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04/28/15 – Get the Job Fast-How to Find a Great New Job in Half the Time

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Written by Debbie Webber

Record breaking news! Jessica opened the meeting with the fantastic announcement that Career Connectors has officially registered a cumulative 20,000 meeting attendees on the eve of its sixth anniversary. Since its launch in July 2009, Career Connectors has organized 281 events with over 300 featured employers. Their LinkedIn Group now exceeds 4,700 members with new additions daily. What a great achievement—congratulations Jessica! You can read all the information in the news release sent this morning.

Keynote

Dave Sherman  has been an advocate and supporter of Career Connectors for six years. He is a professional speaker, marketing professional, corporate photographer and small business trainer. He loves Diet Mountain Dew, red wine and cigars. However he’s currently in day 8 of a cleanse and Jessica suggested that perhaps our interaction with him could “pick him up.” That wasn’t necessary even a little bit—Dave projected his straightforward and passionate message across to all of us just fine.

Dave started at his current position at AppointmentsPlus only a few weeks ago. His tenure is short because back on April 1, 2014 he was fired. And while he pursued his speaking and photography work for the year between being fired and finding his new position, he became well acquainted with the challenges and issues we’re all going through. He hadn’t been fired since 1975 when he worked at a Red Barn fast food joint, and it hurt.

What Did Dave Learn?

-Being fired SUCKS!
-Looking for a random job online also SUCKS!
-Frustrating, depressing and UGGH!
-Very few alternatives
-Stop complaining, whining or moaning
-HOW BADLY DO YOU WANT IT?

Dave then presented five tips to help us find a great job fast, and assured us that “this stuff works.”

Tip #1

GET OUT OF THE HOUSE!

And get out every day. Get up, shower and get dressed. This maintains your working routine. It also promotes socialization—you won’t find a job by yourself in front of your computer in your pajamas. And finally, it STOPS THE VOICES that are telling you you’ll never get another job, that you’re not good enough, and all the other nasty, untrue things our minds tell us when we’re alone.

So where should you go? Anywhere with an internet connection. And then do whatever you were doing at home in front of the computer to get a job. The important thing is to get out of the house and be around people.

Tip #2

ASK FOR HELP

And ask as many people as you can. This is hard for many people—you may be embarrassed about your job search, you may be a private person—there are many reasons why you may not want to “publicize” your job search. But you need to ask yourself HOW BADLY DO YOU WANT IT?

So who do you ask? Ask your friends and family, your inner circle, school/work connections, your network, and everybody else you are connected to on Facebook and LinkedIn. Only 30% of open positions are ever posted; the other 70% are filled through networking. And make it easy for people to help you. Know what you want and the companies you want to work for and tell them so they can help you. Order yourself some business cards and keep asking everyone you meet.

Tip #3

START ATTENDING MORE NETWORKING EVENTS!

Where should you go?
-Chambers of Commerce
-Associations—the “coolest one” according to Dave. There’s an
association with local chapters for every industry or interest.
Find yours and attend.
-Business Groups
-Networking Groups
-Career transition groups (like Career Connectors)

These activities will help you hang out with employed people who can help you find a job faster when you ask them for help. Some people aren’t comfortable attending these kinds of events, and that’s okay. You just have to ask yourself HOW BADLY DO YOU WANT IT?

Tip #4

When attending events, STOP LOOKING FOR A JOB!

You won’t find one at the event. What you will find are the people and contacts that WILL connect you with your next position. So how DO you network? Dave says the key is to build up your likeability and commonality, which is the definition of schmoozing. If you are one of three equally qualified candidates for a job, who do you think is going to get it? The one who has created the greatest likability and commonality with the hiring manager. Let them see who you are.

Dave’s definition of likeability includes
-Personality
-Sense of humor
-Warmth
-Conversation style

Commonality characteristics include
-Hometown?
-Hobbies
-School?
-Family, friends, favorites
-Find a link with them!

Getting to know a person during an interview triples your chance of success. Find a way to connect! This may be difficult for some, but HOW BADLY DO YOU WANT IT?

Tip #5

FOUR MOST IMPORTANT WORDS

This is the most important thing Dave told us in his presentation.

“WHO DO YOU KNOW?”

Ask everyone, use this all the time and don’t give up.

Really. Don’t give up.

Dave had one bonus tip—LinkedIn works, so learn everything you can about this social media tool and use everything you learn. People want to help you if you are clear about what you want.

Need more help?

Dave has put together a DVD kit that expands on this info, along with a powerful e-learning program that will help you become a great networker. His email is dave@daveshermanspeaks.com.  Know what you want and where you want to work and he will respond with all the help he can find for you.

And remember—HOW BADLY DO YOU WANT IT?

Hiring Companies

State Farm
DeAnne Prigmore,  Recruiter

State Farm’s mission is to help people, and that includes employees as well as customers. State Farm is currently building a Phoenix hub at Marina Heights along Tempe Town Lake and is hiring hundreds of people for operations-related positions (not the insurance agents we’re familiar with). State Farm offers fantastic benefits that include a pension and 401k to both full and part time employees. Immediate openings include positons in claims, sales, banking, marketing and IT, but there’s a continual update to these openings on their website. You must apply online, but each application is reviewed by a human being (!) before being classified among the open positions. Apply here.

HotFoot Recruiters
Steven Lindsey, Marketing Specialist

HotFoot Recruiters is an employment agency with full-spectrum recruiting from entry level to senior executives. Core industries served include aerospace, manufacturing and production, construction, engineering, alternative energy, power/utilities, IT and marketing/sales/call centers. HotFoot is constantly expanding into other industries, so check their website. They work with clients (employers) to find the perfect fit and never charge the applicant any fee. Current openings include CNC mill and lathe machinist, customer service rep, project managers, electronic technician, executive admin and door fabrication. Check out the complete list of openings and apply here.

Education Management Corporation 
Ryanne Dean, Talent Acquisition Manager

EDMC is composed of The Art Institute, Argosy University, Western State College of Law (as part of Argosy), Brown Mackie College and South University. Student success is the strongest value at EDMC and the culture of education and success extends to the employees as well. Open positions include Administration Reps, Academic Counselors and Admission Managers. There are also many other positions available in other locations outside of Phoenix. You may find these open positions and apply here.

Next Event

Wednesday, May 6, 2015, 9:00 am, Phoenix
Image Matters: Elevate Your Image and Expand Your Influence
Tabitha Dumas
Hiring companies: City of Phoenix, Freedom Financial Network, TEKsystems and Education Management Corporation

Registering for upcoming events is quick and easy here!

12/9/14 – 3 Steps to Effectively Brand Yourself in Job Seach

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Written by Debbie Webber

Sandi Ashton greeted those of us at the Gilbert Career Connectors event. She asked all of us to stand up and introduce ourselves to a person we did not know—and in homage to the holiday—asked us to relate our best holiday memory to that person. That set off a dull roar and when we finally quieted down, Sandi told us about one of her favorite Career Connectors holiday memory. In December 2009 both her and her husband were unemployed and had come to a Career Connectors event. Another attendee  connected her husband to an individual that landed his next positon. Don’t ever give up—Sandi and her husband found hope here.

Keynote

Dayna Mathews is a career coach that helps people through the job search process, but more importantly, helps people find out what they want. She’s also a self-proclaimed “Linked-In Junkie” and came today to present Branding in the Job Search.

Personal branding is what sets you apart, what makes you unique, it’s your essence. As it relates to job search, it defines what you bring to a company and why they need you. Sounds great, but how do you nail down your personal brand and then communicate it? Dayan defined a three step process to help us.

First, Build Your Foundation—Assess Yourself

What do I have to offer?

What do I want to be known for?

What do I want to be known as?

Choose three words.

Dayna “warned” us this would be a reflective process, and her first request proved this. She asked all of us to choose six adjectives that described who we were and what we’re good at. After we had a few minutes of reflection to write down our six adjectives, she then asked us pick the top three from our list.  Specifically, what do we want people to remember about us–what we are “known for” or “known as.”

These three adjectives will change as your life goes on, you’re always going to be building and re-building your foundation. If you struggle with defining these adjectives about yourself, reach out to five people who know you well and ask them for three words they would use to describe you. This is a helpful process even if you’re confident of your three adjectives.

Second, Design Your Strategy – What Is Your Goal?

Start with your resume.

Go where your audience is online.

Be intentional.

So just what do you want? What is your goal? Dayna says this is the hardest question to answer. To prove her point, she asked those of us in the room to raise our hand if we had a well-defined goal. Only two people responded that they knew what they wanted and had defined it in their goals.

You can’t get to what you want if you haven’t defined it. Don’t just use what you’ve already done in your past: figure out what you want from your future. This can be scary if a new thing is what you really want and it’s nothing like what you’ve always done. There are various assessments available to help you figure out your goals. The DISC Assessment is a good one to start with and is offered for free by Career Connectors. Other assessments include Gallup’s StrengthsFinder and Myers Briggs.

While in job search, your audience consists of recruiters, human resources professionals at the companies you’re interested in AND leaders in your field on LinkedIn.

And what’s important to them? Certainly your experience and education. But more than that, your audience is interested in who you are BEYOND those resume categories. What is your personality behind all your experiences? Who you are, what you do and why you do it is important. This is your brand. These personality characteristics should come to the forefront of your online presence through keywords. The keywords you choose to logically pepper throughout your LinkedIn title and summary define your brand and help others connect with you. The three words you defined in the first step should also be included in your keywords.

Next, figure out where others in your industry are hanging out. Dayna noted that over 50% of recruiters use Twitter to advertise positions they are trying to fill. So you should be there too. Tweet about your industry, what problems you see and your recommended solutions. Follow the recruiters and leaders in your industry on Twitter and LinkedIn. Google+ and Instagram are becoming more popular to job search every day, so you should investigate these platforms also.

Third, Create Brand Visibility and Get Yourself Online

Engage, engage, engage.

Network, network, network.

Blog, share updates, join discussions.

Consistency is key.

Now that you’ve defined your brand and your profile you need to engage with people online. You must be active. Work to be memorable and consistent in your messages.

Your goal in this step is to keep yourself top of mind with your audience. When a recruiter is looking for someone in your industry, you should pop up in the search.

NOTE: It can be overwhelming to consistently track and update your online presence, so choose the top two platforms that makes the most sense for you. (Hint—LinkedIn should definitely be one of them!)

Stay intentional as you update and participate with your audiences. Stay true to your personality. It’s all about what you’ve done and what you’re up to now. Get comfortable with self-promotion—it is the current realty of job search.

Make a decision about who you are. Define your brand and put it out there. Practice how you promote yourself online and be consistent. Create visibility by participating in group discussions and blogs. Get discovered and make yourself memorable.

Your next position will come from somebody you’ll already know. This happens faster when you put yourself out there with intention and clarity.

 Hiring Companies

State Farm 

DeAnne Prigmore, Recruiter

State Farm is the #1 auto and homeowner insurer in the U.S., and is growing like crazy  here in the Phoenix area. DeAnne recruits for the operations side of the company, not the agent side that we’re all more familiar with. Current positions range from entry-level to intermediate and other opportunities such as banking, marketing and PR. Specific job titles include Claims Associates, Sales Representative, Tech Analyst and Data Specialist. Apply here.

HotFoot Recruiters 

Roy Palomo , Recruiting Director – Owner

HotFoot Recruiters opened in 2009, focusing the Manufacturing, Engineering and IT industries. They now serve a wider variety of industries, filling positions from senior and C-level position to production associates and call-center representatives. Roy mentioned they are currently recruiting for a large number of social marketing positions. Other openings include machinist, jr., accountant, construction project manager and aerospace engineer. Hotfoot specializes in finding the perfect fit, and spends time supporting candidates and potential candidates in their job search. Apply here.

Education Management Corporation 

Ryanne Dean, Manager of Talent Acquisition

EMC is composed of The Art Institute, Argosy University, Western State College of Law (as part of Argosy), Brown Mackie College and South University. Student success is the strongest value at EMC and the culture of education and success extends to the employees as well. Ruanne noted open online positions include Administration Reps and  Academic Counselors. Open positions(out of state) at Argosy Ground include Admissions Reps, Director of Clinical Training, Asst. VP of Academic Affairs and Full Time Faculty members. Apply here.

Next Event

Wednesday, January 7, 2015, Phoenix: The Bounce Back, Sherri Thomas