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Voya Financial

04/01/2020 – Communicating YOUR Capabilities

April 7, 2020 by Diane Forner

Written by Gary Matsuda

cc

Nothing is going according to plan. Things were going perfectly fine and now it seems the world is coming to a full stop. Yet, where professional networking and job opportunities seem to be dwindling, there are still some companies hiring. Logically you know this will get better, but how come we don’t feel that way? And when we do get back to normal, will you be ready? During these challenging times and beyond, now is the time to develop and communicate our capabilities.

Career Connectors brought in Travis Hardin, a John Maxwell certified speaker, who educates and coaches for greater personal and professional growth with proven leadership methods to help us to see how our view of the world determines what we do and how we do it.

Keynote

There’s no denying the massive impact the pandemic has had on our standard of living. But Travis underscored no matter how dark and unexplainable the current events, we still have control over how we perceive things. No matter what our situation, the light that’s deep inside of us should never grow dim. As a matter of fact, we must feed it and make this time a new season of growth by putting the following into action:

Spark the fire inside

If the little hidden fire inside you is to grow, you must honestly identify your desires, skills and strengths and how you can practically focus and improve upon them.

Develop a positive attitude by practicing a simple word shift that can change your outlook. Instead of asking yourself, “Can I do it?” which sounds doubtful and incapacitating, ask yourself, “How can I do it?”, which says you’re taking the initiative to plan the next step.

Travis was once asked what gives him so much optimism and energy. He said he doesn’t drink coffee, but since he was a kid he’s been taking Flintstone vitamins. Two a day. The ‘plus iron’ kind. Maybe not the coronavirus cure we were hoping for, but it couldn’t hurt!

Aside from the benefits gained by keeping physically healthy, Travis heartens us to try to stop the victim mindset and bring in a victor mindset that will allow us to take control over what we do next. With many of us with more down time, it’s actually a good time to start studying and training to gain or improve skills you always wished you had time for, so that when things get back to normal, you’ll be ready.

One of the major practices of those finding success over failure is setting aside time to reflect which includes introspection, evaluation, reading, learning, researching, activities that build yourself a confident foundation. Where you are now is not where you want to be, so you’ll need to have the grit to take the next steps toward improvement.

On the other hand, if we withdraw and isolate ourselves mentally, it’s easy to find ourselves carrying our burdens by ourselves and helping to create a victim mindset (‘see how much I’m suffering?’).

Communicate it

If you truly have something good within you, spread that love around everywhere you go. Your belief system should be reflected in how others perceive you, as they say, ‘your reputation proceeds you’.

Social media can reflect your belief system and values by the research you’ve done and your perspective can be seen by prospective employers. A belief system of yes, makes you attractive to others. There’s enough negativity already and positivity attracts others. So create an aura of yes around you. You’re communicating that it’s possible, there is hope. Be the neighborhood hope dealers. It’s time to act, to follow through and do something for others.

Don’t keep it to yourself

It’s certainly great to feel confident in yourself, but nothing truly gets accomplished or has impact unless we believe not only in ourselves but also believe in others.

Recently Travis worked with college students on a classroom project where he helped transform the lesson to focus not merely on an individual accomplishment but to see how it impacted others. He says it was quite something to experience when he saw students realize that each of their contributions created something greater than themselves.

Mandatory social distancing can easily send us into a downward spiral. Stay mindful of physical distance, but don’t socially disengage.

Optimism is meant to be shared by encouraging, trusting and committing to success. People are attracted to those who believe in themselves and believe in other people. But belief and affirmation without accomplishment are not enough. We might wish and hope someone succeeds but it’s the helping and doing something specific that makes a difference.

Voice your belief and trust in others, you’ll be creating value in your community by giving a little of yourself.

Choose a positive goal

Don’t just run away from something, have a definite goal that represents something better. When you give yourself in the service of others, you are not forgetting about yourself, but enhancing what you already have.

No matter what happens we have to express hope.

Hiring Companies

Voya Financial, Kristina DiMartino, Director, Talent Acquisition

Retirement planning isn’t going away and neither are the retirement services Voya offers. Their Tempe office is expanding and moving to a Chandler facility (when we’re back to normal). CEO Rod Martin creates a genuine authentic leadership culture that filters down to give attention to you, the employee. You’re never made to feel less important, even outside the office you can take time away to volunteer for your favorite charity. Pension plan – they got one! That’s extra money for your golden years in case you’ve forgotten that old school retirement benefit.

Get started at any level in the organization but there’s no better place to learn about all the products and services they offer than in the call center.

For the past years Voya has earned several ethical company and great place to work awards! View openings at the Voya career site.

West Pharmaceutical Services, Ryan Rybarczyk, Manager, Human Resources

With 4 facilities in Scottsdale and Tempe, West Pharmaceutical is a leading manufacturer of injectable medicines (that means shots, needles and the vials that hold the medicines). With a rich culture that attracts and retains talent, they carry a special sense of urgency for the industry they serve. Their direct involvement with health care professionals and their patients engages their passion for the well-being of their customers and there’s no compromise in the quality of their products.

There are currently 69 open jobs for warehousing to engineers with various shifts available. Check out their website for further details.

U-Haul, Alex Taylor, Corporate Recruiter

U-Haul vehicles are everywhere. You can find them in far off places and accessible all over the United States and Canada, so that they have a central headquarters doesn’t easily come to mind. But they do and it’s right here in Phoenix! Recently U-Haul has been busy helping to move college students.

Their job opportunities cover a wide range of professions. There are openings in every field including IT, field work and at corporate headquarters. U-Haul opportunities don’t stop at transportation. They’re also affiliated with Repwest Insurance, Oxford Insurance and Amerco Real Estate so there could be a chance to cross industries as well. For details on open positions go to jobs.uhaul.com.

Resources

Career Connectors strives to be a source of hope and resources in Arizona. We are teaming up with BestComapaniesAZ, Arizona@Work, Arizona Commerce Authority and PipelineAZ to provide resources for both job seekers and employers. Please visit this BestCompaniesAZ page for detailed resources including companies now hiring.

DISC Assessment

At no cost to you, find your gifts and your ideal work environment through our free DISC assessment at: https://careerconnectors.org/DISC/

Career Connectors has a new program to get you needed remote support in these areas:

  • LinkedIn reviews
  • Resume reviews
  • Career Coaching/Development
  • Financial Coaching
  • Mock Interviews

For support from experienced pros go to https://careerconnectors.org/coaching to request a coaching appointment.

For details about upcoming Career Connectors virtual events (now weekly), click here to visit the events section on the website for details about hiring companies and keynote topics!

Filed Under: Event Recaps Tagged With: U-Hual, West Pharma, Voya Financial, Travis Hardin

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

August 6, 2019 by Diane Forner

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

  • Heather Marcom – Freedom Financial Network, Head of Talent Acquisition
  • Willie Cordova – USAA, Director of Member Solutions
  • Andrew Seals – Voya Financial, Director Retirement Readiness Services Center
  • Dexter Johnson – Farmers Insurance, Head of Direct Service and Sales

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.

Filed Under: Event Recaps Tagged With: Brighton College, Career Connectors Academy, Optima Tax Relief, Voya Financial, bestcompaniesaz, Farmers, USAA, Vanguard, Freedom Financial Network, American Express, Charles Schwab, State Farm

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When I was laid off last year from the company I’d worked with for over 14 years, I actually found I had an even BIGGER job ahead of me. With an outdated resume, no interview skills, and a huge feeling of displacement, I went searching for help. Career Connectors was my savior. The program and its’ leaders were instrumental in rebuilding my confidence, providing the necessary tools and resources, and ultimately responsible for my landing a great position with a company that was featured at o… Read more
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I own a Leadership Company, and have enjoyed attending the Career Connector events. With gratitude I listen to the speakers you line up… they offer phenominal and practical information. What has struck me each time has been the audience. My heart hurts for them. They are in a desperate place in their lives. I have had the opportunity speak with a few of the people in attendance, and they have shared their stories… I walk away thankful to God for the opportunity to meet these people and they … Read more
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I started a FT position back on June 3rd.   Thanks to you and your organization for helping me to stay motivated and focused during my job search.   Getting out weekly to your events was terrific.
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I wanted to take the time to write you to express my sincerest gratitude for all that you and those who work with you do for so many of us!I lost my job due to our medical office being closed. Your company came highly recommended by an HR person who worked with us as employees to help give us a hand up to become employed again through a very generous program provided by my employer. I am employed again in a job that I really love. It came with wonderful, kind, encouraging management and coworker… Read more
Ann Marie H.
Career Connectors offered me a one-stop-shopping capability for all of the coaching, resources and connections I needed to perfect my job searching skills.  The package of services, and support I found while attending these workshops over the past 7 months was unique to, and more productive than any other networking venues I attended. I am thrilled to share that I’ve landed with B/E Aerospace in Tucson.  I recommend to all Job Seekers to find out what works for you, and exploit it for best r… Read more
Aidan F.
I just wanted to let you know that there’s a reason why I haven’t come to any recent Career Connectors events. It’s because I found a job! This past week, I started working as a data scientist for a technology startup in the financial services space that’s based in downtown Phoenix. It’s an ideal opportunity for me to break into the data science industry with an exciting company. I wanted to thank you and your staff for putting together all of your fantastic networking events and bringing … Read more
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I just want to thank you and compliment you and your organization, all the people involved, for providing this free service to the people in the Phoenix area. Last August found me in the unforeseen, unplanned position of being without a job. This circumstance, anytime but especially being a single mom, is very unsettling, sometimes downright frightening and anxiety inducing. I began attending many of your weekly meetings through November, when a job opened for me. I found solace and guidance at … Read more
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It was amazing, you guys did a great job! I found several potential companies!
Irene
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A good friend told me of her success using Career Connectors networking.  She landed an interview and later, a job in her field, after attending one networking event.  So, when it was my turn, I had to check it out. I was starting to get the blues about being unemployed but the speaker lifted me out of the dumps and put my life back in perspective. So many people were there to help and offer support!   Just by networking that day, I was given a job lead that has led to two interviews and a… Read more
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