A method leads to job-search success

Turns out he was right. It was the last job-search strategy he needed; this one helped him find his career path. Working with the Five O’Clock Club methods and Quiello, Ball landed a job as a marketing manager working on an international photo project for InterContinental Hotels in about three months.

“This job is a perfect fit and in my target industry, hospitality and travel,” he said.

“This approach helped me learn what I was good at and what I enjoyed doing. It gave me the confidence, drive and focus to believe in my skill set and to tell people what I had to offer. I’ll use these job-search skills for the rest of my life.”

With young workers needing to change careers five to eight times in their lives, Quiello’s goal is “to help clients build a solid set of job-search skills that work.” She and her career management business partner, Jennifer Vogel, became certified Five O’Clock Club coaches when they saw how closely the methods aligned with their own coaching philosophy. They’ve seen more than 90 percent of their clients who followed the methods land a job in 10 to 12 weeks.

The Five O’Clock Club is a national outplacement and career coaching organization that has refined its methods through 25 years of research. Certified coaches guide clients individually and in groups through an intense search process.

“Clients learn to take control of their own search,” Vogel said. “Job seekers get bombarded with so much information and advice. We invite them to turn off the noise and put trust and time into this system.”

The process starts with a personal assessment. Coaches ask clients to sit down and think about where they see themselves in five, 10, 15, 20 and 25 years from now. What will their job, family, lifestyle look like?

“At about 15 years out, they generally find the freedom to see themselves and their situation very differently. That can generate great discussions with a coach,” said Quiello. “If where they want to go is different than where they are now, then the job search becomes how to chart a course to get there.”

One exercise requires clients to compile a list of past experiences where they felt happy and successful. They narrow it down to seven and begin to look for common threads in those stories. They use that information to create a marketing plan, including a more effective resume and a two-minute pitch that tells others about their skills, accomplishments and goals.

Lara Young had studied art in college, but the exercise showed that all of her favorite experiences involved writing and bringing people together. Her jobs as a legal assistant and an account executive for a printing company hadn’t brought satisfaction.

“This method helped me find and target the kind of jobs I wanted to do. The method took a big process and broke it down into manageable pieces. It wasn’t abstract. It was do this, now do that. It helped me focus,” said Young.

As directed, Young narrowed down her target industries and found 200 job descriptions within those interests that matched her skills and career goals. She lined up meetings with people in those industries who could help, aiming for six to eight contacts a week. The process was time-consuming and enlightening. Unemployed clients can expect to spend 30 to 40 hours a week in job-search activities.

“As clients meet people, ask questions and get feedback, they learn to refine their targets, focus their search strategy and make connections that count,” said Vogel.

Young aimed to be an editor but knew she needed a steppingstone job to get there.

“I hated the cold calling, and it was embarrassing to open up and tell people I was unemployed, but it was telling everyone what I could do and wanted to do that paid off,” said Young.

Because she knew Spanish, she was hired as a contract editor by AT&T to help develop its Spanish website. She now works as the marketing coordinator for Standard Press, in Midtown Atlanta, and is in the process of launching her own Spanish website for travelers, www.lastsecondspanish.com. Many of her search contacts offered to help with her startup company.

Quiello knows that networking is a much richer experience when clients have put in the time to design a focused marketing strategy.

“There’s a big difference in asking for general job help and being able to say ‘I see myself as a learning/training designer and in my past position, I’ve accomplished this and this. Would you be willing to look at my target positions and give me some advice?' ” Quiello said. “When you are focused and know what you want, you’ll be amazed at how many people are willing to give you career assistance.”

Young said that she learned that she had more talents than she had thought and gained confidence in sharing them.

“You should never be afraid to approach someone significantly more successful than you and tell them what you could do for them,” she said. “I’m just at the start of my career, but I’m headed in the right direction.”

Some people, such as Ball and Young, don't go through the Five O'Clock Club to find their coaches, but others do.

Five O’Clock Club members can choose individual coaching ($100-$300 an hour on average) or more affordable virtual group strategy meetings that are facilitated by coaches, Vogel said. The membership fee is $49, but the group's website, www.fiveoclockclub.com, also offers free career search articles and videos.