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
Monday, May 11, 2009
Monday, May 4, 2009
All other duties as assigned
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
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
Thursday, April 30, 2009
Quick Quotes
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 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?"
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
I know how to job search, I've been doing it for YEARS
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.
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
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.
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.
Monday, April 20, 2009
Full Speed Ahead
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.
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.
Thursday, April 16, 2009
2nd Opinions
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."
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."
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