WorkNet Training Services

We want to increase the effectiveness and joy of those providing employment/career services to people with significant barriers. One way we do this is through training.

"Inspiring & practical! Theory is wonderful, but the trick is in finding real-life application that makes a difference. You have found that application."

WorkNet's seminars are fun and fast-paced, filled with true stories and practical ideas for making your job easier and you more effective.

Mission Possible:
Job Search Strategies for the Difficult-to-Place

Where Have All the Clients Gone?:
Follow-up & Retention Strategies

Lessons learned in the Trenches
Tips, Tools and Techniques for Placing the"Unemployable"
Employer Cultivation:
Developing Partnerships That Work!

Raising the Bar:
Creating A Successful Career Development Program for the Difficult-to-Place

Work! God's Reward or Punishment?

QUOTES FROM ATTENDEES

Description of Each Seminar Topic

No One Is Unemployable:
Creative Solutions for Overcoming Barriers to Employment
Based on the "Top 10" book of the same name, this fast-paced seminar, full of practical techniques and new perspectives, will immediately increase your success with even the most difficult-to-place candidates. Come learn a proven 10 step process for identifying and overcoming any barrier — from the employer's perspective. A few of the techniques you'll learn include how to develop "good answers," adjusting candidates' negative outlooks, finding positions for candidates who are unable or unwilling to change, and making your candidates stand out from the crowd.

Motivating Your Candidates:
Getting Them to Work For Themselves, Instead of Against You
It's their life . . . so why are you working harder at it than they are? Motivation is not something you can give your candidates, rather you must draw from within them what compels them to invest in their own career. In this seminar, we will teach you practical techniques and new approaches to discover and increase candidate motivation, and ensure that they remain motivated even when you are not in the room! A few of the tools presented include the Work Motivation Exercise, The Three Option Rule, which teaches personal responsibility, the 50/50 Rule, and the "Fear Factor."

Getting out of Kansas:
Designing Career Paths for People with Barriers
Are you overwhelmed by your difficult-to-place candidates and settle for merely helping them get "job" instead of moving toward self-sufficiency in a career they love? This interactive, practical seminar introduces easy-to-use career assessment tools and interactive exercises designed especially for people who don't want to return to school to have a career they enjoy, or can't think beyond their immediate needs. You will learn how to discover each candidate's Dream Job, identify an Entry-Career Job they are qualified to do today and how to design a career path that moves them toward their goals starting today.

Follow the Yellow Brick Road:
Designing Career Paths & Advancing Toward the Dream
Do you become overwhelmed by your "difficult-to-place" candidates and settle for merely helping them get "a job" instead of moving them toward self-sufficiency in a career they love? Then this interactive, practical seminar is for you! We will introduce career assessment tools designed especially for people who don't enjoy test-taking, don't read well, don't want to return to school in order to have a career they enjoy, or can't think beyond their immediate needs. You will learn how to discover each candidate's Dream Job, identify an entry-career job they can secure immediately because they are the best qualified, and develop a path to move them toward their goals starting today. Plus, you will learn 10 "Secrets for Advancement" that work for even the most difficult-to-place, so they not only keep the job but get promoted! [I] When possible, the initial portion of the seminar will be spent discovering the Dream Jobs of actual job seekers for application throughout the two days.

Attitude Adjustment!:
Adjusting Outlooks & Teaching Good Attitudes
One of the most difficult tasks we face, and often avoid, is dealing with candidates' and employers' bad attitudes. The bad news is that we can 't change others' attitudes' the good news is we have discovered how to get them to change their own. Often, they are unaware of the attitude they project -they think they are being friendly and others think they talk too much. Same may even be aware of how they are perceived but see no reason to change. In this workshop, we will teach you the simple keys to adjusting peoples' perspectives so they can adjust their own attitudes. You will learn a simple process for "saying the hard things" so candidates can make the impressions they want to. Additional lessons include

Explain This!:

Good Answers to Tough Questions

A good resume may get an interview, but good answers get the job! Most people have some explaining to do, so it's not enough to be qualified, they must convince the employer they're worth the risk! The author of "No One Is Unemployable" offers proven strategies for developing good answer to tough interview questions, so clients with barriers can get the job!

Mining for Gold!:
Resumes for People with Wacky Work History
Everyone offers something an employer would pay for… but with some clients it's hard find and express on paper. Without a good resume, it's hard to get an interview and get the job. The author of "No One Is Unemployable" offers a proven process and techniques to help clients with no, little or wacky work history develop effective, honest resumes that get the interview! Then, they can prove they're great and get the job!

What Bosses Expect You to Know, But Don't Tell You
The #1 reason our candidates are not hired or do not get promoted is that they don't understand the U.S. business culture—so it's our job to teach them! The problem is, we don't know what they don't know, so we don't know what to teach them, plus it can be a touchy topic and we don't want to offend anyone. This course will help you identify the differences between your candidates' cultures and the U.S. business culture, so you know what to teach. We will also share proven approaches and techniques to deal with the fear and defensiveness this topic often invokes. In the end, your candidates will be more employable and promotable, and you will increase your placement, retention, and advancement rates! [I] When possible, the final portion of the seminar will be spent introducing the U.S. business culture to actual job seekers, allowing you to observe how the "walls come down" and the "lights turn on."

Mission Possible:
Job Search Strategies for the Difficult-to-Place
The job search process is a screen-out process, and many of our candidates end up in the trash. Our job is to help employers discover the candidate's abilities, not their disabilities! By learning the "Eight Essential Questions" needed to develop an effective job search strategy, you will be able to create an individualized plan for any candidate. Special attention will be given to developing strategies for people with felony convictions, no U.S. work history, gaps in work history, changing fields, and no paid/verifiable work history. The discussion and case studies will increase your ability to determine which tools and approaches are best and worst for marketing various candidates. [I] When possible, the final portion of the seminar will be spent creating job search strategies for actual job seekers.

Where Have All the Clients Gone?
Follow-up & Retention Strategies
Does all your hard work quickly unravel once candidates get on the job? Do you have difficulty getting them to call you back? Do they quit first, then call you? Do you dread the "follow-up phone call" as much as they do?! If so, this seminar is for you. We will help you discover what's going wrong, learn to place candidates in jobs that automatically increase your retention rate, and ask the questions that help your candidates stay on the job.

Lessons Learned in the Trenches:
Proven Techniques for Working with the Difficult-to-Place
Helping your candidates get a job and build a career is much like building a home—if you lay a good foundation and use the right materials, the results are beautiful and lasting. So where do you make your investment? . . . up-front, so candidates are prepared to conduct a successful career job search, and return to your program as volunteers, mentors and guest speakers? . . . or, do you spend too much of your energy and creativity on the back end, "re-placing" candidates, locating those who have disappeared, and "re-motivating" candidates who have been job searching for months? In this seminar, WorkNet's "master craftsmen" will present our top ten tools to build powerful relations with each candidate and the community to get the results you want. You will learn how to help each candidate internalize the lessons being taught, how to teach candidates to make good decisions and build a 50/50 partnership so they take responsibility for their own lives, and how to say "the hard things." If you have been in the field for a while, you will learn new ways of using old tools. If you are new, we will teach you tools you never knew existed and you will be more effective from the start!

Raising the Bar:
Creating A Successful Career Development Program for the Difficult-to-Place
Is your goal to help job candidates achieve "self-sufficiency?" Are your graduates currently self-sufficient? If not, you should consider the WorkNet Model of Career Development & Job Placement for the Difficult-to-Place. This proven model has produced a placement rate of nearly 85%, with a one-year retention rate of nearly 65% and more than 30% of candidates advancing in their careers in the first year on the job. Come discover the WorkNet Model and how to adapt it for your site. Some of the most exciting and immediate results you will see include entry-career job placement within four weeks of workshop graduation, candidates working with you rather than against you, increased candidate participation in follow-up, and greater employer satisfaction. Finally, your candidates will begin moving toward self-sufficiency!

Employer Cultivation:
Developing Partnerships that Work!
Wouldn't it be great if employers came to you, instead of you always having to find them?! Cultivating the right kind of relationships will produce employers who call you with job openings, trust your judgment about candidate referrals, and recommend you to their colleagues, benefiting both you and your candidates. The authors of No One Is Unemployable will teach you how to answer difficult questions about your candidate base, funding, and agency, examine your employer marketing tools, and discover your employers' priorities so you can create repeat business with this very important "other customer."

Work! God's Reward or Punishment?
For you, is "work" a four-letter-word? Are you sure it's part of God's punishment for man's sin? This seminar explores what the Bible says about the role of "work" in our lives. It reviews how "God's wonderful plan for our lives" is intertwined with work, and what work should look like when done by Christians. The seminar offers a fun self-evaluation of your own work habits.