How to get a career in content using your transferable writing skills.
If you’re looking to get into content writing as a full-time career, it can be hard to know where to get started!
Let’s dive right into some questions to ask yourself on the journey to becoming a content writer, whether you’re a fresh graduate or seasoned professional looking for a career change.
What are my transferable skills?
You definitely have these, but it can be hard to tease them out from what you did in a previous job, or studies that apply to content writing. Try these:
Essay writing which shows analytical writing skills.
Making presentations for a boss suggests you have executive-level writing skills.
Email creation to persuade executives to approve projects is parallel to sales writing.
Letter writing to schools to support your studies shows applications of formality.
Report creation suggests you dominate to-the-point writing.
Social media posting for engagement is essentially self-marketing writing.
Participation in online forums suggests creativity and social communication skills.
Naming products or features shows you understand the need to communicate clearly.
Preparing speeches for colleagues implies you can write above your station.
No doubt, some of these are in your skillset! Now you have a handful of examples, ask yourself...
Do others know about my writing skills?
It's not enough to know what makes you special, you need to get it into the public eye.
Highlight relevant experience on your LinkedIn, your CV, and any cover letters you send out. Try to show how those transferable skills make you relevant to content roles, even if you have no previous experience. For example:
University of Imaginary, 2018 - 2022
Wrote outstanding entrance letter, remarked on by all professors for persuasive communication.
Developed 10 in-depth written reports on behalf of senior investigators, utilising succinct but educational language.
Launched an online blog about life at University of Imaginary that helped junior students learn from my lived experience.
A job-based example:
Data Analyst at Unreal Company, 2019 - present
Inspired new ideas for marketing team, through user data and information gathering as well as proactive investigation.
Wrote and presented monthly reports to the wider team that required simple explanations of complex topics to non-experts.
Shared presentation production with my superiors, leaning on my skills in succinct communication to give intuitive data interpretations.
Do you get the idea? Now that you’ve found your transferable skills, and added them into your LinkedIn and CV, it’s time to start applying to content jobs.
Ready to get started?
Write Wiser's consultants have helped many people perfect their own university applications, career pitches, and professional profiles by guiding them to identify their own unique stories. So, if you'd like professional support expressing what makes you stand out, do get in touch.
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