Monday, July 13, 2009

Making the Most of Outplacement Services


Outplacement Services Now Offered to Most. Take advantage of the services!
New data from employers show that most are sensitive to the needs and fears of their former employees and want to do all they can to ease the transition to the next fruitful employment. Some are paying the fees for outplacement and career coaching services, others simply make referrals and provide resources for free help.
Many major corporations and larger institutions such as the US Federal government offer transition and supportive services and hire coaches, trainers and consultants to provide this training in house while people are still employed. Our fees are often reimbursed by employers who want to develop their regular employees and those slated for future promotion.
Most of the time when my clients get reimbursed it come out of the cafeteria plan of benefits and
falls into the category of professional development and not necessarily outplacement.
You can get free help from One Stops, your local employment services in the USA, at the centers operated in cooperation with the Dept. of Labor and your employment development department, usually called WorkForce Investment Boards or One Stops.
Find your local One-Stop Career Center. Get job search help, locate workforce services in your area, access career information and more. Training and Education Career Training You may qualify for employment and training services.
Make the Most of Outplacement Services:
Take Charge of your search and professional development process. Don't wait passively for direction for the outplacement counselor.
Set Goals for yourself..... each day! Such as refining your resume, expanding your network, plotting your acceptable and ideal career paths. Make them specific and put deadlines on them, after a few weeks, you will have great profiles in Linked In, Facebook, a wonderful highly customizable resume and lots of new connections.
Seek help for the coach or counselor in assessing your background, career interests, skills and finding your gifts. If you find future work utilizing your gifts, more towards your life's callings you will find that it is not "work" anymore.
Practice for Interviews. Your story should not be tried out in front of "the employer of your dreams"... by all means rehearse your interviews, your key points, your enthusiastic behavior on friends and family before the intense pressure is on. Capitalize on your strengths, previous accomplishments and low key any problems in your past employment.
Establish your appointments with your Coach or Outplacement Counselor. Check in regularly to share progress and make sure you stay on their radar! You never know when leads will come their way and you want to remain top of mind as a winner who stays in touch, who appreciates the support of great professionals and who is ready to go on that interview and get the offer!
Please remember that a Job Coach is not a therapist...... so use caution in leveraging the Outplacement people as the tools they are. Your personal financial problems and other family matters are real no doubt, but there is little your Job Coach can do on those items except to check in with you to make sure you are talking to other professionals to help with those specialized issues.
Finally, don't give up and do your best to remain Optimistic! You can and you will tough this out!
Plan that the search will take longer this time....... that is the nature of our current economy which is in such major transition that all the "smart people" of the past are also wondering when things will turn around. No one knows.....but what we do know, as the Reverend Robert Schuler says, Tough Times Never Last, but Tough People Do"
Best wishes to you,
Patty DeDominic
Chief Coach at DeDominic & Associates
Helping Achievers Soar
Special thanks and photo credit to Leroy Hamilton who took this at a recent NAWBO Conference in Chicago. http://photographybyhamilton.com
Ph

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