Curriculum
Click any of the links below to find the presentations we use in our Employment Certification Program and reinforce with ALL clients in our one-on-one job coaching sessions.
Workshop 1: Personal Responsibility
Personal responsibility is the cornerstone of finding and keeping a job. You must look at personal responsibility as a blessing, not as a burden, in order to rid yourself of any lingering traces of victimhood. Being a victim might get you a bowl of soup, or a roof over your head for a night, but it will NEVER get you a job. You will only be hired if you are shown to be the best candidate for the job, simple as that. The harder you work in life, the luckier you will get, and that applies in job search also.
Topic #1, Personal Responsibility, teaches that motivation, accountability, goals and organization can be learned and your ability to work hard throughout the job search process can be improved upon. (download here)
Workshop 2: Knowing Yourself
Job finding is about establishing your "brand", backing that up with your experience, education, skills and talents, and developing a selling approach in both written and spoken form that is consistent and emphasizes your strengths. It also requires you to look hard at your obstacles ... and show how you have overcome them, or are in the process of overcoming them.
Topic #2, Knowing Yourself, teaches the all-important Elevator Speech gives you ideas for creating a powerful summary statement for your resume, and helps you think through those obstacles you are facing -- converting them from reasons NOT to hire you into reasons they SHOULD hire you. (download here)
Workshop 3: Resume Writing
It used to be that you could write one resume, get it printed on fancy bond paper, and pass it out to every potential employer. Those days are gone. You must not only tailor each resume submission to the job you are applying for, you must think carefully about what goes in your summary of qualifications at the top of your resume. If your summary isn't compelling, the good stuff in the body of your resume will probably never be read at all.
Topic #3, Resume Writing, teaches you to write a resume that will maximize your chances of getting an interview. (download here)
Workshop 4: Job Search Strategies
You may have heard the saying "If you need a job, then looking for a job is your full time job." So, are you working 40 hours per week in your job search? Very, very few job seekers come even close to that amount of work. Why? Because it's not much fun. But the speed at which you find a job is highly correlated to how hard you work at finding it. One way to do a better job is to realize that there are three different ways to find a job. If you spend about 1/3 of your job search time on each method, not only will your results improve, but you'll find you can sustain a better effort, because the search won't be so monotonous.
Topic #4, Job Search Strategies, teaches you to spend time pursuing all three job search strategies: opportunity-based, employer-based and contact-based. A mix of all three search strategies will yield better results than an over-emphasis on just one of the strategies. (download here)
Workshop 5: Interviewing
The resume gets you the interview, but the interview gets you the job. You know that, and that's why you are so darn nervous going into them. A good interview is all about preparation. If you have a good idea what kind of questions are coming at you, and if you are prepared for them, you'll be far more confident, your body language won't betray you, and your chances of landing the job will be far higher.
Topic #5, Interviewing Skills, teaches you how to handle the introduction, Q&A and wrap-up phases of a job interview. It also emphasizes the importance of tackling your "obstacles" head on rather than hoping the interviewer will forget to ask you about it. (download here)
Workshop 6: Soft Skills
Most people who lose a job don't lose it because of qualifications issues. It's usually because they lack the "soft skills" needed to work productively as a team with others in the workplace.
In Workshop #6, we cover three essential soft skills: 1) Working with Others, 2) Conflict Resolution, and 3) Professionalism. Working with Others teaches the importance of putting the organization's objectives ahead of your personal objectives, and how as a new employee you can get off to a good start with several different constituencies: the boss, your co-workers, customers and "the little people". Conflict Resolution, teaches that there are several different ways to manage conflict, and that which method you choose depends on the nature of the conflict. Professionalism means defining your productive worth not as hours elapsed on a time clock but rather accomplishments in furtherance of your organization's objectives. (download here)