ENCOURAGE — HELP — TEACH

 

As an HR professional, I am here to help employees, managers, and owners be successful. Over the last 8 months, I’ve been volunteering every Thursday at the Chattanooga Community Kitchen helping homeless individuals craft their resumes and apply for jobs online. I am starting to see clearly how my ‘learned professional skillset’ can ultimately be used for a much greater good than just in my normal job as an HR consultant. My goal when volunteering (and professionally as well) is threefold (hint: caption above).

First and foremost it is to ENCOURAGE these individuals who have been through much heart ache, loss, and instability. Each person I meet with has God-given skills and I want them to realize (even for a few minutes) how equipped they are to use their skills to find gainful employment and to find stability in their life. At the end of each session, I pray over each person (who allows me to) and ask God for blessings on their lives, finding a stable job, and reconciling broken relationships. My hope is that they can leave that little office with a comfort of knowing God has given them valuable skills and that He loves them.

A man last week, impressed me so much. He has 10+ years of welding experience and used to work for a Fortune 500 company making good money…when life happened. It had been so long since he felt accomplished but I could see a re-vitalization in his eyes as we were sitting there talking about all he has done and CAN DO! This week he came back (looking clean and sharp) and told me that he has an interview with one of the top employers in Chattanooga for a welding job (AWESOME!).

The time I spend is to ultimately HELP them land a job. I want to develop a resume that differentiates them from their competition, and will secure a job that will provide a positive daily routine. Just to have a resume…is a game changer for some entry level positions. My personal reward comes when I hear back from individuals that they got hired. Notes like the one below make it all worth it!

Recently, I had the opportunity to TEACH a class at The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. Thanks to Professor Dan Gilmore (from Squire Strategies), I had the opportunity to be a sub for his undergrad Employment Law course. One of my favorite classes at UNCC was my Employment Law Course, so it was cool to be on the other side. Nothing gets better than some candy (aka: my keep them awake strategy for a 3-hour Thursday night class) and case law!

I’m very thankful for the God-given abilities (and the flexibility) I have as an HR Consultant in order to ENCOURAGE, HELP, and TEACH others! Each of us has skills that can benefit others and I ENCOURAGE you to seek out opportunities to get involved and HELP another.

Many Blessings!

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