Resume template · Updated October 2026
Resume template for a nontraditional career path
Short answer
Olivia suits a winding career because it prints skills right under the summary, so the thread that links your jobs is clear before a reader meets four unrelated titles. The fictional sample went from touring stage manager to running a ceramics business to brewery events to coworking operations, and now applies for an operations manager role at an arts nonprofit.
Download the nontraditional career path sample
Jamie is a fictional operations manager. Replace every detail with your own before you send it.
The files are made in your browser by Resumity's own exporters, from this sample. The builder opens it as your own resume: click any line to replace it. Free plan, no watermark.
Why Olivia suits a nontraditional career path resume
Olivia prints the summary and skills before work experience, which lets the sample's real throughline (schedules, budgets, vendors and small teams) be read before the job titles. Its full-width blue header band stands out on screen, a reasonable choice for arts, events and startup employers who expect some personality from applicants.
Second choice: Daniel. Daniel keeps the same skills-before-experience order but swaps the blue band for rounded grey heading pills, a calmer page for a more formal employer.
What goes in each section, in Olivia's order
Olivia prints its sections in a fixed order, the same in the PDF and the Word file. Here is that order for this sample, and what to put in each section.
- Professional Summary. Name the thread first, in the target job's language, then show it running through two or three of your past roles. A reader should be able to say in one sentence why your path leads to this job.
- Skills. Group skills by the thread rather than by the job that taught them. Bookkeeping from the shop, vendor contracts from the brewery and crew schedules from the theatre all sit together, which makes a mixed history look deliberate.
- Work Experience. Keep reverse chronological order with real dates, because a varied path still needs a timeline someone can follow. Recent jobs get three or four bullets; older, less related ones get one or two, chosen to fit the thread.
- Projects. A long-running side project that spans several stages of your path earns its own entry. The sample's makers market runs through the shop and event years and shows the same skills outside paid work.
- Education. An unrelated degree stays. It accounts for those years and often explains part of the path; one line with no coursework is enough.
The sample resume as text
The same content as the files above, so you can copy a line or compare it with your own.
Jamie Lindqvist
Operations Manager, Arts and Events
Asheville, NC | jamie.lindqvist@example.com | (828) 555-0115 | linkedin.com/in/sample-jamie-lindqvist
Operations coordinator whose career has run through touring theatre, a small ceramics business, brewery events and a coworking space, always in the role of keeping people, money and schedules on track. Looking for an operations manager position at an arts or community nonprofit.
Experience
Operations Coordinator, Foundry Commons Coworking, Asheville, NC (05/2022 to Present)
- Run daily operations for a 180-member coworking space: building access, vendor contracts, room bookings and the front desk rota.
- Moved member onboarding from paper forms to an online system, cutting setup for new members from about a week to a day.
- Track a $90,000 annual facilities budget and report to the owner each month.
- Plan about 40 member events a year, from lunchtime workshops to a 300-guest anniversary party.
Events and Taproom Operations Lead, Blue Ridge Brewing Company, Asheville, NC (03/2019 to 04/2022)
- Booked and ran weekly live music and private events with a team of six part-time staff.
- Negotiated food truck and band agreements and kept the events calendar for the whole brewery.
- Introduced a weekly count of event supplies that ended weekend shortages.
Owner, Lindqvist Clay (self-employed), Asheville, NC (09/2016 to 02/2019)
- Ran an online and market-stall ceramics business, handling the production schedule, pricing, shipping and bookkeeping in QuickBooks.
- Sold through two local shops on consignment and at about 15 markets a year.
Stage Manager (freelance), Regional touring theatre productions, Various US cities (06/2012 to 08/2016)
- Ran rehearsal and performance schedules for touring crews of up to 14 people.
- Kept show budgets and per diem records and booked travel between venues.
Projects
Riverbend Makers Market (volunteer organiser): Twice-yearly market for local artists and makers, 2017 to Present.
- Grew the market from 25 to 70 vendors and moved applications and stall payments online.
- Recruit and schedule about 15 volunteers for each market day.
Education
Bachelor of Arts, Theatre Arts, Greenbrier State University (05/2012)
Skills
Operations coordination, Event logistics, Vendor contracts, Budget tracking, Staff and volunteer rotas, Asana, QuickBooks Online, Google Workspace, Square, Calm problem-solving, Coordinating volunteers, Clear written instructions
How to make the sample yours
Find the thread before you write anything
Look across your history for the work you kept doing in every role: organising people, fixing processes, teaching, selling. That phrase becomes your headline and the opening words of the summary.
Keep every title, choose different bullets
Titles stay exactly as they were. What changes is which duties you show: for a stage manager applying to operations, "ran schedules for a 14-person touring crew" matters more than calling cues.
Write self-employment like a business
Give the shop or freelance work a business name or "Self-employed", and write bullets about customers, money, suppliers and systems. "Owner" is accurate for a one-person business; "CEO" is not.
Drop detours that do not serve the target
A three-month seasonal job or a short stint far from the thread can go, as long as no gap of more than about six months opens up. If one would, keep that job as a single line.
Tell the story in the cover letter
The resume shows the thread; the cover letter can explain how one job led to the next in three or four sentences. Leave that narrative out of the bullets.
Keywords to keep where they are true
Terms this kind of resume is usually searched for. Use the posting's exact wording, and only for work you have done.
- operations coordination
- event logistics
- vendor management
- budget tracking
- scheduling
- process improvement
- member services
- inventory management
- small business operations
- contract negotiation
- volunteer coordination
- Asana
- QuickBooks
- program operations
Mistakes to avoid
- A functional resume that lists skills with no dates or employers. With a varied history, a missing timeline makes readers wonder what is being hidden.
- Explaining every career move in the summary. One sentence names the thread, and the jobs below prove it.
- Grand titles for small ventures, such as "Founder and CEO" of a solo shop. Plain titles hold up when someone checks.
- Listing every short gig and side job. Too many entries make a varied path look scattered.
How the sample PDF reads in text extractors
We exported this sample with Resumity's PDF exporter in Chrome on 2026-10-29 and read the file back with three open-source text extractors. This shows whether software that turns a PDF into text can recover it; it is not a test of any commercial applicant tracking system. How we test templates.
| Extractor | Name, email, phone | Headings | Bullets intact |
|---|---|---|---|
| pdf.js 4.10.38 | All found | 5 of 5 | 13 of 13 |
| pdftotext (Xpdf) 4.00 | All found | 5 of 5 | 13 of 13 |
| pypdf 6.13.0 | All found | 5 of 5 | 13 of 13 |
Frequently asked questions
How do I explain a nontraditional career path on a resume?
Name the common thread in your headline and summary, then choose bullets from each job that show it. The full story of each move belongs in the cover letter or the interview.
Can I leave jobs off my resume if they do not fit?
Yes, short or unrelated jobs can go, as long as that does not leave a long unexplained gap. A resume is a selection rather than a complete record, but the dates you do show must be accurate.
How do I list running my own small business?
As a normal job entry: a title such as "Owner", the business name or "Self-employed", dates and bullets about customers, money and systems. Figures from your own records are fine if you keep them conservative.
Is a functional resume better for a nonlinear career?
Usually not. A combination layout, with skills grouped near the top and a dated work history below, shows your strengths without hiding the timeline, which is how this sample is built.
Does a degree in an unrelated subject hurt?
No. List it in one line under education. If it explains part of your path, as a theatre degree does for a stage manager, it even helps the story.
Will applicant tracking systems read this Olivia PDF?
The sample PDF read back with its contact details, all 5 section headings and all 13 bullets intact in three open-source text extractors (pdf.js, pdftotext and pypdf). Commercial systems such as Workday, Greenhouse or Taleo were not tested, and each employer configures its own.