With the economy continuing to recover and further regulations being put into place, many financial services firms are becoming increasingly confident in their economic prospects. As a result, many are going the extra mile in investing in their infrastructure and reassessing their hiring strategies to bring more senior-level talent on board, both to continue compliance and reporting efforts and to expand certain areas of business as the firms experience growth. With the addition of newer firms that are just beginning their staffing efforts, such as growing Business Development Companies (BDCs), hiring is now on an exponential climb for accounting professionals in the financial services industry.

However, the continued growth of BDCs paired with the sudden need for senior-level hires in general is creating a skills gap companies are scrambling to keep up with. Due to the much lower demand for professionals in Internal Audit, Corporate Tax, Partnership Tax, and Internal Controls just a few years ago, for example, there is an insufficient number of candidates with enough years of industry-specific experience in these roles to satisfy their demand. As a result, many companies are now have to hire outside their industry, focusing on transferable skills rather than years of industry-specific experience.

This creates an excellent opportunity for accounting professionals looking to transfer their skills into a new industry. Those experienced in SEC reporting, for example, can make the switch from a non-financial services company to a publicly traded private equity firm, hedge fund or BDC. Internal Auditors are needed across the board, and hedge funds are specifically in need of professionals with corporate accounting experience in addition to the traditional fund accountants they have consistently hired in the past.

However, some hiring managers are still hesitant to stray out of their industry when hiring. So as a candidate looking to change fields, what can you do? “To begin, make sure you emphasize all of your transferable skills—such as SEC reporting and any relevant skills and software proficiencies—on a highly visible portion of your resume,” advises Michael Cooke, Executive Vice President at The Execu|Search Group. “Then, be sure to thoroughly research each company you apply for to better acquaint yourself with their goals and trajectories, and address how you can use these skills to grow with their company in your cover letter.”

Once you secure an interview, be prepared with some talking points on your skills and experiences and how they relate to specific aspects of the description of the position. Also be sure to have some case studies, or stories of your prior success with specific, related projects, available to discuss. “It isn’t enough to simply list the skills you have,” says Michael. “You have to be ready to show the employer that you’re capable of applying those skills to your possible future position.”

Finally, emphasize that you’re a quick learner and tell the employer how you plan on acquiring any industry-related knowledge a seasoned professional in that industry may have over you, such as performing research, continuing education, seeking training opportunities, and liaising with more experienced coworkers. This will not only assure the hiring manager that you’re aware of what the position requires, but that you’re ready to hit the ground running should you be chosen for it.