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Box Free Minds

06/12/18 – Career Transition in 2018 – Top Ten Tips

June 17, 2018 by Cindy Nowack

Pam HewardWritten by Cindy Nowack

KEYNOTE SPEAKER

Career Transition in 2018 – Top Ten Tips

Pamela Heward

Pamela Heward is passionate about helping others through career and life transition as the owner and founder of Box Free Minds. She shared that a successful career transition is a combination of discipline, patience and creative thinking. The best place to begin is with your mindset. Eleanor Roosevelt said, “No one can make you feel inferior without your consent.” How you feel is something you control.

Pamela’s top ten tips for career transition are:

1. The WORK before the work begins NOW. Take the time to fine tune your resume, develop your LinkedIn profile, and network to get ready for the real work – finding your next opportunity.

2. Create your awesome list. You are more than bullet points on a resume. What are those things about you that are great, but don’t go on your resume? For instance, seeing things differently is not a problem. When asked what color a banana is, a younger Pamela said white. Most people think bananas are yellow, but when the banana is peeled, Pamela saw it as white. Seeing things others may have missed is a gift. What are your “white banana” gifts? Once you know this about yourself, you show up differently. You can talk about the skills that are more than bullets on your resume and how these gifts can be valuable to others.

3. There are 8 mind shifts that will get you unstuck and excited. One of the mind shifts Pamela shared is #6 – be an inquisitive explorer. You can get to know the market and industry through the Business Journal and other resources. Your responsibility is to find interesting companies that excite you. Put those companies on your target list.

4. Create SMART goals. Goals should be about your happiness, what you want to achieve. SMART goals are:

  • Specific
  • Measurable
  • Achievable, Attainable – personable part
  • Realistic – outer reasonable goal
  • Time-oriented

To increase the likelihood of success, goals should be:
Written – in the SMART goal format
Public – tell everyone about your goals
Accountable – find a coach or a person you trust, and create weekly tasks to help you complete your goals

5. Practice, rehearse and role play. To develop your story, use the STAR method:
Situation
Task (Challenge)
Action
Result

Prepare at least three examples of your successes. Once you develop your story, practice telling it. Your story should be one minute or less. Otherwise, you will lose your audience’s attention. The first time telling your story is always too long, so practice and rehearse out loud and with others.

6. Step outside your comfort zone, try new things, learn, grow. Pamela shared this quote, “A comfort zone is a beautiful place but nothing ever grows there.” – Unknown. Use this transition time to try new things. Get out of your comfort zone.

7. Talk with others. Don’t “firehose” people immediately. When you start talking with others, share your title and wait for their response. If they ask a question or are interested in what you said, provide a little more information. From there, the conversation develops.

8. Recharge your battery. Draw a circle with 8 pie slices on a piece of paper. In each slice, write things you can do when you need to recharge. This time should be healing and rejuvenating. Walk, enjoy nature, unplug electronics, play music, sleep, solitude, dance, talk to a friend are some of the suggestions from the audience about how they recharge their batteries.

9. Time blocking. Plan your week, but don’t put all your brain time in one basket. Most jobs are found through people you know, so get out there, meet people. If it will help you, turn your weekly calendar into an accountability partner so that you are accountable for the weekly plans you made.

10. Collaborate, connect, converse but NO Commercials. Recruit the best people to work with to maintain your spirits. Who are “your” people? This process isn’t all about you. You need others to help you. Also, be sure to grow and network even when you’re at your next position.

BONUS: No guilt. Take this time to do something nice for yourself. Energy attracts like energy. Now you are ready to show up.

HIRING COMPANIES

Enterprise
Dave Carriere, Group HR Manager, Enterprise Holdings

Enterprise is a family owned company, so company values are important. Their mission statement is to be the best transportation company in the world; to exceed customers’ expectations for service, quality and value; to provide employees with a great place to work; and to serve their communities as a committed corporate citizen. The founder, Jack Taylor, served on the USS Enterprise, which is how the company got its name.

People are promoted from within at Enterprise, which leads to an understanding of a variety of positions within the company as you move into different roles. The management training program requires a Bachelors degree. Each branch runs as its own profit center with 5-7 employees, and 100-150 vehicles. Resumes may be submitted at careers.enterprise.com.

Nammo Talley
Karin Rodriguez, Recruiter

Nammo Talley specializes in the design, development and manufacture of ammunition and energetic material solutions for defense and commercial applications. They are a Nordic company with US headquarters in Mesa. The company currently has about 2,200 employees, a significant growth from 1,100 employees in 1998. Current job opportunities in Mesa include:

  • Program Manager II
  • Test Engineer
  • Processor/Manufacturing Operator
  • Facilities Maintenance Technician
  • R&D/Manufacturing Engineer
  • Machine Operator/Core Tech, 2nd shift
  • Senior Cost Accounting

You may apply online at careers.nammotalley.com.

NESCO Resource
Brendan Naper, Branch Manager

NESCO Resource is an award winning full service staffing firm, ranked as one of the fastest growing in the United States. Beginning in Ohio more than 50 years ago, NESCO Resource now has five locations in Arizona and more than 90 branches nationwide. At the Tempe branch office, located at 4500 S Lakeshore Drive near the US60 and Rural Road, they are currently filling manufacturing, production, administrative, and clerical positions. Some of the current HOT openings are:

  • Maintenance Mechanic
  • Material/Part Buyer
  • Part Time Administrative Assistant
  • Accounts Payable/Payroll Administrator
  • Multiple Customer Service/Call Center positions
  • CNC Operator
  • Electronic Assembler/Solderer
  • Various Warehouse positions

NESCO Resource has more than 100 different clients that may be looking for your skills. Jobs change almost daily, so for the latest openings, check www.nescoresource.com. Or call for an appointment: (480) 898-9452 in the East Valley, or (623) 236-2074 in the West Valley. Know the name of the recruiter in the posting and which positions you are interested in. It’s helpful to meet your recruiter in person and stay in touch, at least once a month.

CLOSING REMARKS

State Farm is now hiring experienced software developers, infrastructure analysts, and systems/data administrators. To learn more about specific openings, visit www.statefarm.com/careers.

On Thursday, June 21 at 9am in Glendale, Brenda Cunningham will be speaking about how to “Use LinkedIn in 15 Minutes a Day.” Hiring companies at that event will be Modis and Copper Springs.

Also, be sure to check the schedule for the dates of upcoming June and July events at careerconnectors.org. A few dates have been moved to accommodate summer programs at our host locations.

Filed Under: Event Recaps Tagged With: Enterprise, Nammo Talley, Box Free Minds, NESCO Resource, Pamela Heward, career transition

7 Easy Steps for the Network-aphobic

November 22, 2016 by Pamela Heward

7 Easy Steps for the Network-aphobicWritten by Pamela Heward

Professionally edited by Kitty Carlisle

As a Career Transition Coach, I encounter resistance to networking on a regular basis. The perception I often hear is that networking means going to business mixers or Meetup groups, doing your 30 second commercial and exchanging leads. While these are possible options, they are not the most effective way to network and expand your sphere of influence.

A Network is defined as: a group or system of interconnected people or things. I believe this is what networking is all about. Chances are you already have a network of people in your life through your other interests: music, sports, art, children’s activities, family activities, associations, acquaintances through work … etc. These are people who already know you. The likelihood of getting a referral or some good ideas is very high within these groups of people.
Here are a few tips to help you reach out to these people that are already in your life and capture the power of your network:

  •  Make a list of people you know in your life right now. (remember that they don’t have to live where you live to qualify for this list)
  • Eliminate anyone from the list that you have any discomfort or doubts about.
  • Spend some time clarifying what you are looking for in the next chapter of your career and life. (Do not skip this step!) Reaching out to your network with an unclear message will diminish your success.
  • Draft an interesting, fun message that you can email, post or send to your network. Share your excitement and passion for your future and have a clear request.
  • If you would like to have a conversation with them, offer options: a phone conversation or meet in person over coffee or a meal. Be respectful of their time and if they say “I only have 30 minutes,” then make sure you stick to their timeframe.
  • Follow up with a thank you note.
  • Also, offer to do something for them! The best way to figure out what that is? ASK!

Bottom line, networking with people you know and trust takes the stress out of the process. So figure out who you know and whose brains you value. You will be glad you did.

Filed Under: Career Advice Blog Tagged With: networking advice, Box Free Minds, Pamela Heward, career transition

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