‘Sell yourself, not your soul’

  • Kathy Day / Herald Writer
  • Sunday, December 9, 2001 9:00pm
  • Business

Boeing counselor urges workers facing layoffs to search for ‘sizzle’

By Kathy Day

Herald Writer

When Charles Collins counsels Boeing Co. employees targeted for layoff, he doesn’t tell them not to worry. Instead he tells them to search for "sizzle."

It’s simple, he says. It’s a matter of "life vs. living."

Calculate how many more years you plan to work and put that up against how many you’re going to live, he suggests. "Do you want to enjoy what you’re doing?"

To get people moving toward the future, instead of asking them what they want to do next, he asks about their fourth-grade teacher.

In a recent meeting he explained that fourth grade seems to be the "time when a child begins looking around" at what he or she wants to be.

Collins prompts clients to think about those teachers, asking questions like: Can you see their face? What do you remember about them? Did you like music, recess, games, math?

From there, he said, he can find a bridge to career possibilities. For example, someone who liked reading might be interested in working for a literacy organization.

Interview tips

Charles Collins offers these tips for avoiding trick questions in job interviews:

  • When asked, “Tell me about yourself,” don’t bare your soul. Focus on work situations where you’ve had success.

  • When asked, “What are your strengths and weaknesses,” identify one situation and tell how you solved it.

  • When asked, “Do you have a question for me?” turn the question around and ask, “Would you like to see samples of my work?”

  • And, for those laid-off Boeing workers: Don’t flinch when they ask, “What will you do when Boeing begins rehiring?”

  • Collins is one of about 15 career counselors working at Boeing’s Career Transition Centers in Renton, Everett and Auburn. The centers opened as a response to the company’s layoffs in the early 1990s. They shrunk during the good times, with Collins and a couple of other staffers handling job counseling on a continuing basis, explained Rich Hartnett, employment director for Boeing’s Puget Sound operations.

    But with the new round of layoffs, an estimated 30,000 by the time the last wave washes over the facilities, the centers in Everett and Auburn were reopened, and Renton’s will be moved to be more convenient to affected workers.

    Since the layoff plans were announced after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, the centers have had more than 7,000 interchanges — counseling sessions, phone calls, e-mails or workshops. The workshops have been attended by about 60 percent of those who have received layoff notices so far, Hartnett said.

    The centers offer laid-off employees information about job options in their fields and about new careers, college offerings and training programs. They have areas with computers that can be used for Internet searches or for writing resumes; they offer classes such as "Identifying your Marketable Skills" and Collin’s "Getting the Job You Want; Wanting the Job You Get."

    Collins said he wants people to view the place as "their living room. They can take off their shoes and do their searches here."

    A jovial figure who seems to have a knack for putting people at ease, Collins starts by showing his "clients" around the office and then invites them into an interview room. "I don’t close the door initially" because he wants an informal feeling, he said. But if the person he’s working with gets emotional and starts to cry, then it’s time for privacy, he added.

    The first visit is generally an hour , but there’s no limit on the number of discussions. The centers are expected to continue operations for 12 to 18 months, opening from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekdays and half-days on Saturdays.

    A state-registered career counselor, Collins is careful to tell visitors he’s not a psychologist. If he sees certain signals — signs of unresolved anger or depression that haven’t subsided after six months or so — he’ll refer them to the company’s employee assistance program or their minister.

    People have to deal with these feelings because they’re real, he added, but "anger can keep you from getting a job."

    He’s found a way to try and help people understand that it’s not the individual’s fault he or she has lost a job by discussing business cycles and the company’s future.

    The role of the career counselor is to offer "more of a how-to program," he said. He typically hands his clients a book called "Wake-Up Calls" and urges a quick-read approach.

    For those asking "why me?" Collins’ routine includes a section on the stages of grief to help remind them that losing a job is often like losing a loved one. He also offers pointers on interviewing and resume writing.

    Those who visit him get "The Job Changing Manual," a workbook that takes people from making a personal inventory checklist to places to look for a job. Sample resumes are included, and Collins points his clients to the one most suited to their work experience. He also suggests turning to Boeing job descriptions as a model for resume writing.

    That process, he added, is and should be one of the most time-consuming because it will represent the person looking for work. He suggests clients focus on the seven to 10 achievements they’re most proud of from the past five years.

    "Have an out-of-body experience and just write," he said, suggesting the process of getting to a first draft should take six to 12 hours.

    He’ll help edit resumes and put clients through video interviews so they can see how they do and what they need to work on. He gives tips on networking to get the contacts who can help find jobs.

    And while he offers such tips as being aware of body language and maintaining eye contact, he reminds participants the process "is not a makeover."

    His tips range from the practical to the personal:

  • "You need to go to your favorite department store to learn your colors and appropriate look for the job you’re seeking. Check the climate of these places because office casual will mean something different at Microsoft, for example, than it does at another company, he said.

  • Always write a thank you note after an interview. Reinforce something the interviewer said about the job. And personalize it with a card that stands out. If you still want to be an aerospace engineer, find a card with a picture of the 767 you helped design, he suggested.

    One of his most important messages goes back to his opening lines about "sizzle."

    "Sell yourself, not your soul," he said.

    You can call Herald Writer Kathy Day at 425-339-3426 or send e-mail to kday@heraldnet.com.

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