traditional resume formats. Some design is okay, but try to keep it easy to read, single-column (easy for ATS to parse), and sufficient margin space (managers like to write in the columns). You also cannot predict who is the hiring manager, who may be a non-designer. This would be the safest bet.

The process is organization/company specific.

Generally, I give a timeframe/deadline for a final response and try to reach out with what correspondence we have on file.

I did not need permission, as I am the HR advisor and I help the employers mitigate potential risks. You never know if there is a good reason for a delay in response. Eg: candidate was in the hospital.

I'm not sure where you're at in your career, but the easiest way to "Fast-track" is internships.

In the job poster, they will tend to list some things under essential and others as asset. Essential = must have, and Asset = optional.

Generally, entry level would be 5 years of less. Yes, it is quite a paradox. They are trying to get the person who gets the closest amount but usually not get someone who has exactly 5.

An exception is the government and military. They tend to be very strict on these requirements.

Yes I am. You can find me via hrmagnet.ca