Resumé must convince employers that your background is relevant and applicable to their needs

Starting down a new career path in the midst of an economic downturn is fraught with complexities, not the least of which is writing a resumé that explains your revised goals.

"I am a 48-year-old eager to make a career change," writes Lewis St. Croix. "And I need some advice. How do I promote (sell) my resumé so that employers can at least think about taking a possible gamble on me? Are there ways to enhance and present a resumé so that someone, somewhere will at least look at it and say: `Hey, this person may be a potential candidate?'"

St. Croix (a pseudonym) has accurately assessed the challenge confronting him. Reframing his background to appeal to employers outside of his traditional workplace is a sales and promotion project.

A millwright by trade, St. Croix works for a mining company in North Bay. During nearly three decades with the company, he worked his way up through the ranks.

"I started as a labourer," he says. "But I've always been willing to take on new work; I never refused any job they offered me."

This pattern of career development, he now realizes, created a working life largely defined by his employer's needs rather than his own sense of direction. St. Croix wants to change that.

"My passion is occupational health and safety training," he says. "I don't want to work with tools any longer, I want to work with people. I love helping people out and passing on some of my knowledge. And I'm not scared to stand in front of a group of five or 100."

When changing careers, knowing what you truly want to do is an essential first step. It only gets you out of the starting gate, however. To actually enter the race, you need to convince employers in a different line of work altogether that your background is relevant and applicable to their needs.

St. Croix has some advantages. He has trained people in various jobs and been certified as a trainer. He has WHIMIS (Workplace Hazardous Materials Information System) training and more than 20 years experience as an occupational health and safety representative.

This information on his resumé, however, is buried in a general list of experience. He needs to don his marketing hat and find ways to de-emphasize his technical background and emphasize his training and health and safety experience.

Deconstructing past experience in search of nuggets of relevant information that target the needs of unfamiliar employers takes some reflection. You can kick-start the process by reviewing related job descriptions and ads in newspapers and online. Still, no matter how well written your resumé, don't expect it to bear the entire weight of a career-change job search. Get out and talk to people doing the sort of work you're considering. Conduct informational interviews.

For a comprehensive tutorial on informational interviews, go to: www.quintcareers.com/informational_interviewing.html.

Copyright 2009 Janis Foord Kirk.