Employment Specialist

What I learned on my summer vacation

2009-10-21T21:31:00.001-07:00

Now that the rain is dropping daily in Portland, I'll admit that the summer is over, and my hiatus from posting is over.

The last few months were eventful, and there was one work particular work-related incident that I think will leave a permanent change in my world view.

In September, I accompanied a customer on her first day of classes this semester at Portland Community College. I previously mentioned this customer in a post about delayed gratification. She is a smoker, and she was very surprised to learn that PCC is now a tobacco-free campus. That means all of campus, including outdoor walkways and lawns, and the parking lot.

Normally, I would think that tobacco-free is a good idea. It's great for non-smokers (I love tobacco-free restaurants and hotels), and a good push for smokers to quit.

But based on my customer relationship, I hate PCC's policy. My customer already has to manage anxiety, attention deficit disorder, PTSD symptoms, undiagnosed learning disabilities, and recovery from drug use. I was on-campus with her to help put her at ease. Unfortunately, cigarettes are the usual tactic she has for overcoming nervousness.

Maybe nicotine gum will ease her cravings between class. Maybe she will kick the habit. That will help her long term, but what about this semester?

When I think about this shift in my view on the tobacco ban, I think about general employment specialist views on criminal history. Of course, we don't like that someone broke the law, but we still see someone with value and the ability to work, and it's easy to fall into an us against them trap with employers. Likewise, I'm not happy that my customer smokes, but I'm disappointed by the potential effects of the smoking ban on her grades.

Here's a Radio Lab segment discussing the study that inspired my previous post on delayed gratification.

Why do you do what you do?

2009-09-01T22:04:00.000-07:00

Here's another TED video. In this one, Dan Pink discusses intrinsic motivation and its value in future workplaces.

Dan argues that intrinsic motivation is made up of "autonomy, mastery, and purpose." He also says that this form of motivation will be necessary as work moves from simple and repetitive tasks to complex and creative thinking tasks (knowledge/information economies). According to behavioral psychology research he references, traditional incentives such as bonuses are not effective for jobs of the near future.

Last month, I saw a job posting for an employment specialist that advertised $50.00 bonuses per placement as part of the compensation. According to Dan's talk, it should be better to build the bonuses into the salary and offer a higher base pay. Job placements require so many different factors to come together that it's hard to feel a direct connection between placing a job seeker and receiving an extra $50.00 weeks after the job begins. Also, placing someone already feels rewarding; the emotional experience can outshine the monetary reward.

See this post for another view on intrinsic motivation. It identifies autonomy, competence, and relatedness as factors for intrinsic motivation...2 out of 3 factors in agreement (autonomy, competence/mastery).

MI:SE

2009-08-19T19:18:00.000-07:00

Last week, I attended a training by Jon Larsen on Motivational Interviewing (MI) within Supported Employment programs.

Jon argued the case for MI (assessing interest and readiness for employment, identifying strengths and barriers) and provided practice on techniques and tools for putting it all into practice.

Some points:

Actively listen: Jon asked us to role play a dialogue where the Employment Specialist was only allowed 2o words. The challenge was to keep the conversation going as long as possible up to the 20 word limit.

Be patient as a problem-solver: This refers back to the listening point. Use MI to gather information, to guide a customer in thinking through a decision, or explore setbacks.

Ask permission: If you must absolutely interrupt and offer an opinion or suggestion during MI, ask permission first. Leadership Through People Skills offers a similar tactic for managers: gauge for reciptivity before beginning a discussion.

The training had good information and Jon was an excellent presenter. He had frontline knowledge from his own work and mixed in entertaining stories. My only recommendation is that Jon include more practice in the session.

Bored people are boring

2009-07-24T21:43:00.000-07:00

What do your employment workshops look and sound like?

Here is a page with some example presentations for inspirational purposes: You are in the presentation business. I think the first one is the best use of design, and the voice is dramatic. Larry Lessig's delivery in #2 has good timing, but I don't find it interesting.

Here is my favorite TED video: Hans Rosling and "the best stats you've ever seen."

More slide shows: Slideshare.

I borrowed some style from "What teachers make" for a presentation on dressing during a job search (door to door visits). I took out the pictures for privacy reasons. You'll need to use your imagination.

Slides included photos of onestop employment specialists demonstrating the right and wrong ways to dress. Including staff made a huge impression on the audience, who commented that it was much better than generic pictures of models or strangers. For further involvement, ask job seekers to participate as models. As we went through the slideshow, we asked participants to critique the outfits.

Dressing for job search

View more presentations from employmentspecialist.

A Hamburger Today...or Two on Tuesday?

2009-07-22T20:38:00.000-07:00

I'm catching up on the July posts that I promised! If you're having trouble waiting, there is bad news in store. Self-control and delayed gratification may be connected to success in life, according to a long-term study described in this New Yorker article by Jonah Lehrer.

In May, I accompanied a job seeker on a job hunting trip. We picked some employers in a nearby neighborhood and hit the sidewalk with resumes in hand. She was dressed nicely, business casual with a spring flair, and she had taken the time to fix her hair and makeup. It was a noticeable effort that I complimented. Then, she said, "And I can't smoke, right?"

That's right!

The next hour and a half was a battle over an extreme example of self-control: resisting nicotine addiction. She made it to 7 businesses before I let her have her cigarette reward. At that point, she looked through her purse and found that she had lost her last one.

Along the way on our trip, she found a twenty dollar bill on the sidewalk. That made the lost cigarette a minor disappointment.

While cigarette cravings are not the type of impulse referenced in the New Yorker article, the situation helped me link the study with employment services. What kind of impact, I wondered, could an inability to delay gratification have on a job seeker?

Some ideas:

1. Unrealistic expectation of a short job search; frustration grows as time goes on.

2. A lack of long-term planning; no investment in training, education, or working oneself up from entry-level.

3. Disassociation between the effort necessary to apply and the reward of being hired; there may be too large a gap between the action (targeted resume and cover letter, fully completed application, follow-up calls or visits, interviewing) and the result (job offer).

This is where an employment plan with short-term goals -make a big deal about checking them off- can pay off.

Dying newspapers and growing application piles

2009-07-16T22:39:00.000-07:00

Recent discussions with Portland, OR employers have revealed the following.

*A job listing in the daily Oregonian newspaper received only a few responses (walk-in applications only).

*The same job listing on craigslist a week later resulted in a steady stream of applicants, but only on the first day. Responses dropped off to only a handful on day 2. The employer was reluctant to post on craigslist due to previous issues with the quality of applicants ("interesting people").

*One discount department store is receiving up to 50 applications a day. Over the summer, hiring will slow down due to participation in the youth (WIA) summer jobs program.

Employment specialist, unplugged

2009-07-14T20:09:00.000-07:00

The New Yorker is emerging as my main source for ideas that can be adapted to workforce development. It's fitting since I love Malcolm Gladwell.

This article by John Colapinto (also good), "Brain Games, The Marco Polo of neuroscience," is a fun look into contemporary research on autism, atemnophilia (a compulsion to amputate healthy limbs), and other conditions. The research is described as evidence of the brilliance of Dr. Vilayanur S. Ramachandran. He is certainly smart. The details of how he works are the most interesting part:

"Ramachandran listened closely as Jamieson talked about his condition. In a specialty that today relies chiefly on the power of multimillion-dollar imaging machines to peer deep inside the brain, Ramachandran is known for his low-tech method, which often involves little more than interviews with patients and a few hands-on tests -an approach that he traces to his medical education in India, in the nineteen-seventies, when expensive diagnostic machines were scarce. 'The lack of technology actually forces you to be ingenious," he told me. 'You have to rely on your clinical acumen. You have to use your Sherlock Holmes-like deductive abilities to figure things out."

Job seekers need computers: resumes and cover letters, craigslist, indeed, employer websites, email contact, linkedin, etc.

Employment specialists need computers: tracking databases, matching job seekers to openings, skills assessments, reading blogs, etc.

But can we get by without them?

Now that I'm working in Supported Employment, I'm encouraged/required to get out of the office and work with customers in other settings: meet with employers, going out to submit applications together, onsite job coaching. It's still hard to get away from the computer, and I realize there are things that I do in my cubicle that don't have to be done there.

Employment plans, reviewing job leads, resume reviews, mock interviews, counseling... Really, if a jobseeker is computer literate (word processing and internet), all employment specialist-job seeker interaction can take place without a computer nearby. The exception would be assisting individuals who cannot edit their own resumes or submit online applications (even then there are other options for applying). The only currently essential task that requires computers is data entry for internal program reasons, not for direct services.

By interacting with the jobseeker free of the computer distractions, one of Ramachandran's techniques pops up: you can listen more closely.

Getting away from the computer also prevents one of my professional fears: that my role as an employment specialist becomes simply a middle-man for craigslist posts and support services.

Something else came to mind as I reread the piece for this post. Ramachandran frequently uses mirrors to manipulate how a subject perceives him or herself. I wonder how having mirrors present would affect discussions about the proper way to dress for job searching and interviewing. Mirrors may also have an impact in building self-awareness and hopefully self-esteem.

Rags to Riches in 15 days!

2009-07-12T18:46:00.000-07:00

I recently read Get Hired Fast: Tap the Hidden Job Market in 15 Days by Brian Graham, which I acquired as an impulse buy at FedEx Office. I bought it after skimming through and seeing that it focused on cold calling, which is a common deficiency in job searches. It is taxing to make enough cold calls to get good at it, and people generally stay away from doing things they are not good at, which leads to few cold calls.

According to Get Hired Fast, it is a mistake to shy away from cold calls, and I agree. The book's strong suit is its support for cold calling as the focus of a job search strategy, from researching employers to developing a script for calls. It's all part of a regiment that prescribes a short (3 weeks) but concentrated (150 calls) calling campaign.

There are 2 things I've started to tell job seekers lately. The first is that job search is what they do outside of my cubicle (meaning that they need to be active outside of our visits). The second is that of all the job seekers who have found jobs while in our program over the last year, only 1 has gotten a job from online-only sources. All the others have used personal contacts (including job developed by employment specialists), walk-in visits (including in-person visits to employers advertising online), or cold-calls to find open positions that they've applied for and gotten.

Get Hired Fast corroborates this position that job seekers need to get away from the computer as much as possible. Unfortunately, cold calling is only the subject of half the book. The rest of the pages are repeats of standard job seeking advice about interviewing and responding to job offers. This highlights the difficulty with cold-calling; even a book about cold-calling needs a little sugar to help the medicine go down. Instead of this generic advice, I wish it would have included more about script writing and more about dealing with rejection. It honestly states that there will be a lot of rejection.

Get Hired Fast is also like a guide to losing 10 pounds or quitting smoking. It tells you what to do and it tells you how to do it. It doesn't make it easy or fun, though, and the hard work is up to you. If you're advocating for job seekers to make cold calls, I recommend checking it out from a library; it is not essential to have it permanently on your bookshelf.

As a bonus, it can help with job development, where cold calling skills are useful.

Summer Slowdown

2009-07-07T20:11:00.000-07:00

I've always wondered why the summer is a time of tv re-runs and magazine combined issues. Now that I'm writing this blog, I see why. Summer outings (and evening runs and picnics) means less time for production.

There are several posts that haven't made it from my head to the blog:
1. The NY times article this weekend about the success of employment training programs.
2. A New Yorker article on self-control and delayed gratification as predictors of success.
3. A New Yorker article that inspired me to wonder what employment services we could improve by removing computers from Employment Specialist desks.
4. A post on improving workshops and presentations for job seekers.
5. Another post on first-hand job development information.
6. An activity for encouraging job seekers to write cover letters.

I'll write all of these posts before the end of the month. Also, I'm planning some changes by the end of the summer (bigger and better).

Here's some of what I've been doing instead of writing blog posts:

The employment specialist world of tomorrow, expanded

2009-06-23T23:23:00.000-07:00

Michele Martin presented a workshop on Using Free Internet Technologies to Support Customer Job Searches and Provide High Quality Services at this year's Garden State Employment and Training Association Conference (GSETA). It's a great how-to for following through with using social media and other web tools for workforce development services. Check the conference wiki for the handouts to the other workshops as well.

Here is the outstanding GSETA blog.

Fate or free will?

2009-06-23T22:11:00.000-07:00

As the workforce shrinks, it's interesting to see the difference between the media reports of mass layoffs and the actual ways that individuals are losing their jobs. Job seekers can easily interpret the poor economy and continuing layoffs as signs that no one is hiring, but job openings happen every day as new positions are created or as workers in critical positions leave or get fired. Here's a list of how jobseekers I work with have left their employers in the last 8 months:

1. Quit due to not getting along with supervisor
2. Fired for not making it to work (within first 2 weeks)
3. Laid off in order to make room for the owner's daughter-in-law
4. Fired for disagreements with customers
5. Quit due to not getting along with supervisor
6. Laid off for not calling in for on-call work
7. Resigned due to health complications

Of these 7, only 2 appear to have been unavoidable (#3 and #7). The others were the result of poor soft skills such as teamwork, responsibility, following procedure, punctuality and attendance. Soft-skill job coaching is clearly important for maintaining employment.

Of the 2 terminations that were unavoidable, the economy was definitely a factor in #3, which was a residential housekeeping position, a field that is losing demand in these tough times.

I know some of these positions were refilled, but I don't think they all were. Several employers have stated over the last year that they are not actively laying people off but are reducing their staff by not filling positions when individuals resign or are fired. Instead, duties and hours are being spread among the remaining employees.

While large layoffs do occur, they target specific locations and industries, which do not seem to directly include the individuals I serve in Portland. 2o minutes away (Intel, Nike, Columbia Sportswear and others), the story is different.

The employment specialist world of tomorrow

2009-06-11T20:43:00.000-07:00

Despite spending most of my day (work and personal time) on a computer, I'm a skeptic about the promises of world-changing web applications. I think MySpace is for kids and I figure that 99% of videos on Youtube are better off not seen. I follow people on Twitter, but don't tweet myself as I don't think my employer would approve. Of course, I do blog.

Still, I think these are all great tools for workforce development. Here's a roundup of the most hyped sites and thoughts on their potential in our field. Real life examples reveal the early adopters and some hiccups with blogs that were suspended after three posts or social networking profiles with zero friends.

Twitter

Basic:
1. Announce Events
2. Celebrate successes.

Advanced:
1. Connect to employers.
2. Advertise specific candidates.

-Workforce Solutions Heart of Texas tweets.
-Workforce Solutions Lower Rio Grande tweets.
-Wise (VA) Workforce Center tweets.
-Worksystems Inc (Portland, OR) tweets.

Youtube

Basic:
1. Recruiting/Informational Brochures
2. Event Recaps

Advanced:
1. Self-produced (targeted) training
2. Employer interviews/profiles

-Workforce Solutions (Houston-Galveston-Gulfcoast) application and interviewing videos on Youtube.

MySpace/Facebook

Basic
1. Announce events.
2. Recruit.

Advanced:
1. Maintain follow-up contact.
2. Connect participants to other resources.

-Workforce Solutions Heart of Texas Myspace.
-Columbia-Greene Workforce NY Myspace.
-Worksource Vancouver (WA) Myspace.

Other examples:

Workforce Solutions Gulf Coast blog.

Huron County (OH) employment specialist interview by the Toledo Blade on Youtube.

Cumberland County (NC) Workforce Development montage on Youtube.

WorkOne Southeast (IN) youth commercial on Youtube.

Wise (VA) Workforce Center podcasts.

Labor Pains

2009-05-27T22:11:00.000-07:00

"We have declared war on work..."

I watched this TED video featuring Mike Rowe ("Dirty Jobs" tv show host) a few weeks ago. As I was trying to come up with a way to fit it into a post, last Sunday's New York Times Magazine came out and featured a related story on blue collar work.

In the TED video, Rowe describes things he has learned from interviewing and working alongside blue collar workers. He also discusses the need to promote vocational training in order to supply the next generation of skilled labor. Be prepared for a story about sheep castration (dirty job); the story is told cleanly enough for the professional TED crowd.

The above quote is followed by 4 points from Rowe:
1. Hollywood and other media have a history of devaluing jobs such as plumbing
2. Advertising sells a leisure attitude that paints work as something to escape.
3. Government can promote/impede access or growth of industries
4. Tools (tech) are changing.

In the New York Times story, Matthew Crawford recounts his experiences as a Ph.D in political philosophy who works as a motorcycle mechanic. He also adds to his first person account a discussion of the decline in trades and vocational education.

Along with recent government pushes for infrastructure improvement projects and green manufacturing jobs, it is interesting to see media promotion turning to less glamourous jobs, which is what Rowe calls for.

More Job Development

2009-05-18T22:01:00.000-07:00

Here are additional resources from job development consultants, training organizations, and state agencies:

Allen Anderson articles at Dover Training Group & Employment Management Professionals. Check out the whole site. I like this from the DTG-EMP About Us page:

Job seekers do not have to be job ready to go to work. Plenty of people who were not job ready are working.
A linear path works for the most able and a nonlinear path for the less able.
We respond to the job market; the job market does not respond to us.
Job development is sales and marketing, not education or counseling, although education and counseling are often sales and marketing.
Employer needs are the keys to jobs, not candidate skills.
Failing at a job is a good beginning, not a poor ending.
The employer is the linchpin to jobs - gain control here and all is possible.
The only absolute must in going to work is the motivation to work.

More from Allen Anderson and Employment Management Professionals. (May have duplicate articles.)

Job development powerpoint presentation to Oregon Office of Vocational Rehabilitation Services (OVRS).

Additional materials from OVRS.

Institute for Community Inclusion (ICI) podcast, What Do Employers Want?

ICI article, Increasing Placement Through Professional Networking

Business Class

2009-05-14T22:04:00.000-07:00

Job development is not on the job description of every employment specialist, and it can look very different across the spectrum of workforce development programs.

In Youth WIA, I've seen job development handled as an extension of paid work experience (or on-the-job training). As a core onestop service, I've seen job development refer to soliciting or receiving job orders. In customized and supported employment, it becomes an intensive hands-on part of most job searches.

The competitiveness of the current job market emphasizes job development as a key element in employment services for job seekers who face tough barriers to employment. Unfortunately, it is harder to be successful at job development than it is to make a good resume or teach a job readiness workshop.

Even for great and experienced job developers, approaching businesses leads to rejection!

Job seekers don't get every job they apply for, but we still encourage them to keep trying. With coaching and practice, they will get a job. Employment specialists need to summon the same courage, take on the urgency of the job seeker, and keep trying as well.

Here are a few links to job development tips & tricks from around the web:

The Toolbox from Cygnet Associates: 23 tips for job development, and other workforce development guidance for general customer populations.

Massworks Tips for Job Development During Tough Times. 5 tips addressing job development in tight job markets. This is a post from Massworks' blog which has a strong focus on workforce development for people with disabililities.

Job development best practices via Powerpoint for the Homeless Veterans Reintegration Project. Includes basic strategies for incorporating employment into case management, and job development tips useful for working with all job seekers.

Supported Employment job development tips & trends from Canada. The last post is dated 2006, but I didn't see the 3 tips under the heading Relationship-based marketing on other lists.

How To Design and Deliver an Effective Job Development and Placement Program. A Dept. of Housing and Urban Development guide for its Neighborhood Works program. This guide includes telemarketing tips and a sample phone script.

Building Your Pitch, an MS Word outline for an elevator pitch from the Department of Labor's Performance Enhancement Project.

Horrible service, with a smile

2009-05-11T21:39:00.000-07:00

In recent weeks, I've been in situations as a customer where cheerful and chatty individuals did a poor job of getting me what I needed. The first instance was an inconsequential visit to a deli that had closed its grill, but didn't have a sign saying so and still had its order slips out. Only after I filled out an order did the friendly guy behind the counter happily tell me that the grill was closed. No big deal now that I look back on it, except that it has made me start to recognize similar instances: supermarket cashiers who try to find out what I'm making for dinner, while slowly making an awkward pile of my groceries; low-pressure auto service mechanics who commend our small fuel-efficient sedan, and offer to sell us spark plug wires for a car that doesn't use any.

It's made me paranoid about the quality of service I'm giving, and how it balances with my friendliness. Long-term case management is built upon strong relationships. On one hand, it's important to be warm and engaging. More importantly, though, it's necessary to provide a product that the customer will value. In this case the product is competent advice, practical steps to job search, adequate support services, and accessible, demand-driven training. Job seekers need to trust that they are receiving something that will help them, and that there is a benefit to working with an employment specialist.

Why should someone make regular visits, stay in contact, and follow the instructions of someone who is not helping them, or someone who is telling them things they already know?

By providing quality employment services, an employment specialist can also maintain a relationship when providing feedback that is not obviously "friendly customer service." Sometimes, you need to tell a job seeker something that they do not want to hear. It's easier to take such advice from someone with a track record of providing wise guidance.

How I work towards good service:

1. Complete a tangible activity/provide a meaningful resource during each meeting with a job seeker.
2. Don't get lazy and allow job seekers to use cover letters, resumes, applications that are not perfect. If they resist making edits, try different suggestions.
3. Get job seekers as prepared as possible for talking to employers/interviewing.
4. Give job seekers worthwhile action steps to take following each meeting.
5. Keep seeking out new ideas, techniques, and trainings

All other duties as assigned

2009-05-04T21:02:00.000-07:00

There are certain skills and scopes of knowledge that should be expected as an Employment Specialist, including: resume & cover letter writing, job search, job development, labor market information, application procedures, professional dress, and interviewing.

Then, there are those unexpected things that we learn along the way. Here are 4 big ones:

1. Public transportation: I commute by bus or bike, but what has really taught me the local bus system is Google mapping employer sites for job seekers, complete with public transportation directions. Here in Portland, I also have the luxury of using the regional transit's trip planner.

2. Criminal justice system: Working with post-prison reintegration job seekers has taught me about parole/probation reporting requirements, diversion, restitution, and other aspects of the justice system. Also, when I lose contact with someone and hear a rumor about an arrest, I can confirm it through the Victim's Notification Network. In Portland, I can also get information on recent arrests from the Multnomah County Sherrif's Office.

3. Trade/Vocational Education: I can have educated conversations about and provide accurate job search counseling regarding phlebotomy, welding, flagging, bank telling, and other trades that I have no experience in due to what I've learned from placing individuals in vocational training programs. Each job seeker is an opportunity to learn about a new field.

4. Driver's License/ID, Social Security card, Birth Certificates: In addition to the classic employment conundrum, "You need experience to get a job; You need a job to get experience," there is this problem: Lose all your identifying documents. Try to get an ID without a social security card, or a social security card without an ID.

Other things learned:
5. identify theft prevention
6. motivational psychology
7. free email (for job seekers)
8. frugal shopping (support services)
9. background/criminal history checks

Quick Quotes

2009-04-30T20:19:00.000-07:00

Here is some humor overheard in the cubicles at work:

"I had this dream..."
"Was it a Martin Luther King kind of dream or a Freddy Kreuger kind?"

"Half a paycheck is better than no paycheck."

and

"I got a phone now."
"You got a phone!"
"It's not like that. My lawyer got it for me."
"Oh, are you on his plan, too?"

I know how to job search, I've been doing it for YEARS

2009-04-22T22:02:00.000-07:00

There are at least 2 struggles regarding job search knowledge as an Employment Specialist. One involves establishing authority as an "expert" at gaining employment. Another involves sorting through all the job search advice that is floating around in our universe.

A couple of weeks ago, I followed posts at Ask A Manager in which the Manager debated another blogger who advised readers that they are free to burn bridges with past employers/supervisors without repercussion. (I side with Ask a Manager; job seekers need those professional references!)

Then this week at a job fair, a workshop facilitator included this in a list of "10 truths" about job search:

"You do not need a resume to do a job search."

Is it possible to get a job without a resume? Sure. Can all my job seekers throw away their resumes? The idea frightens me.

There is probably a nuanced explanation to the "no resume" job search, but the 1/2 hour presentation didn't leave time for that.

Another "truth" revealed was:

"In most cases people hire people they know and like -- whether or not the candidate has the exact experience, background or skills to do the job."

I think it's absolutely true, BUT it needs to be managed carefully. If an employer doesn't know the job seeker, the qualifications are very necessary. The key word is "exact." Many people may replace "exact" with "any" and start applying for jobs that they should not be considering, and they may neglect opportunities they are qualified for in favor of long-shot applications.

My coworkers found a simple way to improve the statement: In most cases people hire people they know and like IN ADDITION to having the experience, background or skills to do the job.

I don't think the advice is wrong; I think it's careless advice in a sea of job seekers with different skills and abilities. We can't expect everyone to be able to discern when to use a resume and when not to, or when to overreach or not.

More Excel Chart Fun

2009-04-22T21:34:00.000-07:00

This is in response to:

1. Job seekers who rush through applications and submit incomplete or half-hearted applications
2. Application forms that don't have areas that let individuals shine through.
3. The "Do I need a cover letter?" debate.

Full Speed Ahead

2009-04-20T22:30:00.000-07:00

Here are some visual aids to remind job seekers to conduct a full job search. They are meant to help those who:

1. Stay within a comfort zone (usually too much internet and newspaper...passive job search)
2. Take too many days off and miss good opportunities

This week is off to a great start. It's sunny, one of my customer's started a new job today, a friend announced a FOURTH Urban Design/Landscape Architecture graduate school acceptance (UPenn, Harvard, U-Washington, and U-British Columbia!), and a college classmate won a Pulitzer! This is the kind of day that keeps me keeping on.

2nd Opinions

2009-04-16T21:05:00.000-07:00

Last month, we had a recruiter from Comcast speak to a group of jobseekers about HR's perspective in the job search process. The jobseekers gave their full attention as she spoke about many of the job search strategies we try to teach every day. The fresh voice, and the recruiter's power to hire, helped the lessons sink in.

An unemployed accountant I worked with (college degree plus 20 years of experience) was disillusioned with the lack of feedback from employers he interviewed with, so I pointed him to a book on "insider secrets" from an HR veteran.

Today, I was exploring online and found some more advice from the recruiting field. Punk Rock HR led me to Peopleshark, where Carmen Hudson wrote some Cold, Hard Truth for Jobseekers in January.

What struck me most: "If you don't have a real network of people you know, have lunch or drinks with, who know your work, you're up a creek without a paddle."
I've met many jobseekers with such poor ties to their job history that they can't remember supervisors' names for their applications, and they never stayed in a job long enough to form real relationships with coworkers.

Also, from the comments on that post: "Some jobs that are posted or advertised are destined to be filled internally; advertising was just for show and you never had a chance."

Recent News Round-up

2009-04-13T22:13:00.000-07:00

Onestops continue to be swamped across the country.

Schenectady, NY: Residents wait hours — and sometimes more than half a day — in lines that stretch to the door. (Also a cautionary tale about service consolidation)

San Bernardino, CA: Harmsen said the number of job seekers coming to the county's workforce investment board center's has more than doubled since last year.

Butler County, OH: In August 2008, an average of 194 people came to the Workforce One's WIA orientations. In January, a record-setting 272 people attended orientations, which are held twice a week. In February, that record was broken when 324 people attended, and in March it is estimated that as many as 450 people attended Workforce One's WIA orientation.

Muskogee, OK: Workforce Oklahoma job skills facilitator Jessie Keenon said her weekly job search classes are attracting 24 or 25 people when they used to attract five to 10 people.

Maricopa County, AZ: Last month, Maricopa Workforce Connections had more than 13,500 customer visits, up 100 percent compared to last year and the numbers are expected to continue to rise.

Rick Wagoner, Call Michigan Works!

2009-04-13T20:52:00.000-07:00

This New York Times article over the weekend got me thinking about a couple of things. First, it raised an employment specialist crisis of faith. These happen occasionally when I read about millionaires who are younger than me or professionals who dropped everything to become rafting guides or, in this case, private career coaches who work with CEO's. One CEO's severance package included $40,000 towards job placement services. He could hire an employment specialist for a year at that price.

At first hearing, it sounds like an easy task: find work for someone who has years of prior success.

Thinking further, though, I looked at it from optimistic and pessimistic views in relation to working with "universal customers."

Quick brainstorming:

What CEO's bring that can help:
1. Networking contacts and references
2. Verifiable experience
3. Advanced education/training

What CEO's bring that can hurt:
1. High expectations (title, responsibility, salary, success)
2. Pride
3. Fewer options (narrow career fields, fewer openings)

In fact, the article argues, “The higher up you are,” said Dr. Madaus, whose company employs 6,000, “the longer it takes to find a new job.”

I also thought about what onestops would have to offer a CEO. The article mentions benefits to CEO's from their job search firms that sound very similar to the onestop benefits in last week's MSNBC article on Worksource Portland Metro East:

1. Social connections
2. Ongoing motivation
3. Sense of normalcy
4. Coaching

Workforce development serves a variety of populations that seem unique but frequently overlap and ultimately share attributes and needs: youth, adults, homeless, dislocated, transitioning, offenders, migrants, veterans, seniors, immigrants, etc.

Finally, contemplating how I would work with a CEO recalls a case management exercise I've used informally, Celebrity Job Search. Name a celebrity or fictional character and then complete an assessment and employment plan based on their known strengths and weaknesses.

The Rust Belt and other lost souls

2009-04-08T21:36:00.000-07:00

States I missed in my roundups:

Michigan Department of Labor & Economic Growth
Indiana Department of Workforce Development
Wyoming Department of Employment
Rhode Island Department of Labor & Training
Oklahoma Employment Security Commission

The Great State of...Part 2

2009-04-08T21:10:00.000-07:00

Here's the remainder of state workforce resources. This is the eastern U.S. edition, of which there are a bit more states plus D.C.

Alabama Office of Workforce Development
Arkansas Department of Workforce Services
Connecticut Department of Labor
Delaware Department of Labor
District of Columbia Department of Employment Services
State of Florida Agency for Workforce Innovation
Georgia Department of Labor
Illinois Department of Employment Security
Iowa's Employment Security Agency
Kentucky Office of Employment and Training
Louisiana Workforce Commission
Maine Department of Labor
Maryland Department of Labor, Licensing, and Regulation
Massachusetts Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development
Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development
Mississippi Department of Employment Security
Missouri Department of Economic Development
New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development
New York State Department of Labor
Employment Security Division of North Carolina
New Hampshire Department of Employment Security
Ohio Department of Job and Family Services
Pennsylvania Department of Labor & Industry
South Carolina Employment Security Commission
Tennessee Department of Labor and Workforce Development
Vermont Department of Labor
Virginia Employment Commission
Workforce West Virginia
Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development

Did I miss any?

Wanted: More Sunny Days In Portland

2009-04-06T22:42:00.000-07:00

Here's a good article on what it's like in onestops these days: Job center struggles with massive need. Even better, its from my (new) hometown workforce system.

Reporter Allison Linn does a good job of covering the toll on staff, the broad mix of customers, the blend of hope and uncertainty, and the variety of benefits available (from the obvious - training and job leads - to the overlooked - a place to be social and escape the loneliness of unemployment).

Reminder: Worksystems, Inc. has a blog, too.

The Great State of...part 1

2009-04-03T21:31:00.000-07:00

Moving from Texas to Oregon has meant adjusting to different workforce models. Still, after a year, I return to the Texas Workforce Commission website to revisit technical assistance resources and see what's new back home. I've also started to look at other states to find ideas or strategies I can use day-to-day.

Here are state employment/labor/workforce agency websites from the western half of the US. (Western based on an arbitrary imaginary line I made in the map).

Alaska Department of Labor and Workforce Development
Arizona Employment Administration
California Employment Development Department
Colorado Department of Labor and Employment
Hawaii Department of Labor and Industrial Relations
Idaho Department of Labor
Kansas Department of Labor
Montana Department of Labor and Industry
Nebraska Workforce Development
Nevada Department of Employment, Training, and Rehabilitation
New Mexico Department of Workforce Solutions
Job Service North Dakota
Oregon Employment Department
South Dakota Department of Labor
Texas Workforce Commission
Utah Department of Workforce Services
Washington State Employment Security Department

Breaking news: Jobs!

2009-04-01T20:46:00.000-07:00

Here's an update on the televised Rio Grande Valley Jobathon I posted about earlier in the week. KRGV Newschannel 5 has pictures and video from throughout the day's broadcast on a special job fair page.

The videos highlight employers as well as individual job seekers. Job seekers had less than a minute to make their pitch. Most were only able to give a brief description of their experience, the field they are interested in, and their Work in Texas ID number, which will allow employers to see their full resume and contact information.

Is your elevator pitch ready for primetime?

There is one video moment that made me cringe. In a story about onestop services, a staff person is identified as an UNEMPLOYMENT Specialist.

Workforce Solutions and Workforce Solutions Cameron organized the event.

Mystery shopping, emphasis on "mystery"

2009-03-31T19:25:00.001-07:00

In a real world follow-up to this post on job search scams, a job seeker reported today that he has received two money orders (totalling $1500) from a mystery shopping job offer he replied to on craigslist.

Though he was suspicious of the checks' legitimacy, he had a small hope that it was a real opportunity. The job seeker gave me copies of the emails, and it appears to be a check-cashing scheme operating under the cover of mystery shopping. It was even being done under the name of a legitimate mystery/secret shopping company. The instructions were to cash the money orders, spend some of the money on shopping assignments, keep $150 per assignment, and wire the remainder back to an individual in another state while emailing scanned copies of the receipts and a report on the shopping assignment.

Suspicious elements that I pointed out to the job seeker:
1. He had never been interviewed or screened for the job. His only communication with the company was his email response via craigslist. Legitimate companies don't send $1500 to a stranger.
2. Reputable mystery shopper organizations frequently offer reimbursements on expenses as opposed to paying those costs upfront.
3. The "employer" was doing business through a free gmail account.
4. The company address was in Washington state, but instructions were to wire money to an individual in North Carolina
4. There was unusual pressure being applied as the "employer" stressed that the assignment needed to be completed within 24 hours.
5. The "employer" was asking for funds to be transferred to a name other than his own.

Basic safeguards I warn job seekers of:
1. Stay away from offers that charge a fee.
2. Stay away from offers that involve transferring money.

The prevalence of scams in the current job market is an opportunity for a onestop workshop topic: protecting oneself from identity theft and employment scams during a job search. Jobseekers who are new to the internet need to know what information should not be divulged and how to spot legitimate recruiters.

Mystery shopping resources:
Federal Trade Commission mystery shopping page
National Shopping Services Network (includes a section for scam alerts)

After these messages: Jobs!

2009-03-26T21:46:00.000-07:00

Workforce Solutions (Lower Rio Grande Workforce Development Board) and Workforce Solutions Cameron (Cameron County WDB) will be participating in a televised job-a-thon on April 1st.

The job-a-thon will air on KRGV Newschannel 5 (Rio Grande Valley's ABC affiliate) throughout next Wednesday. Live segments will air from various onestop centers showcasing both employers and jobseekers. Traditional job fairs will be held the same day at the local onestops, which will allow jobseekers to reach employers without having to go on television.

While it's easy to imagine most employers are interested in the free advertising while announcing job openings, this may be quite a challenge for jobseekers. I would certainly be impressed by a candidate who is able to go on live tv and make a good pitch to employers.

Pssst...wanna buy a job...it's cheap?

2009-03-26T20:13:00.000-07:00

I found a news article from the Enid News and Eagle (Enid, OK) warning of a scam targeting clients of Oklahoma's unemployment services. The perpetrators attempt to charge a fee for providing services that are free through the Oklahoma Unemployment Commission or Workforce Oklahoma.

Identifying scams and educating job seekers of them part of the hidden job duties of employment specialists.

Other scams to watch out for, most of which I've seen firsthand with jobseekers I serve:

Fake job postings, especially on free craigslist sites, that are either tools for spam, avenues to gain access to personal information, or are looking for participants in fraudulent schemes.

Spam job search sites, which require an extensive registration process that goes through many opt-out advertising offers and includes sensitive information such as social security numbers.

Re-mailing and fund transferring schemes.

A classic that happened in a onestop system I worked in: individuals posing as recruiters took advantage of onestop center conference rooms available to employers in order to receive applications and conduct interviews for imaginary jobs, which was a method of gaining personal information from dozens of jobseekers. Organizational policies changed to require verification of all employers conducting business through the onestop.

Work-at-home or buy-a-business scams seem to be lower risks to me because they require high upfront payments which the jobseekers I have worked with are not willing or able to pay.

And we're back: Self-Motivation and Employment Services

2009-03-23T21:23:00.000-07:00

While on vacation and reading through old magazines, I found an article in a 2008 Men's Health about motivation that can be applied to onestop customers.

The article, The Psychology of Motivation, compares the techniques of a successful college football coach with self-determination theory first articulated and later refined by psychologists at the University of Rochester.

The article highlights three factors of self-determination theory that can be applied to program planning and case management:

1. Autonomy: "the choice to do it was made by you, not somebody else." Self-motivated individuals will do better than those who are simply serving a parole/probation officer, case manager, or fulfilling other requirements imposed on them by others. Part of assessment should be to gauge what motivates a customer. Is it external or internal, or a combination of both? Program language, materials, and activities should emphasize the personal benefits of employment and training.

2. Competence: "you know what you're doing, or at least are becoming better at it." Job-search is a challenging activity with many opportunities for feeling like a failure, such as rejection letters and tough interviews. Customers need to feel prepared for the challenge, and need practice that will build confidence. Verbal praise, achievable short-term goals, and other confidence boosters will help customers stay motivated.

3. Relatedness: "the activity connects you in some way to the other people." Unemployment and job-search are isolating activities. Self-directed work in a onestop can continue that feeling of being on one's own. Tools to combat this by providing interconnectedness include case management (with a consistent relationship between staff and customer) and group activities: workshops, networking, training, etc. Jobseekers who are part of a group will push each other to work harder and can create rewarding relationships that bring another motivation to continue in the group.

Another interesting item from self-determination theory is the idea that outside influences can undermine intrinsic motivation. Incentives and support services need to be carefully distributed in order to hold their value as tools for jobseeking.

Also, a major point of the article is that a person is more likely to do something if they consider it fun than if they find it to be a chore (makes sense, doesn't it?). The challenge for employment specialists is to turn job search into something fun.

Gone fishin'

2009-03-18T09:11:00.001-07:00

I'm on vacation, so there won't be any Employment Specialist posts this week. Posting will resume on Monday 3/23.

A crowded field

2009-03-12T18:47:00.000-07:00

At the office Employment Specialist works at in Portland, OR, we are seeing twice the number of visitors that we did last fall, and workshop attendance has risen almost as much.

Reports from around the country signal that this is not isolated to one office:

Workforce Center Sees Increase in Job Seekers (Beaumont, TX)
Workforce center swamped with jobseekers - but not jobs (Mesa, CO)

In other areas, workforce systems are starting to see clearer plans for stimulus money from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act:

Maine gets $12.8 million for work programs
Regional job centers to get federal funds

Keep on truckin'

2009-03-11T21:51:00.000-07:00

The current job market and poor economy overall will equal stressful times for Employment Specialists working directly with frustrated job seekers. In addition to the hard work of motivating and counseling job seekers as the job search stretches onward, Employment Specialists face the burden of feeling like their efforts are not yielding results. All of these factors put Employment Specialists at risk of burning out.

I did some searching and found information on burnout in jobs such as human services, teaching, and counseling. I also found tips for avoiding burnout.

The Addiction Technology Transfer Center (established by SAMHSA in 1993) dedicates part of their website to Burnout and Compassion Fatigue, including definitions, signs/symptoms, and self-care. The site also provides management tips for keeping staff content and productive.

Social Work Burnout provides an overview and links to resources provided by an MSW with firsthand and research knowledge of burnout.

Fried Social Worker is less formal in design but has serious content. It also has lots of self care, humor, and relaxation content.

There is also an interesting journal article (and likely many more) from the Journal of Counseling & Development. Here is the abstract:

The Relationship of Work Environment and Client Contact to Burnout in Mental Health Professionals.
Explored the relationship of the work environment and client contact to scores of mental health professionals on the Emotional Exhaustion, Personal Accomplishment, and Depersonalization subscales of the Maslach Burnout Inventory. Work environments associated with low levels of general burnout were those in which workers were strongly committed to work, coworker relationships were encouraged, and supervisory relationships were supportive.

Journal access is required to read the article. I went through the ERIC database via my Multnomah County Library membership. Haven't visited a library in a while? In addition to saving money vs. buying books, many now provide services such as online journal access and streaming movies and audio.

The findings in this article about commitment to work, coworker relationships and supervisory relationships remind me of an organizational assessment from Marcus Buckingham and Curt Coffman in Breaking All the Rules.

Questions they ask are:
1. Do I know what is expected of me at work?
2. Do I have the materials and equipment I need to do my work right?
3. At work do I have the opportunity to do what I do best every day?
4. In the last seven days, have I recieved recognition or praise for doing good work?
5. Does my supervisor, or someone at work, seem to care about me as a person?
6. Is there someone at work who encourages my development?
7. At work, do my opinions seem to count?
8. Does the mission/purpose of my company make me feel my job is important?
9. Are my co-workers committed to doing quality work?
10. Do I have a best friend at work?

And you can get it, if you try

2009-03-10T22:01:00.000-07:00

Last week's New Yorker included a good primer on employment and wages during recessions.

James Surowiecki writes about wages increasing in the midst of layoffs, which is a constant he traces back to the Great Depression.

One difference he finds in recent years is that productivity has risen even as employment has fallen. He cites the just-in-time economy -a major shift in recent manufacturing and trade- as allowing increased production without increased investment in labor.

An Oregon workforce analyst recently told a group of Employment Specialists about "jobless recovery" that economists have observed in recent recessions: the economy bounces back more slowly and with fewer jobs than there were before the recession. Surowiecki notes in this article that "while the economy grew at a respectable rate for much of this decade, hiring did not."

For Employment Specialists, this means the long-term challenge of limited opportunities for job seekers, with a small silver lining in that those who find jobs and keep them are likely to see earnings increases over time.

Natural Born Job Developer

2009-03-10T18:20:00.000-07:00

One of my fellow Employment Specialists brought a take-out sandwich back to the office last week, and she started raving about how good it was as soon as she took the first bite. What was the first thing she did after she finished her lunch? She called the restaurant and told them how great the sandwich was.

Another time, we received poor service at a nearby pizza place, and she politely reported that she was used to much better at that restaurant. She didn't make them feel bad or threaten to take her business elsewhere, and she even tipped.

Any time we walk down the street or visit a public place, she runs into 2 or 3 people she knows, because she's met people everywhere and she meets more every day.

She's great at approaching employers, because she really values the work they do and is not afraid to let them know this.

Her personal interest in everyone reminds me of posts I've seen from the Sales by 5 blog. Sales by 5 was one of the consultants working on rebranding a workforce investment board I interacted with in Texas. The team there is also not shy about having meaningful interactions with the places where they shop, eat, and play. Here are some related posts on how they react to good and bad service:
Smart Phones - A Slacker's Enemy
An Open Letter to Steve Wynn And Joy
What Happens After a Mistake Matters Most
Systems Need to Make Sense

Sales by 5 also has advice on getting past the gatekeeper, which can translate from sales to job developing.

Free services: Monday - Friday

2009-03-09T20:49:00.000-07:00

Tuesday, March 10th is Fedex Office's free resume printing day.

Tuesday is also free resume printing day at your local onestops. As is Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday.

When I moved to Portland, I used my neighborhood onestop to copy and fax most of my applications. One day, I was downtown and decided I needed to use Kinko's (now Fedex Office). The bill included network time when I connected my laptop to print my resume and cover letter and then a $1 fax charge plus $1 a page. I had a 2-page resume, a cover letter, and a 6-page application to send. I went back to the onestop after that.

Changes

2009-03-09T20:12:00.000-07:00

Friday's New York Times article "Job Losses Hint at Vast Remaking of Economy" has me thinking about the workforce of the past.

It begins with this assessment of the present:

“These jobs aren’t coming back,” said John E. Silvia, chief economist at Wachovia in Charlotte, N.C. “A lot of production either isn’t going to happen at all, or it’s going to happen somewhere other than the United States. There are going to be fewer stores, fewer factories, fewer financial services operations. Firms are making strategic decisions that they don’t want to be in their businesses.”

And says:

"This dynamic has proved true in past recessions as well, with fading industries pushed to the brink during downturns before others emerged to create jobs when economic growth inevitably resumed."

My questions are:

1. Aside from manufacturing (which is a huge loss), what industries have been lost in the past 50 or 100 years?
2. What were the 10 largest industries (by percent of employment) at regular intervals during the past 100 years?
3. Once we identify those industries that have been lost, which were lost to competition/trade (such as manufacturing moving overseas) and which were lost to obsolescence?

I would appreciate suggestions of workforce history resources that could help answer these questions.

Bob Loblaw's Job Blog

2009-03-09T19:57:00.000-07:00

A quick blog post on blogging:

CNN/Careerbuilder gives us 6 job blogs you should be reading.

Businessweek.com's Business Exchange features user-generated links to job-related news and blogs.

The Christian Science Monitor looked at blogs as a job-hunting tool.

Senior Class '09

2009-03-08T20:28:00.000-07:00

Here's a Wall Street Journal article on the growing ranks of unemployed senior citizens, which coincides with more older people staying in the workforce.

The article mentions the Senior Community Service Employment Program (SCSEP) and service providers Experience Works and Senior Employment Center (Cleveland).

Writer Clare Anberry reports on the difficulties that seniors have in finding employment, mentioning that seniors have a hard time convincing others that they can work, but she also focuses on physical ailments that limit the abilities of those workers featured in the article. Readers may judge that these seniors aren't working because they aren't capable of fulfilling their job duties. Also, while the article states that the SCSEP only has enough funding to serve 1% of the citizens who may be eligible, there is a larger focus on workers who have spent years in SCSEP programs without progressing to unsubsidized employment.

Older workers are part of the changing workforce, but workforce initiatives such as retraining, IT jobs, and green jobs don't always include objectives for serving the oldest workers.

Away we go

2009-03-08T19:36:00.000-07:00

The National Association of Workforce Boards Forum started this weekend in Washington, D.C. Worksystems is blogging from there.

I attended the Forum in 2007, when snowstorms stranded some presenters trying to fly in and made leaving the hotel/convention an adventure.

From that experience and other conventions, I follow these rules:

1. Plan early. It is always better to stay in the hotel that the convention is held in. You'll be more likely to stick around for evening events, it's easier to get to the opening sessions, and you save time by not shuttling between sites.
2. Cover more ground: pick up materials from the presentations you can't attend (sometimes they are available online later), divide staff between presentations if you are going with a group, and if a presentation sounds interesting but doesn't address your project specifically, don't rule it out.
3. Go to the social events in the morning and evening. They provide more time for connections than you have in between sessions. Don't stay out too late.
4. After the first day, dress as comfortably as you can get away with while still looking professional. It'll be easier to make it through the long days.
5. Make use of break times and refreshments for staying focused. Say yes to free ice cream!
6. Leave the office at the office. Check in at established times, if necessary, but try hard not to be interrupted or distracted during the day. Leave the cell phone and laptop in your room if you need to.
7. Make an effort to find out what others do and think, and less of an effort of telling them what you do and think.
8. Don't forget your business cards.
9. When you get home, follow up on presenters and topics by seeking them out online and at the library.

A healthy workforce system

2009-03-07T20:51:00.000-08:00

After writing about how hospital procedures can be transferred to case management, I thought about other ways that workforce development relates to healthcare. Here are some quick illustrations of the workforce-healthcare metaphor:

Onestop career centers see customers who need to regain work health, don't know their options, need intensive immediate assistance, or have suffered work "accidents," such as layoffs. Onestop staff direct customers to other parts of the workforce system after assessment.

Occupational skills training (community colleges, industry-developed training, vocational schools) is accessed by individuals with good work health who want to enhance their abilities or those who need to strengthen their skills.

Workforce investment boards provide direction and explore solutions based on their analysis of system health. Their leadership connects multiple stakeholders.

A healthy system yields productive workers, better business, and stronger communities.

Word on the airwaves

2009-03-04T23:37:00.000-08:00

Kai Ryssdal spoke with New York Times columnist David Leonhardt on Marketplace today about the distribution of job losses in the current recession.

Despite the focus on investment bankers and other financial positions, the numbers show the highest job losses are in fields like construction and retail which require less education.

The report asks the question, "Who's hit the worst by the recession?" and answers that it is the less-educated, men, and Latinos.

Word on the street

2009-03-04T21:43:00.000-08:00

I spoke to a retail manager today while job developing, and he gave this summary of the hiring for a new store:

500 applicants
200 interviews
37 temporary hires

9 out of the 37 will be kept on permanently after the pre-opening work is complete.

A co-worker and I visited 4 employers this afternoon in inner NE Portland. Although none of them are currently hiring, there were bright spots in that 3 of them had made recent hires and the 4th expects to do some hiring in April. Plus, the managers at each place were friendly and helpful. Each invited us to check in periodically and send information on our program.

Job developing (and job search) frequently reminds me of The Endless Summer, in which the stars would reach a surf spot with disappointing waves and be told, "You should have been here yesterday."

Good grief

2009-03-03T22:16:00.000-08:00

Good magazine posted a video back in January on people turning to medical studies for cash while unemployed.

It's 2 minutes of dark humor.

Check, please.

2009-03-03T20:04:00.000-08:00

A stack of clipped articles on my dresser includes The Checklist by Atul Gawande, a New Yorker article from December 2007 about the lives saved in hospitals that implemented checklists to follow for routine procedures.

It is a process similar to pilots' pre-flight checklists which have existed since the 1930's according to the article. The checklist did not start its jump to acceptance in hospital ICU's, however, until 2001, when Peter Provonost started a checklist to tackle a specific infection at Johns Hopkins. Buoyed by strong results (meaning lives saved), Peter has become a champion of checklists. In essence, they work because if you make sure to do all the little steps correctly, the larger goal is completed. Skip one step in a series, however minor, and the project is in jeopardy. Gawande writes:

"...you have a desperately sick patient, and in order to have a chance of saving him you have to make sure that a hundred and seventy-eight daily tasks are done right—despite some monitor’s alarm going off for God knows what reason, despite the patient in the next bed crashing, despite a nurse poking his head around the curtain to ask whether someone could help “get this lady’s chest open.”"

I kept the article for several reasons.

1. A case management checklist can ensure that staff complete their tasks while having the freedom to work without a supervisor looking over their shoulders. Think you can expect staff to do everything they need to with all their customers every time? In his first study, Provonost asked nurses to record doctors' actions in the ICU. They reported that "in more than a third of patients, they skipped at least one [step]."

2. Consistent case management is part of great customer service, and customers should receive equal access to services. Individualized service should be based on the needs and goals determined through standardized assessments and procedures.

3. Workforce development has high stakes. Onestops, community colleges, basic education programs, and other partners can make life-changing impacts on job seekers, employers, and communities.

Temp to perm: becoming indispensable

2009-03-02T21:49:00.000-08:00

One of the surprises I encountered in job developing is the number of businesses that hire exclusively through temporary/placement agencies, including surprises such as retailers. In the office, I've heard many complaints from colleagues and customers that follow two general paths:

1. Staffing firms get paid X amount of dollars and only pay you half of it.
2. Staffing firms have it easy, because they can pick and choose their customers

These attitudes reflect mixed feelings about how staffing firms relate to government and non-profit employment programs. Many of us think that they are competitors. Others, including myself on objective and optimistic days, think they are a resource that is essentially the same as any other employer. They have the potential to be even better than a direct-hire employer, because they also have an incentive to make sure job seekers are hired.

These podcasts on employment retention from Express Employment Professionals demonstrate that staffing firms are also committed to making sure that job seekers find job security. Staffing firms need their employees to succeed, because they are part of the product being sold to clients.

Now we're back to the rivalry confusion. Staffing firms are selling their talent. As workforce development agencies, we are selling our talent. The difference is that we can sell our talent to the staffing firms. There is a relationship similar to wholesale and retail, or manufacturer and distributor. Staffing firms benefit from our talent due to the development we have already invested in them as job seekers: training, support services, career counseling and they deserve those benefits as all employers do.

Better working through chemistry

2009-03-01T21:18:00.000-08:00

Someone recently told me about an interview she conducted where the candidate gave many intimate details of her life and was horrifyingly candid about her past employer. The candidate was eliminated due to the performance, but the Program Manager conducting the interview was so concerned about the candidate's frankness that she contacted the candidate afterwards to advise her never to do that in an interview again.

Last fall, a job seeker reported to a colleague after an interview that the hiring manager told him on the way out that he shouldn't be so nervous and shy in the future.

Both applicants were lucky to get feedback, because most employers disappear like a bad date.

"I'll call you."
"Don't call us, we'll call you."
"You should hear something in the next week or two."

Susan Kreimer explores the dating metaphor in an article on interview chemistry.

It touches on being personable without being too personal, as well as the focus for "getting the right fit" when hiring.

In this job market, and when working with populations with severe barriers to employment, we need to be generous when determining the right fit: it includes complementary work styles and backgrounds and doesn't mean that all staff are from the same mold.

All you really need to know pt. 2

2009-03-01T00:28:00.000-08:00

I don't believe that this means that programs such as job training and GED preparation are useless. I agree though that they will not work without instilling fundamental social and behavioral skills in participants.

One challenge I have encountered as an Employment Specialist concerns resume development with job seekers who have erratic work histories. While exploring their experiences, common threads include a lack of lasting relationships with supervisor and coworkers, an indifference to details such as dates and addresses, and an inability to articulate job duties and accomplishments.

Where resume advice states to highlight outstanding achievements, these job seekers draw blanks.

If they bother to list references on applications, they only have personal ones to choose from.

As a tactic to pull out more information, give them an informal job interview. Rather than a mock interview, lead a conversation that asks questions such as "what were you proudest of at your last job?" or "what was hard about that position?" and follow-up until you get an answer that can be translated into an application, resume, and cover letter.

Inc.com has some good questions in their Top Job Interview Questions slideshow. My favorites:
How have you handled the last few difficult customers you've come across?
What is the most significant presentation you've given to clients?

With some tweaking, they can be directed at most job descriptions, and they give your customer the chance to talk about good things they've done.

By casually working through these kinds of questions, you will also begin preparing customers for interviews in a non-threatening manner. Customers should become comfortable speaking about their past jobs and sell themselves without trying to.

It is also important to review soft skills, such as showing up early, saying please and thank you, and writing thank you notes during the application process. For job retention, work on willingness to try new things and take direction, as well as building professional relationships.

Finally, I recognize some overlap between the traits Heckman finds important and the traits that Pixar looks for in their staff.

All you really need to know pt. 1

2009-02-28T22:52:00.000-08:00

James J. Heckman is a Nobel Prizewinning economist at the University of Chicago.

From his bio: "His recent research deals with such issues as evaluation of social programs, econometric models of discrete choice and longitudinal data, the economics of the labor market, and alternative models of the distribution of income."

Heckman is featured in a This American Life episode, "Going Big", in reference to a social program in New York City that is trying to solve urban poverty through early childhood intervention.

Heckman's work is cited in "Going Big" for his finding that traditional approaches to poverty such as job training are ineffective. Correspondent Paul Tough states:

"The premise behind job training is that young people who can't find a good job are just missing one particular skill or body of knowledge; teach them that and they'll be fine. What Heckman found is that the people in these programs had a much bigger problem. There were some very basic skills and abilities that they had never learned. And it was hard for them to absorb anything new without those skills."

Heckman reports that the missing skills included "the ability to communicate, to solve simple mathematical puzzles, to understand how to even read the newspaper, as well as the non-cognitive: self control, motivation, the ability to get out of bed, to show up at work on time, to engage and be open to ideas. These traits were in very serious short supply for individuals that I was looking at."

Employment Specialist is considering twitter

2009-02-28T17:26:00.001-08:00

I posted a few days ago about the use of Twitter in job searches. While writing then, I thought, "I'll never be on Twitter." A day later on Facebook, a friend's status encouraged everyone to use Twitter and I thought, "I'll never be on Twitter."

Today, I found that my local Workforce Investment Board recently started twittering. They also have a new blog.

Interestingly, this blog and the Worksystems twitter shared a subject (Richard Florida's article in the Atlantic) on 2/17/2009. Obviously, we have similar interests.

So Employment Specialist will follow twitter postings (twits?), but not post. For now.

A crowded field

2009-02-28T15:26:00.000-08:00

One thing I hear from many job seekers, even from some in their early twenties, is that it used to be easy to walk into places, apply for jobs, and get hired at one of the first places they tried.

A common complaint is that they try to be proactive and visit employers but find they aren't able to talk to any managers and are directed to apply online. While hitting the streets to submit applications a few weeks ago, a job seeker and I were even stopped at the gates of one employer and given the "apply online" statement.

While employers have benefited from the online application process by saving time they used to spend answering inquiries at the store, office, or factory, and by being able to quickly scan for keywords and minimum qualifications, the ease by which job seekers can send a resume is beginning to overload human resources staff.

With affordable internet access at home, and near universal access at libraries, schools, and onestops, most job seekers are submitting online applications. It doesn't take much motivation to copy and paste, or attach, a resume multiple times. Someone who wouldn't make the effort to drive across town or buy a stamp to apply for a position will be willing to spend a few minutes on an email. The more lines in the water, the more fish I'll catch, they might think.

The problem is that there are fewer fish to catch today, and the person in the next boat is throwing out their lines as well. Even worse, anglers who used to chase salmon or tuna are now content to catch mullet.

CNN Money's Jessica Dickler writes about the rise in applications for entry-level and "less desirable" jobs. The flood of applications muddies the water for qualified job seekers and frustrates HR departments.

As an Employment Specialist, think about:
1. How will my customers stand out?
2. Where are my customers applying?
3. How can I get through to a real person for job development?
4. How can my customers get through to a real person?

Battle for the ages

2009-02-26T21:51:00.000-08:00

Outside of a recession, older job seekers find that they are competing against others with experience, and against the stigma that some employers hold against them. Today, younger workers are being added to the mix of competition, as all workers find themselves in a shrinking job market.

The Wall Street Journal posted a Career Strategies article last year on Finding a new position as a mature job hunter. It shares good advice to increase competitiveness, address employer fears, and ease job finding stress.

Along with this information, it is good to know who is hiring and firing. According to Oregon Employment Department Workforce Analyst Christian Kaylor, the 25-50 year old* demographic loses jobs at a higher rate than do workers in other age groups. For various reason, older workers still hold some job security.

The Oregon Employment Department also has a recent article on hiring trends for workers over age 65: Will you still hire me, when I'm 65? Curiously, the Natural Resources and Mining industry has the largest percentage of new hires who are over 65. 9.0% of new hires in that field are over 65. Professional and business services had the largest overall new hires over 65, but only 2.2% of new hires in that field were in that age group.

Look forward to a post that compiles labor statistics websites from across the United States.

*Based on memory (without notes) from a presentation by Mr. Kaylor. The exact age range may vary.

Employment Specialist is blogging.

2009-02-26T20:40:00.000-08:00

Marketwatch has an article on a trend of broadcasting job searches through Twitter. Refreshingly, they come out in favor of it, with some guidelines.

It is always a good idea for job seekers to tastefully let people know you're looking for a job. Everyone they talk to is a potential agent to carry that message to a wider audience. Of course, don't let employers see those 21st birthday party pictures on Facebook.

Marketwatch's Twitter tips:
1. Don't post something you wouldn't want your mom to see.
2. Don't post something you wouldn't want your current boss to see.
3. Don't get too personal; post job oriented updates during your search.

Employment Specialist's tips:
1. Early adopters will have more success in computer, PR, politics, or entertainment fields.
2. Don't count on it if peers in your industry, social sphere, age group, or region don't Twitter.
3. Keep Twitter in the arsenal even if it's not working at first. It may be too early to see positive results.
4. If a job seeker is not already on Twitter, they should think twice before joining if the only intention is to further a job search. The motives will be transparent and as ineffective as calling people only when they might have a job to give.

If you're wondering, Employment Specialist is not on Twitter.

Help Wanted: Sandwich Board Sign Maker

2009-02-26T19:20:00.000-08:00

When does the wacky become the norm? Recent years have seen occasional job seekers heading out to city street corners with sandwich boards (or picket sign) advertising their qualifications, but I wonder if there's a point where it will be looked down on as cliche.

The latest story I've seen is from my current hometown of Portland, OR.

The most famous case is probably this man who made it into countless national and worldwide newspapers and magazines in the summer of 2008.

The thing that's most interesting is how news coverage of these individuals can enhance the job seeker's marketability. Do more people stop and talk to the person if there are news cameras rolling? Is it good advertising for a company to hire the person and become part of the story?

I would recommend the approach for adventurous public relations, advertising, journalism, and other communications professionals. From now on, though, it may take an additional twist to make a big splash.

What about a job search reality tv show? There are at least two premises:
1. Shadow job seekers through their search.
2. Contestants compete for a job (a down-to-earth Apprentice)

What employers want

2009-02-24T20:29:00.000-08:00

One of the most valuable ways to convince a job seeker of the importance of a great resume, cover letter, or specific skills is to demonstrate that employers are looking for candidates who bring these qualities to the table.

G.I. Jobs has a section dedicated to interviews with corporate recruiters about what they look for and expect from candidates.

The interviews also feature summaries of the employers' job openings, career paths, and starting wages and benefits.

Hidden Strengths: Leadership

2009-02-24T20:06:00.000-08:00

G.I. Jobs is a job magazine for armed forces veterans. The magazine focuses on vet-specific issues that may not be covered in mainstream publications, but the advice isn't exclusive to former military personnel.

One article on their websites advises job seekers to sell their leadership experience. They claim that "as a military veteran, you have tenfold the leadership experience as your civilian counterparts." Despite that claim, there are other ways to demonstrate leadership.

Probe jobseekers about time spent on tasks such as:

1. captain of sports teams
2. coaching Little League or other youth activities
3. organizing the PTA and other groups
4. participating in student government
5. coordinating fundraisers

Ready or not

2009-02-22T11:28:00.000-08:00

Several posts ago, we wrote about preparation in relation to introverts' job searches.

This Business Week article gives a real life example of prep work before an interview paying off for a job seeker.

Writer Liz Ryan explores what it really means to research a company and position. Job seeker #2's effort is what everyone should emulate and the internet (and public and university libraries) gives us all equal access to information that was not available even 10 years ago.

With all these job search experts...

2009-02-22T10:33:00.000-08:00

how come so many people are unemployed?

A Google search for "getting a job" returns 74,800,000 hits today.

The top emailed article at the New York Times for several days has been cover letter advice.

And as this blog has found, everyone is giving job hunt advice.

Business Week's contribution is a Resource Guide for the Unemployed, a compilation of articles on searching for a job, filing for unemployment, and managing through the recession.

When being yourself hurts your job search

2009-02-22T00:30:00.000-08:00

It's easy to tell people they need to cold call, walk in, and network.

For some job seekers, it is easy.

It's not easy for introverts.

This article from Fortune looks at how introverts struggle with the personal interaction involved in job searching. "Ask Annie" columnist Anne Fisher focuses on a strength that introverts can use to one-up extroverts: Preparation.

Anne advises introverts to be informed about companies they are approaching and to practice answers to common or expected questions. This preparation helps individuals express themselves without having to think up answers on the spot and gives introverts a boost of confidence.

Anne also allows for introverts to pace themselves in their networking, and promotes online connections as a safe approach.

Does your program provide options that meet the needs of both introverts and extroverts?

Areas that challenge Employment Specialists trying to provide individualized services are:
1. Expectations that job seekers make a minimum number of employer or networking contacts.
2. Group workshops that rely heavily on either lecture or participation without mixing teaching/learning styles.
3. Allowing job seekers to remain in their comfort zones which may leave them spinning their wheels.

I"m mad as hell...PS, I need a job.

2009-02-21T21:19:00.000-08:00

Hopefully you get the reference to Network in the post title. It was either that or "I'm a people person!" from Office Space.

Networking can shorten a job search if the job seeker is able to speak to the right person at the right time. Plus, since so many jobs are not advertised, it's the only way to break into certain positions.

The Gig, a blog at Fortune (in partnership with CNN and Money magazine), has a warning and some tips on how to network without turning off potential allies.

In my experience, the tough truth about networking is that many job seekers (especially youth and the chronically unemployed) have not cultivated relationships for job searching and references. Youth haven't had the time or opportunity to have supervisors and colleagues. Individuals with frequent job separations don't stick around with an employer long enough to make a mark or they leave on bad terms. I commonly encounter job seekers that do not even remember the names of their past managers.

The solution for job seekers who are building their networks is cold calling, professional organizations, and industry mixers. Comments from the post on the Gig lead to other great resources. Alexandra Levit cites and summarizes a good post from Laura Roeder about approaching people that we might ordinarily think are too busy or too important to talk to us.

These tips are also perfect for job developing, and the Employment Specialist's network is a jump start for the job seeker's network.

Half-time

2009-02-21T16:39:00.000-08:00

One of my pet peeves is sports analogies for the business/employment world.

Here's an easy one: Don't swing for the fences when all you need is a basehit.

Gerri Willis leads a report for CNN Money on looking for part-time work instead of full time work. See the report here. It's based on anecdotal evidence that employers are shifting to part-time work for their employees, and it mentions some national companies that are hiring now. There's also a transcript.

The benefits of part-time work for your customers:
1. Build work experience.
2. End gaps in employment.
3. Gain positive references.
4. Some income.

Program benefits:
1. Customers become more employable.
2. Customer confidence/optimism rises.
3. For some programs, any employment is a positive outcome.

Baby Steps and Giant Leaps

2009-02-21T09:33:00.000-08:00

The first goal any customer states when we start on an employment plan is "to get a job."

Narrowing it down, it becomes "get a construction job," get a job within 3 months," or "become President."

Working further, we use applicable skills and experience to form a desired but realistic goal, such as "get a job as a concrete laborer on a commercial building firm."

It's probably an accurate goal, but a lofty one that will make a jobseeker nervous, especially if there is a timeline on it. A timeline, though, is good for building a sense of urgency.

So then we try intermediate steps to reaching that goal: write a resume and cover letter, complete applications, find transportation, practice interviewing, etc.

Based on this Fast Company article, the intermediate steps should be a larger part of an employment plan. They are each goals to focus on rather than milemarkers to speed past.

Make perfect resumes.
Write perfect cover letters.
Complete and submit perfect applications.
Have the perfect interview.

Getting a job is an outcome of accomplishing these goals.

CoolMonsterJobsList.Com

2009-02-21T00:15:00.000-08:00

Sometimes Monster and Career Builder are too impersonal. Sometimes Craigslist is too anonymous. Sometimes aggregators (indeed, jobing, etc.) are full of clutter.

Fast Company shares some interesting alternative job search sites.

Get paid to apply! Have recruiters look for you! Find your match!

Like The Ladders, these sites are not for everybody.

Job Story - The Value of Soft Skills

2009-02-20T19:24:00.000-08:00

FastCompany.com features an Edutopia.org video of Randy Nelson , Dean of Pixar University speaking about his company's HR values.

First, Pixar follows 2 core principles of improv that build teamwork and increase productivity:

1. Accept every offer. (a virtue also mentioned in Malcolm Gladwell's Blink)
2. Make your partner look good.

When hiring, Pixar looks for:
A. People who are good at something.--->mastery in anything is a good predictor of performance
B. People who had failed and recovered - haven't avoided failure.
C. Breadth- "people who are more interested than they are interesting": "no one trick ponies."
D. Collaboration: whole is greater than the sum of its parts.

Have you overlooked the importance of soft skills in your customers? They are a complement to education and experience.

The bulk of many direct services budgets go towards training to meet what Randy calls "depth-based" and "resume-based" hiring. These expenditures are frequently critiqued by pointing out that someone with the technical skills to do a job may find it difficult to get a job or keep it due to poor people skills: not being able to sell oneself in an interview, not cooperating, displaying a bad attitude, etc. Consider also that highly skilled individuals are competing against peers and possibly superiors. Even they need an edge to set themselves apart.

Your customers can prepare for Pixar-style HR screening by:
1. Identify and develop a strength.
1A. Relate the strength to work.

2. Establish coping strategies and support systems for dealing with failure.
2A. Build a track record of perseverance.

3. Move beyond comfort zones.
3A. Provide challenges and set high expectations.

4. Exercise teamwork, communication, conflict resolution, diversity, etc. as much as possible.
4A. Use mentoring, job coaching, group therapy, ROPES, and similar activities.

Nightly Unemployment Report

2009-02-17T21:25:00.000-08:00

Dana Bate continues her advice for the unemployed in this transcript from the Nightly Business Report television show:
Surviving Unemployment.

Highlights:

1. Meditation for stress management
2. Focus on the present rather than worring about the future
3. Develop a purposeful routine
4. Stay involved in your industry
5. Be flexible and nimble: "24 hours could be too late."

Encourage your customers by promoting the same steps and by following them:

1. Calm your customers' fears. Relax and don't take on customers' stress.
2. Focus on practical tasks your customer can accomplish each day/week.
3. Provide structure during customer meetings. Complete tangible activities with your customer.
4. Alert customers to professional organizations, job fairs, and other gatherings.
5. Support daily and independent job searches. Does your customer's job search only consist of help you provide?

Insert Job Search Advice Here

2009-02-17T21:04:00.000-08:00

In the first 2 sentences of her post at Nightly Business Report's XChange blog, Krystie Russin pins down why I started the Employment Specialist blog:

"Whenever I have read about how to get a job, all I find is generic advice. Go to college, work hard, send out a resume and your problems are solved, right?"

She starts a competent series with Finding a Job Part 1: Socializing and Finding a Job Part 2: Resume Writing. While the articles are not as groundbreaking as the ambitions she outlines in her opener, she includes insights based on personal experience.

These are part of a larger effort at the NBR website, Riding out the Storm.

Dana Bate chips in with the commonly suggested, "get out of the house."

Even More Job Seekers

2009-02-17T20:41:00.000-08:00

Unfortunately for unemployed job seekers, they are competing for jobs against people who already have at least one job.

Plus, as many job seekers fear during a recession, they are competing against individuals who could be considered overqualified but are premium candidates in this job market.

This is round 2 of journalists finding other jobs, but this time it's not a full career change.

Caitlin Kelly writes in the New York Times of taking a retail job to bring stability to her life as a freelancer.

When a customer mentions the rising unemployment rate, bite your tongue regarding the fact that there are additional job seekers who are not counted by any measures (not even counts of the underemployed).

The article also reveals what some people think of retail:

"When friends, family members and colleagues learned of my new job, some were puzzled, some supportive. Many wondered: Wouldn’t I be bored? Could I handle it?"

Mr. Florida's Neighborhood

2009-02-17T19:36:00.000-08:00

Richard Florida writes in the Atlantic about a geographic divide in the effects of our current recession. How will your region be affected? I'm not entirely convinced by his argument, but it's interesting and adds to analysis of the situation.

Before moving across the country, I consulted Richard (via his articles) on whether or not I should move and for confirmation that I was moving to the right place. Richard studies the relationship between cities and the individual people that live in them. He is best known for a theory that a "creative class" drives the economic success of a city. He explores city identity further in analyzing population demographics to rate cities.

Richard is one observer who has identified a trend in young people prioritizing geography over employment. He even advises people to focus on where to live before deciding on what to do, and even before choosing a spouse.

According to demographer Claritas, this is the change in moving from La Joya, TX (78560) to Portland, OR (97211):

La Joya
Bedrock America
Golden Ponds
Kid Country, USA
Old Milltowns
Suburban Pioneers

Portland (97211)
American Dreams
Money & Brains
Multi-culti Mosaic
The Cosmopolitans
Young Digerati

Visit PrizmNE to find out more about your zipcode and an explanation of those categories.

Visit Creative Class for more about Richard Florida's work.

Puns Wanted

2009-02-17T19:07:00.000-08:00

Anyone hanging on in a dying industry can be encouraged by newspaper reporter Michael Precker's career change. The Wall Street Journal reports that when opportunity knocked on Michael's door, she was topless.

All career change stories involve risk and leaps of faith, and many times this leads to unexpected rewards.

"Reporter Faces the Naked Truth"

Who's the Boss?

2009-02-17T18:40:00.000-08:00

In the last decade, managers have been responding to the challenges of Generation X employees and preparing for Generation Y.

One of the overlooked changes in the labor market is that youth is now less of an obstacle to becoming a manager.

The Wall Street Journal looks at four strategies for young workers in management for the first time.

It also mentions one of the causes: companies firing high-wage veterans to promote lower-wage star achievers.

Other possibilities?

With job security and employee loyalty diminishing overall in the job market, there is also a decrease in tenured staff across industries.

Due to results based management, talent and performance have risen in value to employers while age and experience are losing value.

This trend is both a benefit to your young job seekers and a threat to older ones.

It's not the end of the world

2009-02-16T15:19:00.000-08:00

The hundreds of thousands of workers who have been laid off recently probably don't see the current job market as one filled with prospects. However, a handful of those who have recently become jobless do not have to worry as much as the others: Elite CEO's and professional sports coaches and executives.

In addition to golden parachutes, contract buy-outs, and high net worth to fall back on, failed CEO's and coaches keep their tickets to a hiring carousel.

Conde Nast Portfolio has a pair of articles on careers that continue despite previous failures:

Carmen Noble on CEO Recycling and Neil Smith on Finding Talent in the Sports World.

Both articles provide insights you can use to redirect job seekers' frustrations in their own job searches. When someone complains about CEO's taking the money and running, remind them of two points:

1. ..."it's not uncommon to find a hire based on the idea that it's better to go with the devil you know versus the one you don't. Or ownership may have a personal bias toward a candidate that has little or nothing to do with their likely effectiveness." - Neil Smith

This certainly happens in all job searches.

2. Forces that job seekers can control (qualifications, hard work, applications) have the greatest impact on their success. Job seekers will not succeed if they focus their energy on the hiring and firing of CEO's, rise and fall of the stock market, and the housing bubble.