New free tool helps Vermonters build resumes, find jobs

BURLINGTON, Vt. (WCAX) – A new tool is connecting Vermonters looking for jobs with open positions across the state.

“It’s not based on your education necessarily or your job title. It’s based on the skills you have, and what you have done in your life,” said Alex Beck, the director of the Vermont Employment Pathfinder initiative.

Log into the Pathfinder website and you can start building your online profile, adding jobs and skills. The website uses artificial intelligence to then build a resume based on that information to connect you with employment opportunities.

It’s free to all Vermonters looking for a job.

“I think this tool is great for folks in transition. Whether that is transitioning from long-term unemployment, from recovery, from previous incarceration or returning from the workforce,” Beck said.

Data shows almost 400 people have already used the site, and more than 80 are now employed as a result, like Licensed Nursing Assistant Tirhas Berkai.

“I got the job and it was very helpful. After I learned LNA, I used the program again and I got the job again,” Berkai said.

The Department of Economic Development thinks of the program as a crucial part of efforts to bridge the gap in Vermont’s workforce shortage.

“There are about 17,000 open jobs in the state of Vermont. The last statistics show there are two open jobs for every unemployed Vermonter,” Commissioner Joan Goldstein said. “So we really need people in the state and we also need employers to seek out those job seekers.”

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