WorkFaith graduate Shareen spent a year with no success in her job search. But one month after graduating from the WorkFaith Job Search Accelerator program, she landed her dream job. Read on for her story.
Shareen, a recent WorkFaith graduate, had several difficult years before we met her. She suddenly became ill and was let go from her job at a large, prestigious company. Then, after she recovered, she traveled to another city to care for her parents, both of whom were suffering from cancer but would thankfully survive.
With these upsets behind her, Shareen wanted to return to the workplace but desired to become more marketable. With her family’s encouragement, she went back to school to get her Master’s in Business Administration (MBA).
She had not had a full-time job for nearly five years before starting to look for a job after graduation. As Shareen began looking for a job, she feared it would be difficult because of her years out of the job market, because the job market was soft, and because MBA’s were not as popular with employers as they once were.
Her dream job was to work as a pharmaceutical sales rep. She had multiple interviews with one company in an over three month period. Their jobs were just what she was looking for at that time. They flew her to on-site interviews, where she would be interviewed by four different people. But, in the end, they selected another person. That happened several times in a row on different jobs in that company.
Even though she had experience working for several highly regarded companies, she had been looking for a job for almost a year without success. Shareen was getting discouraged and was running out of the money she had saved earlier. She changed course and enrolled in a program at the WorkFaith. She found her current job just one month after completing the course.
With the support of program leaders, Shareen applied for a job on LinkedIn. The company called her later that day. They sent her some job assessments. She completed and submitted those. They scheduled an online interview only a couple of days later. Only an hour after the interview, they called back and hired her. The whole process was rapid.
She loves her job as a loan originator. She helps people finance their houses and guides the applicant through the home loan application process. As the main point of contact with the company for the applicant, she plays an important role.
Shareen found four WorkFaith teachings were the key to her success. The first was ensuring that your application was in tip-top shape. The boot camp convinced her to keep the applications and work history as good as possible even when her job search discouraged her. She didn’t slack off the hard and tedious work of making her job application and resume as clear and direct as possible.
The second was developing and practicing her 30-second commercial. The prepared points were needed frequently, and they were effective. The third was dealing with the time out of the workforce directly and matter-of-factly. The fourth was not letting earlier rejections stop her from chasing her future. As taught in the workshop, she had to persist and keep going until she found the right job.
Finally, with a happy smile on her face, Shareen said, “God worked things out. When he says it is for you, it is for you. There was no hiccup, and there was not a question about it. This job was for me.”
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Author: Charlie Gillard
Charlie Gillard is a graduate of Purdue University in Chemical Engineering. Charlie worked for Shell Oil Company as an engineer and technical and operations manager before retiring after a 37 years. While at Shell, Charlie was a college campus recruiter interviewing engineering, science, and Information Technology graduates part-time. Following his retirement from Shell, Charlie formed a consulting company that provides consulting services to oil refineries and chemical plants.