We are so excited about helping job seekers. The employment website is new, easy to navigate, and is full of helpful resources: employment.churchofjesuschrist.org. It is a fabulous website. One thing that we coach job seekers on is a “Me in 30 seconds” statement. A “Me in 30 Seconds” statement is a few sentences that provide an overview of your current employment status, your relevant background and experience, and your career goals. The purpose of a “Me in 30 Seconds” is not to tell your life story or go into great detail about your professional accomplishments. Instead, the purpose of the “Me in 30 Seconds” statement is simply to establish credibility, create interest and awareness, and make it easy for the person listening to help you identify additional contacts.
Here is our “Me in 30 seconds” statement:
“We help people take the next step in their careers. We meet them where they are and help them advance their job search skills, such as: building resumes, finding job leads, and preparing for interviews. Who do you know that might benefit from our assistance?”
Brian is working with a new college graduate and is helping him with his resume and interviewing skills. He is also working with someone who wants to start his own business. Sheila has been helping someone research PhD programs that he wants to apply to and is also helping someone who spent 4 years in prison and needs help with a resume and next steps. Last week we had 2 French Creole speakers/job seekers from Haiti come to the Employment Center. (They are authorized to work and are taking English classes, but we needed Google Translate on Brian’s phone to communicate.) We helped them each write a “Me in 30 seconds” statement in English and then spent about an hour helping each of them individually practice saying the statement in English.
We want everyone to know that, “No one should go through a job search alone.” We pray with our job seekers and let them know that God loves them. We also give everyone that comes to the center a bottle of water and a granola bar.
Some people think that we have actual jobs at the Employment Center to give them. We don’t have jobs but we can teach them the skills they need to get a job. The VERY best thing to do to get a job is to network.