Chantal: A Resume Re-Vamp Results in a New Career

For Chantal Vachon, fixing her resume was all she needed to get on her feet – that and someone to believe in her. She found that support at the York County CareerCenter in Springvale.

When Chantal arrived at the CareerCenter, she wanted to change careers after many years working in different retail jobs. Her goal was to work in an office environment. She first met with a career counselor and learned how to re-build her resume. Then she took some classes to boost her skills while continuing to update and improve her resume.
“I must have put over 10 hours into my resume initially,” she wrote in a thank-you note. “…Now even I am surprised at what I see when I look at it.”

After solidifying her resume, Chantal applied to five jobs on a Friday. By Monday, she had been contacted by four employers asking for interviews.

“Two of the people I spoke to for interviews stated how impressed they were by my resume. I interviewed with one of them on Tuesday and they offered me the job later that day.”

She said she has the CareerCenter to thank for this change in her career.

“I don’t think I would have ever dreamed of having a resume as polished as it is now because I didn’t see myself as being as experienced as I am,” said Chantal.

Her CareerCenter counselor helped Chantal not only improve her resume so that it reflected her many skills, but also, and more important, he boosted her confidence.

“Brainstorming transferable skills with you was a huge success and creating a branding statement seemed to really help me market myself,” she wrote to her career counselor. “Prior to my re-vamped resume, I had applied to numerous positions…with minimal success, if any.”

Now, Chantal has a new job as an order processor at a distribution plant in Saco—just the kind of position she desired.

She’s excited to use her customer service and organizational skills. Chantal is also thankful that her counselor encouraged her to learn Quickbooks at the CareerCener – a skill she now uses at her new job.

Chantal said the company is expanding, and she hopes to work her way into a human resources position.

“Sometimes taking a step back, refocusing and fine tuning is necessary to get the job you really want,” said Chantal, who is happy with her career change. 

Chantal is grateful for the assistance the CareerCenter provided to help her realize that she was capable and had the skills to obtain the job she wanted.

“I don’t know how you do it,” she wrote to her counselor. “I don’t think I could have gotten this job, or even received more than one call to schedule an interview in such a short period of time, if I hadn’t had that meeting with you to fix up my old, drab resume. The knowledge I gained there is priceless and you were a major part of that. Thank you.”