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/

 

LA Fellows Featured on KTLA's Money Smart Segment

The LA Fellows program was featured on a recent Money Smart segment of KTLA Channel 5 News (Los Angeles). Our own Nick Koutouras from Cohort 2 was interviewed, as was Lennie Ciufo, Director of the Job Training Department at Los Angeles Valley College, out of which LA Fellows operates. It aired on the KTLA News at 10 on Monday, May 5, 2014, with Glen Walker reporting.

From their website, ktla.com:
According to the U.S. Department of Labor, the number of “long term unemployed” those jobless for 27 weeks or more make up nearly 36% of the total unemployed. But there is an entire “hidden job market” that’s not being tapped into and we know how you can get your foot in the door.

In case you missed it, you can watch it here:

http://ktla.com/2014/05/05/a-look-inside-the-hidden-job-market/#axzz30woBrrTO

LA Fellows Getting More Attention Online

All of us here at the LA Fellows program are excited to see the online press pick up on the story we previously posted about, which ran on NextAvenue.com. This article has since been reposted on Forbes.com and referenced and linked to in an article on jobs.aol.com. We are very proud of the difference we are making and happy that the world is hearing about the work we do.

To see the additional articles, click on the following links:

http://www.forbes.com/sites/nextavenue/2013/11/13/programs-and-tips-to-help-the-long-term-unemployed/

http://jobs.aol.com/articles/2013/11/18/5-programs-helping-the-long-term-unemployed-find-work/

If you know anyone in the Los Angeles area who is looking for a job, please have them read these articles and come to one of our orientations. Also, please retweet, like, and share on all of your social media accounts - LA Fellows is making a difference!

 

LA Fellows is Making National News

Most of our readers are well past their Sesame Street years, but did you know that PBS has created a place for us just around the corner? Their website, Next Avenue, is a place where "grown-ups keep growing." There is a whole section on Work and Purpose with lots of informative articles that job seekers could find useful.

Next Avenue reporter Elizabeth Isele spoke to LA Fellows Program Director Allison Silver and two of our many LA Fellows graduates, Nicholas Koutouras of Cohort 2 and Christine Stenberg of Cohort 1 about our unique, award-winning program. Their stories are heavily featured in an article just posted about getting work after long-term unemployment. Check out the original story here:

http://www.nextavenue.org/article/2013-11/programs-and-tips-help-long-term-unemployed



or read on...

Programs and Tips to Help the Long-Term Unemployed

How workers over 50 can land a position, even if they've been jobless for months

More than 4 million Americans today make up the nation’s “long-term unemployed,” those who have been out of work for 27 weeks or more. That’s down from 5 million a year ago, but still an enormous number.

About the only good news for these people, often in their 50s or 60s, is that there are some innovative public/private collaborative programs successfully getting the long-term unemployed back to work.

If you’re 50+ and have been looking for a job for awhile or know someone like that, these programs are worth a look.

Workforce agencies across the country are reaching out to help thousands of displaced boomers, according to Yvette Chocolaad, employment and training director for the National Association of State Workforce Agencies. Exacerbating the challenge is the increased complexity of job searches today. People looking for work now need social media marketing and personal branding skills as well as an ability to craft their resumes to include the right keywords and meet employers’ needs.

The Platform to Employment Program

One program with proven success is the Connecticut-based Platform to Employment, profiled by Next Avenue in January and featured on 60 Minutes. Platform to Employment gives jobless people five weeks of training and then places them as interns at local employers — where they generally wind up getting hired.

Lately, Platform to Employment has expanded across the country. This year, the concept has popped up in Dallas, Cincinnati, San Diego, Chicago, Minneapolis, Newark, N.J., and, most recently, Denver. Detroit and Orlando, Fla., are on tap for this winter and San Francisco is expected to follow early next year.

The LA Fellows Program

Chocolaad also gives high marks to the LA Fellows program. Here's how it works, along with advice for midlife job-seekers from two graduates, Nicholas Koutouras and Christine Stenberg.

Launched in 2010, LA Fellows was created at Los Angeles Valley College, which saw an opportunity to address two pressing community problems: Thousands of highly skilled, middle manager-level men and women looking for work and 30 percent of local nonprofits were in danger of closing because of staffing cutbacks due to the economic climate.

The program was originally funded by Los Angeles’s Community Development Department and is now supported by local WorkSource Centers, plus a variety of government and private partners.

The LA Fellows are selected through an application and interview process just as rigorous as if the candidates were applying for jobs. Project director Allison Silver says she looks for proactive job seekers with a serious commitment and an eagerness to learn.

Once accepted, Fellows receive seven weeks of free training, including sessions on beefing up their computer and networking skills. Then they’re matched up with nearby nonprofits, where they volunteer their services for 100 hours. The projects range from updating websites to creating marketing plans to event planning to grant writing.

So far, 230 LA Fellows have graduated (each class is called a cohort) and the program has a nearly 70 percent job placement rate in Los Angeles, a city with one of the country's highest unemployment rates: 9.2 percent.

Silver says employers now come to her, asking: "How can I get an LA Fellow to come and work for me?"

Koutouras' Success Story and Advice

Here’s how LA Fellows' graduates Nicholas Koutouras and Christine Stenberg parlayed their training into satisfying, well-paid jobs and the advice they offer to the unemployed:
 LA Fellows graduate Nicholas Koutouras
Koutouras was in his late 40's when he lost his job as senior financial manager at a bank in May 2010. With a master's degree in accounting and information systems, he had built a successful career as a finance exec with large banks, insurers and accounting firms until a corporate merger eliminated his position.

Koutouras knew that hiring managers preferred to offer jobs to people who were currently working and that an LA Fellow volunteering assignment would fill that bill. After being accepted as a Fellow and going through the program's training, he was matched with the Los Angeles Ronald McDonald House to be a grant writer there.

Just prior to starting that volunteer work, however, Koutouras landed a full-time job as a senior vice president at a major national bank. He took the position (and has since been promoted). But eager to honor his Fellows commitment, Koutouras also joined a finance development committee for the Ronald McDonald House's Board of Trustees.

These days, Koutouras continues volunteering in his community — he’s on the board of the Ronald McDonald House and another group — and is an LA Fellows mentor.

Koutouras’ tips for job hunters:

1. Go get your future. "Be proactive. Once you've decided the direction you wish to go, target a company or industry and focus on preparing for your next role there," he says.

2. Join a professional organization. "Don't tell yourself you can't afford the dues; many waive their fees or reduce them for people who are currently unemployed," says Koutouras. "I joined the Financial Professionals International Association and within months I was made vice president of programs. This allowed me to directly interface with more than 300 senior level executives and practice 'my unemployed story' in a safe environment."

3. Don't waste your time sending out blind resumes or scrolling through web job boards. "Tap the hidden job market revealed to you through your network connections," he says. "Through this effort, you will learn about expansion plans at your target companies, job openings due to promotions and turnover and the identities of influential decision makers. Be sure to follow up on any of their

hidden' job tips."

Stenberg's Success Story and Advice

LA Fellows graduate Christine Stenberg

Christine Stenberg, then in her early 50s, endured a traumatic 30 days from mid-April to mid-May in 2010. Her relationship ended, two of her Labrador retrievers died and she was laid off from her IT management position due to a cutback.

Then, Stenberg was chosen for the first LA Fellows class and she has never looked back.

Her Fellows volunteer match was at a WorkSource career development center, where she trained and helped place unemployed individuals in bio-tech and pharmaceutical companies. After 43 hours of volunteering, WorkSource hired her full-time.

She then helped 60 clients find jobs before the poor economy forced the government to slash funding at the center. Sensing layoffs were coming, Stenberg drew on her new found LA Fellows confidence and skills to land a business analyst job at the National Notary Association.

Stenberg, who has since been promoted to IT manager, shares her story with each new LA Fellows class. Her three tips for the unemployed:

1. Stay positive. "Over time, your situation will change," says Stenberg. "I could have been extremely down when I lost my job and dogs. Instead, the day I was laid off, I arrived home to find four offers on my home that I had put up for sale. As a result, I didn’t have to worry about my finances and could focus on my job search."

2. Research your options online. "See what a company you're interested in says about itself," she advises. "But even more importantly, find out what others are saying about that company. What's its culture? Would you feel comfortable working there? Are current employees happy or do you spot a lot of turnover? If you like what you learn, use your networks to find an employee at the company who’d be willing to give you an informational interview."

3. Don’t let fear hold you back. "On my first day at LA Fellows," Stenberg says, "I expressed my fear of public speaking, which is a skill that’s key to your success in the program. Throughout the training, I took advantage of every opportunity to speak publicly and, as the program concluded, my colleagues selected me as one of our graduation speakers. Now that I’ve overcome this fear, I have spoken to the Los Angeles Mayor's committee and the Los Angeles Community College Board of Directors, among others, about the importance of the LA Fellows program and what it did for me."

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!