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4/25/17 – Start Strong, Finish Stronger: Your Best Self in Your Next Chapter

Apr 25, 2017

Start Strong Finish StrongerWritten by Michelle Soracco

Keynote Speaker

Stephanie Clergé, Director of Training and Consulting @strengthspro

Stephanie is the Director of Training and Consulting at Kolbe Corporation and has been involved in recruiting and coaching for many years.  She has worked at Intel, Deloitte and Cisco, and holds an Industrial Engineering degree from Stanford.  She is also an accomplished Vampire and Zombie Killer, a.k.a. the Walking Working Dead who prefer to stab someone in the back to get ahead, and the Energy Suckers who do as little as possible to get through the day.  She tells it like it is, and has some great suggestions for job seekers.

Start Strong, Finish Stronger: Your Best Self in Your Next Chapter

To view the slides for this presentation, click here.

Stephanie’s steps to getting hired:

Know yourself:  What are your strengths?  If you are using your strengths at work, you are 6x more likely to be successful in your role, and 3x more likely to say that you have a higher quality of life.  In finding your strengths, consider the 3 parts of the mind:
1. Cognitive (thinking): skills, knowledge and education
2. Affective (feeling):  motivation, interests, preferences, values (Strengths Finder, Myers Briggs, DISC)
3. Conative (doing): ease, energy and excellence.

Plan your work:
1. Define your strong career: ask yourself when you loved what you did, who you worked with and where you were (i.e. culture/industry).  Your hobbies, internships, volunteering activities and side hustles can tell you a lot about what you love, not just your prior positions.
2. Develop your tools
*Your resume tells the story of where you’ve been as well as where you want to go.  If you’re looking to change careers but you have no history in the industry you want to be in, get some history by volunteering or getting an internship.
*LinkedIn is a must.  Your profile should be at 100%.  Get good recommendations that tell specifically why you were good at what you did.  Remember that your entire profile is searchable, so be careful what information you put on it.  You may or may not want your telephone number, and be careful about which groups you belong to.
*Questions are also a must.  They show you’ve done your research on the company/position and can provide additional clarification on anything said at the interview.  Stephanie didn’t hire a candidate once because the person had no questions for her.  Personally, I’ve never gone into an interview with less than 10-15 questions at the ready.
*Stories are preparation for behavioral questions at interviews.  Be clear about what you contributed and how it impacted the organization.  Also be prepared to explain everything on your resume, as well as any gaps.

Work your plan:  What are your daily or weekly steps to accomplish your goal of getting hired at a place and position that’s right for you?  One bullet point should be going to one networking event per week to get yourself out there, because you never know who you will meet and what that meeting might lead to.

Hiring Companies

Northwestern Mutual

Jessica Bowles, Director of Recruitment and Selection @NM_News

Northwestern Mutual has been around since 1857, and is the second largest broker dealer in the US.  Northwestern is not a publicly traded company.  They believe in “impacting lives with great purpose,” so they consider the following to be very important: family, faith, abundance, personal responsibility and passion.  If you are ambitious, like to meet people and help them, Northwestern wants to talk to you. Current opportunities include Financial Advisor and Assistant Financial Representative. There are also staff opportunities available via the corporate website.

Cox Communications

Sandi Elliott and Lauren Dubovy, @CoxTalent

Cox Communications is only one segment of Cox Enterprises.  Cox Communications is the third largest cable company in the US, which introduced Contour and GigaBlast, the highest internet speed available.  There are many benefits for Cox employees who contribute to Cox’s culture of success, such as the Compass program.  Cox takes community participation seriously, so there are always volunteer opportunities available.  Cox is looking for direct sales people, as well as account managers for different segments.

Rogers Corporation

Jennifer Eberts, Human Resources, @Rogers_Corp

Rogers Corporation was founded in 1832 by Peter Rogers.  They recently moved their corporate headquarters to Chandler and are looking to fill various positions throughout the organization. These include Business Analyst, Accountant, Project Engineer (Facilities), LMS Administrator, Quality Engineer, Process Engineer, Strategic Project Manager, Corporate Controller, Executive Assistant, Accounts Payable/Accounts Receivable, Demand Planner and Global Health & Safety Manager. Safety is their number one priority, and integrity is their base.  Rogers has approximately 3000 employees worldwide.

Freedom Financial Network

John Hasna, Director of Talent Acquisition @FreedomFamily

Freedom Financial Network is a debt consulting company that provides financial solutions and services to enable consumers to achieve financial freedom.  Their 3 AZ locations have 1300 employees, and have hired 200 of the 1000 individuals they want to hire this year. They are in the process of building a new campus in Tempe and were recently named as a Phoenix Business Journal “Best Places to Work” Winner. Open positions in Tempe include Java Developers, Product Managers, Corporate Trainer, Compliance Manager, Business Intelligence Analyst, Negotiations Debt Settlement Specialist, Inside Sales Reps and Software Developer. They are willing to train people for the necessary skills, as long as they fit in with the culture.

Resources

New Horizons Learning Center, @nhphoenix

Zack Hiscock, Vice President of Learning and Development @ZackHiscock

Career Connectors has partnered with New Horizons as their only WIOA-funded school.  New Horizons is an international training organization that serves the needs of top companies to help individuals enhance their current skills and go to the next level in their career.  They offer courses in IT, Office Mgmt, Healthcare Records and Management, Project/Production Mgmt Certifications. Classes are conducted live in a classroom, live online and self-paced online courses, depending on the student’s needs.

Closing

Sheila Coulam graciously thanked all of the day’s speakers, volunteers and job seekers for participating. She encouraged job seekers to take advantage of the many Career Connector services like having your resume reviewed, a free professional portrait and meeting the hiring companies.  She also encouraged everyone to view the career blog, which is up and running and has a lot of good career advice.

The next event is in Phoenix, Wednesday, May 3rd: “Advancing Your Career with a BEST Company.”  Register here.

Michelle Soracco

Filed Under: Event Recaps Tagged With: Roger Corporation, Cox Communications, northwestern mutual, Freedom Financial Network, New Horizons of Phoenix, Stephanie Clerge

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I am profoundly grateful for all of the support Career Connectors has provided during my recent job search – from the exceptional speakers to the participating employers, LinkedIn experts (Ted Robison is amazing with his individualized approach), resume experts, photographers, and of course the great opportunity to network! I felt like I had an army of support with me every single day. I appreciate all the time and effort invested by many and am particularly grateful for Jessica! You have a fi… Read more
Cindy G.
I own a Leadership Company, and have enjoyed attending the Career Connector events. With gratitude I listen to the speakers you line up… they offer phenominal and practical information. What has struck me each time has been the audience. My heart hurts for them. They are in a desperate place in their lives. I have had the opportunity speak with a few of the people in attendance, and they have shared their stories… I walk away thankful to God for the opportunity to meet these people and they … Read more
Bonnie M.
I just wanted to let you know that there’s a reason why I haven’t come to any recent Career Connectors events. It’s because I found a job! This past week, I started working as a data scientist for a technology startup in the financial services space that’s based in downtown Phoenix. It’s an ideal opportunity for me to break into the data science industry with an exciting company. I wanted to thank you and your staff for putting together all of your fantastic networking events and bringing … Read more
Chris M.
I originally found Career Connectors during a large quarterly networking event and started attending meetings in May/June with a girlfriend who was also laid off. I appreciated all the information, resources, encouragement and genuine support I felt from everyone at Career Connectors. What you are doing is an amazing service for  those of us who find ourselves “displaced” in these tough economic times. The benefit you are providing is not only for those “transitioning” — but also for lo… Read more
Candice T.
If you are a job seeker in transition or looking to find that new great position I highly recommend Career Connectors. The search process has changed significantly over the years and Career Connectors will provide you many tools that will allow you to stand out and demonstrate your unique value to potential employers. At each event I had the opportunity to “sharpen the saw” through top notch expert presentations on image portrayal, positive attitude, networking, social media presence, job… Read more
Joe C.
Thank you, Jessica. Although I wasn’t able to meet you personally, I was able to see you working with another applicant and was impressed with your efforts and the excellent platform that your team presented. Thank you very much.
Luis R.
It was amazing, you guys did a great job! I found several potential companies!
Irene
Fantastic! Good variety of roles, Obvious interest in quality candidates, really good solid leads. Great investment of time.
Alicia
I took advantage of Career Connectors when I found myself unexpectedly out of work and back in AZ.  The ease in using their website to locate meetings and identify subject matter at their weekly meetings kept me informed and engaged.  Their meetings are interesting and provide relevant and useful information toward getting into the right job.  They say that a network event is what you make of it … with Career Connectors they create the events and provide the resources you need to land your next … Read more
Jennifer V.
Navigating the world of career transition can be an overwhelming experience.  In addition to the mechanics of transition (updated resume, career search strategies), there is the deeper need to connect to people who are in the same situation as you are.   For me, all of this was answered by Career Connectors!  Had it not been for this organization, I might still be sitting in my house, wondering what to do next!  At just one Career Connectors meeting you can be inspired by great speakers, … Read more
Iris M.
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