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Job or Company: Which Comes First

In my years of workforce development, I have worked with many different people. People seeking all kinds of positions, with different levels of education, and experiences that vary. Many times people that end up in the one stop career center are not only looking for a job, but also seeking that inner “next” for them. I met a job seeker recently that was just that.
 
Many times in workforce development, a workforce development professional will help the job seeker define who they are and what they offer in regards to a specific position, then work to help the job seeker find companies that offer that position. Unfortunately not everyone fits that mold and this job seeker was not going to be able to slip into the standard mold.

What made this job seeker different? This job seeker had a variety of skills, but expert at none. He had business skills, technical skills, clerical skills, and people skills. He had knowledge of multiple industries from his experiences in his career, but none had lead him to success and longevity. Add to that a love of high energy work that involved creativity, thinking, and was innovative.

So what strategy is best? Flip the mold upside down. Do not label the job seeker with a position first. Instead determine the company and industry where the job seeker would excel. Then let the job seeker find a way to fit in the company. The best position may be on a list of open positions or it may be an interesting spin or perspective on a position. Rather than hitting the online sites and trolling through job postings, hit the networking circuit to find the best opportunities that are not announced yet, and work to be the candidate before the job is posted.

This is not the only way to work with a challenging job seeker, but one that I recommend. It allows the job seeker to be innovative in his job search, use creativity, and figure out his unique value and problem he can solve for a company.
 
How do you work with a challenging job seeker? A job seeker that challenges every technique in your workforce development professional workbook. Leave a comment below and share your experiences with others.  The thoughts and ideas here are mine alone. I am open for questions and comments. I can be reached at kcirincione@gmail.com, Linked In at https://www.linkedin.com/in/karenjcirincione or Twitter at @kcirincione. ~ Karen Cirincione

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