Name: Elisabeth
Web Site: http://www.worknetsolutions.com
Bio: Elisabeth is co-author of No One Is Unemployable: Creative Solutions for Overcoming Barriers to Employment, The WorkNet Model of Career Development & Job Placement for People with Barriers and the WorkNet curriculum used across the U.S., Australia, New Zealand and the U.K., and is the President of WorkNet Solutions
Posts by Elisabeth:
Impressing Employers in a Buyer’s Market
August 25th, 2010Hope & Practicality from Elisabeth – Elisabeth (Harney) Sanders-Park is co-author of No One Is Unemployable, The WorkNet Model and the WorkNet curriculum, and President of WorkNet Solutions
It’s still a buyer’s market. Recent Bureau of Labor Statistics show more than 5 times more job seekers than openings. The May Job Openings & Labor Turnover Report showed an increase of nearly 50,000 to 2.7 million available positions in March. That’s good news. Employers are starting to hire again. The report also indicated that the number of people pursuing those jobs grew as well. That’s good news too! Sure it continues to make the competition very stiff, but it indicates that many unemployed Americans who were until-recently so discouraged that they had simply stopped seeking work are searching again. So, yes, the ratio of unemployed workers to job openings remains high, but we’re going in the right direction. You may be seeing evidence of this in your practice or community. Let’s be encouraged and re-muster our resolve to help the people who cross our path in these tough times. Let’s ask WHICH not whether employers are hiring, and WHERE not if there is a place in the workforce for each person. This market allows employers to be exceedingly picky about who they consider and who they hire. Here are some tips to help difficult clients impress employers, based on my upcoming book ‘The 6 Reasons you’ll Get the Job’ (with Debra Angel MacDougall, Penguin October 2010).
There are six reasons a candidate gets the job… conversely, they are also the six reasons a person is screened out. Understanding these six reasons means understanding the employer’s perspective, because every reason employers hire or fire, promote or demote comes down to them. Every interview question asked, whether legal or not, is an employer’s attempt to discover if a candidate meets their needs or causes concern in these six important areas. No matter the job title, all of the employer’s needs and concerns fall into the six reasons. Here they are, along with important tips about how candidates can impress employers in each area.
Presentation – You must prove you will represent the company well to internal and external customers, and it’s not just about the way you dress. You must embody the company image in your appearance, but also in how you speak and how you behave – your voice tone, vocabulary, body language, energy. Discover the company image by visiting the site if possible, and viewing the website and marketing materials. Then, present yourself as you would if you already worked there – dress the part, use their vocabulary, match their level of energy. Prove that you already embody their image.
Ability – They need to know you can do the job or learn it quickly enough (which varies from jobs to job). Whether you have done the job before, done something similar and transferable, or are mobilizing raw talent and non-employment activities to prove it, the employer must know that they will get a return on their investment in a reasonable timeframe. Review the job description or lead for the hard skills needed, but also research what makes someone ‘ideal’ which often comes down to soft skills and subtle dynamics. Consider how this position can increase company profit, and prove you can do it.
Dependability – This isn’t just about being on time and ready when you’re supposed to, but whether you can be trusted to work in the company’s best interest, even when no one is looking. Are you emotionally stable, mature, trustworthy and reliable? Will you choose the company over your personal life when it really counts – staying to finish an important project, doing the extra to fix a mistake or satisfy a customer – because you understand that you aren’t there to simply fulfill your job description but to make the company successful? Prove this with your track-record from past employment, and/or by choosing work that truly interest you.
Motivation – This is a biggie! Of course, employers want employees who do the extra, bring passion, and take initiative, but your ‘extra’ is only helpful when it is directed toward the company mission and goals. Otherwise, it’s not just unhelpful, it’s damaging. You are a loose cannon that must be contained. Discover the company’s missions and goals, and consider how the job function can help achieve that mission and fulfill those goals. Un less they are vying for positions in leadership, management or sales, most job seekers don’t think to discover and articulate how they can further the company mission, meet company goals, and increase profit. Imagine a potential cook, electrician, nurse driver, or trainer using this powerful language!
Attitude – Each company has its own culture; some personalities fit and some don’t. Forty hours a week is a long time to behave in a way that is not a natural to who you are. Discover the company culture, and the personalities that fit by going in as a customer, talking with current employees, and looking at how the company markets itself. Culture and image are closely related. Are they high-end, corporate, conservative, reliable, trendy, edgy, green, family friendly? Every chance you get to market whether on paper, online over the phone or in person, portray the attitude, energy, and personality that shows you are a great fit, and that the team and customers will enjoy working with you.
Network – Work is a group activity, even in jobs that deal only with small groups of ‘internal customers’. Employers need to know that you will attract the right people. This may include where you live or went to school, where you’ve worked and who your references are, the car you drive, how you dress and talk, and more. Use the ideas above to discover the job’s ‘customers’, and find ways to show that those customers — whether co-workers, venders, leadership, or consumers — will believe that you fit into the group, and can attract valued people to the company.
Silly but memorable, PADMAN is our super hero who helps us quickly and accurately think like the employer. His name reminds us of the six reasons people are hired or screened out, the six areas in which lie all an employer’s concerns that must be eliminated and all their needs that must be met. If you a candidate is searching without getting interviews, there is an unmet need or unaddressed concern in at least one of these areas. Scour their initial communications (app, resume, phone spiel, online identity, etc.) to find and remedy it. If they are interviewing and not getting the offer, scrutinize their in person presentation, interview answers, follow-up practices, references and anything negative employers may encounter between the offer of an interview and the offer of a job. There are lots of suggestions in ‘No One Is Unemployable’, available at WorkNet Solutions, and ‘The 6 Reasons’ will be available in October.
None of this is rocket science, but landing the job never has been. In this tough market, when employers can pick from among talented, experienced, ambitious people, candidates who get hired are those who reduce the employer’s concerns, speak their language, and actively prove they meet their needs.
Every month in America, millions of people are hired into jobs. Keep your attitude positive, your eyes open and your mind nimble. You don’t need a thousand jobs today, just a handful of good opportunities for the individual sitting across from you right now. Thanks for the good work you do. Keep in touch at WorkNet Solutions.
This article appeared originally in the Career Planning & Adult Development Network Newsletter www.careernetwork.org
Photo by Phil Campbell
Tips for Online Applications
August 18th, 2010Hope & Practicality from Elisabeth – Elisabeth (Harney) Sanders-Park is co-author of No One Is Unemployable, The WorkNet Model and the WorkNet curriculum, and President of WorkNet Solutions
Everyone keeps asking me to write tips on how to complete online applications – yuk! I tried a while back and ended up giving tips about how job seekers can avoid them until they have presented themselves as ‘people that add value’. However, because they seem an enduring reality, I’ll bite the bullet and share my best tips for successfully completing them.
Cheat. Get the Questions Ahead of Time. Each online application is at least a little unique. Before you complete one, learn the questions asked and how many words you get to use in answering each. There are several ways to do this: 1) Ask someone who has already completed it, 2) Have someone who plans to complete it take notes for you, or let you observe and take notes, 3) Have a friend or family member who is more interested in helping you than getting the job complete the application while you take notes, or, 4) Complete it as a fictitious person, so you can make mistakes and do your research as someone else. You don’t have to do this for every application, which is good because they take so long, but do it for 1 or 2 to get the hang of it.
Pre-pare. Create Your Responses Ahead of Time. During or after your research, create a Word document with the common questions, word counts, and your answers. Then you can take time and strategically incorporate all the relevant selling points that will get you hired, and cultivate a key message that is memorable, but not redundant. You can also spell check, do a word or character count if the site limits you (Drop each answer into a separate document In Microsoft Word. Open the document, and click on <File>, <Properties>, then <Statistics>.). Have someone review your answers for mistakes and impact, then edit as needed. Now, you can cut and paste your great answers into the electronic form, which will save you time and help you avoid the frustration of having to start over from scratch because you lost your internet connection or the website ‘timed-out’ before you submitted the data. Even if the site won’t let you cut and paste, you are ready to re-enter impressive information quicker. If you have to re-type them, reread each answer for typos. Again, you don’t have to prepare unique answers for every application, but create answers for a few applications then adapt them for others. The Word document you create is also helpful in preparing for interviews.
Watch Your Presentation. Look for details that could distract employers from your qualifications for the job. If necessary, create an email account for your job search using a free site. Use your name or a professional indicator, i.e., markgoodman@gmail, megancopyeditor@yahoo. If your physical address could cause concerns about distance/reliability or your community/network, use the more helpful address of a friend, PO Box, or job search program (with their permission), or simply give city and state, if the site allows.
Be A Person. Online applications are very far removed from decision makers who can hire you, so do what you can to be a person. If you use an on-site kiosk, dress for success, prepare a strong resume, and start by asking to speak to a manager. Introduce yourself, and share your respect for the company, a selling point or two, and your desire to join the team. They’ll likely direct you to the kiosk. Gladly go, and complete the application. When you’re done, find the manager again, thank them for their time, let them know you submitted the app, and that you look forward to hearing back soon. Return as a customer within 10 days, connect with the manager and inquire about discussing how you can benefit the company. Continue to follow-up as appropriate. If you complete the application from a remote location, call first and introduce yourself to a relevant decision maker — department head, team leader. Again, once you’ve completed the app, call back to thank them, let them know you are truly interested, and continue to follow-up.
One good aspect of many online applications is that they focus on assessing the skills and knowledge needed for the job, rather than just your past work history and formal education/training. This means if you have strong transferable skills, even if they were gained from unpaid or non-traditional experience, it should come through in your answers. You often have a chance to take a test and prove you’ve got what they are looking for. And, yes, I recommend that you cheat and pre-pare for the test using the tips above too.
Online applications are a long-shot, but these tips will increase the likelihood that your clients will make a connection, get some positive attention, and be given a chance to prove their value for the job. Good luck!
Keep in touch – Learn more about me and my work at www.worknetsolutions.com. Read articles by me, Debra (Angel) MacDougall, and other WorkNet experts at www.worknet-international.com/WorkNET. Get best practices and emerging trends about ‘Tough Career Transitions’ and other career topics at www.careerthoughtleaders.com. Follow at Twitter, and get linked at LinkedIn. As always, I wish you and those you serve great joy and success!
This article appeared originally in the Career Planning & Adult Development Network Newsletter www.careernetwork.org
Photo by Re-entry One Stop
Finding Jobs Now
August 11th, 2010Hope & Practicality from Elisabeth – Elisabeth (Harney) Sanders-Park is co-author of No One Is Unemployable, The WorkNet Model and the WorkNet curriculum, and President of WorkNet Solutions
A strange thing happens when we begin teaching and helping unemployed people to job search… we forget how jobs are actually found. We teach job search book-smarts, instead of street-smarts. We teach them to search in traditional ways, developed by employers to easily screen out the masses. And we encourage them to search in ways we generally don’t. Think about it? If you found yourself unemployed next week, would you submit resumes, send mass resumes, or respond to open market leads? Me neither. We would start connecting with everyone we know who is well-connected or works for an interesting company, invest in dozens of coffee meetings, and start finding side doors to hidden market opportunities.
Recently, I taught 25 employment coaches in Maryland how to help at-risk youth begin and succeed in careers. I asked them to list their previous jobs on a 3×5 card and gave them 5 minutes to determine the role networking and the hidden market played in landing each job. I had them raise their hands if it played a key role more than 50% of the time; every hand went up. I had them keep their hands up if it played a role 80% of the time, then 100% of them; most of the hands remained. This is how we find jobs because, overwhelmingly, this is how jobs are found, and we need to teach it to our clients. Here are some examples from people I’ve worked with, a few recent reminders, and some tips you can use with your clients.
I worked with a client who wanted to work for a company which happened to use an online application and told everyone applying for anything less than the highest level jobs that they must start there. We knew he could not possibly shine via this medium and had little hope of ever getting a second look. We also knew that within a few weeks the company was doing a day of community service. He signed up and ended up repainting eves and the lines on the blacktop if a local elementary school along with a VP, a couple managers, and several company employees. This gave him fresh, level ground from which to express his respect for the company and his long standing interest in being part of the team. He was invited by a manager to visit the worksite and get a tour. It turned into an impromptu interview. Within a month he was offered a job and had to complete an application as a formality. My best advice about online applications is to avoid them in lieu of something that might actually allow a person to be seen as a human being with talent, and get a job offer – a skills resume, an introduction, going in as a customer, or getting involved via volunteering, an internship or a charity event. If a client chooses to complete a paper or online application, I recommend that they dress for success, go in person, find someone with some decision making power (the manager on duty, department head, owner, etc.), introduce themselves and few of their key qualifications for the job, allow the person to direct them to the application, complete the application, return to the decision maker to thank them, let them know they submitted the application, remind them of their name and talent, and express their desire to work for the company and hope to her back soon.
I just heard the story of how a colleague’s husband recently secured a dream job. He is an opera singer who was working at a music camp on an assignment that was soon-to-end (he’d interned there in the past). Before it ended, he secured a temporary facility maintenance job in arts department at a university, and began auditioning for opera companies. He also did an informational interview with an opera company director to explore jobs in the field that rely on his operations, teaching, and project management skills. Before his camp job ended, the company director called to say she was looking to hire a new assistant director and recalled their conversation. He got the job. Informational, or as we say ‘investigative’, interviewing is a great tool for career exploration, network building, and interview prep, and our clients have surprisingly good success getting job offers (partly because that is truly not the focus of the interaction). Get your clients out there talking to people doing the work they might want to do. Have them ask how the person got started, what they like best and least, the most important problems they solve each day, how they make and cost the company money, what makes someone great, hear about their career path, and find two other people they can talk to. If people enjoy their work, they like to talk about it so it’s positive interaction. They client may get a tour, meet decision makers, build their network, gain a reference, and even get a job offer.
There is a lot of talk about using social media to get jobs. Here are a coupe links to articles that purport real life examples of how people have Tweeted their way to jobs. It occurs to me that they were all searching in fields that use social media heavily – recruiting, marketing, advertising, software development, etc. Yet, as Henry Ford said, ‘whether you believe you can or believe you can’t, you’re right.’ Someone is doing it, so your clients can too. http://researchgoddess.wordpress.com/2009/09/15/yes-–-twitter-works-for-recruiting-i-have-proof and http://www.fistfuloftalent.com/2009/10/a-success-story-using-social-media-to-recruit-and-there-are-more-final.html
A final reminder that as dismal as this recession has been, there are jobs out there, and employers are hiring every day. In February 2009, one of the deepest points of the recession, 4.3 million Americans got jobs. Don’t forget that. There are jobs but they have gone underground. In my town, employers are getting 240-400 applicants when they advertise a job, so like many employers across the nation they have wised up, stopped advertising, and are relying more on networking. In good times and bad, it’s the way to go. Get your clients out there. Joy and success! Keep in touch.
This article appeared originally in the Career Planning & Adult Development Network Newsletter www.careernetwork.org
Photo by Doug Bowman
Balancing Careers & Caretaking – ‘Hope Management’
August 4th, 2010Hope & Practicality from Elisabeth – Elisabeth (Harney) Sanders-Park is co-author of No One Is Unemployable, The WorkNet Model and the WorkNet curriculum, and President of WorkNet Solutions
Increasingly, American adults are managing employment, raising children, and caring for aging parents simultaneously. The Sandwich Generation, we’ve been called. It’s nothing new. In fact, this is the long-standing reality for many providers around the globe, and until the early 20th century most people in the western world juggled these responsibilities. However, wanderlust, a spirit of individualism, and the ease of relocation has fractured families, at least geographically, if not relationally, adding the difficulty of distance. Currently, the recession has most of us working harder than ever to simply maintain our income, or striving to exist on less, even starting over completely. Overlay that with our decreasing tendency to live in multi-generational configurations, participate in communities of faith, and befriend even our nearest neighbors — any of which could offer some support in the midst of this responsibility — and it’s no wonder we’re exhausted. Sure, it’s all very current and exciting to regularly tweet or text your BFFs in Germany and Singapore – except when you need someone to watch your kids for 19 minutes while you run to the market for a pound of ground beef because you forgot to thaw some before rushing out this morning. This year alone, I missed being there when my father came-to after surgery that successfully removed lung cancer, because I was 3,000 miles away birthing a bouncing baby boy, and covertly running my company from my hospital bed on a smuggled laptop– btw, NHCRMC in Wilmington has wireless internet access throughout. And, recently, I left my faithful stay-at-home-dad husband and three lovely children for nearly two months to care for my parents who, in separate incidents, ended up in the hospital within four days of each other, allowing my two local siblings to focus on their children and careers – btw, OCMMC in Orange County has internet too. With many Americans sandwiched between caretaking those who came before and after us, while attempting to earn a living and save for retirement, you must be seeing more clients who are struggling with this.
One of my big lessons, which can help your clients, is about ‘hope management’. Sometimes in parenting, always in job search and too often in caring for parents, we move quickly between receiving good news and bad news, feeling hope and frustration or sadness. Like some of your clients, I am a hopeful person. This gives me a special kind of energy and resolve in difficulty, but it also means I have farther to fall when I finally give in to a sad reality. I am shocked to admit what others have already begun to accept – I didn’t get the job or the contract and no amount of effort can change it, my mother will not get better no matter what, my child truly does have needs and limitations beyond other children. I recently heard a report that Norwegians are the happiest people on earth, but it is due in great part to the fact that they expect life to be difficult and full of hard work, so things many might consider basic entitlements or minor news exceed their fairly low expectations. In the same way, you have clients who tend to assume the negative. This means they are rarely disappointed and can, seemingly easier than the rest of us, slog through the numbers game of the job search and the ups and downs of caretaking. But they can also get stuck in minimal activity, sabotage and an ‘I told you so’ attitude, or get down. In either case, ‘hope management’ is helpful.
The sand beneath our feet, in terms of employment and caretaking, can shift quickly. The highs and lows can occur suddenly and sometimes endure for shockingly short periods of time. It is wise to avoid standing too firmly in one spot or another – getting too excited or too devastated before we know. How we respond is a function of our personality and our experience, so it’s hard to adopt this attitude at the beginning of a job search or the onset of a family incident. It often develops after we become exhausted from the ups and downs, and resolve to stay in the middle. In my very recent situation, it only took me a few days to decide that middle ground was the safest emotional place to be. Encourage clients who are being battered by these highs and lows not to count their proverbial chickens before they hatch – feel good about a second interview, but avoid getting too excited or gushing to too many people until the offer is signed, or conversely, not to assume they won’t get the interview or the job because of XYZ, but give their best and hold out hope until the verdict is in. Here are some resources for juggling careers and caregiving… for all of us:
http://stanford.wellsphere.com/wellpage/managing-caregiving-and-your-career
http://www.thesandwichgeneration.com/
http://campus.digication.com/careerandcaregiving/Welcome/
This article appeared originally in the Career Planning & Adult Development Network Newsletter www.careernetwork.org
Photo by DieselDemon
Getting a Job Now
July 28th, 2010Hope & Practicality from Elisabeth – Elisabeth (Harney) Sanders-Park is co-author of No One Is Unemployable, The WorkNet Model and the WorkNet curriculum, and President of WorkNet Solutions
My guess is that you are encountering more unemployed people now that you did a year ago, and that more of them could be considered “difficult”. That happens when so many people are out of work, overwhelmed, and desperate for income. People have been asking me lately what I think are the most important job search activities, and the best ways to get a job now. So, I’ve been thinking about it. Many of us employment/career professionals are removed from the struggles our unemployed clients are facing. It’s been a while since we job searched. We work for large organizations or we are self-employed, and we are teaching clients to do what we have not done in too long. Recently, I took a few days to job search, just to remind myself what it feels like and how it works right now. Here’s what I learned and confirmed.
Step away from the computer – Even though I was searching locally, the internet was a great way to find and research companies, and locate contact information very quickly. I also used my PC to draft a resume and other marketing materials. Beyond that, I found my computer to be a great distraction. I recently joined LinkedIn and Facebook, and have invitations to twitter, plaxo, and otherwise commune which I can’t get to. True, I’ve had a ball re-connecting with high school, college, and professional buddies across the globe. I now know the details of their lives, and a lot of the minutiae too. I have learned the literary and historical figures we are most like, and discovered that, if he were a color, my nephew Travis would be green. In 20-or-so-minute increments 3-or-so times a day, I have frittered away hours of my life I will never have again. It’s the perfect escape. Social networking has its uses, but too many people are burying themselves in front of the screen and need to step back.
Market yourself so employers see the value – I made a list of all the top qualifications for the job I was targeting by stepping into the shoes of hiring employers, using my experience and a bit of research. Then, I set out to prove I’ve got those qualifications. I developed a brief phone script that allowed me to get the name of the person I wanted to talk to and presented, in less than 20 seconds, my name, length of experience (I used “more than … years” to avoid dating myself), two selling points that highlighted things they needed, and inquired whether they are looking for a … like me.” My second selling point shared my commitment to making my employer a lot of money. It felt a little strange to say, but when I considered the employer’s needs for the job (really, for almost any job) it was at the top. I made less than a dozen calls and got four positive responses. Ramon said he was very interested and that, although they had no openings right now, he is always looking for people who can build his business. He invited me to submit an application which he would put in a pile away from all the others it wouldn’t get mixed-in. I scheduled an interview with another employer, and agreed to stop by, introduce myself, and leave a resume with two more. Not bad in this economy. In a bittersweet admission, one man said his business is picking up because some of his competitors have folded. Two days later, dressed and ready, I stopped in with Ramon and one other on the way to my interview, which included a spontaneous second interview.
Be a person – In a world where we DVR our favorite TV shows and watch them sans commercials at our leisure, and we screen and respond only to emails when we want to, fewer and fewer people pick-up the phone or take a meeting with someone they don’t know. That said, if your client is pursuing a job with a customer-facing company, the phone it is still one of the best ways to go. At the very least, the client gets to work out the bugs in their script, and doesn’t waste time. If they are going for a job that requires in-person presentation, then dressing for success and getting there in the flesh can be just the thing to prove they are what the employer wants, get an impromptu interview, and become a person. This all takes more time than sending electronic correspondence, but clients get to no and yes quicker, and I find that employers do take calls and introductions when they have a need they believe the client can address.
Call everyone you know – As competition for jobs mounts, clients need to connect with anyone and everyone they know, from the workforce center, to church, and their kid’s school. This is where we tend to find jobs. I once heard the story of a man who paid a firm several thousand dollars to help him get a better job. One the first day he arrived for services, he was given a pad of paper, a pen, a list of categories, and desk to work at. His task was to write down everyone he knew. Several hours later, when he thought he was done, they asked a few questions to prime the pump and sent him back to list some more. At the end of the day-long “session”, they declared that his job was right there on the list, and they would help him find it. My coaching experience bears this out. Even when working with people who have a limited network or who focus on the open market, when an offer comes, it is generally associated with their network. I used this approach in my “search” as well, calling and pitching myself to a few people I know who work for or run businesses I respect. It was fun, and felt less under-handed than my cold-calling exercise. I met with one colleague to see if he could use me. In the end, I admitted I wasn’t really looking for work, but keeping my job search skills sharp and doing a bit of research. He’s a good guy, and I bought his coffee, so he wasn’t too mad. We had a great discussion about being a business owner, finding the right people, and the current economy. Believe it or not, I started working for him two days later on an interesting project… Hey, the economy is affecting all of us. It’s interesting work I can do in a few off-hours each week, and I can use the extra income.
“It works if you work it, and it won’t if you don’t, so do it!” is what they say in the 12-step programs. Getting a job now is not about what you know, or even who you know. It’s about what you do. The electronic age has made us a bit lazy about doing the footwork it takes to market all of who we are and what we bring to employers who have lots to choose from… which is a real opportunity for the person willing to get out an do it.
This article appeared originally in the Career Planning & Adult Development Network Newsletter www.careernetwork.org
Photo by Colin
Important Lessons We Learn from Difficult Clients
July 21st, 2010Hope & Practicality from Elisabeth – Elisabeth (Harney) Sanders-Park is co-author of No One Is Unemployable, The WorkNet Model and the WorkNet curriculum, and President of WorkNet Solutions
As you read this, the holiday season, with all its joy and mania, is coming to an end… but as I write, I am nestled in that last pocket of solace before it comes in to full swing. Today I am thankful, thankful for the difficult clients I have worked with over years and for the important lessons they have taught me.
My early experience was serving difficult clients in a tough economy (shelter-dwelling welfare moms, in the recession of the early 1990s). In those years, out of need, I cultivated a mindset that is relentlessly hopeful, a practicality that gets results despite unemployment numbers, and proof that people with significant barriers can find good work even in a recession. I didn’t have the distraction of having worked with easier clients in easier times, so it was years before I realized the value of that time. You see, there are lessons we can learn and qualities we can develop ONLY through difficulty. Patience comes only when we are forced to wait, to put others before or above ourselves. Compassion is cultivated when we must deal with people who are in a place of weakness and need for what we offer. New perspective is gained once we step (or are forced) out of our own experience. My I am thankful for the patience, compassion and perspective I have gained from mentors in the form of my most difficult clients.
My dear friend and colleague Vicki says, “Difficult people are a gift to me. They allow me to learn and grow in ways I couldn’t otherwise; and often they are a mirror showing me the very things I need to deal with in myself.” When asked to share the lessons they have learned from difficult clients, here is what some colleagues shared:
Maggie is thankful to have learned that, “We can’t pretend to have been in our client’s shoes if we haven’t, but we can meet them where they are and establish trust that overcomes the distance between our circumstances and histories,” when a client told her that he liked his career coach but couldn’t work with her because, “she has book learning, but she hasn’t walked in my shoes.”
Cori has developed the skill of not judging and staying aware that everyone has a different value system and different work needs, and that her role is to help people discover and articulate their values and needs so they can find a career they are passionate about. This was tested recently when she was told by a particularly bright and motivated, and very pushy, job seeker who claimed she ‘needed’ to make at least $45,000 a year so she could continue to eat organic food! Cori, who was supporting herself and her partner (who was in graduate school) on less than $40,000 a year, had to keep from judging.
Vikki believes that the toughest clients are those who don’t believe they deserve to dream again and therefore refuse to set a goal or pick a career field. A lot of prayer and listening to what may seem like inconsequential statements have led to her greatest breakthroughs. Feeding into client’s spiritual needs with the constant assurance that God still has a plan for their lives (to give them a hope and a future), allows that door to new vision to open wide once again. She has had at least one candidate in every group for whom the need for God’s love to be shown was the key to that door. She says, “I have been so blessed to be a part of that process.”
Mary Ann, who transitioned from a university career center to a community program, has learned to use her experience when it’s helpful, but to easily adapt if her approach isn’t working. She assumed the resume creation process would be routine, but quickly discovered that her new clients needed a patient, caring, and supportive environment to walk them through the entire process. She says, “I no longer simply ‘critique’ resumes or I have clients ‘fill in the blanks’ to write a resume. We work together to create the individual summary of their work experiences and goal for the future. My greatest hope is for that future to include a long, happy, and satisfying career for our clients.”
Deb has learned to identify transferable qualifications, not just “skills”. Max was a successful Lawyer, but his Paralegal who solely served their Spanish-speaking clients, got caught swindling hundreds of customers out of money. The Paralegal fled the country, and Max was held responsible. His law license was suspended until he repaid the money. Deb met him at a homeless shelter two months later. They looked at his transferable selling points. His greatest asset was his network, which had helped him build a large personal injury firm. He contacted any friendly competitor who would love to have his contacts, and proposed that they hire him in a non-licensed position and pay him a percentage of what he brought in. They got a trained Lawyer to do paralegal work, and within 6 months he had paid-off enough of the debt to get his license back.
Serving people with disabilities over the years, Steve has learned patience and creativity, and that building business relationships and joining local professional organizations is important. He once worked with a slow, but bright young man with Down Syndrome who wanted to file in an office. While they practiced interviewing, Steve found a Bank on the bus route and approached HR about his services and client. The young man interviewed, tested, and was offered a job as a File Clerk. To succeed, he simply needed a list of clear expectations each day. With support and positive encouragement, the he worked at the bank for over eight years.
Rebecca is thankful that she has learned to deal with client fear, and to trust the process even in the midst of great resistance. She served a female client who had never been employed, had been incarcerated for the last 20 years, and was resistant in every way possible. The client feared the whole concept of career coaching and getting a job. As Rebecca walked her through WorkNet’s career development journals and maintained constant communication, she started to trust the process. When the journals addressed fear, it brought up all that the client was feeling, but she kept showing up and doing what needed to be done. She is now a proud Server in a good restaurant and has been for the last 3 months. She is their newest Server, and the only one they kept when they did lay-offs. She is now able to live on her own, bought a reasonable vehicle, and is successfully off parole.
I am keenly aware that many of my most important lessons are the result of working with difficult clients. I am a better coach, consultant, and person because of what they have taught me. I can only hope that my effect on them has been as positive, profound and long-lasting as their effect on me. My wish for you, as you move in to a new year in which you will surely have opportunity to serve difficult clients, is that you welcome it and absorb the vital lessons only they can teach you.
This article appeared originally in the Career Planning & Adult Development Network Newsletter www.careernetwork.org
Photo by Ed Hall
Career Development for Clients with Significant Barriers: The Creative Job Search
July 20th, 2009Hope & Practicality from Elisabeth - Elisabeth (Harney) Sanders-Park is co-author of No One Is Unemployable, The WorkNet Model and the WorkNet curriculum, and President of WorkNet Solutions
The WorkNet Model is “a model of career development and job search for people with barriers”. It’s a long name, and if we could shorten it we would, but each part is necessary. The revolutionary part, when it comes to serving clients with significant barriers, is the career development approach. After all, the average unemployed person can find job search support in many places, but few will encounter quality career development. But, we can’t drop the “job search” reference either, for two reasons. First, too often career development services focus on career assessment and planning without becoming tangible enough for so many clients, perhaps especially those facing significant barriers who notoriously struggle to transition theory into practice. The other reason we must refer to the job search from the start, is because difficult clients who need to work immediately are commonly encouraged to job search in a too-traditional way. Here are ideas on making the job search piece effective.
In any job search, there are four important steps to getting a “yes”… know what job you want, avoid being screened-out, prove you are a great match for the job, and get to the person who can hire you. Here are some tips for avoiding the traditional traps, and staying creative with people who face significant barriers and need to work immediately.
Clarify the Job Target – As always, I start with thoughts of career planning. Quick Tip: Don’t get stuck on skills! Assess not just current skills, paid work history, and formal education, but the client’s fascinations, values, unpaid and natural skills, and non-traditional or unpaid experience. People bring more than just the work they have been paid to do and the classes they have taken. The employer gets it all, so assess it all. Then, identify not just the job title (skill group) they will target, but the fields, industries, and company cultures they will focus on, based on their fascinations and values. A Receptionist job in a social service agency, a luxury auto dealership, a family-run plumbing company, and a long-haul trucking firm are very different jobs, so knowing the skills and title isn’t clarifying enough.
Avoid Being Screened-Out – Hiring employers get an average of 120 responses for each job they advertise. Their first question is, “who can I get rid-of?”. More than 60% go in the “no” pile, and the others in a “maybe” pile. The next question is, “who else can I eliminate?”, and another 20-30% are tossed. The employer has spent less than 90 seconds per candidate, screened-out 90% of them, and still has no “yes” pile. Only when they have their top 3-5 candidates does the question become, “Why should I hire you?” For most of the process, the client is being screened-out, not hired. Reduce time and frustration by discovering anything employers may use to screen the candidate out before truly exploring their strengths or making a connection with them. Look for barriers and distractions about their ability to do the job, but also their presentation, attitude, dependability and other concerns. To reduce or eliminate each issue, clients can use the five solution tools presented in “No One Is Unemployable”, change where you look for work, access a resource, learn a new skill, adjust their own outlook, and develop a good answer.
Prove They Are A Great Match for the Job – Jump into the employer’s shoes and discover their top 10-12 needs, including the abilities and experience they are looking for, but also what makes for an ideal candidate in terms of presentation, motivation and other areas of “fit”. Then, help the client prove they can meet each need and are a great match overall. Tip! Pull from their entire life experience and all their skills, whether they have ever been paid to use them. Many people I work with gained their best skills and most qualifying experience in prison, as the oldest of six or the mother of four, in an addiction treatment program, or in other unpaid or non-traditional settings, but the employer gets it, so we use it (I’ll share our strategies on this another time). The proof you have gathered becomes stories, demonstration, quantified selling points, and credible references that they use to market themselves on paper, over the phone, in person, and via references.
Get to the Person Who Can Hire You – 90% of candidates are screened-out before interacting with anyone who has the power to say “yes”, and people with barriers go first! If you want to help your difficult clients skip the screen-out process and go directly to the hiring process, teach them to use side doors while their competition is still waiting in the lobby. Side doors are techniques for meeting and talking with the person who makes the hiring decision BEFORE you submit your resume or application. Many of us have gotten interviews and job offers before submitting an application, and our clients can too. Help them find ways to casually meet and talk with the business owner, Manager or Department Head, either as a customer, the friend of an employee or associate, a volunteer, a fellow member of an association, a person doing research, a participant at civic events, or in dozens of other ways. This takes a bit more planning, creativity and guts, but it reduces job search time. In fact, it’s the way we find work.
Built upon the ideas I shared about career planning, and cultivating career resilience, these tips can help even our most difficult clients get the job. In the words of one of my favorite story tellers, Garrison Keillor, “be well, do good work, and keep in touch”.
This article appeared originally in the Career Planning & Adult Development Network Newsletter
Photo by Egan Snow
Career Development for Clients with Significant Barriers: Cultivating Career Resilience
July 13th, 2009Hope & Practicality from Elisabeth - Elisabeth (Harney) Sanders-Park is co-author of No One Is Unemployable, The WorkNet Model and the WorkNet curriculum, and President of WorkNet Solutions
So often, unemployed people with significant barriers to are offered quick job placement, with anyone who will have them, and “any job is better than no job”. In my last article, I challenged that approach, as I do in my daily work across the nation, and shared some thoughts and strategies for making career development a viable option for them. I think there are three vital problems in employment services offered to these difficult clients: 1) Lack of time given to high-quality Career Planning, 2) Lack of training and support to create long-term career resilience, and 3) Lack of creativity in the job search as they pursue a position that puts them on a career path. In my last article, I focused on the Career Planning piece. Here are some thoughts and strategies to cultivate career resilience… even in people who need to work as soon as possible and face significant barriers.
I think we would all agree that there are just a few reasons people don’t keep a job once they have it. One, they can’t manage work and life so they quit, resign or stop showing up. Two, they are fired, let go, or otherwise asked by the employer to leave because of performance, attendance or other issues. Three, they resign or move on because they get a better offer. Clearly, the third is the most preferable… but you are not reading this article to affirm your success with “easy clients”. Here are some ideas to help people prone to the first and second situations.
Match, Match, Match – Now, I’m supposed to be focusing on career resilience and not career planning, but it’s hard to get the first without the second. Clearly, people are more likely to perform well, fit-in and work to keep a job that matches them well. Get them in the right job (skill set, role), in the right field (fascinations, environment), in the right company culture (values, culture). My last article offered some practical ideas on how to do this.
Teach Them Today’s Business Culture – Helping your clients become acculturated to today’s business culture is an important step in creating on-the-job and long-term success. This is especially important if you work with people who have had little or no exposure or success in the world of work. It’s also helpful for clients who have recently succeeded in a job for more than four years, because although they may know that company’s culture they are likely to experience culture shock when they re-enter the ever-changing world of work in general. We teach today’s business culture as if it were a foreign culture, and our goal is to help clients become “bi-cultural” so they can succeed and fit-in at work without feeling like they have to sell-out. If a week from Tuesday the client were flying to Japan, they would probably agree that they should learn a few choice phrases, the cultural greeting, appropriate dress, mannerisms, and more so they could feel comfortable and successful. However, when we suggest that for a client to succeed in an interview or on the job in their home town they should speak, greet, dress or behave differently, many get defensive. For this reason, we objectify the business culture, teach it as a foreign culture, and remind them that it’s not about being like us (we are bi-cultural too, and we speak, dress and behave differently at work than we would on a Saturday afternoon at home, at a ball game, or in church). This approach reduces client defensiveness and resistance, and prepares them to behave in ways that will help them succeed on the job.
The Grass I Greener… Where You Water It! – This was the title of a marriage enrichment retreat I heard about a while ago. I like it and, call me a career professional, but it reminds me of work. So often, people think they will be happier if they get a new job, but as is often case in life, they bring problematic dynamics with them. Perhaps they need to take better care of their current work. It is our responsibility to keep ourselves motivated, focused, and excellent on the job. Help your clients figure out how to make the job they have, the job they love. What tasks and opportunities result in the most success and satisfaction, and how can they maximize the time they spend doing them? What makes the job difficult or unenjoyable, and how can they minimize, delegate or balance-out those things? What can they do to create a better life/work balance, like investing in a hobby, volunteering, or increasing an important dynamic (relaxation, creativity, physical activity, spirituality, socialization) in their off-time?
Teach Them to Leave Gracefully – People find themselves in jobs they realize they don’t want to keep, and some of your clients will too. Rather than creating another gap, burning another bridge and having more to explain, teach clients how to leave a job gracefully. Offer training and support in the art of searching for a job while you are still working so you have a seamless transition (many of my clients think the first step in getting new job is quitting the one they have so they have time to look!). And, teach them how to quit a job well by giving notice and getting references before they go (if positive and possible).
It has been fun over the years to welcome a new client or group of clients and announce up-front that our goal is to help them get their first raise and first promotion. I often get concerned looks from people who think I’m bit confused. “We’re unemployed,” they remind me. “Yes, I know. One of our hopes is that this is the last time in your life that you job search from an unemployed standpoint. We want to help you catch a vision for work so the next job you get puts you on a path to something you care about… and even if the boss is a jerk or the car breaks down, you get there anyhow. We’re going to teach you how to be an amazing employee, and how to make a planned career move so that for the rest of your working life you can make work work for you.” Some clients buy-in and like it from the start; others remain skeptical. Over time, as we use the ideas above (we have job seeker curriculum on these topics, if you are interested), most of them see the long-term value and willingly make the investment… which is wonderful, because as much as I enjoy working with a client, I don’t want to do it every nine months. Career development is a viable option even for those facing significant barriers. Offering career planning services and teaching career resilience increase the odds that clients will become contributors to our work and resources to clients in the future, and not repeat customers. I wish you joy and success!
This article appeared originally in the Career Planning & Adult Development Network Newsletter
Photo by Soon
Is Career Development A Reasonable Option for Clients with Significant Barriers?
July 6th, 2009Hope & Practicality from Elisabeth - Elisabeth (Harney) Sanders-Park is co-author of No One Is Unemployable, The WorkNet Model and the WorkNet curriculum, and President of WorkNet Solutions
I consult to a lot of organizations serving clients with significant employment barriers. In addition to felony convictions, mental health problems, and gaps in employment, most of these clients have little work history, less formal education, no career vision… and they need to start working very soon. On top of this, the service providers have little expertise in employment coaching and placement, and almost no exposure to career development. There is concern about whether these people are employable at all, and an almost unanimous sense that careers are out of the question. But, I know that career development is a viable option, because I see it work its magic all the time. Here are some ideas from my journey. We’ll start with the Career Planning piece.
When people facing the barriers mentioned above are offered employment services the focus is often on quick job placement, with anyone who will have them, and “any job is better than no job”. Rarely are they encouraged to dream, clarify their interests and long-term goals, or do career planning and exploration. The service provider generally begins with the job market, gathering open market leads, then works to fit the client into whichever opening they might be able to do. It’s no wonder there is little buy-in from the client, and that resistance and sabotage run rampant. It’s also not surprising that job retention rates are abysmal. Imagine the difference if we took a career development approach… beginning with the client, assessing their most important fascinations, skills and values, encouraging them to dream again, re-defining work as something they can delight in rather than simply endure. Walking these clients through career planning and exploration, allowing them to dream big, may be met with initial resistance and disbelief by the client, but it’s worth it. I say, “I can help you get a job that’s ‘a job’ that will get you an income. Or, in about the same amount of time, I can help you get a job that you actually like, that leads to something you care about. Which do you want?” In every case, the client has admitted that if they are going to work, they might as well like it… and we dive into an interactive, ever-relevant assessment process that is clarifying and constantly engaging, even to people who do not enjoy test-taking, self-exploration or anything that feels like school. Here are some specifics:
Re-Define Work – It is said that, “Where there is no vision, the people perish.” So we first help clients cast a positive vision for the role work can play in their lives. We remind them that whatever it is they love to do, would do for free… someone is getting paid to do. Why not them? People get paid to talk on the phone, create, tear things apart, meet new people, be outdoors, read, draw, you name it! Many of these clients have never been asked about their dreams, or never believed they could reach them. For many, “work” is doing something you don’t like, with a bunch of people you don’t want to be with, in a place you don’t like going, for too many hours, and not enough pay. Who wants to work? We begin by shattering the negative rap work has gotten, inviting the client to dream big, assuring them that their next job can move them toward that dream, and acknowledging that work can be a blessing or a curse in their lives, and they get to choose.
Dream Big & Get Practical – As they digest this new definition of work as a positive part of their life, we begin assessing their most important fascinations, skills, and values. We also assess their “killer skills”, those they have but do not enjoy using, so we can help them actively avoid jobs that rely on them more than 20% of the time. [We do not assess type due to short timeframes, the attention span and processing level of our clients, and the lack of expertise among our service providers. If you have the time, the clients, and the talent to make it valuable, go for it.] Next, we combine the fascinations, skills and values the client wants incorporated into their career planning process, and identify jobs that incorporate as many of them as possible, jobs the client may want to do down the road. Often, the jobs we discover at this point seem a far cry from where they are, but they represent goals the client is willing to work for. We call them Dream Jobs (not fantasy, simply the fascinations-skills-values mix they are willing to work toward over 3 to 5 years). This engages the client, but let’s get practical before it starts to feel like a pipe dream and they resort to getting whatever job they can. Next, we take each Dream Job and create several Backward Career Paths® by calling and learning the career path of someone who does it. This introduces the client to several ways to get to their Dream Job, and lets them discover jobs which put them on a path to their Dream Job that they can pursue immediately using their current skills.
I once worked with a man who was 49 years old, without a GED. It would have been easy to see him as a candidate for mere job placement, but we are committed to career development. So we helped him assess his fascinations, skills and values, dream big and choose a job that inspired him to move forward. Turns out, he wanted to be a Pediatrician. Now, here’s golden moment. How do we respond? It would have been so easy to help him see how “unrealistic” this was (by the way, I had to remove the word ‘unrealistic’ from my vocabulary because too often when I said it, I meant, “I don’t see that happening for you, and I’m not working toward it, so choose another goal.” I’m not assuming you do the same, but if you use ‘unrealistic’ in this dream-crushing way, you might remove it). So, Pediatrician… how exciting. What about being a Pediatrician is interesting to you?… the medical field, prestige, helping people, working indoors, the white lab coat. Alright then, you seem inspired. How can we get you started in the field, on the path, using your current skills?” We took leaps and bounds back from Pediatrician, and within a month he was hired at a hospital as a Groundskeeper. Within 22 months, he had completed his GED, met a cool guy in a white lab coat who didn’t have a four-year degree, changed his dream, and become a Radiology Technician. Let them dream, get them started in their Field of Fascination, and see what happens!
In a recent training I conducted, I encountered a Job Coach frustrated by a certain client and his dream. “This guy reads at a third grade level, and it isn’t going to get any better, but thanks to CSI, all he wants to be is a Forensic Scientist. I’ve met with him twice, tried to get him to give it up, and he won’t.” At the end of the training, this coach shared his most important lesson… “For my clients, the Backward Career Path is the way forward. You’ve all heard me complain about a certain client. The truth is, I don’t think he will ever be a Forensic Scientist, but now I am willing to let him have his dream. I realize that he could be a Cleaner at the Courthouse and love it. He could courier specimens somewhere in the field and be happy as anything. I’m going to help him figure out how he can use the skills he has in the field he loves.”
Career development, its hopeful spirit and practical techniques, should be offered to more people who ‘just need to get a job.’ When it is, we see wonderful results for the individual whose life will never be quite the same, and in the numbers. Here are few recent examples I have had a hand in:
#1: The largest network drug and alcohol recovery centers in the U.S. offers a 6-month, residential recovery program. Many of the people they serve also struggle with mental illness, and have criminal backgrounds. Like so many agencies, they are very good at their core mission, but lack expertise in employment. In 2006, we partnered with them to design and implement a WorkNet career development “re-entry” phase to help graduates catch a vision for how work integrates into their life and recovery, make wise decisions about careers and jobs, become career resilient, and experience a supported transition back into the community and workforce. To date, we have established re-entry phases at 10 centers. 299 graduates have chosen to engage, with 71% completing. Of those who competed, 70% are working, with 38 of them in entry-career jobs on a path to their chosen career goal. Already 15 people have achieved a raise or promotion.
#2: A men’s prison in Jacksonville, FL offers a WorkNet career development program on Monday nights. It’s been running for about a year and has become one of the most popular courses. Already the prison’s recidivism rate has dropped from 68% (within 3 years), to 8% (within the first year). This is amazing! Career development, and the faith-based approach the prison is taking, is making an exciting difference! [This prison is one of 8 newly organized “faith-based, character-building” institutions in FL which are seeing a dramatic decrease in recidivism. There are 16,000 inmates waiting to transfer to these facilities].
So, infuse these ideas into your career planning process, even if you or the client thinks it won’t work. You’ve got nothing to lose and so much to gain. Next time, I’ll pick up another part of the wonderful process of career development and share how we make it work for people with significant barriers.
This article appeared originally in the Career Planning & Adult Development Network Newsletter
Photo by Andrew Finegan
Thankful for Lessons
June 29th, 2009Hope & Practicality from Elisabeth - Elisabeth (Harney) Sanders-Park is co-author of No One Is Unemployable, The WorkNet Model and the WorkNet curriculum, and President of WorkNet Solutions.
Today I am thinking of thankfulness, thankfulness for the difficult clients I have worked with over years and for the important lessons they have taught me.
My early experience was serving difficult clients in a tough economy (shelter-dwelling welfare moms, in the recession of the early 1990s). In those years, out of need, I cultivated a mindset that is relentlessly hopeful, a practicality that gets results despite unemployment numbers, and proof that people with significant barriers can find good work even in a recession. I didn’t have the distraction of having worked with easier clients in easier times, so it was years before I realized the value of that time. You see, there are lessons we can learn and qualities we can develop ONLY through difficulty. Patience comes only when we are forced to wait, to put others before or above ourselves. Compassion is cultivated when we must deal with people who are in a place of weakness and need for what we offer. New perspective is gained once we step (or are forced) out of our own experience. My I am thankful for the patience, compassion and perspective I have gained from mentors in the form of my most difficult clients.
My dear friend and colleague Vicki says, “Difficult people are a gift to me. They allow me to learn and grow in ways I couldn’t otherwise; and often they are a mirror showing me the very tings I need to deal with in myself.” When asked to share the lessons they have learned from difficult clients, here is what some colleagues shared:
Maggie is thankful to have learned that, “We can’t pretend to have been in our client’s shoes if we haven’t, but we can meet them where they are and establish trust that overcomes the distance between our circumstances and histories,” when a client told her that he liked his career coach but couldn’t work with her because, “she has book learning, but she hasn’t walked in my shoes.”
Cori has developed the skill of not judging and staying aware that everyone has a different value system and different work needs, and that her role is to help people discover and articulate their values and needs so they can find a career they are passionate about. This was tested recently when she was told by a particularly bright and motivated, and very pushy, job seeker who claimed she ‘needed’ to make at least $45,000 a year so she could continue to eat organic food! Cori, who was supporting herself and her partner (who was in graduate school) on less than $40,000 a year, had to keep from judging.
Vikki believes that the toughest clients are those who don’t believe they deserve to dream again and therefore refuse to set a goal or pick a career field. A lot of prayer and listening to what may seem like inconsequential statements have led to her greatest breakthroughs. Feeding into client’s spiritual needs with the constant assurance that God still has a plan for their lives (to give them a hope and a future), allows that door to new vision to open wide once again. She has had at least one candidate in every group for whom the need for God’s love to be shown was the key to that door. She says, “I have been so blessed to be a part of that process.”
Mary Ann, who transitioned from a university career center to a community program, has learned to use your experience when it’s helpful, but to easily adapt if your approach isn’t working. She assumed the resume creation process would be routine, but quickly discovered that her new clients needed a patient, caring, and supportive environment to walk them through the entire process. She says, “I no longer simply ‘critique’ resumes or I have clients ‘fill in the blanks’ to write a resume. We work together to create the individual summary of their work experiences and goal for the future. My greatest hope is for that future to include a long, happy, and satisfying career for our clients.”
Deb has learned to identify transferable qualifications, not just “skills”. Max was a successful Lawyer, but his Paralegal who solely served their Spanish-speaking clients, got caught swindling hundreds of customers out of money. The Paralegal fled the country, and Max was held responsible. His law license was suspended until he repaid the money. Deb met him at a homeless shelter two months later. They looked at his transferable selling points. His greatest asset was his network, which had helped him build a large personal injury firm. He contacted any friendly competitor who would love to have his contacts, and proposed that they hire him in a non-licensed position and pay him a percentage of what he brought in. They got a trained Lawyer to do paralegal work, and within 6 months he had paid-off enough of the debt to get his license back.
Serving people with disabilities over the years, Steve has learned patience and creativity, and that building business relationships and joining local professional organizations is important. He once worked with a slow, but bright young man with Down Syndrome who wanted to file in an office. While they practiced interviewing, Steve found a Bank on the bus route and approached HR about his services and client. The young man interviewed, tested, and was offered a job as a File Clerk. To succeed, he simply needed a list of clear expectations each day. With support and positive encouragement, the he worked at the bank for over eight years.
Rebecca is thankful that she has learned to deal with client fear, and to trust the process even in the midst of great resistance. She served a female client who had never been employed, had been incarcerated for the last 20 years, and was resistant in every way possible. The client feared the whole concept of career coaching and getting a job. As Rebecca walked her through WorkNet’s career development journals and maintained constant communication, she started to trust the process. When the journals addressed fear, it brought up all that the client was feeling, but she kept showing up and doing what needed to be done. She is now a proud Server in a good restaurant and has been for the last 3 months. She is their newest Server, and the only one they kept when they did lay-offs. She is now able to live on her own, bought a reasonable vehicle, and is successfully off parole.
I am keenly aware that many of my most important lessons are the result of working with difficult clients. I am a better coach, consultant, and person because of what they have taught me. I can only hope that my effect on them has been as positive, profound and long-lasting as their effect on me.
This article appeared originally in the Career Planning & Adult Development Network Newsletter
Photo by Gisela Giardino
