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1/17/19 – Financial Services/Insurance Panel

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Written by Jim McBride

Time to put your transferable skills into action? Have a driving passion for serving customers? Interested in navigating the career lattice? If so, you may be the perfect fit in both of these top five growth industries in Phoenix: Insurance and Financial Services!

Unique industry insights from two round-table panels of recruiting experts, hosted by Jessica Pierce, sparked lively discussion on the hottest jobs and how to start your career transition. Our audience of job seekers and networkers heard Q&A topics ranging from getting started without previous industry experience, to career pathways and industry myth-busting. Keep reading for a full recap.

PANEL 1 – Career Advancement in the Culture of the Insurance Industry

State Farm – Molly Romine, Recruiter
Farmers – Steven Acevedo, Supervisor
Liberty Mutual – John Walters, President, AZ Insurance Institute

Q – What advice do you have for people who are interested in pursuing career opportunities in the insurance industry?

A – We are always looking for people with a positive mentality. It’s so important to always be positive. Do your research – spend time connecting with people in the industry, read blog posts, get to KNOW the industry, learn the acronyms and become a practitioner of knowledge. Be yourself – we want a glimpse into your life, so you can be a superstar and have an amazing experience.

Q – Sometimes Insurance companies get a bad rap. What myths can you shatter?

A – Going in, I was planning on a career pivot within two years because I thought it would be boring! I soon recognized there’s so much more beyond the entry level position. Our company is like a mini-city, you are able to pursue so many other things within the organization. There’s a perception that insurance is all about being an agent. But there are lots of moving parts in areas like claims, underwriting and IT, just to name a few. There’s no college major that doesn’t apply to the insurance industry. There are lots of non-traditional roles. We’ve employed nurses, doctors and even physicists.

Q – What has kept you engaged?

A – The ability to keep on my learning path, finishing up my master’s program with the financial assistance that was provided. Plus, there are so many great people. The industry is known for attention to work-life balance. Only 10% of our workforce is call center and there are work-from-home opportunities at nearly all levels. There’s huge flexibility with work schedules. In the call center we are honoring our commitment to the customer so there is a need for schedule adherence, but we are not looking for robots.

Q- What are the career pathways once employees come on board?

A – I refer to this as career lattice. You can grow sideways – left or right – as well as diagonal. You’re navigating the lattice versus the career ladder. For some, the best career move may be lateral. It’s important to find an internal mentor as well as a mentor within the industry. Identify your interests and strengths. There are plenty of internal opportunities, keep your eyes open and decide which direction you’d like to go. Keep in mind, there are new jobs being created that didn’t exist 5 – 10 years ago.

Q – What are some tips for people who are pursuing senior management roles?

A – There definitely are openings. We’re always looking for talent and there’s always a need for leaders. The positions are typically posted internally first, then externally. If starting at entry level isn’t for you, network in the industry and learn about the jobs that aren’t posted yet. Learning the ropes really helps. We do try to promote from within, which can make it tough for external candidates. However, we know external candidates have valuable niche skills and the desire to compete for these roles.

Q – What is the outlook in the next 2 – 5 years in the insurance industry?

A – Phoenix is a great labor and academic market. The area is not disaster prone (no floods, hurricanes, etc.) so that’s why we’re here. Industry change is being driven by technology, regulation and consumer demand. As technology improves, our ability to serve improves. We’re not like Blockbuster, the movie video tape company that didn’t change with the times.

Q – What are the hot careers?

A – Jobs in IT, telematics, artificial intelligence, data science, programming, data platforms are all really hot. So is leadership. Great leaders can be hard to come by. Showcase your talent from other places you’ve worked.

Q – What are the benefits you offer?

A – We offer a cafeteria-style. It’s very broad and generous. We want your mind free and clear, not worried about insurance coverage. The benefits are not cookie-cutter. We match the diversity of our employee groups. For example: just out of college, single parent, looking to adopt – it’s designed for different stages of an employee’s life cycle. Tuition reimbursement is very popular.

Q – (audience) Are there any programs for hiring seniors (50+)?

A – Jobs are open for people of all ages. Some roles may be more attractive to seasoned job seekers. There’s been a noticeable increase in the number of part-time retirees who are looking for a flexible schedule.

Q – (audience) What is the best way to navigate a job fair? The job I’m looking for is not available and I’m directed to watch the website for postings.

A – There’s no easy answer to this question. If we’re at a job fair looking for customer service people, that’s going to be our focus. The best answer is to dig in on the website and make sure to network. We have employee referral programs, reach out and connect with current employees. They will be motivated to help you.

Q – (audience) – What is the best way to prepare for an interview?

A – Be ready for behavior-based questions. We’ll be looking for specific examples of situations from your past. Come up with a list of 10 examples and practice. This is what happened…this is how I handled it.

PANEL 2 – Never Expected to be Where I am Today – Financial Services

Freedom Financial Network  – Heather Marcom, Head of Talent Acquisition
Chase – Lekheythan Malone, Sr. Recruiter
Greater Phoenix Chamber Foundation (Financial Training) – Brittany Holmes, Workforce Development Manager

Q – What skills do you need to move into financial services?

A – We hire from all kinds of work experience. It’s really all about how you communicate with customers. We’re not just call centers. There are plenty of opportunities in roles beyond the call center.

Q – Financial services does not always sound exciting and fun. Why do you like this industry?

A – There is a common theme, we are passionate about serving our clients; educating and answering questions to help people achieve their financial goals in life. We have empathy for people when they need our help. We offer great benefits and we’re growing, which is very exciting.

Q – What if a job seeker has no previous financial services experience, are there opportunities?

A – The call center is typically where you start. Although over 50% of our roles are filled internally, we are looking for skills that are transferable. We also focus on a competency and culture fit. Be able to articulate your transferable skills, verbally and on your resume. If we understand your transferable skills, we can help direct you. It takes effort. Do your research and don’t ask, “whadya got?” You should always know what specific job you are seeking.

To build your industry knowledge, make a point of attending an industry conference to network, learn something new or brush up on best practices. Some positions require a license. Getting into a licensing program shows initiative and a commitment that you’re ready for the securities industry. There are four-week programs with outplacement assistance through the Greater Phoenix Chamber Foundation.  (See:  Financial Industry Training Open House)

Q – What are the career pathways in financial services?

A – We’re building a path from our customer service “farm team” and coaching people through the career ladder. But we’re still figuring it out because we’re a new company. Internal opportunities are numerous with so many different and diverse lines of business, so there’s lots to explore. It depends on want you want to accomplish in your career and we encourage employees to move around. Managers have career development on their score card, so they are having those conversations with their direct reports.

Q – What is the future of the industry?

A – We are piloting part-time roles in our core services because workforce flexibility is critical. More automation is coming, so make sure you keep up on your skills. You HAVE to be tech savvy, so don’t get left behind. We still need lots of people behind the technology to serve customers.

Q – What are the attractive benefits beyond the standard suite?

A – Freedom Financial Network:  Voted Best Place to Work in Phoenix. Cafeteria, coffee bar, covered outdoor seating areas, BBQ, games, core values C.A.R.E., time off on your birthday, time off to volunteer.

Chase: Internal resume and interviewing workshops, coaching and networking. Retirement portfolio flexibility options.

Q – If someone has a credit history issue, are they eligible to work?

A – Yes, you would be eligible for 95% of the roles. A typical background investigation is conducted on prospective employees but only a limited number of roles require a credit history check.

Q – (audience) If I’m looking for a manager role, what job title should I put on my resume to get it through the applicant tracking system?

If you’re applying with just one resume for every job, you’re using the wrong approach. Look at each job description and customize your resume to that job. Drop in key words and don’t worry so much about the job title. Recruiters recognize that job titles can vary. And remember, a recruiter will spend about 30 seconds scanning your resume.

RESOURCES

GCU – Jim Pangborn, Director

GCU offers an IT functionality “boot camp” featuring an in-depth program to build your skills for a career in the technology field. GCU also provides business management MBA programs and continuing education for those interested in adding on to their skill set.

Numerous open staff positions at GCU, featuring:
• Director of Compensation
• Sr. Financial Analyst

jobs@gcu.edu
jobs@gce.com

CLOSING

Jessica Pierce closed the meeting with a review of upcoming events. Up next, “Put Your Strengths to Work – Find a Job that Fits” featuring Stephanie Clergé on Tuesday, January 22nd in Gilbert. Jessica acknowledged the many partners and volunteers who help make Career Connectors a success!

11/21/17 – Seven Simple Things™ for Career Transition

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Seven Simple ThingsWritten by Shweta Shrivastav

Keynote

Tom Gammon has been involved with Career Connectors for about 5 years, first as an attendee, and also as a volunteer. Seven Simple Things™ emerged from Tom’s professional and personal experiences, and a penchant for continuous learning. He spent 30+ years in the corporate world creating and growing business units within large organizations to 9-digit revenue levels and high profit performance. He has also trained, coached and mentored hundreds of small business owners and thousands of individual professionals. He is an Academic Associate with ASU, where he mentors students, faculty, and community-based start-ups, is a guest lecturer on the subjects of personal and team development and performance, leadership, and culture, and chairs the Venture Mentor Advisory Council for ASU’s Venture Devil’s program.

The Seven Simple Things™ is a collection of principals, practices, tools and resources to help you move forward in any situation and create a happier, less stressful and more productive life.

These principles can be applied in various fields like Entrepreneurial ventures; Management, Organizational Teaming and Leadership; Consulting, Coaching, Speaking, Mentoring; Job Search/Career Transition; Professional Sales and Sales Management; Educational Pursuits/Personal Development; Direct/Network Marketing; and Athletic team performance to name a few.

Once there were three brick-layers. Each one was asked what they were doing. The first one grimly replied, “I am laying bricks”. The second one said, “I am building a big wall”. The third one said with pride, “I am building the greatest chapel ever built.” So, our attitude towards whatever we are doing determines the level of success. If we have the bigger picture in mind and not just the task at hand, we are better able to eliminate obstacles.

From the HR perspective, the hiring criteria they have in mind is if we CAN do you our job, if we WILL do our job and if are a good culture FIT.

So, now the question is during this time of job transition how do we stay motivated, focused and end up getting a great job?

The answer is by emphasizing on the Seven Simple Things™

  • Positive Thought
  • Positive Action
  • Ponder the possibilities
  • Preparation
  • Practice
  • Persistence
  • Patience

The implementation process – How do we achieve these Seven Simple Things™?

  • Creating an ability based mindset
  • The performance triangle
  • Craft and tell your story

Creating an ability based mindset

Some of the challenges to creating an ability based mindset are Fear, difficult task, questioning your abilities, discomfort, not being clear about your “why”, and mired down or being “stuck”.

  1. So, how do we get over these challenges? Emphasize serving others be it Community, Customers, Professional Stakeholders, or Personal Network.
  2. Daily reflection about your values and your “why”, expressing gratitude either as a prayer or as gratitude journaling, setting intentions/goals, learning, and getting a little uncomfortable each day by doing something you have not done before.
  3. Taking time to contemplate and meditate. For example, learn about simple “pranic” breathing techniques.

The performance triangle

The performance triangle is Acceptance-Choice-Action.

Acceptance: The first step to great performance is acceptance. Taking stock of where we are and creating a game plan from there to reach our goals. Not approaching the job search from a victim mentality but from an abundance mentality.

Choice: Once we accept and take stock of our current situation, the inevitable question of choice comes up. We can either chose to take action and feel the pain of effort or not take action and feel the pain of regret. The choice is ours to make.

Action: One step at a time along the way to something bigger/better. We don’t need to “boil the ocean” but make a difference in our own unique way. We should appreciate, enjoy and even celebrate the action. Repeat the cycle by accepting the new moment created by your action.

Craft and Tell you Story (Leverage Your Unique-ness)

Here are the the components to crafting a compelling story about what you offer.

  1. Situation/Background – Events, Findings, Experience(s)
  2. Decision, Action, Results – Choices, Actions, Results
  3. What I like most – About current status/results
  4. Reactions – People [Clients] find that
  5. Engagement Question – OPEN ENDED

Invitation: Receive free Seven Simple Things™ introductory e-book for Entrepreneurs or Job Seekers when you join the mailing list on Tom’s website TomGammon.net.

Suggested Readings:
The Happiness Advantage by Shawn Achor
The Charisma Myth by Olivia Fox Cabane
The Success Principles by Jack Canfield
The Sedona Method by Hale Dwoskin
A New Earth ad The Power of NOW by Eckhart Tolle
The Seven Spiritual Laws of Success by Deepak Chopra
The Path: What Chinese Philosophers Can Teach us the Good Life by Michael Puett & Christine Gross-Loh
Letting Go by David R Hawkins
Blink by Malcolm Gladwell
How Good Do We Have To Be by Harold S Kushner
You are a BADASS by Jen Sincero

Hiring Companies

Bank of the West

Douglas Deyo, Recruiter
A subsidiary of BNP Paribas, Bank of the West has recently (October 2017) set up shop in Phoenix. They have plans to hire more than a 1000 people in the coming year. They have a laid back work environment due to their European roots and have a robust pay and benefit policy. Some of the roles they are hiring for are Customer Service, Administrators, Accounting professionals, IT professionals, Banking and Loan Operations professionals. You can find all their job postings at here.

LoanCare – A Servicelink Company

Robert Soukkala, VP Site Manager
LoanCare is majority owned by Fidelity National Financial, Inc. They have a casual dress code and laid back work environment. They are currently hiring in their Customer Experience, Collections, and Loss Mitigation departments. All of their jobs are listed at LoanCare.net.

Chase

Lekheythan Malone, Sr Recruiting Professional
Chase serves nearly half of America’s households with a broad range of financial services. The scale of operations provides job seekers with amazing job opportunities. There are ample opportunities to grow within the company. Their benefits are one of the best in the market. Additionally, they have various diversity groups including Veterans, LGBTQ and others.

Some of their open roles are:
Phoenix – Consumer Direct Mortgage Banker, Underwriter – Auto Finance, Customer Service & Collections Specialist I & III – Auto, and Lead Teller Ops Specialist Trainee (English/Bilingual)

Tempe – US Help Desk Specialist II, Customer Service & Fraud, Customer Service & Fraud (bilingual), Mortgage Services Specialist I, and Retail Customer Service

Find all of their job listings here.

Vanguard

Ralph Kimbrough, Sr Recruiter
Vanguard is one of the largest investment management companies. They put great emphasis on work-life integration. 37.5 hours of work is considered full-time work. They have some great benefits like on site gym, on site health clinic, tuition reimbursement, retirement savings, and learning opportunities.

They are hiring for various jobs from Entry level to Management level. Some of the roles are Client Relationship Specialist, Processing Associate, Financial Adviser, Compliance Manager, and Team leaders. For their current open positions, please visit their website.

 

8/22/17 – Activate Your Job Search

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Activate Your Job SearchKeynote Speaker

Kevin Dumcum
Activate Your Job Search
Just when you thought you knew everything there was to know about looking for a job, in walks Kevin Dumcum, Business Account Coordinator with Arizona@Work. As the keynote speaker at the August 22 Career Connector event, Kevin Dumcum shared a bevy of job hunting related information to the group. He started out with a brief introduction that included his past work experience. At the University of Minnesota, he went to the Career Center and saw a job listing for a marketing research call center to which he was hired. By the time he graduated he had several job offers doing what he loved. Several years later he had the ideal job and everything was rosy until 2008. That’s when everything changed. Armed with experience and a high degree of persistence, he sought out to reinvent himself. Luckily for us, he ended up helping others find a job with the intention to teach us about the various job sites and resources available.

He brought with him several lessons that we can all use when looking for a job. I’ve highlighted three of those lessons below:
1) Recognize that Job Loss is Traumatic: His first thought was to tell us about the emotion of looking for your next job. You’re feeling sadness, fear, rejection, and uncertainty. Just know that it has NOTHING TO DO WITH YOU.
2) Understand How Companies Think: The “company” is responsible for driving profits. And sometimes that means that companies need to do the hard things that make a profit for the company and their shareholders. BUT we can turn that around to our advantage by keeping up with our job skills. Companies are looking for people with skills that will take them into the next century. We need to be prepared for that next great opportunity. Remember that you need to give your present company the best you can give them even if you’re not happy there. Give yourself permission to improve yourself.
3) Control Your Own Career Path:An often overlooked facet to taking control of your job success has to do with taking care of yourself! Eat well, exercise, and developing your mental preparedness is just as important.Update Your Resume. There are resources available all over the valley including Arizona@Work that offer free resume workshops. Your skills may be outdated and may need tweaking for the next great opportunity.

Kevin did a fantastic job of providing some great tools and resources that are available if you just ask. He strongly suggested visiting your local library as well as some of the following local job resource centers:

  • Arizona@Work – 7 locations across the valley, career mapping, resume and interview workshops, company visits, grant funding
  • Goodwill Career Centers that offer several centers across the valley
  • AZJobConnection.gov – job board (he encourages to do that so that we can match up skills with your resume) Remember, Success Breeds Success!

Hiring Companies

Dignity Health

Marcos Day, Talent Acquisition Consultant
Kindness Heals!
That was the message Marcos Day, recruiter for Dignity Health wanted to share with us. As an employee of Dignity Health for two years, he praised the history and the importance of the Dignity family of hospitals. Dignity treats every patient with respect and kindness because they know it goes a long way in the recovery of each patient. Founded in 1986, Dignity, a faith-based hospital, is in 22 states and prides itself with having the first hospital in all of Arizona, St. Joseph’s in Phoenix.
Dignity is currently looking for both patient facing and non-patient facing positions. A partial list of open positions include patient positions such as: Registered Nurse, Rehabilitation Therapy, Radiology, and Patient Transportation. Non-patient facing positions include Food Service, Facilities, and Information Technology to name a few.
They offer an outstanding benefits package including Medical, Dental, and Vision after 30 days of employment among many others.

Rigid Industries

Jim Shaw, Director of Human Resources
Jim Shaw, Director of Human Resources at Rigid, told the Career Connectors crowd that it was only two months ago that he sat in the very same seats looking for full time employment. After a brief video introduction of his company, Jim went on and told us all about Rigid. The Gilbert-based company engineers, designs, and manufactures a line of heavy-duty LED lights for off-roading vehicles. He told us they stand behind every product they sell by offering a life time warranty. They welcome new employees that want to be a part of a rapidly growing company that prides itself with excellent products.
Opportunities are available in all areas of the business including: Optical Engineer, Project Engineer, Assemblers, Sales, and Shipping with a lot more listed on their website.
They offer free medical insurance, 401k with company match up to 5%, incentive bonus programs, and even celebrity visits.

Staff Logic

Heather Eden, Senior Vice President of Recruiting
Staff Logic provides quality-driven employees in a variety of industries. They focus on workforce management solutions by cost-effectively placing highly-skilled professionals in a variety of positions. They are committed to their customers by creating environments that allow them to express their ideas. They support the development of their employees’ careers. As an Equal Opportunity Employer, Staff Logic offers a wide variety of outsourcing services as well as temporary, temp-to-hire, and direct-hire options. Staff Logic is currently seeking employees in the IT, Engineering, Medical, Administrative, and Customer Service fields to name a few.

Chase

Lekheythan Malone, Senior Recruiting Professional
If I could pick one word to describe Lekheythan Malone, Senior Recruiting Professional at Chase, it would be Passion. Lekheythan gave an inspirational talk about not only what Chase was looking for in its employees, but also offered advice for anyone looking for work. Know what you want before you apply to just any job. Chase offers a myriad of positions and Chase prides itself for assisting with a candidate’s long-term goals. Lekheythan stressed how diversity and inclusion are a natural part of how they run their business. Diversity is the core value of how Chase works, how they interact with others, and how they deliver the products and services they offer. The pride for his company spilled over into his unstructured presentation. He admitted he was humbled when he first began his career at Chase. An MBA in his pocket, he found himself at an entry-level position at Chase. With a lot of hard work and persistence, he grew to be a very well-liked employee and the position that he holds today was actually created for him based on his personality and because of how he saw the good in others.
“If you know what your role is and how you can make a difference with the company, that’s how you’ll fit into the company,” Malone stated. If you humble yourself and go into the thinking that this is a start (customer service). Chase doesn’t want you to think of it as an endpoint. They want you to start there so they can see you grow.
Chase wants to:

• Make a difference

• Do What’s Right

• Define New Paths

• Create the Future
Chase’s benefits package offers a competitive benefits package for the whole family.

 

 

 

8/2/17 – Get the Job Fast – Find a Great New Job in Half the Time

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Find the Job Fast Written by: Connie Huber PHR SHRM-CP

JOB SEEKER: “Magic 8 Ball, Magic 8 Ball, when will I find a job?”
MAGIC 8 BALL: “Concentrate and ask again.”

During our transition, one of the consistent themes heard among job seekers is “How long have you been out of work?” Most of us know eventually we will find a job. Unfortunately, magic 8 balls, horoscopes, fortune tellers, your Mom/Dad and your spouse cannot predict when you will secure a new position. As a result, professionals seeking new opportunities are anxious to come to an end in their job search and move on in their new role.

KEYNOTE

Get the Job Fast – Find a Great New Job in Half the Time!
Dave Sherman

Like most of us in career transition, Dave has also found himself unemployed due to today’s workforce challenges. Fortunately for us, Dave shared with us what has worked for him to find a new job in half the time. His key take-aways include:
• Being fired/laid-off SUCKS.
• Looking for jobs online SUCKS.
• Very few alternatives.
• Stop complaining, whining and moaning!
• HOW BADLY DO YOU WANT IT!

TIP #1: GET OUT OF THE HOUSE!
WHY? You maintain a working routine. It promotes socialization, and STOPS THE VOICES!
WHERE SHOULD YOU GO? Coffee house. Restaurant. Library. ANYWHERE WITH INTERNET!

TIP #2: HANG OUT WITH EMPLOYED PEOPLE!
Hanging out with employed professionals leads to learning about current and future openings. Career transition groups are also beneficial.

TIP #3: START ATTENDING MORE NETWORKING EVENTS
Employed people hang out at networking events. To learn of Phoenix networking events & groups  at Networking Phoenix.

WHERE SHOULD YOU GO?
Chamber of Commerce: Most Chambers allow attending 2-3 times before being asked to join. Associations. Business groups. Networking groups. Career transition groups.

SPECIAL NOTE: Networking and prospecting are done at events. The more people you tell you are looking for work or talk to will accelerate your efforts in finding a job faster.

SUGGESTIONS for attending events: Show up early. Bring business cards. Know what you want. ASK FOR HELP!

HOW BADLY DO YOU WANT IT?

TIP #4: When attending events, STOP LOOKING FOR A JOB!

WHAT SHOULD YOU DO? Work on Likeability and Commonality. These traits are the foundation in life and the key to everything!

LIKEABILITY includes: Smile. Be genuine. Be interested, not interesting. By being interested it will increase your odds to get a job.

COMMONALITY could come through: hometown, hobbies, school, family, friends, favorites.

“WHO DO YOU KNOW?”
Be as specific as possible. There is such a thing as 6-degree of separation. According to Wikipedia, it is “the theory that everyone and everything is 6 or fewer steps, by way of introduction, from any other person in the world so that a chain of ‘a friend of a friend’ statements can be made to connect any two people in a maximum of 6 steps.”

KNOW WHAT YOU WANT!!!!
In order for people to help you, identify and know what you are looking for!

TIP #5: FOUR MOST IMPORTANT WORDS

KNOW WHAT YOU WANT!
Be specific and identify what you are looking for so people can help you better.

FOUR MOST IMPORTANT WORDS: “WHO DO YOU KNOW?”

Ask everyone!
Be specific.
Use all the time.
Don’t give up.

HOW BADLY DO YOU WANT IT?
Remember your profession/position are an investment in yourself!

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES WRITTEN BY DAVE:
“50 Top Tips: A Simple Guide to Networking Success”
“Breaking the Ice”
“Elevating Your Elevator Speech”

“A DREAM DOESN’T BECOME A REALITY THROUGH MAGIC; IT TAKES SWEAT, DETERMINATION AND HARD WORK.”-Colin Powell

Hiring Companies

Benchmark Electronics
Mark Bradley, HR Manager

Benchmark Electronics is a global engineering, design and integrated electronics manufacturing company. Benchmark provides contract manufacturing services and is a wholly owned subsidiary of Intermedics. The company is in the process of moving its corporate office from Angleton, Texas to Phoenix. Benchmark focuses on medical, high-end computing, industrial controls, telecom, test measurement, and military/aerospace. The company has a new CEO who is enthusiastic in making the company more dynamic.
Benefits embrace a “Cadillac Plan” and are robust in their offerings. An emphasis is placed in developing/growing its employees in their career. For more information and to apply to Benchmark go to the website.

Chase
Lekheythan Malone, Sr. Recruiting Professional

Chase, the largest bank in the United States, and one of the largest in the world, prides itself as having a culture striving to help the community, and who is looking for leaders who want to grow with the company. Chase works with individual customers, small businesses, corporations, financial institutions, non-profits and governments. The organization’s global reach allows employees to get where they want to go. Whether the candidate wants to sharpen their skills or gain something new, they will have the experience that offers flexibility to move to another division or country if desired. Chase’s workplace is where you feel welcomed and valued; and creates diverse, inclusive teams that support Chase’s business and each other. Chase is heavily invested in its communities and encourages employees to do the same. Benefits include health care and insurance plans, retirement savings programs, wellness programs, employee programs and family care. A sampling of current jobs in demand are customer service, collections, business development sales, loan underwriters, client services advisors, relationship and private client bankers and tellers. To apply go the Chase website.

Vanguard
Renee Brown, Senior Recruiter

Vanguard’s rich heritage is powerfully evoked by its logo, the image of a ship. The company is named for a distinguished 18th-century vessel. Meaning “in the forefront,” the name has proven quite fitting as they have grown to become a leader in serving investors. From its start in 1975, Vanguard has stood out as a very different kind of investment firm. Vanguard was founded on a simple but revolutionary idea—that a mutual fund company should not have outside owners. Founder John C. Bogle structured Vanguard as a client-owned mutual fund company with no outside owners seeking profits.
Vanguard has 16 locations worldwide with more than 14,000 crew members. The Scottsdale location has 3,000 employees. Positions are entry level to management and include openings such as client relationship specialist, processing associate, retirement plan service representative, and financial advisor and team leader roles. Most jobs require a license. Benefits begin on day 1 and are robust including some unique offerings such as pet insurance, cell phone discounts, car services and dining. Great efforts are taken to assure that employees have a work life balance. To learn more about employment opportunities at Vanguard go to its website.

Freedom Financial Network
Heather Marcom, Head of Talent Acquisition

Freedom was launched in 2002 by Stanford classmates, Bradford Stroh and Andrew Houser. Freedom’s mission is to provide financial solutions, services and education enabling consumers to resolve their debt and achieve financial freedom. The organization has 980 employees with locations in San Mateo, California and Phoenix, Arizona. San Mateo is host to the company headquarters. Freedom has received numerous accolades including #1 Best Place to Work in Phoenix 2016. The Phoenix location is expanding very quickly to reach 1,200 employees. Benefits include medical, dental, vision, 401K, Life, LT disability, vacation, paid holidays and volunteer activities, employee discounts, and recognition. Top career opportunities include positions in Analytics, IT/Engineering, Leadership the in Call Center. If interested, apply here.

Resources

Coder Camps
Jason Jones, Admission Representative

Coder Camps prepares students for a career in software development with immersive coding boot camps, online instruction, and career placement support. Graduates are equipped with a practical knowledge of full-stack software development, interview skills and a portfolio demonstrating their abilities. Coder Camps’ accelerated learning programs are offered full-time, part-time and online. The school is the only code camp to offer graduates lifetime access to all courses, a community of developers, and career services for free. For more information or to apply, visit their website.

Closing

Jessica Pierce, Executive Director, Career Connectors, closed the meeting by thanking North Phoenix Baptist Church and the volunteers. The next Career Connectors meeting will be in Scottsdale on Thursday, August 10, 2017 and features Jennifer Rojas, as speaker for the topic “Become a Jedi Communicator in Your Job Search”. For additional information on this event and future events, please visit the Event Schedule.

 

7/13/17 – Seven Strategies for a Seamless Career Transition

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Carole ReddenWritten by Susan Lamphiear

“Knowing yourself is the beginning of all wisdom.” Aristotle. Or as Mark Twain said, “I can teach anybody how to get what they want out of life. The problem is that I can’t find anybody who can tell me they want.”

These quotes remind me of the oft-quoted message, too, that if you don’t know where you’re going, how will you know when you’ve arrived?

Personally, I’d settle for having thought of any of these words of wisdom. But it’s certainly true that in life and in the job search and career transition, it helps to know who you are so you can decide where you’re headed. Our keynote speaker stressed that as she described her Seven Strategies for a Seamless Career Transition.

Keynote

Can you articulate your personal brand? In other words, what separates you from the other 100 candidates for the job? You can think of it as researching yourself, says keynote speaker Carole Redden, who has worked with students and professionals for over 18 years to manage their career transitions and develop their communication skills. Figure out what you can do to maximize your chances of success by knowing what you bring to the table and in what culture or environment you will thrive.

Assessing yourself (knowing your personal brand) is one of seven strategies for career transition Carole presented today at the Scottsdale event.

Seven Strategies for a Seamless Career Transition

  1. Assess yourself: Personal Branding — As part of researching yourself, get out there and meet people, including volunteering. Get back in touch with your passions: animals, veterans, horses? Along the way you may discover you don’t want to wear a suit anymore and other things that will help you target your next job or career. What kind of company or culture fits you? In 2008 when the economy dipped, Jean realized her volunteering helped keep her positive.
  2. Get Creative with Opportunities & Organizations: Take advantage of working with recruiters, use Indeed.com, post your resume with caution, track your job search, and request informational interviews (most people are willing to share information if it is limited in the time commitment—say 15 minutes).
  3. ReConnect: Proceed with the other person in mind. Ask what you can do for people you’re connecting with. Don’t forget about alumni associations, Career Services, LinkedIn Groups, Networking events. Don’t be afraid to ask for support. Too many people have trouble asking for help.
  4. Apply Yourself: The Application — Be clear, be thorough, and be positive. And don’t skip sections!! Yes, people have been known to do this when the process seems tedious. But it’s important. You don’t want to be screened out because you failed to complete the application.
  5. Re-Write History: Resume/Cover Letter — Look at your resume with new eyes. Consider eliminating information about skills or expertise you don’t want to offer. Both content and formatting are important. Unless you’re specifically told not to use a cover letter, keep sending the cover letter with your resume.
  6. Interview with Confidence: Remember your brand. If you’ve stated you give attention to detail, but the resume doesn’t reflect that, it’s a red flag. She also recommends you refer back to your resume during the interview as questions are asked–reminding them of your qualifications.
  7. Follow-Up to Stand Out: Personalize your thank you, send it hand written, and mail it right away. Even in this electronic age, you’ll stand out from the crowd if you take time to write a personalized note and put it in the mail box. Most people still fail to follow through with this. One employer was so impressed that even though the candidate didn’t get the job, they posted it on the bulletin board to remember the candidate for future openings.

Hiring Companies

 

Aetna

Le Nguyen, Director of Recruiting Operations

Aetna, a health care insurance provider, marketing company, consulting organization, and information technology enterprise, employs 50,000 people. Their goal is to make quality health care more affordable and more accessible by being the global leader in empowering people to live healthier lives. The company benefits include paid time off (PTO) and holidays, life insurance, short-term AND long-term disability, and employee work/life assistance program. Shared benefits include medical, dental, and vision plans. Incentive programs include 401K and annual bonuses, wellness/incentive programs, tuition assistance programs and student loan repayment (new in 2017).

Aetna recently entered a social compact which raised the minimum base hourly wage from $12 to $16/hour for its U.S. employees. The company also launched an enhanced medical benefits program in 2016 which lowered the out-of-pocket health care expenses for some of its U.S. employees. And starting in 2017, Aetna employees with student debt are about to get up to a $10,000 break.

A number of jobs are currently available including finance professionals, nurse consultants, network engineers, audit project manager, clinical care manager, administrative assistant, and claims reporting analyst. To apply visit their website.

G/O Digital

Stacie Lee, Technical Recruiter

G/O Digital is a digital marketing company backed by the TEGNA name — which recently purchased G/O Digital — and offering a full suite of digital solutions. Each month TEGNA reaches 50 million adults on-air and 32 million across their digital platforms.

TEGNA is a best-in-class operator with 46 television stations (including those serviced by TEGNA) in 38 markets from coast to coast. TEGNA is the largest owner of top four affiliates in the top 25 markets and reach an estimated 33% of all television households nationwide.

Benefits include medical, dental, vision, 401K match up to 5%, and vacation days. Company perks include press coffee, snacks, strong work life balance, fun, and business casual which includes shorts in the summer. Jobs open include information technology, software engineer, customer service, marketing, general business, human resources, entry level software, and professional services. For more information, or to apply, visit their website.

Chase

Lekheythan Malone, Sr. Recruiting/Consulting Professional

Chase, the largest bank in the United States, and one of the largest in the world, prides itself as having a culture striving to help the community, and who is looking for leaders who want to grow with the company. The company will soon open another new center in Chandler. Chase works with individual customers, small businesses, corporations, financial institutions, non-profits and governments. Because the organization is large, it provides employees with amazing job opportunities, including over 17 job areas across six lines of business.

Diversity at Chase is not just a saying. Diversity and inclusion are core values including how they work, how they interact with each other, how they deliver the products and services and how they make decisions to support the customer and community.

The entire company is founded on making a real difference in the community and doing what’s right for their customers.

Open roles include business analysts, customer service and collections throughout the Phoenix area. Benefit offerings include health care and insurance plans, wellness program, and savings programs. For more information and to apply, visit their website.

Vanguard

Michael Marchese, Sr. Talent Acquisition Consultant

Vanguard is a unique investment company, founded in 1975, which is neither public nor private. Instead, it’s owned by the clients who are also their investors. The company maintains a very low turnover rate among its executives. Not driven by commissions, the company’s core belief is doing the right thing.

Benefits include a 37 ½ hour work week and anything above 40 hours becomes overtime, with the company paying 86% of the cost of employee health benefits. Promotions are primarily driven from within with different movement tracks. During the full three-month training, employees receive full compensation. People at different levels are hired but the primary emphasis is leadership skills, no matter what the position. Most people have no prior background in finance but for anyone with licenses, they have positions for those individuals, too. Across the board, the company emphasizes coaching and development of everyone they hire. Data analytics is a critical skill set too for the company.

Vanguard employs 3000 people at their Scottsdale facility at Raintree and the 101, employing  entry level to management level in several areas including processing associate, retirement plan services representatives, financial advisors, and team leaders.  Recently 800 positions were filled for client relationship specialists. For more information and to apply, visit their website.

Resources

Goodwill of Central & Northern AZ

Carter Ellis, Professional Career Advisor

Goodwill of Central & Northern AZ is a non-profit organization whose main focus is to eliminate unemployment. They provide on-site career development via Goodwill Career centers and connect local talent with Valley employers including Prescott and Yuma. Goodwill and Career Connectors have formed a community partnership and provide ongoing support during the job search.  Of every dollar, 90 cents goes back into the community.

For job seekers open to constructive criticism, on-site centers provide free career coaching, resume critiquing, and mock interviewing. And Goodwill is not just about retail positions. Management positions are also available. Goodwill works with employers all over the Valley, offering a variety of positions. If you require technical skills not offered by Goodwill, they can put you in touch with an organization that does. All services at Goodwill are free to both job seekers and to employers. Connect with them through employment events, talent sourcing, and the Goodwill job board which includes internal leads.  Services are available daily 9-5 throughout the Valley except for the Scottsdale Pavilions site which is open only Fridays. You can also find them at their website.

Coder Camps

Jason Jones, Sr. Admissions Advisor

Coder Camps train through on-site immersion or structured online programs with the aim of helping to fill the needs gap. Currently coders are needed all across the country and the positions go unfilled because there’s a shortage. Since 2010, salaries of software developers across-the-board have increased around the world.  Training onsite takes 12 weeks, the online a little longer at 24 weeks because it allows students to work at a flexible pace.

Coder. For. Life. Assures graduates can return to Coder Camps to take any courses for FREE. Graduates can also update their skills or learn a new language and then benefit from lifetime job placement assistance to advance their careers.  This lifetime benefit is exclusively offered only at Coder Camps.

For more information or to apply, visit their website.

Closing

Sheila Coulam, Director of Programs for Career Connectors, closed the formal meeting, thanking volunteers and Highlands Church for providing the beautiful facility. During breakout sessions attendees are welcome to meet with hiring companies, have free professional headshots taken, and receive help with LinkedIn and resume writing.

The next Scottsdale event will be held Thursday, August 10, 2017, in Scottsdale and will feature Jennifer Rojas giving the keynote entitled Become a Jedi Communicator in Your Job Search. The next two events are scheduled in Gilbert for Tuesday, July 25, 2017 and in Phoenix for Wednesday, August 2, 2017. Click here for specifics — including locations and speakers– for all three upcoming meetings.