Keynote
Abby Kohut, Your 2020 Career: Thrive Rather Than Survive

Abby is the president of Staffing Symphony LLC, corporate recruiter, and motivation speaker. Abby’s mission is to help 1 million job seekers by providing resources, guidance, inspirational words and wisdom. Abby traveled the United States to help job seekers and now continues to support job seekers from her home using virtual media.
Job Seekers can Thrive Rather Than Survive:
Abby has resources available to anyone and everyone by simply emailing her at join@absolutelyabby.com. An email will be sent back that contains resource guides, cover letter templates, and tips to help in your job search.
Abby encourages the audience to identify things you can control and areas you cannot control.
She reminds everyone they CAN CONTROL: My positive attitude, How I follow CDC recommendations, My social distancing, My kindness and grace, Limiting my social distances, Finding Fun Things to do at home, Turning off the news.
What you CANNOT control: How others react, how long this will last, if others follow social distances, the action of others, predicting what others might do, the amount of toilet paper at the store, and other’s motives.
Abby provides key words when looking for a job using searches engines by using the “ “ each time. The key words to use include: “Currently hiring”, “Hiring Now”, “Not on hold”, “Filling immediately”, “immediate need”, next she advised to update and refresh your resume on ZipRecruiter each Sunday. Then the recruiters will have your resume in their inbox on Monday morning for recruiting posts.
MANAGING CHANGE
- KEY Phrases to assist:
What NOT to say: “I have no income” but creditors and others possibly will help if you phrase it: “I have NO income due to CoronaVirus” - Cover Letters – Always use a cover letter even if the employer/application does not ask for one. The Cover letter is an excellent tool to explain YOUR Story to the recruiter.
- Write a Brilliant Cover Letter (remember to email Abby and get her cover letter templates)
- Again never submit a resume without a cover letter.
VIDEO INTERVIEWS
The Video Interview is the trend companies are doing more today due to the low cost and accessibility to everyone.
Tips on Video Interviews:
- Sit in a well lit room as you do not want shadows on your face
- Share information with the recruiter like the reason why you are sitting in a car to have the interview by letting the recruiter know that you’re in the car because of 1 1/2 year old baby would make noise during the interview
- Distractions – make sure you have a quiet space to conduct the interview
- Do not drink during an interview, but during a virtual workshop that is fine
- Test everything before the interview
- Virtual backgrounds are nice, but recruiters have a mixed view of them – 50% say they are cool and the other 50% do not like them.
- Color of the company – wear the company’s logo color during the interview. It makes a good impression to the interviewers. Example: Target wear Red or Walmart wear Blue
- Put your resume on the screen instead of looking down at it
- During the interview, look into the camera and do not look at the interviewees
- Keep your gestures at top or in the camera view or they will not be visible
- Shut cell phone off
- Turn off ceil Fan
- Remember to wear pants or in other words be fully dressed for video interviews
- Create goals and reward yourself after you a have achieved them
PAY IT FORWARD
- Connect with people who can help each other
- Be a good listener
- Post positive messages or funny quotes
- LinkedIn recommendations
- Watch the Movie ‘“Pay it Forward”
- Find ways to Pay it Forward and help others
CREATIVE WAYS TO GENERATE REVENUE
● Become a coach of a subject matter
● Consult in an area of expertise
● Write a book
CHANGING CAREERS
Changing careers can occur at any age
For example, Julia Childs, Walt Disney, and Grandma Moses
LAUGH AT YOURSELF AND INVEST IN HEARING OTHER PEOPLE’S STORIES
Abby loves people that overcome obstacles and she is producing a show called “SharkTank-PersisentPreneurs.com and invites you to join on Thursday night at 5pm AZ Time on her website, www.AbsolutelyAbby.com/show
ABBY’S TOP TEN LIST:
- I’m alive
- I’m healthy
- I have supportive family
- I have wonderful friends
- I have an awesome business partner
- I have meals to eat
- I have a place to live
- I own a car
- I love watching animals
- I get to recreate my career if I want to
Finally, create your own top ten list!
CLOSING THOUGHTS/OPINIONS:
● Everyone’s stress level is high – be forgiving
● Network like crazy using Zoom
● Take a class, learn a language, reconnect with friends
● Only watch or listen to the news for 30 mins a day
● Shower, shave, walk, exercise, meditate, etc.
● Help your fellow neighbor – watch Pay It Forward
● We will get through this…TOGETHER
HIRING COMPANIES
HonorHealth
Robin Ersland, Talent Acquisition Marketing Specialist
LinkedIn and Facebook – Follow in both social media area as they post job and hiring events there. HonorHealth is a non-profit, local healthcare organization known for community service and outstanding medical quality. HonorHealth encompasses five acute care hospitals with over 12,000 employees and 4,500 volunteers, the HonorHealth Medical Group, clinical research, medical education, an inpatient rehabilitation hospital, an Accountable Care Organization, a foundation, and extensive community services.
Mission: To improve the health and well-being of those we serve.
Vision: To be the partner of choice as we transform healthcare for our communities.
Values – ICARE
Innovation
Collaboration
Accountability
Respect
Empathy
Large healthcare organization in Phoenix and Scottsdale. Mission Statement and Values are mirrored in each employee and they desire future employees that believe in the same Mission and Values. HonorHealth has a robust benefits package. They currently have approximately 300 open positions. They offer virtual hiring events that can be found on HonorHealth’s website.
State Farm
Danielle Trubac, Talent Brand Specialist
State Farm has offices located in Bloomington, IL, Phoenix, AZ, Richardson, TX, and Atlanta, GA
Mission Statement
To help people manage the risks of everyday life
Recover from the unexpected,
& Realize their dreams.
State Farm offers a robust compensation package with time off, competitive pay, health and welfare, planning & retirement, tuition aide, training, and work/life balance.
We are looking for candidates who have:
● A focus on customer service
● Strong communication skills
● Technical skills to handle multiple computer applications while helping customers on the phone
● Ability to achieve results and maintain quality in a fast-paced environment
● Thrives on accountability to your team, your work and your schedule
● Accounting, Financial, and Banking
● Administrative Support
● Claims and Investigation
● Customer Service
● Facilities Management
● Human Resources and Training
● Legal, Compliance, and Risk Management
● Marketing, Design, and Communications
● Research and Data Analytics
● Sales Support
● Technology and UX
● Underwriting
● Actuarial
They are hiring for entry level employees and believe in promoting within the company first before hiring someone outside of the company.
HOW TO APPLY:
● Create a profile
● Filter positions by category, state or employment type
● Full time, part time and internship opportunities
● Positions provide overview of duties & requirements
● Click “Apply Now”
● Option to join “Talent Neighborhood”
● https://findjobs.statefarm.com/