A Challenge for Cohort 11

After four years and helping over 300 LA Fellows, it’s exciting to receive updates from the Fellows to hear how their lives have changed since going through the program. We were moved recently when we received an update from Nick Koutouras from Cohort 2. He wrote:

Allison,

I hope all is well.  I just wanted to share some good news. 

Four years ago, almost to the day, I started Cohort 2 as a mid-career professional trying to find my way into the next stage of my life. This year, on January 1, 2015, I officially started my year as Chairman of the Board for the Los Angeles Ronald McDonald House. 

Four years ago, I had never raised even a single dollar for charity.  Today, I am honored to let you know that I have helped bring in thousands of dollars to the organization through both personal and professional contacts.

Four years ago, LA Fellows introduced me to Los Angeles Ronald McDonald House.

Today, I thank you, Allison, and the rest of the team for creating the LA Fellows program. 

Today, I thank Lynnette Ward for suggesting I attend LA Fellows. 

And, today I thanked Jeffrey Janis, Director of Development at Los Angeles Ronald McDonald House, for posting a volunteer opportunity with LA Fellows.

However, we need some help out here. 

 

My challenge to Cohort 11 is simple.  Engage with your LA Fellows program leaders.  Listen and hear what they say.  Apply their advice and tools. Accept their critique.

Courageously make a change in yourself.   Proudly own your destiny.  Be that shiny penny. 

Passionately execute your responsibilities with your non-profit partner.  Make a difference.  Make a profound difference in yourself and in your community. 

I want to hear about another LA Fellows success story.  Will you be that success story?

 

Best regards,

Nick

 

We are so proud of Nick and all of the over 300 graduates to date who’ve made LA Fellows a success. The fact that they keep giving back is another testament to the strength of  the program's teaching. We hope that, as graduation approaches, Cohort 11 will rise up to meet the challenge Nick has put forth. 

For more information on the Los Angeles Ronald Mc Donald House and how you can get involved, please check out their website at http://rmhcsc.org/losangeles/

 

Maximizing LinkedIn: Job Search

Wendy Stackhouse of LA Fellows Cohort 2 is now working as a Social Media Consultant for Artisan Creative, Alliance Environmental Group, and AirTek Indoor Air Solutions and as a freelance blogger for various other clients. She also volunteers as a Web Content Development Instructor for the California-Pacific Conference of the United Methodist Church. She has been writing a series on how to maximize LinkedIn on Artisan's blog and this week's post discusses how to use LinkedIn for Job Search. She gladly gives credit for her expertise to LA Fellows Instructor Larry Braman and Cohort 2 Member Jay Bernard.

She recently wrote,  "I didn’t sign up with LinkedIn until I was looking for a job. I hadn’t even really heard of it when I was working in the non-profit sector and busy with the many hats I wore there. I should have signed up earlier."

Click here to read more:
http://www.artisancreative.com/_blog/Artisan_Blog/post/Maximizing_LinkedIn_Job_Search/

Maximizing Your LinkedIn Profile: Getting Started

Wendy Stackhouse of Cohort 2 used what LA Fellows instructor Larry Braman taught her in this blog post for recruiter Artisan Creative where she is a Social Media Consultant:  Maximizing Your LinkedIn Profile: Getting Started

http://www.artisancreative.com/_blog/Artisan_Blog/post/Maximizing_Your_LinkedIn_Profile_Getting_Started/

LA Fellow blogs about the "Top 8 Traits Employers are Looking For: Creative and Marketing"

One of the graduates of LA Fellows Cohort 2 recently wrote this blog post about Job Search in her new role as Online Marketing and Social Media Consultant for Artisan Creative.  She said she reflected on much of what she learned in LA Fellows when writing the post.

She writes, "Do your research.  Know as much as you can about the company culture and the person you are meeting.  Prepare a couple of interesting questions to ask your interviewer.  LinkedIn is a great place for finding inspiration!"

To read the full post, visit http://www.artisancreative.com/_blog/Artisan_Blog/post/Top_8_Traits_Employers_are_Looking_For_Creative_and_Marketing/

Wendy Stackhouse of Cohort 2 discusses job search best practices that really work!

There are two best practices that have served me well in the process of landing not one role, but two, both in a new field for me, Marketing.




First is to, before every single interview, phone, in-person, panel, write out the answers to the sample interview questions. Even "Tell me a little about yourself." (Why is that the hardest one?) Over the course of my job search, my answer has changed based on what's going on with me, what the role is, who I'm meeting, what stage of the process we are in, all sorts of reasons. Some of my answers are always the same, but to have them firmly in the front of my mind right before an interview has been essential to being articulate and calm during the meetings.



Second, remember that a job interview is a chance to meet another person, to find commonalities and maybe even make a new friend. Like an audience for a performer, they want you to do well, they want to like you. Although they are judging you in a certain way, they, like you, would love to discover that you are the perfect candidate. Interviewing and networking are both chances to meet new people and start new relationships. How fun is that?



I've had a lot of interesting experiences during my job search including a Dramatic Re-enactment of an interview (the panel messed up big time) and a very strange interview with a Daily Deal site. The jobs I have landed have come from internet site searches, black hole notwithstanding. I've tweaked my resume and cover letter over and over and over. And over. I've tried making deals with my karma. The most important factor has been thinking of the entire process as building relationships, start to finish. Today I can't wait to start working with my new manager next week and getting my feet under me in my new role. I get to build a community of creative professionals and that is my mission (thanks again, Dr. Green).



Best of luck to everyone and if there's anything I can do for you, please let me know!

Wendy Stackhouse

Cohort 2

Spotlight on Colette Ostrye

Colette Ostrye from cohort two recently completed her volunteer hours with Abode Communities, a nonprofit organization dedicated to opening new doors in people's lives through the creative and responsible design, development and operation of service-enhanced affordable housing.


We recently received a glowing recommendation for Colette Ostrye from Marla Alvarez, Community Services Manager at Abode that we would like to share a piece of:
Thank you, Colette for exemplifying the very best of the LA Fellows program and congrats on completing your volunteer hours at Abode Communities.

"Colette updated and reorganized the Excel tabulation matrix, entered the data and analyzed the results. She also made further refinements as needed to generate clearer answers from respondents. We will use the survey instrument that Colette adapted as a template for our current and future properties.

I have been very pleased with her work and the projects that Colette has completed. Colette is a warm and thoughtful person who is methodical and focused in her work. She is eager to learn and has graciously taken on tasks that can be quite tedious. She is self-directed and while she works independently, she does not hesitate to ask for additional clarification on tasks when needed. Our department can be quite busy and new projects come up quickly. Colette was always flexible and adapted to any changes with good humor. In addition, Colette solicited feedback on ways to improve her work.

We are pleased that we were able to provide Colette with an opportunity to explore other fields and to further enrich her skills. I am certain that she would be a welcome addition to any organization."

Cheryl Norris talks about her new job and the LA Fellows experience

We are thrilled to announce that cohort 2's Cheryl Norris has just made an exciting career transition!  Cheryl will be configuring, testing, and training court employees in the use of new case management software in the California Courts system.  There is so much we could say about Cheryl's journey as an LA Fellow, but we thought you might enjoy hearing about her experience directly: 

"When I started the program, I had been unemployed for over a year and had no confidence that I would be able to find a job. I really didn't know what job I wanted, how to look for a job, or where to get started.

One of the most important things I learned, was to be honest with myself about what I liked doing and what I was good at, instead of just applying for jobs that were the same as my last job. Once I was able to find my focus after several false starts, I signed up for email alerts with many employment webesites, such as localjobwall.com, and received emails everyday with new opportunities.

It only took 3 months for me to land a new job, which required me to use all the skills I recently learned during the LA Fellows program, such as resume writing, interviewing, networking, and most of all, the self confidence to go out and sell myself. 

I found the job I was looking for in terms of salary, commuting distance, and business application, and am grateful that a program like LA Fellows exists to help people in my situation get back to work."

Kenneth Strong creates marketing video for Valley Village

Thanks to our excellent nonprofit partners, the LA Fellows from each cohort have had exciting opportunites to contribute in meaningful ways to the organizations where they have volunteered. 

Kenneth Strong from Cohort 2 recently wrote, filmed, narrarated and edited this great promotional video for Valley Village, a nonprofit dedicated to protecting, fostering, developing and advancing the rights and interests of people with developmental disabilities:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E2pekR3FI_o

Congrats to Kenneth Strong from Cohort 2

Kenneth Strong from Cohort 2 has secured employment with a National non profit health agency dedicated to helping children and adults with disabilities attain greater independence.  We are so thrilled for Kenneth and could say quite a bit about his experience with the program and how it helped him to find his new job, but we thought you might enjoy hearing directly from Kenneth, himself:

"I'm writing this two months after I completed the classroom portion of the LA Fellows program at LAVC, I can genuinely say the material you learn stays with you.  In just securing a job this week, I had a better and more focused approach than I had before I entered LA Fellows.  The program is many things, but for me, it best provided direction.  So often, when looking for a job we are distracted by so many opportunities that we forget exactly what to spend the bulk of our energy on.  I had spread myself so thin I was applying for jobs as diverse as Fire Fighter and Administrative Assistant with no real purpose other than to get a paycheck.  I lacked focus and each week I didn't get a job, my confidence dipped lower and lower.

Personally, the program taught me many things about the job market that I had not known-- as I hadn't had to look for a job for 10 years.  I learned big things, such as completely 100% re-writing my resume and little things such as don't slide around in your chair in an interview.  (This latter part came in very handy when, in my interview, I was given a chair on wheels and my instinct always is to twist and turn the day away when I sit in these things!  I kept still and professional and let my smile show my lighter side; not my slide :)  

The LA Fellows program most of all is about the people you meet.  Everyone has such diverse backgrounds; not just in careers, but in life experience, and having all these people working and learning side-by-side with you is a true asset.  You make friends and you move forward in life.  Remembering them and your successes together will build your confidence and become the bedrock in your career advancement. 

Being in such a dynamic group and led by experienced instructors, you not only learn interviewing and resume skills, but understand what other people look for in job seekers.  You get support from class members and the opportunity to support others.  You have a community and each day you learn and get better at what you are aiming for.  

Additionally, as a volunteer you meet people at Nonprofits in a very professional environment.  I had the opportunity to not only learn about their business in a Development office, but I got to make a promotional video for them -- something completely unexpected, but very satisfying for me personally.  Other people in the program were able to secure employment at the very places they volunteered at -- so the possibilities are fruitful.  The opportunities in the LA Fellows program are endless if you are willing to bring your 'A' game to the table because this is the perfect place for people who are out of work to let themselves shine again."

Wendy Stackhouse transitions to Public Relations

We would like to congratulate Wendy Stackhouse from Cohort 2, who recently landed a position as a Media Relations Associate at a P.R. company that is a subsidiary of a large online marketing firm. 

After making the announcement about her new job, Wendy expressed her thanks to the staff, instructors and everyone involved with the LA Fellows Program. One of the class speakers at Cohort 2's graduation, and a frequent contributor to this blog, we feel certain Wendy will be a great success in her new industry.

Well done, Wendy!

Exciting News from Elsa Murillo

On Tuesday, we heard some fantastic news from Elsa Murillo of Cohort 2 that we couldn't wait to share.

Elsa secured employment in her targeted industry: Healthcare.  She will be working for a leading National laboratory services company that is focused on high science and innovative new products.

It is never easy to make a transition from one industry to another, but Elsa put in the hard work necessary to make this opportunity materialize.  We at the LA Fellows program celebrate this excellent news with her.

Congratulations Elsa!

Congrats to LA Fellow Nicholas Koutouras!

Nicholas Koutouras of Cohort 2 recently secured employment!  He is now a Senior Vice President, Financial Planning & Analysis Manager at a major National Bank.

Nick explained to his fellow cohort members that during his crucial last interview, the hiring manager wanted to know what he had been doing during his time off.  Without hesitating, and using the interview skills he had picked up during his training, Nick said that he had been taking part in the LA Fellows program.  He went on to talk about the volunteer commitment and how he was looking forward to helping out at the Los Angeles Ronald McDonald House.  The hiring manager was so impressed that he had been taking part in a development program that fostered volunteerism, that Nick said he believes being an LA Fellow really helped him to secure his new job.

Congratulations once again to Nick Koutouras!