When a family member in Phoenix needed care, Brian left his home and job to relocate to the Phoenix area. Due to the amount of time, he needed to spend caring for his loved one, he realized he could no longer work a full-time job, so he began to search for part-time work.
After searching, applying, and interviewing for numerous positions with no success, he was becoming discouraged. Employers told him that with his extensive work experience, he was overqualified for the less demanding, entry-level, or work-from-home jobs he sought. Hoping to turn the situation around, Brian reached out to Maricopa County’s Human Services Department for help.
As part of the Human Services Department, the Workforce Development Division assists county residents with the skills, training, and resources they need to launch, change or enhance their careers.
County employees like Christina Boelter help career seekers best position themselves for success. In this case, Christina helped Brian re-craft his resume to showcase how his skills could be used for the type of work he was seeking. With his retooled resume in hand, Brian once again put himself out there, applying to positions that better suited his schedule.
A few weeks later, Christine checked in with him. “I found that the resume help had worked; however, he was at his wit's end after going on several interviews but not getting a job offer,” Christina said. Determined to find out why Brian wasn’t receiving job offers, she scheduled a mock interview with him before his next employer interview, which was for a customer service position.
In addition to practicing common interview questions, Christina focused on the behavioral questions that he would likely be asked while interviewing for the customer service role.
“We worked on keeping him from being too long-winded and providing answers that were more to the point,” she said. “We also talked about how he could have a more positive mindset before going into the interview.”
The old adage “practice makes perfect” turned out to be true for Brian. With Christina’s help, he improved his resume and learned how to conduct a better interview. Best of all, he was hired for the job!
Resume and interview assistance are just a few of the services offered by Maricopa County at no cost to job seekers. Find out more and see the locations where services are available by visiting www.Maricopa.gov/HSDConnection.