By Mark Gisleson

It happens every day. A company downsizes or outsources and suddenly, without warning, experienced employees are out on the street looking for new jobs. For many, the transition period will be brief, but for others whose skills do not translate well to paper, the search can be a long, drawn out and sometimes humiliating experience.

The majority of American workers do not have college educations. Many of them, however, have risen to positions of responsibility with employers who promoted them into supervisory or management positions as a reward for their achievements on the job. These employees should make sure that their resumes reflect those accomplishments or prospective employers may decide that they are dealing with someone else's deadwood.

Non-degreed workers quickly learn that when the education section of their resume doesn't support their work experience, interviews can be few and far between. While taking some college classes would be helpful, long-term solutions are of little help when you have an immediate dilemma.

The most straightforward way of beefing up your educational background is to list your Continuing Professional Education. If it's something you've done, you've probably been trained how to do it, either by your company, an outside trainer, or possibly just because you took the time to learn something it your own.

If you know how to work with difficult people, put down "Working with Difficult People" as a professional skill. Put it between "Employee Relations" and "Supervision", and you start to tell your reader a story. Also, consider listing related skills you have that could be of interest to a prospective employer.

Your skills can be listed in many ways, but my favorite is to list employers like colleges, attributing various skills to each. Employers like to see your abilities in context. Learning supervisory skills from an inhouse program at ABC Corp. will often look better to a prospective employer than a Business Administration course taken from a university.

Continuing education is your chance to show others not just what you know, but how you have taken advantage of learning opportunities on the job to become a more valuable employee.

Show prospective employers that you learned new skills each time you changed jobs and they'll feel much more comfortable about your ability to learn the job they need you to do. If you turned a dishwashing job into a supervisory position, interviewers will give serious thought as to whether or not you can figure out their Total Quality Management program.

A strong resume and an assured, confident interview can undo much of the damage that results from a lack of a degree. "Competence 101" is not a college course and a degree is no guarantee that you know what you're doing. Self-marketing is the art of promoting your strengths and skills. Continuing education can reinforce your positives in ways that get you interviews.

Mark Gisleson is an experienced resume writer specializing in blue collar workers and clients in transition.