Written by: Pamela Cales-Kuzel & Connie Huber PHR SHRM-CP
WAYS TO FIND CLARITY IN YOUR JOB SEARCH
Brette Rowley’s article, “9 Easy Ways to Find Clarity in Your Job Search”, highlights ways to get clarity in your search. Some of those ways include:
- REFLECTION: Make a list of … What do you love doing? What gives you energy? What do people tell you are good at doing? What am I interested in? What are my hobbies?
- PERSONALITY PROFILING: Understanding yourself and how you best work with others is key to finding a role that is a great fit.
- ASK YOUR PEERS: Ask their insights on your strengths and weaknesses.
- STRENGTHS FINDERS: Seek out on-line strength finders to identify your strengths to potential job descriptions.
- FORWARD-LOOKING RESUME EXERCISE: Cross out those things on your resume that you did not enjoy doing. Highlight activities you enjoyed in previous roles.
- ASK YOUR FAMILY & FRIENDS: Poll them to see what types of jobs they see you in. In addition, they can provide you with a great perspective identifying your strengths and weaknesses outside of work.
- NETWORKING: As we have heard time again and again, 80% of available jobs are not posted online.
- TALK WITH A MENTOR OR COACH: An outside resource can assist you in gaining clarity.
Keynote
Clara Chorley, @ClaraChorley
Clara Chorley has vast experience helping professionals around the world gain clarity about what is next in their careers and then establishing strategic steps to obtain their goals. Clara is CEO and founder of Clarity Unlimited, has extensive experience as a career coach and professional speaker and has worked across 5 continents and 44 countries with organizations as diverse as Fortune 500 Ernst and Young, to humanitarian Millennium Village Project. Clara is the author of the best-selling book T.U.R.N.: 4 Steps to Clarity in Your Life and Career.
Clara highlighted with us some of the key elements relevant to our job search.
PATTERNS AND THEMES
TIME FRAMES:
- Initially we do well with the searching and networking.
- At 6 months there is a significant change where we become home based and depression sets in.
- At 12 months there is constructive adaptation and we start volunteering and apply for jobs we don’t necessarily want.
THEMES:
- THE SLOW BURN: We lose energy and eventually our job search dies. Our
energy is sucked from us. Eventually, we loose our motivation in conducting our job search. Confidence goes way down and depression escalates. - THE CLIFFHANGER: We procrastinate looking for a job and wait until we need a job. As job seekers, we “talk” about finding a job but do little to actually look for a job. Most of us will wait until the last day and our last dollar before we actually do something in finding a job.
Clara encouraged us to take the time to identify what we are, why we are the way we are and develop solutions to change if needed. The best way to do so is to close our eyes and find a time when we were energized, engaging, and passionate about everything falling into place. Doing this exercise will help the job seeker in establishing clarity. To reinforce our newly found clarity, write down an activity that helps you become energized and focused.
3 TRAPS TO AVOID
- THE LONE WOLF
You believe strongly you can do everything on your own and don’t need anyone to help you. The job seeker develops feelings of anger, apathy, and resentment. Reach out to your network! Find those in your network that can help you develop your skills, emotional support and define clear goals of what you want to accomplish in your career. Take a moment to set goals on how your network can help you. - THE MUDDY MIND
You are unclear about what you want or what you have to offer a potential employer. You lack focus on clear career goals and path. As a result, you have little to no regard for your skill set and experience. The Muddy Mind talks his/herself out of things. The result plays a key factor in not helping you achieve success in your job search. - HORROR STORIES
We are quick to rule out positive opportunities for ourselves since we have had one bad experience. How we define and tell our story establishes our energy. The key to managing horror stories is to change our mindset and believe we will be successful.Clara’s closing request was to have each member of the group to do something different today and change our behavior.
“A lack of clarity could put the brakes on the journey to success” – Author Unknown
Hiring Companies
Farmers
Jon Dykast, Agency Business Consultant
Farmers was founded in 1928 and is a financially sound and stable company. This industry leader in disaster response maintains a 24 hour claims service . The company is a multi-line carrier and has the ability to offer essentially every line of product to its customers with the exception of health insurance.
Jon shared with us what it takes to be a sales agent with Farmers. The organization looks for those candidates who have been in sales, management, marketing and relationship building. Farmers insurance values consultative sales, which means you are a consultant and sales advisor to your clients. Insurance is about protecting personal assets. Some of the advantages of working for Farmers are base pay, flexible schedule, unlimited earning potential, full commissions, residual income and being your own boss. Entry points to Farmers Insurance are Traditional Agent Program, Retail Agency, Acquisition and Seed Agencies, and Protégé Program.
Arizona Department of Transportation
Brennan Atwood, HR Specialist
AZDOT’s mission is to provide a safe, efficient, cost effective transportation system. Brennan noted that many positions were part of a hiring freeze that now has been lifted. The culture is in a constant state of change, improving processes and efficiency each day. The state is looking for individuals experienced in lean and is interested in those candidates that have Six Sigma or other lean training. The agency conducts behavioral based interviews for all positions. The state provides an excellent comprehensive benefits package. Go to AZ state website to view latest job openings and to apply.
Freedom Financial Network
JD Hasna, Director 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 Phoenix Business Journal’s #13 Best Places to Work.
Currently there are 100 openings at the Phoenix location, which 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 Sales, Customer Service Director of Workforce Operations, Negotiations, Loan Servicing Representative, QA Engineer, and PHP/Java Developer. If interested, apply here.
Revana
Mario Parra, Recruiter
Revana is a professional inside sales organization and recognized leader in outsourced sales and marketing solutions for industry leading clients, generating over $5B in annual client revenue. Revana has over 1,500 employees in their Tempe and Phoenix locations. The organization provides revenue-generating solutions such as professional inside sales, account management, integrated marketing and electronic direct marketing. Revana has won numerous awards and has been recognized by other leading industry professionals for its outstanding sales performance. The organization provides a number of benefits after 30 days of employment such as paid training, competitive base salary with commissions, career advancement, flexible work schedules and medical and dental benefits. A sampling of current opportunities includes Inbound Sales Associate, Inbound Web Chat Representatives, Inside Sales Representatives, Inside Sales Account Managers, and Sales Managers. Apply here to complete an online application and assessment.
Resources
Arizona@Work, City of Phoenix
Rob Stenson, Supervisor, Business Services Center
Rob highlighted the different skill development packages offered by the City of Phoenix. Those include Seminars available to the public; Level 1 Package-Skills Match the Job Market; and Level 2 Package-Research Pathways to Higher Wages. Seminars include: Arizona Job Connection (AJC), How to Create a Winning Resume, Perfecting Your Interviewing Skills, Mock Interview Lab, Understanding LinkedIn, Leveraging LinkedIn, 21st Century Job Search Seminar, and Job Clubs. The 3-day sessions are focused on ways to jumpstart your job search. Topics discussed are Social Skills, Creating and Implementing a Job Search Plan, Interviewing, and Long Term Career Management. The 3-hour session emphasizes Employability. Rob reminded us of the value of registering with the AZ Job Connection or Maricopa Career Planning System. Phoenix Public Library has a number of E-Resources available. With your Phoenix Public Library Card you can attend nearly 500 online classes, adult learning center, video resume, learning languages and career guidance center.
Dynamic Worldwide Training Consultants
Rodger Brubacher, Director of Continuing Education
Dynamic Worldwide will prepare you with an edge in this competitive job market. DWWTC offers programs and certificates in professional development, cyber security programs, advanced cyber security programs and information technology. DWWTC was awarded the 2015 Juniper Platinum Education Partner of the Year for its award winning instruction. The facilities are state of the art and maintain a low student to instructor ratio. Instruction is available on multiple platforms. DWWTC is licensed by the State Board for Private Postsecondary Education; certified through Arizona@Work; and approved for Grant Programs. For more information, please visit the 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 Gilbert on Tuesday, December 13, 2016 and features Dave Sherman as speaker for the topic “How to Find a Great New Job in Half the Time”. For additional information on this event and future events, please visit the website.
