Career Connectors

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11/12/19 – Confront Change with Confidence

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Written by Michelle Rock

Keynote

The first full time employee to join Jessica Pierce and the Career Connectors organization was Sheila Coulam. As the VP of Operations, she coordinates the volunteer team, oversees event logistics, directs marketing and communication, creates and maintains the website, plans the keynote calendar and provides overall support for the entire Career Connectors Team. Per Jessica, “Sheila takes my crazy and makes it work. She is the backbone of Career Connectors.” As today’s keynote speaker, Sheila shared how we can all Confront Change with Confidence.

To have a clear understanding of the term “change”, it is important to review the definition of change according to Merriam Webster:
a. to make different in some particular way, ALTER (i.e. never bothered to change the will)
b. to make radically different, TRANSFORM (i.e. can’t change human nature)
c. to give different position or direction to (i.e. changed his residence from Ohio to California)

Change is both PLANNED and UNPLANNED. Personally, Sheila chose to become a stay at home mom for 10 Years. When the economy changed in 2008, she had to go back to work. Sheila was scared to get back out there and volunteered for a year before actually excepting a position with a salary. She was inspired when she heard Dave Sherman say, “People want to help you. But if you don’t know what you want, they don’t know how to help.”

7 Strategies to THRIVE during CHANGE

Strategy #1 Expect CHANGE always.
Always “be open-minded”.

Strategy #2 Embrace the CHANGE cycle.
There are 5 Stages of Change and it is important to NOT resist or skip any steps to ensure you are not looking at the PAST but looking to the FUTURE. However, if you feel you are resisting the move from one stage to another, take time to ensure you have truly processed that step in the cycle.

Stage 1 = SHOCK
Stage 2 = ANGER
Stage 3 = ACCEPTANCE
Stage 4 = PLANNING
Stage 5 = ACTION

Sheila shared her sister’s personal story. After being diagnosed with cancer she was able to quickly move though the Change Cycle and turned her treatment plan into a project plan. She embraced the change and stated, “It is what it is!”. And she successfully dealt with the cancer. 😊

As quoted by John Kabat-Zinn, “You can’t stop the waves, but you can learn to surf”.

Strategy #3 Understand your emotions.
As you work through the process of change, “be deliberate” in who you include in your network. Ensure you have the right support system to help you through this time of growth that might feel awkward and uncomfortable.

Strategy #4 Work towards balance.
Do you have Balance in your life? Some say balance is the key to everything! Using Sheila’s Balance Circle (diagram below) chart the key aspects in your life that you are trying to balance. For each area you identify, evaluate how satisfied you are today with that area and place a dot on the line for that area. Once you’ve done this for all areas, connect your dots. The result is a visual representation of your overall balance. Do the same evaluation for where you’d like to be a year from now. Now you have a goal to strive for!

Balance CircleDownload

Strategy #5 Visualize a great future.
Images are the language your brain best understands. If you intentionally visualize what you are striving for, your subconscious will help you get there. Top athletes use visualization because it works!

Strategy #6 Demand a positive outlook.
Be resilient, persevere and always push through; striving for the goal even when you might feel deflated. Remember Thomas Edison failed over 1,000 times before he was successful in creating the light bulb. JK Rowling was turned down by 12 publishers before finding success with Harry Potter books. And Walt Disney was fired for lack of imagination and no good ideas. Imagine if Walt Disney had given up on his vision! We would never have grown up knowing about classics like Aladdin, The Lion King or Beauty & The Beast. Disney World, Disney Land and the global media and entertainment empire that the Walt Disney Company is today wouldn’t have existed.

Strategy #7 Keep moving forward.
Pick an action and take the next right step. As Dory says in the Finding Nemo movie, “Just Keep Swimming”.

Hiring Companies

Dexcom
Micaela Drewett – Recruiter

Dexcom was founded in 1999 and develops, manufactures and distributes continuous glucose monitoring systems for diabetes management. Their focus is to provide better outcomes, deliver solutions and empower our community to take control of diabetes. The Mesa location opened in 2017. Dexcom is proud of their great culture focused on Patients First.

Benefits:
Medical, dental and vision
401 (k) Retirement Plan
5 sick days
3 weeks PTO
2 Floating Holidays
Work-life Balance with Flexible Schedules

Open Positions
Supervisor Manufacturing
EHS Specialist
QA Inspector 1 & 2
Engineering Technician 2
Director of Facilities
Hardware Engineer 2
Manager Materials
Senior Hardware Engineer
Manager Purchasing
Senior QA Engineer
Staff Process Sustaining Engineer
QA Engineer 2
Research Associate 1 & 2
Quality Assurance Analyst 2

TTEC
Rob Briggs – Corporate Recruiter

TTEC is a global customer experience and technology services company focused on the design, implementation and delivery of exceptional customer experience. Some of their customers are Verizon, Google and Facebook. The company offers:

  • Fun, talented and witty teammates
  • Knowledgeable, supportive and present leadership
  • Family-friendly environment
  • Free-spirited, theme-based employee events
  • Career-growth and lots of learning opportunities for aspiring minds
  • Community-minded organization
  • Competitive pay and benefits

They are located at:
o 40 E Rio Salado Parkway, floors 1st and 10th, Tempe, AZ 85281
o 8123 S Hardy Drive, Ste 100, Tempe, AZ 85284
o 16404 N Black Canyon Hwy, Ste 100, Phoenix 85053

Currently recruiting for Sales Representative / Online Marketing Sales Executive. Account Management positions will be available at the beginning of 2020.

Optima Tax Relief
Desiree Smith – Talent Acquisition Partner

Optima Tax Relief helps individuals with a lot of tax debt. The company has grown from 30 employees in 2018 to 96 employees today and is targeting 100 by the end of the year. The office is located at 450 N. 54th St. in West Chandler. The growth over the past year is due to robust business growth, a business-friendly environment and the ability to attract skilled labor. The company is also known for its great culture based upon the goals to have fun, enjoy the work and like the people you work with. The Leadership Team invites you to “make this a career for you”. Check out their job openings at www.optimataxrelief.com.

Resources

Goodwill of Central & Northern Arizona
Ron Mack – Community Awareness Partner

The mission of Goodwill is: “Through the goodwill of others, we create the pathway for all by helping those who desire self-sufficiency”. They want to help people find employment. Goodwill Career Centers provide:

  • Career Advisors
  • Career Navigators
  • Mock Interviews/Resumes
  • Employment Support
    o Job postings inside and external to Goodwill (i.e. Amazon and Target)
  • Digital or Computer Basic Skills Training
    o Internet Skills
    o Email
    o Microsoft Word
    o Social Media
    o Excel
    o Powerpoint
    o Windows
    o Mac
    o Information Literacy

The East Valley center is located at 106 E. McKellips, Mesa Arizona, 85201. Check out the website for more details. Goodwill also has a Virtual Career Center located at www.mycareeradvisor.com.

Closing

Jessica Pierce, Founder/CEO of Career Connectors, took the stage to thank everyone for taking the next step in finding a new career. She recognized the many hiring companies, sponsors and partners including Brighton College. Every seeker was encouraged to network with other seekers, build more LinkedIn connections, take a free DISC assessment and have a professional portrait taken by a photography volunteer at the event. Professional resume writers, LinkedIn experts and Career Coaches are also available at the event to perfect your search tools.
Thank you to Central Christian Church for hosting the event and the 90 volunteers that serve Career Connectors around the Valley.

10/22/19 – The Networking Brief: Increase Your Influence

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Written by Jim McBride

Networking Brief Increase your influence

Keynote: The Networking Brief: Increase Your Influence

How you activate the “process” and truly benefit from networking during your career transition and beyond, is an absolute necessity in today’s business climate. Consider Career Connectors founder and today’s keynote speaker Jessica Pierce and her transformation into a networking expert.

It’s very likely that Jessica is the most networked career transition expert in the state of Arizona. However, she’s quick to reveal that she has frequently experienced the trepidation and anxiety of showing up for meetings, events or parties and having to initiate conversations with people.

Addressing a spirited Career Connectors audience, Jessica said networking is forging new friendships and her firm belief is that even the most introverted person can learn to confidently network by simply committing to the process.

Companies strongly prefer hiring people they actually like. Which makes sense, right? People tend to do business with people they know and like. External job postings tend to draw enormous piles of applications that drain resources and cost money. Companies would rather hire somebody they already know. Savvy networking is the gateway into the hidden job market.

When you think of networking as a process model, it provides clarity on how to leverage the people you already know — along with the people you don’t know yet — to help you land that first interview at your next gig.

To become a successful networker, it requires a continuous call to action on these networking process “chunks” — assess, identify, connect and create value.

ASSESS – Who’s on “your team?” How strong are your relationships? How many new people do you talk to each day? How effective are you at networking right now? These are questions to answer when assessing your personal networking readiness. To get started, follow this link to a Networking Tool Self-Assessment:

Jessica-Pierce-Networking-Assessment-092719Download

IDENTIFY – Once you’ve assessed your readiness, then identify your “developmental” network of relatives, friends, former colleagues, supervisors, employees, college professors, alumni, club members, neighbors and religious organizations. You’ll find that people want to help. Make a list and ask these contacts, “who do you know?”

Your developmental network can then introduce you to the people you don’t know, which builds up your “strategic” network. These are the people you will need to know. Industry-specific contacts, members of associations or chambers and special business events.

Follow through and do the work to increase your exposure. Show up at networking events. Arrive early. Stay late. Meet people. Be brave and ask questions. Make friends. Volunteer.

CONNECT – Reach out, use LinkedIn, and share your story with the people in your network to let them know what’s going on in your life. Find a mentor or coach. Don’t go through the job search journey alone. Ask for advice and guidance, but do not ask anyone for a job. Be specific about your job search goals and know what you want. And here’s an important point: it will deepen the relationship if you ask your network contact what you can do to assist them.

Again, it’s crucial to state your specific job search end-goal when you’re having networking conversations. The more purposeful and straightforward the goal, the easier it will be to strategize with people who may be able to facilitate an introduction on your behalf. Follow the link to this Networking Brief template, a very useful tool to put your goals, personal branding statement, transferable skills, desirable job titles and target industries/companies down on paper:

Jessica-Pierce-Networking-BriefDownload

Hiring Companies

Deloitte
Matthew Harrison – Chief of Staff, US Delivery Center

Deloitte’s US Delivery Center (USDC) help’s clients achieve a higher level of service in operational efficiency and business value. The USDC leverages scale, talent, and a center delivery model to provide high quality, cost-effective service with standardized processes and procedures. See the “explore your fit” link on the website.

Open Positions:

  • Risk & Financial Advisory
  • Audit & Assurance
  • Consulting
  • Technology

Vertical Move
Ian Freeman – Business Development Manager

Our formula starts with understanding our clientele and all the technical aspects of their business and overall industry. We retain the most knowledgeable and experienced technical headhunting professionals from our own industry whom are blind to keywords and who search within the depths of a resume for actual experience and interview at levels that most cannot. We are located in Scottsdale, our recruiters are subject matter experts and we match candidates with niche roles.

Open Positions:

  • Data Engineer
  • Quality Assurance Analyst
  • Senior Business Analyst
  • Software Developer
  • Senior Architect
  • Media Analyst
  • Sr. and Mid-level JavaScript Engineer
  • Sr. Backend Engineer

Optima Tax Relief
Ben Simpson – Vice President, Phoenix Operations

The Optima Tax Relief team has had one vision since inception – to help Americans nationwide deal with the aggressive collection policies of the State/IRS tax agencies.

Optima details:

  • Founded 2011
  • 100 employees by end of 2019
  • No tax knowledge required to get hired
  • Promote from within
  • Hiring leaders as operation grows
  • Team environment – “mischievous fun”

Open Positions:

  • Administrative Assistant
  • Facilities Coordinator
  • Jr. Systems Administrator
  • HR Manager
  • Resolution Support Representative – Customer Service
  • Help Desk Technician Support
  • Tax Prep – Trainer
  • Inside Sales

Resources

Career Connectors Academy Training Program
Steven Hatch – Director of Admissions

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

We are proud to launch this new partnership with Career Connectors to offer the support of 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

Student and Career Services Support you in your journey. Career Connectors discount of 30%.

Closing

Sheila Coulam thanked the many partners and volunteers for their contributions to the Career Connectors event. Job seekers were encouraged to utilize the many transition resources – professional resume writers, career coaches, LinkedIn coaches and take the free DISC assessment. Next event: The Future of Work…at Least for 2020, Wednesday November 6th, 2019 from 5:30 – 7:30 pm in Phoenix. Stay tuned for weekly emails and LinkedIn posts.

8/1/19 – Career Advancement in the Culture of Contact Centers

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Written by Jim McBride

Contact Center Panel featured companies

Panel

The contact center – or call center, as the terms are interchangeable – is the critical hub for serving clients/customers across multiple channels for nearly every organization large and small. Live-agent, chat, email and social media links consumers through thousands and thousands of interactions with the contact center.

In the Phoenix metro region, the contact center “industry” converges with the tremendous growth of financial services companies in delivering a hotbed of potential careers for the active and passive job seeker. Contact center roles are often a gateway into career growth and do not necessarily require starting at the entry level.

In front of a full house, Jessica Pierce facilitated two panel discussions addressing careers, advancement opportunities and workplace culture with eight high profile, award-winning contact centers in the financial services sector. Each company represented on the panel has been recognized by employer branding firm Best Companies AZ for workplace excellence so, clearly, they know their stuff.

For those in career transition, this was an excellent opportunity to hear first-hand from senior leaders how to get your foot in the door and grow your career within these respected organizations. All eight companies are in growth mode and looking to hire hundreds of employees.

Panel 1 – Career Advancement & Opportunities

Q – What can you tell us about entry level positions in your contact center and the potential career opportunities?

Farmers: We currently have openings for entry level sales and service positions, but we also have many openings for individual contributors, including back office processing, reporting, analytics, IT and project management.

Voya Financial: Customer service roles are a launch point for many of the higher-level jobs which require licensing (i.e. Series 6). Right now, we’re looking to fill roles in workforce management and benefits administration, which are not entry level.

USAA: We are targeting customer service and claims roles, which do not require previous experience. Representatives handle inbound calls from members. We’ll help you get licensed once you’re on board.

Freedom Financial Network: All of our customer service is inbound. No outbound calling. We have openings for debt relief, negotiators, back office payment processing and call center sales.

Q – What career pathways have you established within your company?

Freedom Financial Network: We call it a career ladder. You can move from an entry level 1, 2 or 3 position into supervisor or even over to sales and lending, which pays more. From there, we’ve had employees move into IT, marketing and training positions.

USAA: The progression is typically from associate – as we call them – to specialist to senior associate. We challenge our leaders to have career advancement discussions and develop a career trajectory. There are internal programs for learning IT skills, such as coding. We’re developing your skills for life, not just for USAA.

Voya Financial: We expect our leaders to prepare development plans and have conversations about career progression with their team members. Employees are empowered to ask questions and get involved. The entry level position is your entry point.

Farmers: On a formal basis there are career path discussions between managers and their employees. Informally, we have peer resource groups focused on diversity and like-minded ideas and interests. Want to become a leader? Well, let’s show you how to run a huddle.

Q – Are there opportunities for the mature job seeker who doesn’t want an entry level position?

Voya Financial: We have many roles based on experience. You could start as a senior representative.

USAA: We’re willing to go externally to find certain skill sets and experience. We do try to promote from within but sometimes there’s a real need to find fresh blood.

Freedom Financial Network : It’s a combination. Some of our roles require experience, but in the call center experience is not necessarily needed. Sales experience can come from any industry. Roughly 50% of our roles are filled externally.

Farmers: Promoting from within is important. But we cast our hiring net externally, as well. I recently hired a director from the outside. We have an immediate need for analytics and reporting skills, which will likely come externally.

Q – What is your company’s policy on promoting from within?

Farmers: There are growth opportunities for everyone, regardless of tenure. We will help you prepare for that next job and fulfill your career potential.

Voya Financial: We have an 18-month requirement for eligibility due to the complexity of the entry level roles. We want you as an employee to be comfortable. However, there are times when the eligibility requirement is waived.

USAA: The timeframe is 12 to 18 months in the current job to be eligible for promotion. Many of those next roles will require licensing, so it can take some time to learn.

Freedom Financial Network: You must be in the role for three months. We know that people want to move up the career ladder. We do not have any license-required positions.

Q – With the advancement of artificial intelligence (AI) how do you see technology impacting call center jobs? (from the audience)

Farmers: Technology, such as the bot, will have an impact on the most transactional of interactions with customers. However, there’s always going to be a need for critical thinking and emotional intelligence of the human being. We need empathy in the human contact. There will be a blend of technology and human interaction.

USAA: Our members want to talk with a human when they call in. The technology will make it easier to match the member with the representative that’s best equipped to assist a specific need or demographic.

Panel 2 – Culture & Employee Engagement

Drew Foster – American Express, Director of US Recruiting
Sherry McFadden – State Farm, Customer Care Center Director
Renee Brown – Vanguard, Senior Recruiter
Christine Sorensen – Charles Schwab, Team Manager Participant Services

Q – What does culture fit mean to you? What’s it like working for your company?

Vanguard: It’s a culture of empathy and communication. We all have to be mindful that the investment industry language can go over people’s head. We have a team environment focused on employee development.

Schwab: We’re here to help everyone grow and succeed. Someone’s always available to help, no matter what the situation. We conduct an assessment to determine ethics, teamwork and the type of work environment that would be the best fit for the candidate.

State Farm: We’re a relationship company steeped in integrity and tradition. We’re your neighbor. We’re there after a hurricane or an auto accident. That’s our culture, we care.

Q – How do you get your foot in the door? Do you have to start at entry level jobs?

AMEX: Some roles will require entry level experience at first, but not all. It depends on your skill set. I’m currently looking for workforce management skills, which does need entry level experience.

Vanguard: We’re regulated, so many roles require licensing and then you work your way up. You can pursue internal opportunities after one year. We have hired supervisors from the outside. About 85% of our hiring is from within.

Schwab: It really depends on your experience and license requirements of the role. We have lots of room for growth and it’s important to have those development discussions with your manager.

Q – What are the hot jobs at your company right now?

AMEX: Senior manager (supporting 18 cruise lines), director of workforce management, sales, fraud, team leaders.

State Farm: Enterprise technology, software development, coding, data scientist, frontline supervisors, bilingual supervisor, sales and service.

Vanguard: Data science, IT, senior financial planner.

Schwab: Always hiring in participant services and investor services. Our operation has 60 different departments and there are always openings.

Q – Describe the family friendliness of your call center. What support do you provide? (from the audience)

Vanguard: We have a 37.5-hour work week Monday through Friday. No weekends. All shifts end no later than 8:00 pm.

Schwab: Four 10-hour days are available. Paid four-week sabbatical every five years.

State Farm: H.O.P.E. – Helping Others Parent Effectively program.

AMEX: 20 weeks of maternity/paternity leave for parents.

Resource

Introducing – Career Connectors Academy Training Program

Landi Carfi, VP of Corporate Training – Brighton College

Brighton College is excited to announce its new partnership with Career Connectors that connects professionals in career transition to hiring companies and quality resources.

Career Connectors and Brighton College share similar values and focus on their clients, making both organizations stand out from the crowd. Brighton’s mission and goals ensure their students’ greatest success, and Career Connectors, as Arizona’s fastest growing job candidate program, strive to land people in the career of their dreams. They are working hand in hand to provide affordable online education certificate programs.

Based on Career Connectors’ partnership with Brighton College, a few of the best accredited online certificate programs are being offered to Career Connectors’ participants at a reduced rate. The online education certificate programs available include:

  • Cyber Security Institute
  • Business Institute
  • Allied Health Institute
  • Legal Medical Institute
  • Paralegal Institute
  • Professional Development

Event Sponsor

Optima Tax Relief

Ben Simpson – Vice President, Phoenix Operations

The Optima Tax Relief team has had one vision since inception – to help Americans nationwide deal with the aggressive collection policies of the State/IRS tax agencies.

  • Founded 2011
  • 80 employees in AZ; 100 by end of 2019
  • No tax knowledge required to get hired
  • Promote from within
  • Hiring leaders as operations grow
  • Team environment – “mischievous fun”

Open Positions
I/T Jr. Systems Administrator
Resolution Support Representative
Customer Service
Inside Sales

Resources and Closing

Jessica thanked the many partners and volunteers for their contributions to the Career Connectors event. Job seekers were encouraged to utilize the many transition resources – professional resume writers, career coaches, LinkedIn coaches and take the free DISC assessment. Next up on the calendar: Connecting with Top Staffing Firms to Find Your Next Career, Thursday August 15th in Scottsdale. Stay tuned for weekly emails and LinkedIn posts.