The Career Workshop Sept 27, 2014 The Queen's stamp

The Queen's stamp! Fliers we mailed promoting the Career Workshop.

We taught a Career Workshop to 4 candidates last Saturday, the 27th of September. The Career Workshop instructs each member of the class to create a Coat of Arms in their workbook where they describe themselves. From their descriptions, they formulate "Me in 30 Seconds" which includes positive power statements about themselves. These power statements become the outline for their profile when filling out a CV (resume) or, if they're going for an interview, it teaches them how to talk about themselves without rambling or making negative comments. Other aspects of the workshop teach people how to present themselves when applying for a job. Don't wear white socks with black suit pants. :-) Wear your best clothes; not worn out jeans and t-shirts.

First candidate to arrive was Rickie Griffith, who's 21, a convert who has been baptized only one month, who's a college graduate that made it through catering school. The bad news was that it should only take 1 year, but Rickie is autistic so it took 5 years...but he DID IT! Persistence counts. We helped him with his CV and hopefully convinced him to think more positively. (CV stands for Curriculum Vitae - fancy name for resume.) He's working part time now in a warehouse, but would like full time work. We'll work on his CV this week and re-send it to him so it's ready to accompany him to his next job interview.

We had Jamie Townsend who's 42, a husband and father of 3 children, who was converted to the church 10 years ago. He spent the past 6 years as the Bishop of his ward in Telford. A good man - willing to accept the calling to serve as Bishop after only 4 years in the church! He has been at the same job for the past 25 years, moving from one level to the next. But he's tired of it and would like a new career. We'll be meeting with him again this week to help him fine tune his CV, and have him practice his skills for interviews.

The third candidate was Ion Mihaiteanu from Romania. He has upgraded his job from one that involved hard physical labor to one with moderate physical labor. He's now working for Sainsbury Warehouse, restocking a huge freezer. It's a chilly job! He was a banker in his former country, so he's highly skilled and learns quickly...definitely over-qualified for his Sainsbury job. So we're his English coaches. Ion loved the workshop. Afterwards, he asked if we would be teaching more workshops like that. When we replied that we would, he said, "Good! I like this!" (His English is improving...)

We also had a nice surprise because our friend John Taroni, came  to the workshop. He's the SR specialist in Coventry. We've met him several times before and he's a very nice fellow. He's the eligible bachelor we mentioned in one of our earlier emails...if any of you single women are interested, we can line you up. :-) Get your plane tickets ladies!

Elder Jolley with (R-L) Rickie, Ion, Jamie, and John Taroni

John Taroni, Jamie Townsend, Ion Mihaiteanu & Rickie Griffith