Career Connectors

Connecting professionals in career transition with hiring companies and quality resources

Career Connectors eUpdate
Subscribe Here

Cenlar

5/6/2020 – Networking from Home

by

written by Gary Matsuda

Dave Sherman networking

You might have it pretty good at home – a roof over your head, access to a refrigerator and eternally running episodes on Netflix. It may have taken some time to get used to the lockdown, but if you’re looking for a job (which is now even more challenging), staying in place might be the last thing you want to do.

To help make networking from home work for you, Career Connectors brought in the esteemed ‘Networking Guy’ Dave Sherman to show us how do this successfully from having the right attitude to follow up.

Keynote

There’s plenty of negative news around to convince us that our situation is hopeless, but Dave refuses to let that influence his attitude. He’s reminded that blessed with family, friends and living in Arizona, he’s living in one of the sunniest places in the world and it’s only going to get better from here!

But time are a Changin’

‘Back-to-normal’ gatherings aren’t coming back anytime soon, so now is the time to get familiar with video conferencing as it’s use becomes more common and accepted. With over 300 million daily users on Zoom alone (one of the more popular products available) virtual meetings are here to stay.

If you’re not accustomed to video conferencing, it will feel strange to feel as if you are talking to yourself, especially if participants don’t enable their video. Therefore, treat virtual meet apps as if they were live in-person meetings, prepare to be presentable and keep your camera and pants on!

For an effective virtual meeting:

  • Have good lighting on yourself so that the viewers can see facial expressions clearly.
  • Don’t get too close to the camera (you don’t want viewers looking up your nose).
  • Keep the camera eye level and sit back in a more natural position.
  • The clearer your image the better your chances of exhibiting trust and competency.
  • Smile on camera, relax. People are attracted to happy people.
  • On Zoom, you can set yourself apart (or just to hide a messy room) by changing the background. Keep it appropriate, non-distracting and be aware of colors that may cause distortions that can create ghostly images.

Now – Curb Your Enthusiasm

We get it, you’re desperately in need of a job, but too many people put pressure on themselves and others to get hired as fast as possible. When you meet someone for the first time, don’t expect a job on the first meeting. They might be asking themselves subconsciously, ‘Why might you matter to me?’ and ‘How much effort will this take on my part?’ With their guard up they’re not quite ready to listen to your needs, so it wouldn’t be wise to start talking about yourself. We all desire meaningful connections, so try to find common ground and get to know them and comment on their interests.

Make it an easy two-way conversation, not just ‘I need a job’, but instead ask ‘Who do you know?’. Chances are the first person you meet is not likely going to be the one who hires you. While they might not be able to help, they may be able to provide the name of someone who can help.

Answer the Question, ‘What are you looking for?’

If you are open to anything, that will increase your chances of getting a job, right? Wrong. That will decrease your chances because you will sound desperate, lost, and unsure of what you really want. When asking for help, be as specific and as simple as possible to make it easy for the listener to engage and remember.

During Dave’s presentations, he sometimes tests his audience by asking them to list 3 companies they would like to work for. Using that list will help define a clear goal of where exactly you want to work. Saying something like ‘looking for something in I.T.’ would be too general. What is ‘something’? What does I.T. even mean? Tell them what you want to do and where? Make it easy for others to understand your needs, fill in the blanks for them, don’t leave the possibility of unanswered questions.

How long will it take to find a job?

It depends your effort. It’s hard work, it’s drudgery, and sometimes boring. If you’re only managing to put in an hour or two a day into your job search it will take a lot longer than putting in 5 or 6 hours a day. Bump it up to a crazy 8 hours a day and Dave says you’ll find something in 2 weeks!

Lots of job are out there, you will just have to put in the work. New technology has made it easier than ever to find available work but unfortunately the old adage is still true, that looking for a job is itself a full-time job.

Not sure what you’re looking for?

While searching for a trainer position, Dave searched job boards for ‘training manager’ and the results were revealing. Training departments might now be called ‘Sales Enablement’ and there are new terms like SDR (Sales Development Representative). On job boards, try searching for anything that comes to mind even if it sounds ridiculous (only you and Google will know). Go ahead, type away to generate some ideas and get up to date on current terminology in your target industry. Look through possible similar job descriptions and see what resonates or triggers your thought process.

Hiring needs are shifting rapidly, so be realistic about your industry’s future. Some jobs are gone, some are going away and especially because of technology there are new types of jobs that didn’t exist until recently.

Follow up

Close the loop with your new contacts and be generous with your appreciation. Also be specific in your response to show you have been actively listening to your past conversation. Make your follow up easy to read, short, direct (but be nice). Showing courtesy and respect is important because you never know what an individual is going through. Treat everyone as if they are going through their own struggles and you’ll come across as empathetic and it’s more likely that you’ll be remembered. Make the most of every opportunity and leave a good impression.

There are plenty of free job hunt tools available, so don’t keep your next opportunity waiting. Just because the world is on pause for now, working on your personal and professional network doesn’t have to be.

Hiring Companies

National Bank of Arizona
Lisa Marcus, Director, Talent Acquisition

NB/AZ has been proud to be a responsive supporter of small business during the coronavirus crisis. With 60 branches all over Arizona NB/AZ builds local relationships and provides exceptional award-winning customer service to clients, neighbors, and business owners. From helping small business in your neighborhood to employees volunteering at the local community center, NB/AZ is committed to creating opportunities.

Positions open throughout Arizona include: Personal Bankers, Tellers, Operations Supervisor. Check here for a complete listing. Benefits include competitive health insurance for FT and PT employees, 401k and profit sharing.

Cenlar
Ann Pierce, Sr. Corporate Recruiter

Cenlar is an employee owned company where there are great opportunities to grow through training and mentoring. They are serious about growing from within, after the first 6 months employment you can apply for internal positions. And check this out, since 1912 there have been no layoffs ever!

Open positions are in customer service, collections, claims, loss mitigation, HR, leadership and research. Go the their website for a complete listing.

Resources

Career Connectors Academy

Through a partnership with Brighton College, Career Connectors has allowed the opportunity to grow your skills online while you are at home waiting out this lockdown! Get a unique learning experience customized through surveys and assessments that identify your natural talents.

If covering tuition is an issue, for those who qualify, there are free IT certifications, federal grants and payment programs set up to make the financial burden lighter. Go here to for further information.

Arizona Covid-19 Resources

Career Connectors has partnered with BestComapaniesAZ, Arizona@Work, Arizona Commerce Authority and PipelineAZ to provide resources for both job seekers and employers. Please visit this page for detailed resources including companies now hiring.

DISC Assessment

We all like free, so at no cost to you, complete the assessment to find your gifts and what kind of job will likely fit you through our no cost DISC assessment.

Professional Coaching

Thanks our Career Connectors volunteers, we can provide professional coaching in the following areas:

  • LinkedIn review
  • Resume review
  • Career Coaching/Development
  • Financial Coaching
  • Mock Interviews

Complete a brief form on our website to request coaching.

You can find details on upcoming and past events, as well as additional resources at CareerConnectors.org.

3/4/20 – Activate Your Strengths

by

Written by Gary Matsuda

Difficult co-workers? We’re talking about those who make your life miserable by overly complicating things or leaving out essential process details. Of course, they wouldn’t have done it the way you would have, which would have been faster or more accurate by far!

While interpersonal problems could be the result of differences in personal goals and values, another potential source of conflict is not often recognized or measured. It’s part of our innate way of doing things called conation.

Stephanie Clergé, Career coach, VP of Training and Consulting at Kolbe Corp broke it down for us.

Keynote

Psychology defines 3 parts of the mind:

  1. Cognition (intellect, skills, knowledge)
  2. Affective (feeling, personality type, preferences, values)
  3. Conation (instinctive action, problem solving approaches, decision making methods)

Well-known psychological tests work with the thinking cognitive (IQ, SAT) and feeling (DISC, Myers Briggs) parts of our brain.

The third component of the mind associated with conation or how we naturally take action (or avoid action) is measured by the Kolbe test, the only validated assessment that measures a person’s conative strengths. The results are called your MO or Method of Operation. If you know your MO, you will understand your own human nature and can begin the process of maximizing your potential. You’ll also be able to describe yourself clearly and articulate how you have performed in preparation for interviews and how to thrive in your new job!

The online Kolbe test takes about 20 minutes, during which you’ll be asked 36 questions which are designed to accurately determine your conative strengths. (It’s so accurate, if you change your answers, it will track that too.)

You’ll get your results in the form of 4 numbers representing a range from 1 to 10 for each of the action modes. These are the 4 action modes:

  • Fact Finder – one’s way of gathering and sharing information
  • Follow Thru – one’s way of organizing
  • Quick Start – one’s way of dealing with risk and uncertainty
  • Implementor – one’s way of handling space and tangibles

You then interpret your scores like this for each action mode:

CounterAct – Scores in 1-3 range of the continuum
Indicates an ability to resist being in action mode or being energy saving or conservative.

  • Fact Finder: indicates a need to generalize, give an overview, briefly summarize, and find bottom line information.
  • Follow Through: indicates a need to do several things at once, keep things where they can be seen, take short cuts, go outside regular procedures.
  • Quick Start: indicates a need to avoid chaos, bring stability, stick with the tried and true, and reduce uncertainty.
  • Implementor: indicates a need to avoid literal construction of model, working in three dimensions, or handling special relationships.

ReAct – The in between zone 4-6
Indicating an ability to accommodate in the mode as needed. Not going to detail actions here but generally they blend between the two zones above and below.

Initiate Action – scores in the 7-10 part of the continuum
Also referred to as insistence (on performing an action).

  • Fact Finder: indicates a need to be specific, read and report details, define terms, and justify facts.
  • Follow Thru: indicates a need to be highly structured, act sequentially, and complete one task before starting another.
  • Quick Start: indicates a need to experiment, act spontaneously, and do things in new and different ways.
  • Implementor: indicates a need to touch, physically explore, move around, build, and deal with what is concrete rather than abstract.

The emphasis here is to recognize and exploit your superpowers. We all have habits we should improve, but most career coaches advise that it’s not productive to put significant effort into improving your weaknesses or abilities you were not born with. Likewise, you’re unlikely to change your team members weaknesses into strengths. Instead there is much more return on investment on developing and using natural strengths.

If you have ever wondered why the boss needs to drone on about the big picture, while you just want the details on what to do next, you’ll understand why there is a disconnect. With your Kolbe score you’ll have the basic information to start meaningful conversations and reduce stress in the workplace or at home!

Compared to most career advice that seem to focus on intelligence (i.e. good grades, certifications) and personality, the Kolbe A Index guides us further by:

  • Learning to rely on actions that instinctively work for us.
  • Helping focus time and energy to be more productive.
  • Directing more effective communication, career choices and study habits.
  • Improving relationships with friends, loved ones and co-workers because we’ll trust our instincts instead of trying to change each other.

To get help planning for your next career (or date), take the Kolbe A evaluation. If you’ve registered for this Career Connectors event, it’s free until March 15th.

Stephanie Clergé is a VP of Training and Consulting at Kolbe Corp, which specializes in assessments and interventions that increase individual and collective performance.

Company

Cenlar, Mark Pierce, Recruiter

If your strength is with people, yet you want to be behind the scenes and have immediate impact on people who need help, Cenlar needs you! For many of us owning a home is part of our country’s foundation. Behind most homeowners is a mortgage to manage and some people need assistance. Your help involves guiding customer issues from basic questions on their loan to loan structuring. You’ll get experience with many different banks and lenders so your experience can grow with you ambition! There are flexible schedules, day or night which will work with your availability! Contact Mark Pierce (mepierce@cenlar.com) for full time summer and part time positions.

Resource

Career Connectors Academy, Steven Hatch, Director of Admissions

IT careers are hot, have always been and are likely to be in demand for years to come. If you’re changing careers or building up your current one, there are many paths available through Career Connectors Academy to help you quickly get the needed education and skills! Full work schedule or commute a problem? Well you can get you training done online. If covering tuition is an issue, for those who qualify there are free IT certifications, federal grants and payment programs set up to make the financial burden lighter. Email Steven Hatch (steven.hatch@brightoncollege.edu) for more info.

Closing

Jessica Pierce, Founder and CEO of Career Connectors, closed the first part of the event and invited attendees to participate in talking to hiring managers and resume experts, finding educational opportunities, visiting Coaches Corner, and posing for a free head shot by a professional volunteer photographer. And thanks to GCU for the venue!

For details about upcoming Career Connectors events throughout the Valley, click here to visit the events section on the website for times, locations, and details about hiring companies and keynote topics.

01/28/20 – They Want It, and You’ve Got It…How to Communicate Your “It” Factor

by

Written by Jim McBride

Keynote

Bridgett McGowen

Can you do the job? Will you do the job? That’s what recruiters want to know. But hiring managers, they want to know if you have that “it” factor.

Bridgett McGowan, award-winning professional speaker and business owner, coaches up professionals to be “the most engaging, dynamic, incredible communicators ever.” Bridgett knows what it takes to make your “it” a legit differentiator when interviewing for your next career adventure.

With the Recruiter

It’s likely your first interaction with a company will be with a recruiter. The recruiter is not typically taking a deep dive into your career accomplishments. Recruiters take a preliminary checklist approach to see if the candidate is a potential fit for the organization by zeroing in on your education, job history, experience in similar work environments and your overall demeanor.

The recruiter is an important step in the hiring process because you’re being evaluated on how you may fit into the company culture based on how you think, how you talk and what you believe in compared to how they think, how they talk and what the company believes in.

With the Hiring Manager

Mirror the communication style of hiring manager during the interview. According to Bridgett, a “peacemaker” likes to build rapport, so reciprocate the small talk. “Truth-keepers” need messaging that is logical, makes sense and fits with what they know. If you interview with a “solution seeker” be concise – no rambling – get to the bottom line, while the “risk taker” feeds on excitement and lots of positive energy (be interesting and alive!).

Research and connect with the company’s vision, mission, products and services. Demonstrate your ability to synthesize information, problem solve, communicate. All of your focus goes into emphasizing your strengths, not your weaknesses.

As every interview question is designed to see how you fit with the work culture, always be the absolute best version of yourself. Give the interviewer an idea of what life will be like with you as a member of the team. Communicate that you aren’t just looking for any job. Say, “I am the person for this position!”

Your “It” Factor

You didn’t wake up this morning and plan to be mediocre.

It’s time to be “on” when it matters the most. Hint hint…the interview. Hint hint…networking. Show interest and passion. You have the talent and the energy. Respond to every question with an affirmative response. Drive enthusiasm, gain buy-in for their interest in you. Engage with the interviewer through rapport building and create a personal connection. Focus on themes to make your message all about how you will elevate the company. Provide objective content regarding your abilities and talents.

Create a one-line personal value statement to articulate what you do incredibly well.

Ensure that showtime at the interview is not the first time. Rehearse the actual words you will say. See the actual body language you will use. The internet is loaded with sample interview questions. Practice your energy.

You ready to crush it? Everywhere you go. Everything you do. Every move you make. Every word you say. Every look you give. Everything is GREAT. They want it. You’ve got it!

Hiring Companies

Cenlar
Diane Kaber – Sr. Recruiter

Cenlar is the leading mortgage subservicing company in the country. Based in New Jersey with locations in Arizona, Pennsylvania and Missouri, the company is projecting 40% growth in the near term. Cenlar is a private company with stock options for eligible employees.

Open Positions
Customer Service
Collections
Loss Mitigation
Claims
Foreclosures
Bankruptcy

HR / ER
Leadership
Service Excellence
Research

AB Staffing Solutions
Courtney Bleskachek – Recruitment Resource Coordinator

AB Staffing Solutions is the leading provider of healthcare professionals and human capital solutions to Federal Government and Commercial clients in three segments: Nursing, Allied Health and Physician supplemental staffing. Among the company’s benefits is full cost coverage of health, dental and vision insurance.

Open Positions
Recruiter – We are looking for the right individuals to join our team as Recruiters within all specialties

ADP
Laura Lynn Smith – Division Vice President
Pamela Farling – Talent Acquisition Business Partner

ADP is a comprehensive global provider of cloud-based human capital management (HCM) solutions that unite HR, payroll, talent, time, tax and benefits administration and a leader in business outsourcing services, analytics and compliance expertise.

Open Positions
Director, Client Services
Manager, Client Services supporting Master Tax
Manager, Payroll Operations
Sr. Client Services Manager
Associate Relations Specialist
Sr. Technology Solution Consultant
Major Accounts District Manager
Strategic Outside Sales Executive
401k Plan Specialist
Full Level Tax Specialist I Implementation

U-Haul International, Inc.
Alex Taylor – Corporate Recruiter

U-Haul is the recognized industry leader in Do-It-yourself moving, self-storage, moving supplies propane and custom hitches. The company was founded in 1945 and is headquartered in downtown Phoenix. With the largest truck fleet in the world, U-Haul employs 32,000 people nationwide and has 20,000 independent dealers and 1,900 company-owned Moving and Storage Centers.

Open Positions
Customer Service – Contact Center
Sales – Contact Center
Accounting – Corporate
Project Manager – Corporate
Software Infrastructure
Software Engineer

Resource

Career Connectors Academy Training Program

Brighton College is about creating the ultimate learning experience and driving employability skills for the working/non-working and the underserved.

Dreams fulfilled through better learning.
We are proud of this new partnership with Career Connectors to offer the best support from both organizations from enrollment to employed.

We believe this starts by identifying your natural talents through behavioral and skill-based surveys and assessments. With this knowledge we help you identify a customized learning pathway, then leverage innovative technology to deliver these in-demand courses and programs that lead to improved employability skills:
• Technical Support
• Programming
• Cyber Security
• Medical Billing and Coding
• Pharmacy Technician
• Web & Graphic Design
• Computer Aided Drafting & Design (CADD)
• Short-term Allied Health Certificate Programs
• Short-term IT Certificate Programs
• Customer Service Certification Programs

Student and Career Services Support (resume help, mock interviews) for your journey. Online, at your own pace!

Closing

Jessica Pierce thanked the Career Connectors volunteer staff and encouraged all attendees to make full use of the career transition resources – speaking with the hiring company representatives, utilizing the professional resume writers, connecting with the LinkedIn coaches, getting a business portrait and taking the free DISC Assessment. The next Career Connectors event is Wednesday, February 5th in Phoenix from 5:30 – 7:30 pm. Cheryl Covert will present “Where the Jobs Are.”

04/24/18 – Master Your Mindset to Land Your Next Job

by

Vered KoganWritten by Cindy Nowack

KEYNOTE SPEAKER

Master Your Mindset to Land Your Next Job
Vered Kogan

Vered Kogan, a professional certified coach and job search expert, tells us that career transition can be an exciting time of growth and possibility. It can also be a stressful and overwhelming time in our lives. The key to your job search success is in your mind.

Our brain was programmed at the time of our birth until we reached 7 years old. Our experiences were given positive or negative meaning by our brain at that time, which then shaped our beliefs. Our brain then continued to look for evidence that strengthened those beliefs as we grew up.

Often, we are not even aware of the 60-70,000 thoughts that run through our brain each day. Breathing, eating, and even driving, can be subconscious efforts that we can do without really thinking about them. In fact, we are operating on “automatic pilot” most of the time. We may not even be aware of most of the belief systems dictating our life. The good news is our brain is a muscle. It can grow and learn and change.

We experience a range of emotions in the job search, and in life. Lots of highs and lows. Some people can ride the wave, but others resist. Those who resist struggle more. What’s the difference between those riding the wave and those struggling? Mindset!

Mindset is a belief, or a feeling of certainty, about something. Some mindsets can be negative and hurt us, such as anorexic patients who believe they are overweight, but in reality, they are dangerously underweight. We may have a negative mindset about our recent job loss too. We take the job loss personally, and have a victim mindset.

Other mindsets can be positive and empower us. Michael Jordan was cut from his high school basketball team, but he bounced back after that setback, worked hard, and you know the rest of the story. Michael Jordan had an empowered mindset.

Through the MINDshift Change Process™, Vered wants you to know that we become what we believe. Beliefs make up 95-98% of our mental power. Every breakthrough starts with a change in our beliefs.

The MINDshift Change Process consists of five steps that can lead you through this mindset change:

Step 1 – Desire
Clarify your outcome. Have a clear vision of what you want to create – being hired for your target job, doing well at an interview, improving your well-being, working out, or eating healthy. Give clear, specific and positive instructions for your subconscious mind.

Step 2 – Mindset
Shift your limiting beliefs by replacing them with new beliefs. Tune in to your inner chatter – the fears and worries that may bubble up to the surface. Now wonder what if the opposite were true? Replace your fears and doubts with a positive, uplifting goal that is aligned with your new beliefs.

Step 3 – Focus
Train your brain to become more positive. As Vered said earlier, the brain is a muscle. The more you use your brain, the stronger it grows. You can take less than 10 minutes when you wake up in the morning to read your goals out loud and visualize. Imagine achieving your goal. The brain can be programmed by thought alone, so this daily practice will bring you closer to achieving your goals.

“It’s the repetition of affirmations that leads to belief. And once that belief becomes a deep conviction, things begin to happen” – Muhammad Ali

Step 4 – Strategy
Adopt a proven strategy. Utilize the resources at Career Connectors events. Network.

Step 5 – Action
Take mega-aligned action. Break through the barriers that have been holding you back. Your results will change, and employers will notice. Your new mindset will give you new results.

A Cherokee tells his grandson the story of the fight of two wolves within each of us. One wolf is evil, and the other wolf is good. The grandson asks, “Which wolf will win?” The grandfather simply replied, “The one you feed.”

The key to your job search success is your mindset. With these steps, you can reprogram your brain to a positive, empowering mindset, which will transform your job search and your life. Go to www.veredkogan.com for more details.

HIRING COMPANIES

Cenlar
Robin Stanton, Senior Recruiter

Cenlar started as a savings and loan in 1912. The company left the banking side in the 1980s to focus fully on the mortgage subservicing business. Cenlar serviced 1 million loans in 2013, and is projecting 40% growth through this year. They are managing that growth by hiring for many different positions and will reach 700 employees in Tempe this year. Cenlar has two offices here, at Hardy and Elliot and also Kyrene and Warner.

In addition to their robust benefits package, Cenlar offers internal promotions, a formal mentorship program, and ongoing education and training.

They are hiring for the following positions:

  • Customer service
  • Team leader
  • Quality control
  • Quality assurance
  • HR
  • Research

For more information about these positions, go to cenlar.com/careers, or call Robin or one of her team members at (480) 961-3900.

 

Aerotek
John Dvorak and Laura Barker, Recruitment Sourcing Specialists

Aerotek was originally founded 30 years ago by two cousins in a garage. Today, they have become one of the top global recruiting and staffing agencies. Their client, UTC Aerospace, needs 300 people to test airplane evacuation slides over several days in mid-May. You could earn in $600 in 4 days if you are 18 years or older and can pass a medical screening. Here’s the flyer with more detail.

CLOSING

Thank you to our 13 partner companies, including Goodwill and WozU.

On Wednesday, May 2, from 3-6pm, you are invited to the Freedom Financial Career Mixer. You can connect with the top performers and hiring leaders from all departments at Freedom Financial Network’s new location at 2114 E Rio Salado Blvd in Tempe. They are looking to hire more than 1,000 people. Come see why they were voted #1 “Best Place to Work” in Phoenix. RSVP at http://bit.ly/ffn-mixer.

Our next meeting is Thursday, May 3 at Grand Canyon University where Career Connectors will host a Technology Panel, with Vixxo, GoDaddy, USAA, Dignity Health, TechFinders, and Freedom Financial Network.

1/12/17 – Rise Strong from Adversity

by

internalGPS Paula ShoupWritten by Chris Layfield

Keynote

Paula Shoup, Coach, Facilitator, Consultant

Paula Shoup believes we can all rise stronger from adversity.  The most resilient people in the room are able to reckon with adverse situations through raw story-telling including all the negative emotions.  They control the critical voice inside their head, and they get curious about what they can learn and understand about themselves and others in the situation.  They continue to make stories out of this reckoning process, and they seek out empathetic listeners.  Resilient people own their history of vulnerability, and it becomes a sign of courage and strength.

How can you start down this road?  When you have a “Fall” (an “oh shucks” moment), write down your story in raw form with all the negative emotion – don’t hold back from blame, judgment, anxiety, perfectionism, humiliation, nostalgia, guilt, etc.  Create some space for creative reflection on the story by practicing slow breathing and keeping the critical voice inside your head in check for a while.  Ask yourself what you can learn and understand about three parts of the story: the situation, the others in the situation, and yourself.

Watch out for traps that can get you stuck:

  • Shame is a sure way to get stuck – instead of focusing on how you feel about your identity, focus your stories on how you feel about your behaviors in a given situation – you can change those
  • Negative emotions are the most powerful and long-lasting emotions – you need to notice sources of positive emotions in a 3:1 ratio to the negative ones to achieve balance
  • Imagining you don’t deserve to feel struggle because others have it worse than you stops the processing in its tracks – compassion and empathy are infinite, and you can find others willing to listen
  • Don’t fall into the trap of thinking the inner critical voice inside your head is you – it is trying to protect you, but it is not you.  Give it a name, notice the scripts it likes to repeat, and keep it in check, so you can process creatively

Hiring Companies

Allstate

Traci Whitley-Rose, Recruiter

Allstate has a regional office in Tempe with sales and marketing, product, corporate relations, claims, and IT professional opportunities.  The company is looking for a variety of backgrounds; Traci says telling your whole story, both inside and outside work, helps recruiters tailor opportunities to you.  Given the company’s national reach, there are also numerous flex/telecommuting opportunities.

Search jobs on Allstate’s career website.

Allstate is also looking to grant exclusive agencies to candidates with at least $100K in start-up capital, a track record of success, and an entrepreneurial drive.  Each policy an agent writes generates residual income, and there are no fees since this is not a franchise.  In addition to a wide product offering and national branding, Allstate provides a ton of local support including  training and consulting for your agency’s sales and marketing, product management, and corporate relations.  Even if you are not interested yourself, if you refer Traci someone who opens a business, Allstate will pay you a $10K referral bonus.

Varsity Tutors

Joanna Szewczyk, Regional Sales Director

Varsity Tutors just opened a location in Old Town Scottsdale (Camelback and Goldwater) on September 9.  They are a young company with lots of funding, strong technology, fast career growth, and a great vision of online delivery for test prep books, subject-specific apps, and a tutoring interface.  The culture is results-oriented with fun, and they are primarily hiring for sales, customer care, and training roles.

Check them out online.

Tech Finders / HR Finders

Kirsty Bach, Vice President

Staffing firms can create an advantage for candidates by getting to know them, presenting opportunities tailored specifically to their profile, and providing them behind-the-scenes, candid context that they may not hear through formal channels.

Tech Finders / HR Finders has been matching talent to roles since 1998.  They are currently seeking roles across multiple disciplines:

  • Tech: Database and Systems Administrators, Backend Principal Engineer, Java Developers, ERP Implementation Specialist, VP Sales and Marketing
  • HR: Healthcare Recruiter, HR Manager, HR Generalist, Recruiter
  • Finance: Sr. Accountant, Tax Supervisor, AP Specialist, Tax Compliance Specialist, Garnishment Specialist, Assistant Controller

Kristy also encouraged the group to consider contract roles as a stepping stone to permanent opportunities – contract roles open a lot of doors.

Get acquainted at www.aztechfinders.com.

Cenlar

Rebekah Long, Recruiter

Cenlar is a mortgage and loan-servicing provider with 2 Arizona Locations, both in Tempe (one at Warner and Kyrene and another at S. Hardy Drive).  Open roles include an HR Generalist as well as agents and supervisors in customer care and collections.  The company offers a full benefits package and encourages community involvement.

More information can be found at www.cenlar.com/careers.

Resources

Coder Camps

Tom Fisher 

Coder Camps is a 12-week coding skills program to transition people into an industry that currently has a 2% unemployment rate.  Learners can choose a full-time immersive course or a nights and weekends track; both have online and on-site options.  If you aren’t sure you are ready to commit to the full course, start with “Coding From Scratch” for a $100 application fee; it gives learners a basic overview of HTML, Java, CSS and more.

Visit them at codercamps.com

Closing

Jessica Pierce, Executive Director of Career Connectors, announced that the Career Connectors plan for 2017 is in place.  Career Connectors events can be a great next step for your to meet people, to get advice, and to connect with hope.

Veterans are invited to the Military Career Event on February 22 10am-1pm at North Phoenix Baptist  Church Conference Center in Phoenix, AZ.  This free networking and hiring event is open to all military- active, retired and reservists- as well as their spouses and significant others.

Additionally, Career Connectors is always looking for volunteers with photography, writing, and/or A/V skills.