Resume is vital to job-hunters

There are more than 30,000 people off the job and looking for work in Clark County. Of those, only about half are receiving some kind of unemployment insurance support while they try to find new work. Many are facing the reality that the old job is gone forever and only training will give them a chance at something new.

But how do you find a job in a new field when you’ve worked 20 years doing something else?

Elizabeth Garone, writing recently in the Wall Street Journal, asked three recruiting experts for advice. Key to the transition is an effective résumé. But “crafting a résumé that shows the benefits of hiring an industry outsider can be challenging,” she said.

First the basics: Keep your résumé to one page and clutter-free. Make the document pleasing to the eye, easy to read.

Career-switch résumés must highlight transferable skills when describing a former position.

Your professional experience and training should stand on its own without having to categorize yourself, the experts said. Get rid of narrow job titles that you might be seeking. Instead consider a summary statement about what you’re trying to achieve. Make sure to stay focused on your strengths. Some experts counsel against a summary statement but the exception may be if you’re changing careers. List your areas of expertise in two columns near the top.

When it comes to prior employers, be sure to explain what you did there and what career progression might have occurred. Even if something happened 20 years ago, it may be relevant to a new job. Show your career advancement and emphasize training and expertise that fit the new career.

If you’re seeking a senior-level job, it is acceptable to go to a two-page résumé.

Forecast follow

Elsewhere in this newspaper you will find a Columbian 2010 Economic Forecast special section. Our forecasters do a fine job of looking ahead to the new year, as they did Friday at our forecast breakfast. Here are more tidbits from my panel of experts.

• Bart Phillips, president, Columbia River Economic Development Council.

• Because of an oversupply, both residential and commercial construction will “take a sabbatical for the next five to seven years.”

• Local manufacturers are beginning to recover and see niche markets as opportunity.

• Terry Morland, director, Northwest Power and Conservation Planning Council.

• There won’t be much upward pressure on regional power rates.

• Big money will be spent on transmission upgrades.

• Green jobs are real, but not the answer to all our problems.

• Scott Bailey, analyst, Employment Security Department.

• Financial reform is an essential part of the U.S. economic recovery.

• Dean Lookingbill, executive director, Regional Transportation Council.

• A total of $762 million is being spent on infrastructure in Southwest Washington through 2013. The benefits are multiple in terms of jobs and economic growth.

Julia Anderson is The Columbian’s business editor. Reach her at 360-735-4509 or julia.anderson@columbian.com.