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American Express

8/1/19 – Career Advancement in the Culture of Contact Centers

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Written by Jim McBride

Contact Center Panel featured companies

Panel

The contact center – or call center, as the terms are interchangeable – is the critical hub for serving clients/customers across multiple channels for nearly every organization large and small. Live-agent, chat, email and social media links consumers through thousands and thousands of interactions with the contact center.

In the Phoenix metro region, the contact center “industry” converges with the tremendous growth of financial services companies in delivering a hotbed of potential careers for the active and passive job seeker. Contact center roles are often a gateway into career growth and do not necessarily require starting at the entry level.

In front of a full house, Jessica Pierce facilitated two panel discussions addressing careers, advancement opportunities and workplace culture with eight high profile, award-winning contact centers in the financial services sector. Each company represented on the panel has been recognized by employer branding firm Best Companies AZ for workplace excellence so, clearly, they know their stuff.

For those in career transition, this was an excellent opportunity to hear first-hand from senior leaders how to get your foot in the door and grow your career within these respected organizations. All eight companies are in growth mode and looking to hire hundreds of employees.

Panel 1 – Career Advancement & Opportunities

Q – What can you tell us about entry level positions in your contact center and the potential career opportunities?

Farmers: We currently have openings for entry level sales and service positions, but we also have many openings for individual contributors, including back office processing, reporting, analytics, IT and project management.

Voya Financial: Customer service roles are a launch point for many of the higher-level jobs which require licensing (i.e. Series 6). Right now, we’re looking to fill roles in workforce management and benefits administration, which are not entry level.

USAA: We are targeting customer service and claims roles, which do not require previous experience. Representatives handle inbound calls from members. We’ll help you get licensed once you’re on board.

Freedom Financial Network: All of our customer service is inbound. No outbound calling. We have openings for debt relief, negotiators, back office payment processing and call center sales.

Q – What career pathways have you established within your company?

Freedom Financial Network: We call it a career ladder. You can move from an entry level 1, 2 or 3 position into supervisor or even over to sales and lending, which pays more. From there, we’ve had employees move into IT, marketing and training positions.

USAA: The progression is typically from associate – as we call them – to specialist to senior associate. We challenge our leaders to have career advancement discussions and develop a career trajectory. There are internal programs for learning IT skills, such as coding. We’re developing your skills for life, not just for USAA.

Voya Financial: We expect our leaders to prepare development plans and have conversations about career progression with their team members. Employees are empowered to ask questions and get involved. The entry level position is your entry point.

Farmers: On a formal basis there are career path discussions between managers and their employees. Informally, we have peer resource groups focused on diversity and like-minded ideas and interests. Want to become a leader? Well, let’s show you how to run a huddle.

Q – Are there opportunities for the mature job seeker who doesn’t want an entry level position?

Voya Financial: We have many roles based on experience. You could start as a senior representative.

USAA: We’re willing to go externally to find certain skill sets and experience. We do try to promote from within but sometimes there’s a real need to find fresh blood.

Freedom Financial Network : It’s a combination. Some of our roles require experience, but in the call center experience is not necessarily needed. Sales experience can come from any industry. Roughly 50% of our roles are filled externally.

Farmers: Promoting from within is important. But we cast our hiring net externally, as well. I recently hired a director from the outside. We have an immediate need for analytics and reporting skills, which will likely come externally.

Q – What is your company’s policy on promoting from within?

Farmers: There are growth opportunities for everyone, regardless of tenure. We will help you prepare for that next job and fulfill your career potential.

Voya Financial: We have an 18-month requirement for eligibility due to the complexity of the entry level roles. We want you as an employee to be comfortable. However, there are times when the eligibility requirement is waived.

USAA: The timeframe is 12 to 18 months in the current job to be eligible for promotion. Many of those next roles will require licensing, so it can take some time to learn.

Freedom Financial Network: You must be in the role for three months. We know that people want to move up the career ladder. We do not have any license-required positions.

Q – With the advancement of artificial intelligence (AI) how do you see technology impacting call center jobs? (from the audience)

Farmers: Technology, such as the bot, will have an impact on the most transactional of interactions with customers. However, there’s always going to be a need for critical thinking and emotional intelligence of the human being. We need empathy in the human contact. There will be a blend of technology and human interaction.

USAA: Our members want to talk with a human when they call in. The technology will make it easier to match the member with the representative that’s best equipped to assist a specific need or demographic.

Panel 2 – Culture & Employee Engagement

Drew Foster – American Express, Director of US Recruiting
Sherry McFadden – State Farm, Customer Care Center Director
Renee Brown – Vanguard, Senior Recruiter
Christine Sorensen – Charles Schwab, Team Manager Participant Services

Q – What does culture fit mean to you? What’s it like working for your company?

Vanguard: It’s a culture of empathy and communication. We all have to be mindful that the investment industry language can go over people’s head. We have a team environment focused on employee development.

Schwab: We’re here to help everyone grow and succeed. Someone’s always available to help, no matter what the situation. We conduct an assessment to determine ethics, teamwork and the type of work environment that would be the best fit for the candidate.

State Farm: We’re a relationship company steeped in integrity and tradition. We’re your neighbor. We’re there after a hurricane or an auto accident. That’s our culture, we care.

Q – How do you get your foot in the door? Do you have to start at entry level jobs?

AMEX: Some roles will require entry level experience at first, but not all. It depends on your skill set. I’m currently looking for workforce management skills, which does need entry level experience.

Vanguard: We’re regulated, so many roles require licensing and then you work your way up. You can pursue internal opportunities after one year. We have hired supervisors from the outside. About 85% of our hiring is from within.

Schwab: It really depends on your experience and license requirements of the role. We have lots of room for growth and it’s important to have those development discussions with your manager.

Q – What are the hot jobs at your company right now?

AMEX: Senior manager (supporting 18 cruise lines), director of workforce management, sales, fraud, team leaders.

State Farm: Enterprise technology, software development, coding, data scientist, frontline supervisors, bilingual supervisor, sales and service.

Vanguard: Data science, IT, senior financial planner.

Schwab: Always hiring in participant services and investor services. Our operation has 60 different departments and there are always openings.

Q – Describe the family friendliness of your call center. What support do you provide? (from the audience)

Vanguard: We have a 37.5-hour work week Monday through Friday. No weekends. All shifts end no later than 8:00 pm.

Schwab: Four 10-hour days are available. Paid four-week sabbatical every five years.

State Farm: H.O.P.E. – Helping Others Parent Effectively program.

AMEX: 20 weeks of maternity/paternity leave for parents.

Resource

Introducing – Career Connectors Academy Training Program

Landi Carfi, VP of Corporate Training – Brighton College

Brighton College is excited to announce its new partnership with Career Connectors that connects professionals in career transition to hiring companies and quality resources.

Career Connectors and Brighton College share similar values and focus on their clients, making both organizations stand out from the crowd. Brighton’s mission and goals ensure their students’ greatest success, and Career Connectors, as Arizona’s fastest growing job candidate program, strive to land people in the career of their dreams. They are working hand in hand to provide affordable online education certificate programs.

Based on Career Connectors’ partnership with Brighton College, a few of the best accredited online certificate programs are being offered to Career Connectors’ participants at a reduced rate. The online education certificate programs available include:

  • Cyber Security Institute
  • Business Institute
  • Allied Health Institute
  • Legal Medical Institute
  • Paralegal Institute
  • Professional Development

Event Sponsor

Optima Tax Relief

Ben Simpson – Vice President, Phoenix Operations

The Optima Tax Relief team has had one vision since inception – to help Americans nationwide deal with the aggressive collection policies of the State/IRS tax agencies.

  • Founded 2011
  • 80 employees in AZ; 100 by end of 2019
  • No tax knowledge required to get hired
  • Promote from within
  • Hiring leaders as operations grow
  • Team environment – “mischievous fun”

Open Positions
I/T Jr. Systems Administrator
Resolution Support Representative
Customer Service
Inside Sales

Resources and Closing

Jessica thanked the many partners and volunteers for their contributions to the Career Connectors event. Job seekers were encouraged to utilize the many transition resources – professional resume writers, career coaches, LinkedIn coaches and take the free DISC assessment. Next up on the calendar: Connecting with Top Staffing Firms to Find Your Next Career, Thursday August 15th in Scottsdale. Stay tuned for weekly emails and LinkedIn posts.

04/11/19 – The Smart Job Seeker’s Playbook: Simple Strategies to Finding the Right Job

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Job Seekers Playbook

KEYNOTE


Written by Cathy Cepielik

Dayna Ciarfalia
Ever wonder while in the midst of your job search if there is a smart jobseeker’s playbook with simple strategies to finding the right job? Look no further! Dayna Ciarfalia provided the playbook to our audience along with some fun insight into other key activities to take advantage of when in the quest for the right job.

Dayna is a technical recruiter and career consultant with experience assisting Phoenicians land their next great opportunity. After graduating from the University of Minnesota Duluth with her BA in Communication and Psychology, Dayna moved to Phoenix to start her career. From working with teens and adults with disabilities to college students, senior level professionals, and technologists, Dayna has helped thousands make their successful career transitions. She has a passion for helping others, connecting people, and all things tech. In her free time, you can find Dayna reading parenting books, playing outside with her son and husband, and spending time with friends.

Dayna started with two key questions: What is the right job for me? How do I find all that out? The right job is:

  • Something you are naturally good at and enjoy
  • A company that aligns well with your values
  • Plenty of room for growth
  • A culture that fits with who you are

To find all that out requires lots of self reflection, which means writing things down. It involves comparing and contrasting your past plus doing your research. Believe it or not, the process of finding what’s right for you is the step most people skip in their job search, and it is actually the most necessary! Dayna then guided the audience on the next step in the playbook once the above items are identified. Next, complete the following:

  • Choose 5-10 companies to target
  • Create your interest and value statement for each
  • Connect with key players on LinkedIn
  • Network like your life depends on it
  • Apply for jobs you are a great fit for
  • Reach out to recruiters
  • Sign up for job notifications
  • Get creative (side projects, video, volunteer)

Once your efforts take off, interviews will line up. Dayna reminds us an interview is a big deal! GO in and ask yourself: Is this is the right job for me? Position yourself this way: “I am a gem and you will get me as an employee if you meet my desires and needs.” This position will allow you to walk in and focus on making sure the company and job is right for you vs. making a decision to take any job just to obtain a job. Prepare specific questions, do your research, show interest/enthusiasm, and have related work examples ready. Once the interview is complete, send a good thank you email, keep looking at other roles and interviewing, act as if, have faith, and let go.
Dayna’s last tips are:

  • Never doubt yourself
  • If it’s not working, try something else
  • Ask for help
  • When in doubt, get a side gig

HIRING COMPANIES

American Express
Drew Foster, Acting Director US Recruitment and Training Delivery
Drew has been with AMEX since 1992 and has the privilege of leading a team of 40 learning and recruiting professionals for the Travel and Lifestyle Services division. His team hires and trains top talent to provide the world’s best customer service.
AMEX started in 1850 as a freight company. The company invented the traveler’s cheque in 1891. The first American Express card debuted in 1958. The company has been in Phoenix since 1961, so the history goes far back! Today, AMEX is the #2 Employer in Phoenix with over 6,800 colleagues and is now expanding at their Desert Ridge campus. Fun fact: Over 1000 team members of the company have 20+ years tenure! One of their stances is “Our job is to help you excel at yours.” AMEX holds high rankings and has a strong positive impact on the Arizona market. Benefits include 401k matches, onsite cafe, onsite wellness centers, deals and discounts on shopping, paid vacations, health, dental, and vision insurance, and more! Benefits begin on day 1.
There are various opportunities at AMEX. With over 140 openings in Phoenix in travel, digital commerce, technology, marketing, risk, operations, and others, there are plenty of great opportunities to grow with this iconic organization! Check the opportunities out at HERE!

Farmers
Surrie Atkins, Recruiter
Surrie has over a decade recruiting and HR experience. She has been on the Farmers team for over 2 years and recruits for Service Operations and Claims, including high volume and leadership roles. Prior to Farmers, Surrie was with CVS Health for 11 years as a recruiter and HR generalist.
Farmers began in 1928 and is headquartered in Los Angeles. It is one of the largest and most respected insurance brands in the US! Fun fact: Farmers is part of the Zurich Financial Services Group and a leading insurer of small and medium-sized businesses along with ranking as the third-largest personal lines property and casualty group. Farmers was certified Great Place to work 2017 and 2018 amongst other rewards and recognitions. Why Farmers? Simply put, because it is a career you are choosing with Farmers, there is plenty of growth opportunity, it is a stable company, there are a lot of fun activities, it is a casual work environment, and more!
Farmers has customer service and inbound sales position available now. Surrie pointed out that the sales positions do include commission and some of the top sales folks are able to truly make an impact production-wise while earning an income well above industry average. Check out opportunities HERE!

CLOSING

Jessica provided additional resources and closing comments. Resources such as the DISC assessment, Event Recap blogs, and Professional Portraits are available on https://CareerConnectors.org post event to follow along and encompass more. Big shout out and thanks to Highlands Church for lending their beautiful facility for our event and volunteers for helping with setup, photographs, financial counseling, LinkedIn coaching, and more!

06/07/18 – Interviewing with Confidence

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Interview with ConfidenceWritten by Lauren Kutsko

KEYNOTE SPEAKER

Carmen Payne, the owner of SOAR, a Transformational Life Coaching company, left us feeling confident to step into our next interview room. We all deal with negative self talk as we navigate entering new endeavors, Carmen shared helpful ideas to get mentally prepared.

We all struggle with some interview questions. Carmen started our time together with some tips on answering a few different types.

What is your weakness or greatest strength question?

  • Answer with things that don’t have anything to do with the job at hand.
  • Prove to them that this is the area that you are trying to improve by sharing what books or seminars you have taken to grow.
  • Utilize S.W.O.T Analysis which stands for Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities, Threats. This is a tool that will help you prepare ahead of time to share stories clearly and concisely that display your abilities to manage, change, execute, resolve problems and challenges in the past.

Can you tell me a time when you had a conflict with a co-worker?

S- Situation, background set the scene
T- Task or Target, specifics of what’s required, when, where, who
A – Action, what you did, skills used, behaviours, characteristics
R – Result – Outcome, what happened.

Tell me about your last/current job or X employer question

  • Keep in mind your body language, facial expression and tone of voice when answering these questions. We want to make sure to stay positive and neutral as we talk about our previous employers.
  • Even when you aren’t communicating you are communicating.

This was our homework!
Amy Cuddy
Your Body Language Shapes Who You Are

  1. Body language is very important
  2. Maintain an assertive stance
  3. Watch your hands
  4. Pay attention to you face
  5. Maintain appropriate eye contact
  6. Mirror the body language of others
  7. Stop Fidgeting

Carmen ended our time with an encouraging poem. It was a pleasure to hear from Carmen and walk away with tangible resources to ponder!

Let your Light Shine By Marianne Williamson
Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate.
Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.
It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us.
We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous?
Actually, who are you not to be?
You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world.
There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around you.
We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us.
It is not just in some of us, it is in everyone.
And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same.
As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.

HIRING COMPANIES

American Express

Patrick Miller – Recruitment Operations Global Talent Acquisition

American Express has positions in technology, sales, marketing, HR and operations amongst other roles. However their recruiting efforts focused primarily on customer facing support like:
Collections specialist
Account protection specialist
Customer care professional
Travel counselors

For more information, visit their job page here.

ADP

Pamela Farling

As one of the world’s largest and most experienced HR providers, ADP offers you recruit-to-retire services and solutions that help you build the team that will take you into the future. ADP is on a mission to make the world’s busiest professionals more productive and happier in their jobs. And that starts with their own people. Find out how you can join them in Arizona where they are growing their Sales, Client Service and Implementation teams!

You can apply at jobs.adp.com/arizona.

RESOURCES

Grand Canyon University
Vince Grell – Vice President of Operations, Non-Degree Technology Programs

Grand Canyon University is offering a program for 16 Weeks Monday-Friday 9am-5pm starting July 30th to earn a Java Programming Certificate. With a small class size, you are guaranteed to get the support you need to succeed! This immersive program includes more than 600 hours of collaborative, project-based instruction and up to 16 credits transferable to a GCU undergraduate program. For more information about the program and to take a short coding assessment click here.

Our Next Event is June 12th in Gilbert. Please note that location change for this week. We will be hearing from Pamela Heward about Career Transition in 2018 – Top Ten Tips.

 

12/04/2013-Believe, Succeed and Win

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Written by Ken Abramczyk

Job seekers are tempted to take a break at this time of year. We take the foot off the pedal in our race to find a job.

Jessica Pierce, executive director of Career Connectors, has news for you:  Many companies ARE hiring. Those job hunters who network and persist in their search at this time of year are step ahead of the others who wait until January.

“You are ahead of the curve,” Jessica told Career Connectors members and others who networked Wednesday and heard Bill Markham discuss “Believe, Succeed & Win.”

KEYNOTE SPEAKER

Bill Markham (@winnerviewer) knows how to win. He’s helped more than 3,000 job prospects with interviews, but he also has walked the road of joblessness both as a new father and later in his working career. “It’s a lonely, lonely journey,” Bill said.

Job seekers need to show results with hard data and statistics, Bill says. When submitting resumes and interviewing for jobs, we should strengthen our resumes and interviews by highlighting skills and our delivery of results. And when closing at the end of the interview, ask for the job—only five percent of candidates do, Bill said.

Bill outlined a simple strategy. Write a plan of action. Review the tools in your tool box, taking advantage of the career guidance from coaches, recruiters, training schools and other services at Career Connectors.

And finally, believe in yourself.

Writing a plan can help us see our ideal vision and hammer out goals in our lives, Bill said. “The mind can only conceive that what is written,” Bill said.

Write five results to prepare yourself for the job interviewer’s basic question: “What makes you qualified to do this job?” Demonstrate your leadership, highlight problem-solving skills and how you exceed work standards.

We are all marketers, too, when it comes to job hunting. You need to sell your skills, probe to discover what the company needs, present your qualifications, paraphrase to hone your message and close the interview and in any written communications by asking for the job. The better we can market ourselves, the better chance we have of winning the job, Bill says.

Then there are the negative, desperate thoughts that creep into our minds on the job-hunting pilgrimage. Doubt often works its way into our thought processes, but Bill believes that doubt is actually a catalyst for success, when you use it and respond to it with an alternative to eliminate it, such as belief in yourself and an unwillingness to fail. Perseverance negates any fear of losing.

In order to win, do activities that winners do, such as volunteering. “Give away to keep,” Bill said. “When you give someone your service and get nothing, you surrender what has happened in the past to win a new life and a new job.”

Job candidates often leave interviews not knowing how they did. Bill suggests that you ask them. “How did I do?” That gives you a window to elaborate on answers.

HIRING COMPANIES

Hiring companies included American Express, Goodwill of Central Arizona and All About People. All three companies have job vacancies and indicated that job seekers should visit their web sites, fill out online profiles and submit applications and resumes on those web sites.

Eldad Engelman, recruitment relationship manager, and Sara Betz, client recruitment specialist, highlighted some of the jobs available at American Express, including customer care, marketing, finance, risk, technologies and human resources. Eldad reminded job seekers to review the job description first. “The first bullet of your resume should reflect what they are looking for,” Eldad said. “Companies like to see measurable results and how you executed and achieved measurable results.”

Caitlin King, senior recruiter at Goodwill of Central Arizona, said revenue raised from donations helps with job training at career centers and Goodwill’s mission of putting people to work. Opportunities include commercial maintenance, retail operations, Goodwill mission services and corporate services. Those interested can apply online at jobs.goodwillaz.org.

Karen McEnroe, director of sales and operations at All About People, a professional hiring organization, which helps with employment opportunities. Positions available include data entry, admissions recruiter, legal secretary, IC chip manager and IC chip engineer, and a senior scientist.

Karen said job hunters should make sure words are spelled correctly. The resume is the first impression left on hiring managers. “The company will not bring you in for an interview if you even have one typo,” Karen said. “Take a few minutes and put some time and care into your resume.”

Mario Parra, talent acquisition specialist at Revana, said that Revana specializes in business process outsourcing. Current opportunities include inbound sales representatives, outbound sales representatives and sales manager. Revana hosts job fairs every Tuesday at the company’s north Phoenix office and at the Tempe office on every Wednesday.

Parra said recruiters who review resumes look for candidates who match with the keywords in job descriptions. “You have to make sure you meet our minimum criteria and the job is something that you are interested in,” Mario said.

RESOURCES

John Dvorak, career advancement partner with Training to You, said that the Workforce Investment Act assists the unemployed or underemployed with grant money to help fund their training in various programs to achieve certification in project management, Microsoft Office professional and several others. One-stop centers throughout the Valley funded by these grants also help job seekers through career advancement workshops, too. Training to You is located in Phoenix and the web site is www.trainingtoyou.com.

CLOSING

Jessica Pierce will be the main speaker in Gilbert on Tuesday, Dec. 10, with “LinkedUp on LinkedIn,” with hiring companies Arizona Nutritional Supplements, Insight and Charles Schwab. A second event is also scheduled next week as Kristi Staab tells us how to “Lead Like a Rock Star” on Thursday, Dec. 12 in Scottsdale. Hiring companies are the State of Arizona Department of Administration, Renaissance Personnel Group and EDMC Online Higher Education.

The new year kicks off with “What’s Your Why” with Brian Mohr on Wednesday, Jan. 8 in Phoenix. Hiring companies are Vanguard and EDMC.

While it is tempting to slow the pace down at this time of year, remember that you never know where that next opportunity will appear, especially during the holidays. If you don’t know about the opportunity because you didn’t look for it, you will never find it, so keep up your efforts by attending networking and recruiting events next week at Career Connectors!