By Ken Abramczyk (Twitter: KabramczKen)
Jessica Pierce, Executive Director of Career Connectors, opened this week’s event with a reminder to job candidates that they should limit interview answers to five minutes. Jessica knew of one candidate who opened an interview with a 30-minute answer to the first question.
With that, she introduced Justin Jones (@1ResumeResource). Justin talked about ways to land that next job interview using the Internet to connect with decision makers, research companies, and check on posted jobs and industries, before filling out applications and writing resumes, during his presentation of “Job Search in the 21st Century.”
Keynote Speaker
Justin, a former training and assessment supervisor with Maricopa Workforce Connections and a professional instructor at Hard Dollar, compared job loss and the ongoing job hunt to skydiving and a free fall. Falling at 13,000 feet – and losing a job – is scary, Justin said.
“I want you to stop your free-falling today,” Justin told the audience.
When job seekers aren’t sure what career path that they want to take after a job loss and are willing to take any employment, they actually continue their free fall. “You’re desperate, lost or are not sure what’s going on,” Justin said. “That tells me you need to get grounded.”
We need to “get grounded,” Justin said. Assess your skills with the DISC assessment through Career Connectors, Justin said.
Today, several web sites can assist in your career plans, Justin said, including the following:
For job searches, use:
- azjobconnection.gov
- Indeed.com
- Simplyhired.com
- Jobing.com
- Localwork.com
- Phoenix.jobs
- Tweetmyjobs.com
- Company specific web sites
Justin used O*Net OnLine as an example to research occupations. That site allows you to enter a keyword, takes you to a list and outlines information about the occupation.
Use LinkedIn to inform you who your first connections are, but quite often it is who they know who work at the companies where you want to work, so you need to connect with those who know someone at the company, Justin said. Simply Hired allows you to connect through LinkedIn and check your LinkedIn connections.
Once you discover the job, Justin suggests that you research first before applying, through online networks, obtaining information on the company through its web site and LinkedIn.
Jobs are also posted on Networking Phoenix, Facebook, Nextdoor (which is a website that connects neighbors), Twitter, Meetup, Foursquare and blogs with user groups. Networking Phoenix allows us to see what networking meetings are scheduled throughout the Valley.
When you job hunt, you also need to familiarize yourself with the salary range. Justin recommends that you visit:
When you discuss salary with your next employer, don’t tell them you are basing it on “your information,” but tell them your salary discussion is “based on the labor market and information from the federal government, the state of Arizona and others, ” Justin said.
When researching companies, use:
- vault.com
- Glassdoor.com
- company’s web sites
Check out classes and information at these sites: gcflearnfree.org, Alison.com, coursera.org, saylor.org, khanacademy.org, ted.com and youtube.com. Other useful web sites are: FreetypingGame.net, learn2type.com, goodtyping.com, TagCrowd.com and mail.com.
Justin closed his presentation with words of encouragement for us and reminding us to use these web sites in our search.
Hiring companies
Farmers Insurance
Debra Schubert, recruiter
Debra discussed how job seekers can look for opportunities through Farmers Insurance, including opening their own Farmers Insurance office. Farmers Insurance offers financial assistance for the first three years for agency owners. Employees at the district office will assist them by attending events with the owner to help market the company. New owners do not have to pay for office space because they use office space at the district office when starting their agency. Those interested in opening an office can visit www.farmers.com for information. Additional jobs are available online at www.farmers.com/careers/.
Progrexion
Ryan Reeder, director of talent acquisition
Ryan ( rreeder@progrexion.com) said Progrexion markets services of Lexington Law and Creditrepair.com to help people remove errors from their credit reports and achieve their financial goals. The company employs 2,000 people.
The company is hiring inside sales consultant, help desk levels I and II, a sales trainer and sales coach. The company expects to move Lexington Law to Phoenix in April and will hire two attorneys, one recruiter and IT employees. For information on current job postings, visit www.progrexion.com/careers. Recruiters are Dana Noweder dnoweder@progrexion.com and Jennifer Tate jtate@progrexion.com.
VACO
Jarrod Lauer, director of business development
Jarrod (jlauer@vaco.com ), said VACO serves 30 markets in the United States with 5,000 client engagements. In Latin, vaco means to “free yourself from work.” Vaco provides talent solutions to manage mounting workloads in the fields of technology, finance and accounting. Vaco works with clients to identify opportunities and identify what client’s needs are. Available positions are systems engineer, service coordinator, software developer and others. Visit www.vaco.com.
Vanguard
Stephanie Scher, Human Resources and Marketing
Stephanie Scher said Vanguard is the only client-owned mutual fund in the world. Approximately 2,300 employees work in Scottsdale. Vanguard hired 490 people last year and expects to add another 400 this year. Most employees begin as client relationship specialists, but employees can advance in the company into retail services, retail client account services and business development group. Visit www.vanguard.com/careers.
Closing
Jessica also thanked Dusty Parsons and the North Phoenix Baptist Church for hosting today’s event.
Jessica encouraged attendees to complete their DISC assessments to help them on their career path by highlighting their communication styles and their desired ideal work environment.
Jessica highlighted upcoming Career Connectors events:
- Janice Hurley-Trailor with “HIRE ME-Please” on Thursday, Feb. 13, in Scottsdale with hiring companies Appointment-Plus, International Cruise & Excursions and Education Management Corporation
- Kimber Lanning with “The Upside of a Down Economy,” on Wednesday, Feb. 19 in Phoenix with DES, Hotfoot Recruiters, Global Tranz and Revana
- Dusty Parsons with “Twitter – A Love Story” on Tuesday, Feb. 25 in Gilbert with Intel Corporation, Clearcall Solutions, Charles Schwab and Insight.
Check the events calendar for details and exact locations.