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Eastside congregations battle joblessness
by Robert Delnaey of The Michigan Catholic
Published November 20, 2009
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Robert Delaney | The Michigan Catholic
Executive coach Prudence Cole gives advice on resumes at Monday’s meeting of Eastside Take Charge, an ecumenical career networking ministry meeting at St. Ambrose Parish. |
Grosse Pointe Park - With Michigan's unemployment at 15.2 percent, it's a safe bet joblessness knows no sectarian boundaries.
That is why five Catholic, Protrestant and Anglican congregations in the Grosse Pointes and Detroit have come together across denominational lines to form Eastside Take Control, an ecumenical career networking group.
Typically, two dozen to three dozen people show up for the Monday morning meetings to get advice on resume preparation, interviewing techniques and other job-hunting skills.
"We always start out by practicing our 30-second 'elevator' speeches," says Janet Burke, whose own brief spiel tells of her experience in retail operations management and her interest in finding a new position in the same field or in employee training and development.
Burke was among those attending the ETC meeting Monday morning in The Ark at St. Ambrose Parish, the first time the Grosse Pointe Park parish has hosted the group.
ETC got its start in January at St. Paul on the Lake Parish in Grosse Pointe Farms, when parishioner Mary Ellen Braxton came up with the idea of holding the job-search meetings at 7:30 a.m. on what would normally be the first workday of the week.
"It's a great way to start the week for both men and women who have been let go, downsized, fired or their employers have gone out of business," Braxton says.
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Robert Delaney | The Michigan Catholic
Sarah Sharp, one of the coordinators of ETC, talks with Kevin Carter after Monday’s meeting. |
Since then, St. Paul Parish has been joined by Grosse Pointe Memorial (Presbyterian) Church and Christ Church (Episcopal), both in Grosse Pointe Farms, by Grace Community Church in Detroit, and now by St. Ambrose.
The congregations take turns hosting the 7:30-9:30 a.m. meetings.
Sarah Sharp, a member of St. Ambrose Parish, says she wanted to get involved with such an effort in her neighborhood after her husband was successful in finding a new job as an engineer after taking part in a similar group that meets at a Methodist church on the west wide.
Sharp says the group has had a number of success stories, as has been the experience of some similar groups, and that success often comes more from the networking of the participants than from the snappier resumes, better interviewing techniques or dress-for-success tips learned at the meetings.
As attendees get to know each other they often find out one of their new acquaintances has just what someone they know is looking for in an employee.
"A number of contacts are made that wouldn't have been made otherwise, and that's the key," Sharp says, adding, "Two of our founding members got new jobs that way - and one of them wasn't even looking."
But even if the door to a new opportunity was opened through networking, that's not to say that the better resume, interviewing skills and personal appearance tips didn't help seal the deal, participants say.
Membership in one of the sponsoring congregations is not required to participate, and Burke is among those participants who don't belong to any of them. "One of the great things about being part of this has been the opportunity to see all these great old churches," she says.
But Burke says the best thing has been learning the ins and outs of the current job-hunting process, what prospective employers are looking for and how to best present oneself.
"You want to be yourself, but you want to present your best self," she says.
Kevin Carter, who was trained as an architect and has worked in corporate facilities and real estate management, is hopeful a reviving economy will open up some new opportunity for him in that area. He heard about ETC from a friend who belongs to St. Ambrose, and Monday's meeting was his second time.
"It's good to get out and talk to other people, and it's good to be a part of a group that is helping each other however they can," Carter says.
Prudence Cole, Monday's speaker on resume preparation, knows a lot about success from her own experience in upper corporate management, and from her current work as an executive coach to senior corporate leaders.
Too many resumes are "pretty boring and sometimes not even to the point," says Cole, a member of Grace Community Church. And at time when executives are seeing a lot of resumes, "You need to think about what you can do to make your resume 'pop,'" she says.
Resumes need to be appealing and "intriguing enough that I would want to know this person more," Cole advises.
Still, the resume isn't everything. "The analogy I use is that the resume is like the billboard along the highway advertising a car - it might get you into the dealership, but the salesman still has to sell you the car," she says.
Cole also praises the value of networking, however, saying that such relationships probably account for about 65 percent of job-search successes.
She sees her volunteer work with ETC as a calling from the Lord. "Wouldn't it be great if we could find jobs for everybody on the east side?" Cole asks.
For more information about Eastside Take Charge, call Sarah Sharp at (248) 219-5720 or e-mail her at sarahsharp521@gmail.com.
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