A Conversation about Finding a Job

The Church has recently made available a new videotape and workbook set titled JobSearch: The Inside Track. The materials are designed to help members find the job they need. To learn how they might be used, the Ensign talked with Larry Stevenson, field manager of LDS Employment Services.

Q.: How well does JobSearch work?

A.: With somebody helping as a “coach,” it works very well. Studies have shown that people who go through an employment program like this with a coach will get a job that is better suited to them in one-half the time and at one-third higher pay than those who try it without a coach.

Q.: A “coach” sounds like some sort of trainer. Who can be a coach, and what does he or she do?

A.: A coach is someone to help you develop the skills for the job search, someone to stimulate your thinking about what you can do on your own.

Anyone who is willing to receive some orientation, then go through the JobSearch program personally, can be a coach; it can be a home teacher, a parent, a priesthood or Relief Society leader, or a ward employment specialist. But it’s important that the person go through the program’s videotapes and workbooks before trying to help someone else through it.

We are seeing some innovative and creative approaches to using these materials. The British Isles stakes have called employment specialists who coach job-seekers through the program. Then, when some of those job-seekers have found employment, they in turn become coaches. In the Boise, Idaho, area, some elders quorum and Relief Society presidents have been assigned to coach people through the first level of JobSearch so these leaders will be aware of how the job-hunter’s search is progressing. In another area, members seeking employment have formed a “job club” to encourage each other.

The principles are excellent for teenagers. When one father coached his son through the program, the young man got an after-school job with an engineering firm—the field in which he’d like to work someday.

Q.: How was JobSearch developed?

A.: It was developed by a firm that specializes in helping companies place employees in other jobs when a cutback is necessary. Church personnel worked closely with the JobSearch developer to incorporate ideas and practices critical to finding the right kind of employment.

While the JobSearch materials deal primarily with the specific tasks of finding a job, we strongly urge people to make their search for employment a matter of constant prayer.

Q.: What should people expect from the program?

A.: First, they should understand that it usually takes about six or eight weeks to get just the right job. The program can be used either by those who are unemployed or by those who want to change their field of employment or move up within their field. One man, for example, was successful at sales in his field, but he had a goal to be a factory sales representative for a completely unrelated kind of product. He pinpointed the type of job he wanted and found it.

Primarily, JobSearch allows a person to understand how he is in control, how he can use Church and community resources to find employment. The program isn’t meant to replace personal effort. An individual has to take the initiative and work hard to find the job he wants. But the program helps him pinpoint what that job is, helps him learn the right skills to obtain it, then helps him focus and organize his efforts and carry them through.

Q.: The videotapes and workbooks seem to cover the same ground. Why are both necessary?

A.: They complement each other. The videotapes “model” certain techniques and behaviors, showing how it’s done. But the workbooks help in planning and organizing. The information and records gathered by the job-seeker in the workbooks will be invaluable.

Q.: Where can people find the JobSearch videotape and workbook set?

A.: Many people should be able to check out the sets from their stake library. The Church initially sent one set to each stake in the United States, Canada, and Great Britain. But the program has proved so popular that many stakes are buying extra copies. We produced what we thought would be a three-year supply of the videotapes, but since May of last year, 80 percent of that supply has been sold. More will be made available, however, according to demand.

The sets can be ordered through distribution centers. The six videotapes cost $36.00. Their stock number is VNVV3621. The six workbooks cost $3.25; their number is PEWE0358.

Larry Stevenson, field manager, LDS Employment Services