Mac Prichard's Blog, page 19

Know Your Job Pros and Cons: Austin Barber’s Career Story

When setting off on a new job hunt, Austin Barber knew what he enjoyed about his previous position, and what he disliked about his old job. He used his insights to construct a defined list of his personal job pros and cons that led him on a focused job search. Austin  found a new job he enjoys in just 6 weeks!

What do you do for a career? Who do you work for?

I work for OrePac Building Products, and I am responsible for the education of strategic distribution channel partners on all features and benefits of DuPont Tyvek® Weatherization Systems. I am also responsible for creating demand with downstream participants such as general contractors, dealers, distributors and key influencers in the market area.

How long did it take you to find this job?

A month and a half.

How did you find your job? What resources did you use? What tool or tactic helped the most? 

I found it advertised on OrePac.com. For resources, I used LinkedIn and the notes from a presentation Mac Prichard gave at my university. The number one tactic that helped me define the type of job, industry and company I wanted to work for was by creating a simple pro and con table from my previous job and using that as a platform to create key search terms in my job hunt.

What was the most difficult part of your job search? How did you overcome this challenge?

The hardest part was vetting companies either pre- or post-interview to ensure that any career move would be aligned with my goals and aspirations. I employed three tools in overcoming this obstacle in my job seeking adventure. The first was the use of the company’s website before my interview to gain a better understanding of company dynamics, core mission, and values. The second was several company-review websites to look up reviews and gain insight on the interview experience of similar candidates, as well as current employees. The third and final tool was to set up informational interviews with people currently employed with the company or trusted industry peers to get an on-the-ground perspective of what a day-in-the-life would be like in the position.

What is the single best piece of advice you would offer other job-seekers?

Network, Network, Network! Have clear and defined search criteria! Do not make your job search a full-time job!  Doing this will bog you down. It’s okay to take time away to reset and recharge.

Why do you love your job?

I love my job because it gives me the opportunity to pursue my professional goals and aspirations while simultaneously assisting in the construction of quality homes for Oregonians.  

The post Know Your Job Pros and Cons: Austin Barber’s Career Story appeared first on Mac's List.

Small Business Hiring: Solutions for Building A Better Team

If you’re a small business owner, you know that every hiring decision is incredibly high stakes. Once you’ve got the budget to hire, you’ve got to find the best possible person to do the job, because every new hire can make or break your business’s productivity and goals. That’s why small business owners need to do the work to ensure your hiring process is working to serve your goals. Make sure you hire a cohesive, talented team of professionals that will help grow your business from the ground up.

And cultivating a small business team doesn’t stop after the hiring process ends. Hiring the right employees is important, but it’s not enough. For your small business to succeed, you’ll need to do the work long-term to shape and support those employees to become a winning team.

Here are the most effective ways for small business owners to hone their recruiting strategy. Try these suggestions, and start building a better team with every new hire.

Step 1: Make a Hiring Plan.

Define your vision: Explain to each candidate your future plans, the culture you’re building, and how you’re planning to make a mark in your industry. Notice which candidates seem particularly excited by your goals for the future.
Identify the similar traits that make current employees successful: As your company expands, you’re likely to notice certain common patterns in employees who are a good fit for the company and successful in their given role. Try to look for these key traits that make employees successful as you screen for potential candidates.
Network strategically: Ask trusted members of your network to refer anyone who would make a great fit for the position to apply. Talk to everyone who comes recommended by someone you respect and trust, even if the timing is not right. It’s important to build rapport with people you want to hire when the time is right.

Step 2: Create a Positive Candidate Experience.

Be transparent about current challenges: Don’t sugar coat – tell the truth about the state of your business. This is a good opportunity to see how candidates react and offer to be a part of the solution.
Replicate a typical task during the interview process: Schedule time for candidates to simulate a “typical day” exercise, allowing you to assess their strengths in action and get a glimpse into the working dynamic among team members. If time doesn’t allow for that, try a mini-preview exercise by asking candidates to prepare something in advance of the in-person interview or assigning a “homework” project afterward.
Get the team involved: Involve multiple people in the decision process, from screening candidates and conducting interviews to being involved in post-interview decisions and conversations. It’s important to get several perspectives about the candidates from your existing team. Meeting other staff members is also a great way for your candidate to gather more information about the job.  They’ve have what they need to make a confident decision when you offer them a job! 

Step 3: Make The Right Hire.

Observe candidates’ communication styles: Observe how well candidates express themselves in emails and their timeliness in follow-up. Although individual communication styles within an organization can vary widely, it is important that a candidate’s style of communication is a fit for your business.
Hire on skills, fit, and mindset: One of the most important aspects of your business is your culture, and you should consistently look for team members who maintain and build on your workplace culture. Hire people who add new and needed skills and mindsets to your team, and push them to discuss ideas openly. When you have a team that respects each other, everyone will be happier and more productive.

Once you have hired the right people for your organization, the real work begins. A lot of small business owners who are pressed for time simply turn new employees loose on important projects and hope for the best. But if you don’t guide, inspire, and praise your team members, you run the risk that they will lose interest and motivation.

Step 4: Build a Better Onboarding Process.

Set clear expectations: Make sure each new hire understands their role and what their goals should be for their first 3 months, 6 months, and 12 months into the position. Challenge your employees and help them to push themselves. Make sure each person on your team has individual goals and knows how they relate to the company’s overall objectives. Give feedback freely so employees know where they stand.
Understand the strengths of each individual: As an employer, it’s important to recognize that your new employees will have come from a variety of backgrounds with different personalities and ideas about how to do their jobs. Enable each employee to channel their strengths and shine in a way that benefits your business.
Get your employees on board: Plant the seeds of your vision and culture in your workers’ minds so they grow and flourish. Get them excited about being part of the team and the environment. Mentor your new hires and partner them with someone senior on the team.
Let your team know you value them: Take an interest in your staff and learn about their lives outside the office. Focus on their professional growth and development. Help to enhance your employees’ skill sets. Know their career goals and help them achieve them. Invest in your employees and give them the support and tools they need to be successful. Celebrate your team’s successes and acknowledge individual contributions.

Building a dynamite small business team is just as important (and maybe more difficult!) than creating the business product or service itself.

If I can distill all these tips into one overarching theme, it would be: communicate more!  You need to communicate with candidates openly and honestly about your company’s vision, culture, and challenges. Then take notice how they communicate back to you about what they’re hearing. Once you’ve made the hires, you need to communicate constantly with your employees – about how the company is doing, about how they are doing, and about how the team is doing. It’s the foundation for a healthy team and a successful business!

The post Small Business Hiring: Solutions for Building A Better Team appeared first on Mac's List.

Keep Hustling To Find A New Job: Alfredo Moreno’s Job Search Success Story

Alfredo Moreno spent nine months exhaustively searching for a new job. His ability to stay organized, keep hustling, and stick with the grind allowed him to find a position in his niche industry. Alfredo says what made the biggest difference at the end of the day was goal-setting concrete milestones, staying focused with organization tools, and support and encouragement from his network of family, friends, and colleagues. Read Alfredo’s job search success story for more of his difference makers in his long job search.

What do you do for a career? Who do you work for?

I’m the community relations manager at Portland Community College’s Rock Creek campus in Washington County.

How long did it take you to find this job?

It was a long process, but with different stages of intensity. I had my periscope up for about 16 months overall, but I was particularly intentional, strategic, and intense about it for the final nine months.

How did you find your job? What resources did you use? What tool or tactic helped the most?

I found the job the standard, not-particularly-efficient way — discovered it on a job listing website (Indeed.com, I believe) and applied online. Obviously it was one of many I applied for during the long search, but was one of the few that really resonated with me right away.

It wasn’t just an intriguing opportunity, it was a role that I knew I could do at a high level and felt very confident that it would maximize both my person passions and professional skill set. I’d say it was a rare opportunity in that regard to hit that sweet spot.

So, I put a good amount of time and energy into my resume and, particularly, my cover letter. My resume changed shapes over time throughout my search thanks to input I received from peers and, particularly, an agency rep I worked with. I didn’t get any job opportunities through them, but the feedback on my resume was invaluable.

Also (and honestly I have no idea if this moved the needle at all) I printed off physical copies of my resume and cover letter and mailed them in a manilla envelope to the person I thought was the hiring manager for this role. Turned out, she wasn’t (it’s a little unique here), but maybe that resonated a bit with the hiring committee. At minimum, it didn’t seem to hurt me.

Finally, even after I had done my initial interview, I kept networking and through some additional LinkedIn exploration I discovered that one of my PCC counterparts in this role was connected to a friend of mine. I asked for an introduction and set up a lunch meeting with my PCC counterpart a week or two before my final interview that was incredibly valuable. She wasn’t on the hiring committee, but gave me some great insight into the role and, most importantly, a real confidence boost heading into the final round.

What was the most difficult part of your job search? How did you overcome this challenge?

There were several large challenges in my search. The first was simply how long it took. While the end result was absolutely rewarding, having “job hunting” take over as my top extra-curricular activity for 8-9 months was draining to say the least.

I will also say, it was pretty disheartening to experience the shabby way many organizations treat applicants. I’ve been on the hiring side of this process as well and know that it’s no picnic, but I was disappointed with how many companies failed to follow-up in a timely fashion, even when they promised to do so after an interview stage. The organizations that were sincerely appreciative of the great time and effort applicants put forth, and communicated clearly throughout the process, stood apart from the rest.

Finally, as somebody who was well into their career (nearly 20 years) and approaching…okay, at…middle age, with all the varied responsibilities that come with it (mortgage, kid, etc.), I didn’t have the flexibility to explore lower paying opportunities, even if the role had lots of appeal. I had to make a lateral move at worst, which isn’t easy, especially coming out of a niche industry. My window of opportunity was certainly smaller than it would’ve been 10 years earlier when I had more financial and personal flexibility.

I overcame these challenges by diving deeper into my goal-setting process and staying as organized as I could (I used a tool called the Best Self Journal to help). I also needed all the encouragement and understanding that I could get from my friends and family who appreciated how grueling it was to stay after this for so long. You’ve got to have advocates in this process, both personal and professional.

What is the single best piece of advice you would offer other job-seekers?

Get organized and set specific milestones for yourself that will help you march toward your ultimate goal of a new job — things you can measure and check off on a weekly/monthly basis.

Mine included developing and refining a strong elevator pitch for myself, building and enhancing my portfolio, and increasing and expanding my professional network. Each of those stages had several subtasks that had to be accomplished or even pivoted to drive them forward.

Unless you’re extremely well-connected out of the gate, this is going to be a multi-layered process with no small amount of personal development and learning throughout. Be ready to hustle and grind.

Meet with old colleagues, send emails introducing yourself, ask for favors, go to networking mixers and panels, take advice you hadn’t considered before, read books/blogs/podcasts (Mac’s List, hello!). You’re probably not going to find a golden ticket in any single meeting or event, but you’ll keep picking up tips, info, ideas that will propel you forward.  

Why do you love your job?

My new job allows me to get out and engage with a LOT of different people while serving as an advocate and professional fan of this unique and beautiful campus. There’s a special spirit of optimism on a college campus. People are here because they ultimately want to be a better version of themselves academically, professionally, but also personally. It’s an addicting energy that makes it a fantastic place to spend your day.

The post Keep Hustling To Find A New Job: Alfredo Moreno’s Job Search Success Story appeared first on Mac's List.

Ghosting: A Haunting Trend in Hiring

Want to hear a scary statistic?

Over 47 percent of applicants who have sent in their resume are still waiting to hear back from the company two months later. Even scarier, many applicants are ghosted by companies after they’ve been through one (or, the horror, several!) rounds of interviews. Ghosting is a term borrowed from the dating world, but it essentially means that the potential employee sent in their application or even went through an interview and never heard from the company again. Yikes!

But, employers are not the only ones ghosting any more. Ask most hiring managers or recruiters, and they’ll share a story of a candidate who didn’t show up to the interview or who accepted an offer only later to never arrive on their first day.

Calls, emails, and texts all go unanswered. The candidate has, in essence, disappeared. What’s the reason for this haunting trend?

Ghoulish Behavior Creates Ghosting

There was a time, in the not-so-distant past, where the workplace operated under the implicit agreement that employees who worked hard at their jobs and stayed loyal to a company were rewarded with job security, health benefits, and other serious perks like pension. That’s not the case today. The new norms are portable HSAs, job-hopping, and at-will employment.

Today’s employees have accurately figured out that unless something is explicitly written down, a company doesn’t really owe them anything. In fact, the implicit agreement for many candidates is broken long before they’re employees at the company. Over sixty percent of candidates have been ignored or mistreated during the hiring process. With nothing to lose, they become ghosts too.

As frustrating as it is for hiring managers and recruiters, the candidates probably don’t suffer any ill effects for their actions. In fact, there are now more job openings than employees to fill them, which some economists believe hasn’t happened since the 1970s. Over sixty percent of separations this year were from voluntary quits. Partly because unemployment is at record lows, many candidates have multiple job offers. A candidate-driven market means that candidates can be more selective about the interviews and offers they take.

Also, social media has depersonalized relationships in a lot of ways. In an effort to avoid an awkward conversation about no longer being interested, a lot of candidates, especially younger ones, will just stop responding to an employer.

This is all very blood-curdling for the average company looking to hire.

How to Bring Your Candidates Back From the Dead

While this ghosting practice is becoming more prevalent, is concerning, and shouldn’t be accepted, recruiters and HR professionals can do a few things to limit losing candidates.

Spell It Out

The number one reason people drop out of the hiring process is a lack of communication from the recruiter or hiring manager. So create a great candidate experience.

Also, if you’re interested in a candidate, but it’s just taking a while to get the team together and the offer made, open communication means you might be able to speed up the process to save your hire who has another offer in front of them. (You should also consider streamlining your process generally.)

As a recruiter, it’s easy to delay and focus saving bandwidth for more pressing issues or more competitive candidates. However, a candidate who has had a negative experience is much more likely to tell others about it, which could affect your hiring down the line. A bad candidate experience can be expensive.

Just being proactive and responsive in when and how you communicate with a potential employee can ward off a lot of ill will and fend off ghosts. 

Offer More

You know on Halloween how the one house on the block that hands out full-size candy bars is really, really popular? Being a company that offers better benefits or has a better culture is kind of like that to a job seeker.

And it doesn’t have to be more expensive. Although economists have been predicting rising wages due to the tightening of the economy for years, besides offering more money, there are many things companies can do to attract and retain their applicants. For example, consider getting creative with your benefits (pet insurance or a weekly catered meal, anyone?) or offering more flexibility.

Also, a big focus on employer branding is key. Candidates want to know if they will be a good fit, if they will find the work rewarding, and if your organization is a place where they can grow and thrive – so creep it real!

Don’t Be Afraid of Them Going Dark

If ghosting is a common occurrence around your office, take a long look at your hiring practices to make sure your candidate pipeline doesn’t become a graveyard. Try to view the causes of ghosting as areas to improve and grow your company.

However, if you’ve treated the candidate well during the process and they’ve still ghosted on you, don’t take it personally. You probably didn’t want them as an employee anyways, if their communication choices are so ghastly.

The post Ghosting: A Haunting Trend in Hiring appeared first on Mac's List.

Overcoming Your Job Search Fears To Find Better Opportunities: Gary Rubin’s Job Search Story

Sometimes the most difficult part of making a career change is overcoming your fears. If you’re afraid of leaving your current position, moving to a new industry, or facing a period of unemployment, you’ll relate to Gary Rubin‘s job search journey. Gary decided to make a career change after 12 years working at one of Portland’s largest marketing firms, and overcame his job search fears. Gary advises job seekers to pursue their passions without fear. Read his full job search story below.

What do you do for a career? Who do you work for?

I’m the co-owner and Global Director of Marketing and Communications at Premium Organics, LLC, a global pet company based in Beaverton that makes healthy, and organic, food for companion animals. Our flagship brand is focused on parrot food, and we have plans to introduce new brands for other animals as well. We currently sell our products in 14 countries on four continents.

I’ve been a communications and public relations professional for more than 25 years and have worked as a journalist, an in-house PR contact and most recently headed a team at a local agency. Basically, my main role is to tell stories and connect with customers and potential customers.

How long did it take you to find (or create) this job?

It took a few years of looking once I decided that being a business owner was the path I wanted to take. I’ve mainly worked for larger organizations during my career so owning a small company is a big shift, but one that I am glad I undertook.

How did you find (or create) your job? What resources did you use? What tool or tactic helped the most?

Searching for a business to purchase is very similar to finding a job. I used business brokers and online resources to evaluate potential acquisitions. When I saw an opportunity that was interesting, I reached out to get more information and studied the market. The best tactic I used was to get help from people who understood how to buy a company. I have a very good friend who was a tremendous resource and we eventually became business partners and bought the company together.

What was the most difficult part of your job search? How did you overcome this challenge?

The most difficult part of my career change was overcoming the fear of change. I asked myself a lot of questions during the process. I was at one of Portland’s largest marketing firms for 12 years and was managing a department so deciding to leave was not an easy decision. Making a dramatic life change can be challenging, but you know when it’s the right thing to do and the right time. Fortunately I had a lot of support from my wife and family.

What is the single best piece of advice you would offer other job-seekers?

The best piece of advice I can share is, “don’t be afraid to make a change.” Life is short and you should do what inspires you and gets you excited to go to work in the morning. Plus, “believe in yourself.” We’re all capable of more than we think we are.

Why do you love your job?

In addition to the thrill of growing a business, I love the international aspect of our company. On any given day I can have an email exchange with European customers in the morning, a video working session with a designer in the Middle East at noon and then finish the day with a Skype call with our Australian partner in the evening. It’s a lot of fun to interact with people all over the world.

The post Overcoming Your Job Search Fears To Find Better Opportunities: Gary Rubin’s Job Search Story appeared first on Mac's List.

Hire Local College Grads: Contact Info for University Career Centers in Oregon and SW Washington

Countless local businesses are looking to recruit energetic professionals with cutting edge skills, and the Pacific Northwest is full of award-wining colleges and universities that churn out smart, qualified new graduates. If you’re using university career centers to source talent for your organization, it’s time to plug in to a wonderful resource to meet and recruit great local talent!

Whether you’re looking for qualified entry-level candidates or well-established professionals with the latest certifications, university career centers are a great resource for finding candidates with the skills you need. And it gets better: most colleges and universities have career centers designed to connect you with their new graduates. Most of us think of career centers as resources for students and alumni to advance their job search.

But career center staff do more than teach 20-somethings how to write resumes. Career centers actively build relationships with local employers who are hiring. Larger schools may even have an “Employer Services” department, whose entire role is to build a pipeline streaming vetted, newly certified talent to organizations that are hiring.

If this sounds good to you, it’s time to learn more about the higher education institutions in Oregon and Southwest Washington, so that you can connect and start to network with this huge pool of talent. First, find out some of the ways you can get started working with a college or university career center.

How university career centers support regional recruiters

There are three major ways that university career centers can help your business recruit recent college grads:

1. Networking with current students and alumni

Most colleges have an online community or listserv to connect students and alumni with career opportunities. Generally, employers are welcome to participate in these groups. (You’re the ones with the jobs, after all!)

There is a huge number of colleges and universities in the area where you can engage student talent. Fortunately, many career centers have moved to a shared networking system called Handshake. With Handshake, you register once and are connected to dozens of local institutions in our region and hundreds more around the country. This is a great place to start!

2. Posting job openings

If you’re actively hiring for a specific role, you can generally post your job with a college or university for free by contacting the university career center or employer services department. There are sometimes strict standards about the kinds of jobs you can share, though, so make sure you know the rules before you post.

Again, Handshake is a useful tool, as it allows you to post a single job and share it with multiple schools in the region.

3. Job fairs and campus recruiting

Universities often arrange in-person job fairs to help students connect with employers. These often require employers to pay for a tabling space, but it can be well worth it if you’re hiring for multiple roles. Plus, some schools allow employers to independently recruit on campus. Get in touch with your local college or university career center and ask about informational sessions and on-site interviews with students.

To discover the recruiting opportunities available at a college, your best bet is to get to know the school’s career center or employer services department directly. So don’t be afraid to pick up the phone. Career center staff are often searching for employers just like you to connect with their students, so they’ll be happy to hear from you.

Hiring in the Northwest? Connect with University Career Centers in Oregon and SW Washington

As I mentioned, there are a LOT of colleges and universities in Oregon and Southwest Washington. To make things simple for you, we’ve compiled a list of career centers and contact information for every college and university in Oregon and Southwest Washington! When available, we’ve also included the name and email address of the specific staff member responsible for employer outreach. Also, if you’re a local higher ed institution and you’re not on this list, or you need to update your information below, let us know! We’ll work to keep this list up-to-date so that Northwest employers and career centers can easily connect. Happy hiring!

Portland Metro Colleges & Universities with Career Centers

Clackamas Community College  (Oregon City, OR)

careercenter@clackamas.edu

503-594-6001

Concordia University (Portland, OR)

careerservices@cu-portland.edu

503-280-8512

George Fox University (Newberg, OR)

idea@georgefox.edu

503-554-2330

Lewis and Clark College  (Portland, OR)

Contact: Amanda Wheaton, Employer Relations Coordinator

wheaton@lclark.edu

503-768-7114

Linfield College (McMinnville, OR)

Contact: Donna Montoya,  Assistant Director, Career Development

dmontoya@linfield.edu

503-883-2443

Mt. Hood Community College (Gresham, OR)

mhcareer@mhcc.edu

503-491-7432

Multnomah University (Portland, OR)

careerservices@multnomah.edu

National University of Natural Medicine (Portland, OR)

Contact: Tafflyn Williams-Thomas

twilliamsthomas@nunm.edu

03-552-1625

Oregon College of Arts and Crafts (Portland, OR)

Oregon College of Oriental Medicine (Portland, OR)

Oregon Health & Science University (Portland, OR)

Pacific Northwest College of Art (Portland, OR)

Contact: Ashley Robinson, Director BridgeLab Career Services

arobinson@pnca.edu

503-821-8937

Pacific University Oregon (Forest Grove, OR)

503-352-2877

careerdc@pacificu.edu

Pioneer Pacific College (Wilsonville, OR)

Contact: Dawn Bielitz, Career Services Director

DBielitz@pioneerpacific.edu

503-688-2126

Portland Community College (Portland, OR)

971-722-7769

Portland State University (Portland, OR)

Contact: Greg Flores, Associate Director of Career Services

gflores@pdx.edu

503-725-4971

Reed College (Portland, OR)

503-788-6698

University of Portland (Portland, OR)

Contact: Julia Mayfield, Employer Relations & Alumni Outreach Manager

mayfield@up.edu

University of Western States (Portland, OR)

Warner Pacific University (Portland, OR)

Contact: Rod Johnson, Director of Academic Success

rjohanson@warnerpacific.edu

503-517-1010

Southwest Washington

Clark College (Vancouver, WA)

Contact: Scott Clemans, Employer Relations Specialist

sclemans@clark.edu

360-992-2964

Washington State University Vancouver (Vancouver, WA)

van.career@wsu.edu

360-546-9155

Willamette Valley

Chemeketa Community College (Salem, OR)

careercenter@chemeketa.edu

503-399-5026

Corban University (Salem, OR)

Contact: Daren Milionis, Director of Student Support

dmilionis@corban.edu

503-375-7012

Lane Community College (Eugene, OR)

coundept@lanecc.edu

541-463-3600

Linn-Benton Community College (Albany, OR)

Northwest Christian University (Eugene, OR)

careercenter@nwcu.edu

541-684-7211

Oregon State University (Corvallis, OR)

Contact: Rachel Finch, Director – External Relations

rachel.finch@oregonstate.edu

541-737-4085

University of Oregon (Eugene, OR)

career@uoregon.edu

541-346-3235

Western Oregon University (Monmouth, OR)

slcd@wou.edu

503-838-8432

Willamette University (Salem, OR)

career-development@willamette.edu

503-370-6413

Oregon Coast

Clatsop Community College (Astoria, OR)

Oregon Coast Community College (Newport, OR)

541-867-6200 x 611

Southwestern Oregon Community College (Coos Bay, OR)

Tillamook Bay Community College (Tillamook, OR)

Southern Oregon

Klamath Community College (Klamath Falls, OR)

KCCCareerCenter@klamathcc.edu

541-880-2251

Oregon Institute of Technology (Klamath Falls, OR)

Contact: Sarah Moore, Assistant Director of Career Services

541-885-1023

Rogue Community College (Grants Pass, OR)

Southern Oregon University (Ashland, OR)

Contact: Max Brooks, Office of Career Preparation

brooksm@sou.edu

541-552-6131

Umpqua Community College (Roseburg, OR)

Contact: Ben Horvath, Student Job Placement Consultant

541-440-7797

Eastern and Central Oregon

Central Oregon Community College (Bend, OR)

Contact: Tracy Dula, Career Services Coordinator

tdula@cocc.edu

541-383-7580

Columbia Gorge Community College (The Dalles, OR)

Contact: Ryan Brusco, Academic Advisor

rbrusco@cgcc.edu

541-506-6066

Eastern Oregon University (La Grande, OR)

careers-group@eou.edu

541-962-3711

Treasure Valley Community College (Ontario, OR)

541-881-8822

The post Hire Local College Grads: Contact Info for University Career Centers in Oregon and SW Washington appeared first on Mac's List.

Finding Persistence and Embracing the Journey – Travis Puckett’s Job Search Story

If Travis Puckett had to sum up his job search journey in one word, it would be: persistence. Keeping your chin up and not getting discouraged is key to any job search. Read more of Travis’s advice for job seekers who are looking to find encouragement after a long job search.

What do you do for a career? Who do you work for?

I work in analytics. It’s my job to distill our database into usable information for managers and directors. Data is power!

The company I work for is called Vacasa. Vacasa is a vacation rental management company. We take a deeply analytical approach to bringing more profit to homeowners looking to maximize their rental investment.

How long did it take you to find this job?

I began looking for a new job while still holding my previous employment. After 2 months of juggling both, I decided to terminate employment and go into the job search full time.

I took an internship that started in June. When the internship concluded I was offered a full time job with the company. It took 6 months to land the internship, 8 months for the full time gig.

How did you find your job? What resources did you use? What tool or tactic helped the most?

EVERY RESOURCE! I took a very active approach to the job search, and can honestly say that I thoroughly enjoyed the process (rare, I know!).

For me, it all started with LinkedIn. As a platform, it has everything you need: job postings, connections to people in every industry, and insight on the job market. I would look around the site and find professionals whose jobs looked cool, and I’d invite them to coffee. (Yep, complete strangers.)

Secondly, I called or emailed anyone I knew who was career-minded to meet up. Chatting with people I knew was less formal- mostly, it just got me out of the house. If I could give any advice, I would stress the importance of staying social and not letting the search get you down.

Lastly, I attended some networking events. Mac’s List put on a terrific event at Simple called “How to Land a Tech Job in Portland.” There was a panel of experts and one panelist stuck out for me, Grace Andrews. She said that she had never worked in tech, but sought out intern positions in the industry as a way to get a foot in the door. Now she’s a Solution Engineer after starting entry level at New Relic. It’s a hard step to budget for, but it’s a terrific way to transition into an entirely new type of job.

What was the most difficult part of your job search? How did you overcome this challenge?

The most difficult part is the inner voice. You spend so much time and energy building your legend on a resume, and when you don’t hear back…it can chip at your morale. At the end of the day, your morale is the most important trait you can bring to a new company.

I’ve alluded to it before, but reaching out to my village was how I overcame this challenge. Connecting with former colleagues and friends sparked a joy in me that allowed me to let go of the outcome and appreciate the journey.

What is the single best piece of advice you would offer other job-seekers?

Start persistent and stay persistent. After you’ve finished writing your resume, refine it. After you refine that resume, build another one in a different format (skills based vs chronological). Network with people in your desired industry. Network with people in unrelated industries. Work an odd job or two (there’s a ton of temp work out there). Connect with people even if you don’t think they’re going to influence your search.

Persistence will open doors to a hidden job market.

Why do you love your job?

I love my job for so many reasons. Mostly, because I have access to a ton of talented people with varying skill sets. Plus, my team is amazing. I also think the job is pretty neat because it’s all about numbers. Any time I am surrounded by volumes of  loosely related numbers, I get excited to start connecting them. That’s basically what I do for a living.

The post Finding Persistence and Embracing the Journey – Travis Puckett’s Job Search Story appeared first on Mac's List.

The Hiring Strategy That’s Not About Hiring: How to Nurture Internal Talent and Shrink Turnover

Turnover can hurt your company’s growth and bottom line. It leaves you in the difficult position of having to find a new employee in a shortened amount of time. Turnover can also hurt productivity, drain resources, create additional costs, and cause you to lose valuable time that could be spent on other projects instead of hours spent interviewing, recruiting, and debating which candidate to hire.

So how can you reduce turnover? One way is to increase internal recruiting. Developing your employees and hiring from within is an important way to boost morale among your employees and help them see that they have a future of upward mobility with your organization. And when a company fosters a culture of internal advancement, employees are more productive, innovative, loyal, and dedicated. It can also increase your brand awareness, because people want to work for a company that values development.

Here are a few ways to help your current employees grow to avoid turnover and create a collaborative, creative environment that nurtures internal talent:

Create avenues for career development.

Invest in training programs and career development opportunities to grow and advance internal employees. These can be free online courses, company-led workshops, expert-led breakout sessions, or other training methods – as long as you have a clear strategy for employees to learn new skills. Whatever your strategy, be sure to budget for training and development, and encourage your employees to participate in the opportunities offered.
Outline detailed development plans with clear objectives and milestones for each employee that are frequently examined and adjusted (if necessary) on a regular basis by mentors and supervisors. Formally evaluate not only employees’ current capabilities but also their potential for growth.
Assign stretch projects. Assigning new responsibilities or an entirely new project is a good way of assessing talent and pushing an employee’s competence boundaries into new arenas. A stretch assignment can often help to demonstrate hidden talent and an individual’s capacity to shoulder new levels of responsibility.

Set up mentorship programs.

Develop mentorship programs where senior members of the company mentor and coach entry-level employees. Make sure mentors are empowered to monitor their mentees’ needs and to provide resources and support to help them develop.
Try shadowing. Let employees shadow another member of the organization to learn more about their role and see if they are interested in succeeding that person one day. Setting up succession plans in advance is key. And be prepared to follow through with the succession plan when the time comes.
Provide cross-functional experiences. Allow employees to work on projects with other team members or outside their usual task responsibilities. This enables them to see whether they might want to create a different career path within your organization.

Foster a collaborative, creative environment.

Encourage employee feedback and clear and open communication. Get ideas from employees on new career development ideas and opportunities they are interested in. Make sure employees know it’s a company priority to see them grow professionally.
Ask employees frequently what you can do more of to help them grow and succeed. Have regular communication with them (both formally and informally) so you know how engaged they are in their jobs.
Make your employees feel like their voice matters and create an open, transparent environment where feedback and honesty are celebrated. Being honest builds trust and connection with your staff and encourages your team to reciprocate.

Hire from within.

If you take the time to make internal employees feel valued, grow their talents, and spark their ambition – you can create a strong and vibrant internal pool of talent that will serve your organization for years to come.

Hire employees with potential and who are teachable. Look beyond the job you are hiring them for and consider positions they might be well-suited for after you develop them.

The post The Hiring Strategy That’s Not About Hiring: How to Nurture Internal Talent and Shrink Turnover appeared first on Mac's List.

In-Depth Research and Concentrated Networking: Aaron Cohen’s Job Search Success Story

Aaron Cohen spent months starting conversations with his network, conducting in-depth research and customizing his cover letter, in order to find the right position for him in Portland’s busy tech market. Aaron recommends focusing and following up with your network to make the most of your job search. Read on for Aaron’s job search story and to learn the resources he used to land a job in a competitive field.

What do you do for a career? Who do you work for?

I run communications for disruptive technology- and product-driven companies. I currently work at RealWear, a knowledge transfer company based in Vancouver, Washington.  If you haven’t heard of RealWear, you will soon!

Tips for Hiring Smarter in the Pacific Northwest

Pacific Northwest states are experiencing booming employment numbers and Oregon is no exception, reaching a record high of 2.1 million last year. Known nationally as a burgeoning hub for tech and healthcare jobs, as well as the home to Fortune 500 companies such as Amazon and Nike, Portland is drawing talented people and businesses—which means competition for the best talent is skyrocketing. More than ever, smarter hiring practices are crucial to success for Portland employers, which means it’s time for some self-assessment. Is your company positioned to attract top-notch candidates? To stand out from the crowd, here are some important things to consider.

Reputation Matters. Is Your Organization Trusted?

With greater working flexibility, professionals can move between jobs, and cities, more freely than ever before. What will draw them to—and keep them in—your company? Hiring and retention rely on an organization being authentic and trusted. Candidates are looking for companies that share their values, and can back up what they promise.

A recent study shows that levels of employee engagement were directly related to the amount of trust people had in the company’s leadership. Professionals want transparency, humility, and leaders who model the organization’s stated values. As an employer, you must be able to clearly and genuinely communicate what your company stands for. Identify the values that drive your business. And be honest. Don’t try to be something you’re not. Great talent won’t last long if they discover your mission statement was nothing but a marketing ploy.

Create a Culture That Resonates With Locals

A company’s culture has always been significant, but today, it’s more crucial than ever. Young professionals are willing to take a sizable reduction in salary to work for a company that shares their values. Portland employers should pay attention to what matters to local talent. Diversity, inclusion, and a healthy work-life balance are high on the list of what today’s young workers care about, and employers need to pay attention to that, as Millennials become the largest generation in the workforce as well as a driving demographic force in Pacific Northwest cities. When an organization can commit resources and time to creating a humane culture that genuinely cares about equity, young workers will take notice.

Another way to attract PNW talent is to get involved in the larger community. Local professionals are passionate about community involvement and want to work for a company that is too. But again, it has to be authentic—simply being “for” the latest trendy cause won’t cut it. Take time to identify one or two local charities, professional organizations, or community projects that your company can volunteer with. Investing in long-term local partnerships will not only provide your organization an opportunity to give back, it also puts your finger on the pulse of your community, and attracts talent that resonates with your values.

Tell Your Organization’s Story Honestly

Candidates care about your story. It’s part of what makes up your unique brand as a company, so don’t underestimate its importance. Share your company’s milestones, your failures, your successes, and ultimately what makes you different. Are you a startup that’s still finding its feet in your industry? Perhaps you have deep historical roots in Portland and are hoping to reinvigorate your brand, both these stories are important and will resonate with different people and their unique strengths.

If your organization is new to the Northwest, don’t try to hide it by throwing some flannel and pine trees on your branding. Some Portlanders are resistant to the large influx of people to the city, and won’t be shy about saying so. But once more, authenticity is key. Be open and honest about why you’re here, and why you love the Northwest. Share what brought you here, and invest in an effort to contribute to what makes this region so special.

Connect With Northwest Professionals

You’re probably already aware that the best candidates are generally not looking for work. This means, as frustrating as it can be, your job postings and recruiting emails will likely not get you all the way to your HR goals. To attract highly qualified candidates, it’s going to take a long-term approach. And, remember, job seekers use a plethora of resources to learn about possible opportunities, so actively engage them in different ways.

Your website is often the first place a candidate meets you, and it must pique their interest and imagination instantly. In a creative city like Portland, to stand out from the competition you have to be on the cutting edge of innovative design, clarity of brand, and mobility. All of this communicates why a candidate should choose your company. If your website is outdated, spend the time and resources to bring it up to speed—the last thing you want is someone losing interest because your page is loading too slowly. It happens!
Personal referrals are crucial in attracting new talent over time. That’s where your genuine and values-driven culture will pay dividends. If you’ve taken the time to hear from your employees about what’s important to them, they will feel seen and appreciated and chances are they’ll attract like-minded individuals. PNW professionals have access to a vibrant local networking scene and good news travels fast in a small city. Using employee-authored stories on social media is another effective tool. There’s nothing better than your own employees talking about why your company is the best place to work.

Embrace a Modern Workplace: Be Flexible

Hiring in the Pacific Northwest is all about flexibility. We’ve become a mecca for freelancers and remote workers, and non-traditional work hours are becoming a norm. If your company is still stuck in a 9-5 schedule, you’ll quickly find yourself becoming irrelevant. With Portland’s vast array of amazing coffee shops to work from, as well as numerous creative and co-working spaces, candidates are attracted to a versatile lifestyle, not working from an office all day. Make sure your company’s policies aren’t stuck in the last decade if you want to attract the professionals who think and work outside the mold.

Be Transparent During the Interview Process

Finally, you’ve brought in an exciting candidate for an interview and you might think you’ve sealed the deal. Perhaps ten years ago, when jobs were tight. But today, it’s not unusual for candidates to have several interviews lined up, using each one to carefully decide what might be a good fit for them. Stand out by authentically offering the candidate a glimpse into your company’s culture, by asking them what they’re looking for in an employer, and emphasizing how their goals and aspirations are important to you and the success of your company. Then, don’t hesitate to make a competitive, enthusiastic offer once you’ve found the right person for the job.

Hiring smarter in the PNW means taking an honest look at what your company stands for. Start by telling your story, then connect with local candidates in meaningful ways. Soon you’ll be reaping the benefits of a robust, authentic recruiting strategy: attracting the very best in the Pacific Northwest. 

The post Tips for Hiring Smarter in the Pacific Northwest appeared first on Mac's List.