This came in a couple of months ago. Just now getting a chance to publish because we’ve been super-busy helping Cody and four dozen other people find new jobs.

Very proud of you, Cody!

– Dave O’Farrell

– – – – –

Hey Dave, I hope all is well! Yesterday, I accepted a job offer in D.C. and will be starting in two weeks. I would like to thank you and everyone else at JobSeekers for what you do. The few meetings I have attended taught me a lot.

Being in between jobs (or graduation and a first job) is an uncertain period which puts you on a path outside of the “regular” routine. If seen as an opportunity rather than a downfall, it becomes a time of introspection and reflection. I ended up with multiple offers from big organizations but chose a smaller firm.

The past few months have taught me to see through the vanity of a “big” job or salary and look for an opportunity that felt right. I am much more excited about starting this position in D.C. with a smaller dynamic firm than when I accepted a job with AT&T months ago, simply because it feels like a better fit.

Thanks for everything and would like to keep in touch!

– Cody Bonsma

This is one of the best stories of 2018. Cindy Silloway came to JS much longer than she would have wished, but things turned our really well. It was worth the wait. You will see this message came in more than two months ago; we’ve been super busy with an outplacement project that wrapped up last Friday 20 December.

Congratulations Cindy!

I hope you find the encouragement in Cindy’s letter was worth the wait.

— Dave

– – – – –

Hi Dave,

Well, it is official. I have passed the background check and received the official legal offer. As I know you may want the details, I will be working at Siemens as the Lead Service Contract and Parts Development Support Analyst (could the title be any longer?) at Siemens in Alpharetta. Starting October 22. Salary matches what I was making at NCR. I will need to commute every day for a while, but it will be part virtual once I know the ropes. It was networking that got me the job. The person who originally referred me used to sit next to me at NCR years ago. He was my “dotted line” boss for a time, and I worked many of his projects. The second referral came from a person who worked at NCR, but she knew me from church and Lyndon’s cancer journey. The two came together at the right time. Ironically, the hiring manager had been looking for someone since April!

It seems like a lifetime ago that I ran into Christina Hardman at the Georgia Department of Labor, and she told me I should come join Job Seekers in Peachtree City.

There are not words to express how thankful I am for the help and guidance I received from this group. As you state on your communications, it is one of the toughest spiritual journeys one can face. I am so grateful not just for the lessons, but the friends I have met along the way, and the focused job search devotionals. The community is so blessed to have your dedication to this ministry. Your commitment amazes me.

And as God has a sense of humor; I may have my highest ever HIPPO score this week! This evening, I have a call with a hiring manager to do some remote supply chain analytics, and a referral from a VP at one of the companies I was targeting… I mean really… AFTER I accepted another job?

Hope to stop by Friday with some muffins or something, but no amount of muffins could ever express my gratitude!

God bless,

Cindy Silloway

I’ve had several people ask me about their interview attire lately. I had a client texting photos of possible outfits last week about hers. Guess it worked, or at least it helped. She started a new job yesterday. I had a gentlemen client asking me today about what he should wear for an IV tomorrow.

Here’s another one; he wrote and asked, “Did I Nail My Interview Outfit?” I think he did. Congratulations Ralph!

– – – – –

Hey Dave!

Hope you’re doing very well today!

I want to express my gratitude for the ministry of encouragement in equipping the unemployed back to gainful employment through JobSeekers. I really appreciated Frank’s prayer during my visit.

I had the pleasure of meeting and speaking with each of you on August 17th. Let me share and update. I interviewed face-to-face for a Personal Banker position at Regions Bank, Fayetteville. The interview went well. I received a follow up phone call informing me Regions would like to move forward regarding the hiring process.

About two weeks later, they said I was overqualified and encouraged me to apply for the Assistant Branch Manager position at their Newnan location. The Branch Manager was super-excited to meet with me.

Several members of my Life Group had been praying for an upgrade to a higher position with Regions. I’m very thankful for this opportunity!

Thank you so much for your prayers and encouragement.

– Ralph Williams

Karen Avery came to JS a few short weeks before she landed a new job. She always had a big, expectant smile on her face. Maybe she believed God had something good in store for her (as He does for all of us). I love the line in Karen’s message about wishing she could have come to JS longer; oh, if that were only true for all of us!

Congratulations Karen!

– Dave

– – – – –

There must be something to volunteering to be the candidate on “Acing the Interview” day, because I received and accepted a job offer. I start work next Monday.

I am so thankful for JobSeekers. It’s so important to be around others who are going through this roller coaster ride. I wish I had been able to attend longer. I’m sure there is much more I could learn from you and the group and I want to stay in touch. I wish there was a way I could give back somehow. If there’s ever anything I can do just let me know.

See you on Friday.

– Karen Avery

Man, am I proud of Neal Nelson! He landed a great job. It was worth the wait. His resilience and optimism inspire me. He led the devo at JS on 4/20. About two weeks later, he received this offer. Congratulations!

– – – – –

Hey Dave,

I GOT A JOB! I accepted an offer from Sage Software for Field Sales Engineer. I will be providing software demonstrations and value messaging to customers as part of the pre-sales team that partner with Account Execs in their sales efforts. It’s a role suited to my background and also will be exposing me to the manufacturing side of ERP which is a new area for me.

I’m excited, nervous, and pumped about this new challenge! This opportunity came about because of networking just as you’ve told us most opportunities do. I had an internal champion at Sage who is a Sales Rep I worked with a number of years ago and he put my resume in front of the right people and provided insight along the way. It’s been in process since early January and has had several roadblocks and stops along the way but it finally came through!

Also, the base salary is higher that what I was previously making at Oracle – and I was convinced that any next job was going to be a pay cut for sure. Who said God doesn’t have a sense of humor?

There is more to this story that I will tell you in person. But for now, please know that I’m so very grateful for you and this ministry. It has sharpened me, encouraged me, and given me hope when I was at my lowest. Thank you for being obedient to the Lord and leading this ministry so faithfully. You are a blessing, my friend!

Overjoyed and still somewhat trying to process it all.

See you Friday morning!!!

– Neal Nelson

Great message from a man who loves our Lord. Gary has been an inspiration to me and to many, many others during his search because of his hope, faith and love. He never gave up and he never doubted. BTW, they company came seeking him. A former co-worker from Southwire heard about the challenges they were facing; he said they needed to hire Gary Royal.

Super-proud of you, Gary!

– – – – –

Dave,

It is with great joy that I can share with you how God has blessed me.

On Friday afternoon I accepted the offer from Magna Decostar to lead the HR function as their Senior Human Resources Manager. I start in two weeks. I will have responsibility for 1300 employees at their four sites in Georgia, South Carolina and Alabama. Magna Decostar is a division of Magna International, North America’s largest automotive supplier.

I am very excited. I have already worked for North America’s largest electrical wire and cable company. And now God has opened this door for me with automotive supply industry leader.

Thank you for walking beside me and praying for me.

Our God has provided for me for the past 53 weeks. Financially, emotionally and spiritually.

I praise Him as God and thank Him for his special blessings.

Thank you for celebrating and praising God with me.

Love you guys,

– Gary Royal

Love this message. Love the fact Lizz came to JobSeekers to say, “Farewell and Good Luck.” All the best to you, Lizz!

– – – – –

Hi Dave. Hope you are having a good start to your week. I am happy to report I received a job offer for Corporate Traffic Coordinator with Gray Television. They have TV stations in 49 states. They are creating a hub in Atlanta to traffic commercials / audio / programming for all SE stations. I am so thankful I received the offer.

I am so glad God led me your way. My job ended in February, and I was beginning to get discouraged. JobSeekers encouraged me immensely. Thanks for the great advice and fellowship. The interview session last Friday came at a perfect time, and I used the constructive criticism to help me confident in my interview.

Thank you again,

Lizz Russell-Sow

Here’s a guy who took the things he learned on Friday mornings and turned them into action items. Desire plus discipline equals results. Congratulations Dennis!

– – – – –

Hey Dave,

I had been coming to JobSeekers for about three weeks. Two things I learned and implemented from your teaching were to network, network, network and to be positive. I ran into an acquaintance about two weeks ago and found out there was a position at his company. I gave him my elevator intro and a copy of my resume. Within five days I had an interview. So networking paid off.

In the interview, I was determined to show myself and my skills in a positive manner. Today, I was offered the position, which I accepted. So being positive worked.

I also achieved my ultimate goal of leaving my current industry. I thank God for answering my prayers of finding a position outside of my industry, and for putting people like you and the care team in my life. Thank you for what you do with the JobSeekers ministry.

Oh, the position is as the Work Center Manager for ABM. They are contracted by Delta. I may have the ability to hire a few team members within a few months, I will let you know when that happens so you can let the JobSeekers group know.

Thanks again!

Dennis Bennett

We loved having Eni’s bright, shining face and cheerful spirit at JobSeekers each Friday. We also love the fact that we won’t be seeing her anymore because she landed an awesome job. Congratulations Eni; very proud of you!!!

– Dave O’Farrell

– – – – –

Hi Dave,

I hope this reaches you well. I am writing to inform you of my great news! Today I was offered a job with a contracting firm as a contractor for the CDC, which I accepted. My job title is Public Health Analyst. I would like to share with you how this job came about.

I began job hunting while in Tampa almost 1.5 years ago. In March of 2016, I began to make friends with a recruiter at this contracting firm after a friend gave me a small tip that making friends with recruiters is helpful. I would contact her every couple of months to see if there were any available positions and to keep me in mind.

At the end of November 2016, I applied to a job with this contracting firm and decided after a JobSeekers class to follow up with my recruiter friend to see if they had any jobs available. She immediately replied and said she thought there might be one. When she got back to me she realized it was the job I had already applied for that she thought would be a good fit. However, she realized the position had already been filled.

This past Monday I got an email from my recruiter friend asking if I was still available to work, this was the day the freeze on government hires was implemented. I notified her that I was available. She informed the program manager and HR, and HR contacted me the next day to schedule an interview.

I spoke with them on Wednesday morning discussing the responsibilities and they asked me if I had any questions. Once the conversation drew to an end I asked if they thought I was a match and when I should expect to hear from them. They affirmed they thought I would be a good match and that they would inform me no later than Friday after they spoke to the CDC client.

The next morning I received an offer letter with a competitive salary + health benefits and I will be starting work on 2/6/2017, exactly four months to the day that I moved from Florida to Georgia after resigning from my job of nearly six years at the VA.

Dave, this is the only company I interviewed with in my whole job search.

I want to thank you so much for your invaluable lessons and constant encouragement. I most certainly believe and know my steps have been ordered by the Lord. From meeting Mr. Dana Wilcock at church and him inviting me to JobSeekers, Ms. Linda Wells assisting me immensely with my resume, your brilliant classes (value-added references, interviews, etc.), and Mr. David Halm providing the Project Success Method course. My cup runneth over and I am indebted to your services.

Best wishes and have an awesome Friday!

Kindly,

– Eni

 

This wonderful message came in about three weeks ago. I’m delighted to share this with you now. Notice the combination of identifying a job lead, and then leveraging influential contacts inside the company.

Congratulations Tom; I’m very proud of you!

– Dave O’Farrell

– – – – –

Dave,

Earlier this year I thought I found the perfect job at Cree. Little did I know that it would be short lived because of a companywide restructuring that took place in early October. It hit me hard as I was doing well personally, lead our group in sales and had a solid pipeline of business opportunities lined up.

I never expected to lose my job with all the good that was happening. After I regrouped I started doing the things you teach each week, especially networking, networking, networking! I found that there were not a lot of opportunities in my field and although I had all this knowledge and experience I was “over qualified” or did not have the right degree, or was not in New York, Philadelphia or some other Northeast city.

I found a post for a job on the Edison Report and sent in a cover letter and resume on 12/1. I received an email reply and a call in a couple days from the hiring manager. I had not heard of the company but during the call found they were from Germany and had been in the US for only a couple years but they also owned another company in SC that has been around about 20 years in the USA. This other company is Hess America. I know the COO and the inside CS manager at Hess very well and worked with them prior to them going to work at Hess.

During the call the hiring manager mentioned the two individuals I knew. The call went well and I asked the hiring manager if we could meet in person to allow me to learn more about the product, the job, and how I could help them fill the needs they had. I offered to drive to SC for the meeting.

That turned out to be the best two tanks of gas I ever spent! I met with them the better part of last Wednesday afternoon and was able to see those I knew from Hess and talk to them as well. I followed up with a “thank you” to everyone on Thursday outlining my understanding of their need and how I could achieve the goal they had. I received an email acknowledging the same from them and that they were going to check a couple references.

When I was with them last week I closed the meeting by leaving my reference testimonials and recommendation letter one of the managers I worked for had provided to me. Yesterday the hiring manager sent me a message that he was preparing an offer letter and I would receive it today.

It is a great offer with a good salary package, benefits, car allowance, and three weeks’ vacation. I start on 1/1/17. Further proof – The Hiring Season is now! I appreciate what you do and teach and learned a lot from attending your class and going to the meetings in the past.

The outplacement my last company Cree provided was of minimal help and what they suggested I was already doing because of what I had learned from you. From when I saw the job post to accepting an offer was only 13 days! I continued to follow up on other opportunities and call others in the industry as this was not a for sure position until today.

Thank you again and I hope you have a very Merry Christmas with those close to you and a very prosperous New Year!

Best regards,

Tom Andersen
East Region Sales Manager
Noedeon USA
678-457-2913