IN THIS JOB MARKET, THE ABSOLUTE TRUTH IS WHAT WE ABSOLUTELY NEED

In partnership with Brevard Workforce, Recruiter Absolutely Abby Visits Brevard County Twice on National Tour

In a time when so many people are out of work, finding and landing a job can be a daunting task.  You might ask yourself: Where do I look?,   What do I say?, or  Where did I go wrong?  Advice comes in all shapes and sizes and from all different angles.  Think of the time you could save and the changes you could make, if you could get honest feedback from the people that didn’t hire you.  The people that chose someone else instead of you could be holding the key to helping you land that next job or enhancing your career.

Brevard Workforce, the area authority on workforce development, has a mission to “facilitate and be the catalyst for workforce development services that are responsive to the employment needs of Brevard County”.  As a catalyst for workforce development, Brevard Workforce plays a critical role in economic development and is focused on bringing best practices to the businesses and residents of Brevard.  Businesses have a better chance of finding the best people when the best people are equipped with the right strategies for being noticed.

Brevard Workforce understands that jobseekers are challenged by finding out how and where employers are looking for their next employees.  Recent trends are pointing to the increased use of social media tools and noticing a shift in employers beginning to think like recruiters.   In the fall of 2012, Brevard Workforce connected with and arranged for national recruiter and author, Abby Kohut to visit the jobseekers of Brevard County.  After not hiring more than one million people during the course of her career, Abby Kohut made the decision to tell America why they weren’t hired, or even noticed.

Abby Kohut, known to her followers as Absolutely Abby for always telling the “absolute truth”, has been a recruiter for more than 15 years   Abby tells her audiences that over the course of her career she has hired or helped hire more than 10,000 people, but it was the ones that she couldn’t help that left her wanting to make a difference.  Today, her personal mission is to offer help and educate the public with “insider” tips to getting noticed in today’s job market and has embarked on an 18-month, cross-country mission to help one million jobseekers.

In December and February, Abby’s team joined forces with Brevard Workforce, and after performing several workshops at the Brevard Workforce career centers and area churches, her waves of hope and help are being felt.  During both visits, Abby presented jobseeker tips and advice, focusing on resume help and how to use the fast-growing social medial tool, LinkedIn, to get noticed by recruiters and employers.  Abby explained that social media is quickly becoming a tool that jobseekers need to be using for their job search in this shifting economy.

“We really didn’t know what to expect introducing this topic that hinged on the use of LinkedIn,” said Joyce Young, Community Resource Specialist of Brevard Workforce.  “It is a new social media tool to many of us.  Abby was clear and informative and exceeded our expectations and, I know she changed lives.  She has a down-to-earth, no nonsense attitude and really connected with her audiences.”

In addition to bringing speakers like Abby Kohut to the area, Brevard Workforce’s Community Resources program offers a variety of free community-based information and learning sessions each week.  With the help of community partners and various subject matter experts, classes offered range from resume and interview assistance to setting up social media profiles to launching businesses.  Last year, there were 147 community-based learning sessions offered, reaching 1600 participants.   A variety of class titles included:  “Navigating Your Health Insurance Options”, “3 Keys to Successful Saving”, “Foreclosure Avoidance Strategies” and “The Mature Worker in Today’s Job Market.”

The Community Resources program extends beyond jobseeker services found in the three Brevard Workforce career centers.   With support from the White House Office of Faith-based and Neighborhood Partnerships, Brevard Workforce launched “Faith In The Future” – an innovative partnership with local faith-based organizations to assist individuals in job loss and recovery.  As an option to jobseekers, career support, similar to that which is offered in the career centers, is available through the help of faith-based organizations offering a more familiar setting for jobseekers to network and learn.  To date, Brevard Workforce has been able to partner with more than 20 faith-based organizations to facilitate career guidance and training as well as addressing the emotional and psychological aspects of unemployment.

BizLaunch is another noteworthy Brevard Workforce program designed for entrepreneurs, meeting weekly for networking, support and skill-building for those considering starting or growing their business.  To date, 82 businesses have been launched by Brevard Workforce since the program began in July 2011 creating more than 100 additional jobs in Brevard County.

Brevard Workforce is dedicated to helping jobseekers by offering relevant educational opportunities and resources.  With the help of speakers like Abby Kohut and programs like the Faith in the Future job club initiative, Brevard Workforce is proving to be up to the challenge of equipping jobseekers with the knowledge they need to tackle employment challenges and move forward with their futures.

“Brevard Workforce works to support the future of Brevard County and its residents each day and would be doing the community a disservice if it didn’t keep its focus on the future,” stated President of Brevard Workforce, Lisa Rice.  “Speakers like Absolutely Abby and the many programs offered in the career centers are considered and created with the future of Brevard in mind.”