Helping Clients Secure Employment

Part of my job as an economic development specialist is to help clients secure jobs. This is done two ways: obviously, through resume creation, and also by offering a career goal assessment. My strategy helps me connect the job candidates to the right position.

I’ve tried several different methods over the past year to better serve my clients, but there’s always that one or two candidates that slip through the cracks, so to speak, and they end up spending way too much time searching for work.

Lately, I’ve changed my strategy to work with clients based upon their backgrounds. If they have thrived in a professional environment, I will refer them to the partner agencies I work with. If the candidates have a habit of working at wage jobs, then they become part of my focus group. This latter group receives my attention and is sent job leads as they come my way.

One thing I’ve had to learn, and which I’ve been schooled about, is to back off and allow the clients to empower themselves. This is accomplished by having the clients search for their own job listings and to eventually apply to those jobs they want, as I continue directing them in their pursuits. I see the rationale in this, because it is also my job as an economic development specialist to empower them by allowing them to make their own decisions.

My work is not easy – not at all. I have typically offer a consultation to help them find their way. I do make exceptions for critical cases. Aside from all the trauma they face and the tough journey they have to rebuild their lives, it’s challenging at times to understand their employment needs and to send them on the right path. But I’m taking it one step at a time – by respecting their hardship, while encouraging their future. And if these methods don’t work, I will simply continue to look for newer and better ways to serve them.