Keynote Speaker
Keynote SpeakerKevin 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 Your skills may be outdated and may need tweaking for the next great opportunity.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
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.
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.
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.
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.