Looking for a Job: Help for Hard Times

By Sue Ambler, M.Ed.
Chief Executive Officer
Workforce Development Council Snohomish County

Click here for Sue Amble’s Podcast.

Let me introduce myself!  I am Sue Ambler, CEO of the Workforce Development Council Snohomish County.  I am encouraged to have the opportunity to share job search information through this blog.

I have not always been in the field of workforce development or education, training, jobs and careers. Frankly, I have used my foundation skills, which are transferable, along with education and on-the-job training to navigate through several jobs in my professional career.  Since I am also a "recovering college advisor" I hope to share insights through www.ConstructionMatch.org that will assist those who are currently unemployed or are looking for advancement or a general change in the industry.

Washington state and particularly Western Washington enjoys a highly qualified residential construction workforce.  While this industry has cycles of ups and downs one thing holds true: we must retain our qualified workforce.  There are approximately 31,000 people who work in Snohomish County's construction cluster. Despite construction being in a the midst of a short-term slow down, construction as a whole is holding strong and is projected to do so for many years to come. It is clear that construction is a robust and rewarding field in which workers can benefit greatly.  While one may not be able to prevent a layoff, there are things to be done to shore up skills, resumes and interview techniques to obtain employment.

In the first of my blogs, I want to share some critical resources to improve one's ability to secure employment now and have an edge on the future.  The WorkSource Centers of Washington are the central resource for assessment of skills, resume development and interviewing techniques.  Services provided through WorkSource are at no charge, but require effort by the job candidate.   Www.go2worksource.com is the portal to all the WorkSource Centers in the state and is the connection to all of the center partners including training and education providers.

I am fortunate to be part of the team who developed www.helpforhardtimes.org.  Help for Hard Times provides necessary and up-to-date information for those who may lose their jobs and/or have been out of work for some time.  When our group developed this resource we asked ourselves, "What would we want to know just in time before a layoff and during unemployment?" Please share this with your friends and family . . . it was developed to share with our friends and family too!

Just like the construction worker who has the right tools on their belt or in their chest, the successful job candidate will prepare with a chest of job search tools.  I highly recommend the local WorkSource Center as the one-stop to many resources in the community. 

In my next blog I will share useful and proven techniques for working hard to get and keep the job.