60
February 21 - March 6, 2015
Spirituality
www.SanTanSun.com
Career Connectors offers hope for people looking for a job BY LYNETTE CARRINGTON
After staying home to raise her children, Sheila Coulam wanted to reenter the workforce and return to her professional career. Four years ago she found success with the help of Career Connectors. The nonprofit offers assistance with resumes and job interviews, presents keynote speakers and a chance to network and learn about companies that are hiring in the Valley. The organization also encourages its members and attendees to network to find that next job opportunity. “They have a lot of speakers that tell you how to job search, Coulam says. “You can Google all that, but it’s different when you have a person telling you their story and their experience.” She also liked that she could practice her networking skills in a relaxed environment. Coulam credits those skills she learned through Career Connectors in landing a job within her own circle of connections at SEO Services as an account manager and then as director of operations. The job market has been a rollercoaster for many people like Coulam in the Valley over the past several years, which is why one enterprising Chandler resident and former Intel executive took her skill set and put it to good use through her church by founding Career Connectors.
The organization launched in 2010 and received its 501(c)(3) status in 2012. “In the last five and a half years Career Connectors has served 11,000 Valley residents and in the East Valley we’ve served at least 5,000,” says Jessica Pierce, Career Connectors founder. “The way we help others is through connections, resources and hope. People come to our events and return to our events because it is a significant place of resources and hope in their careers.” While she was with Intel, Pierce was charged with training, organizational development and human resources. She was able to travel the world for Intel University. “I got to work with leaders and executive staff on their teams, revamping their teams and helping them to produce better results,” explains Pierce. She left Intel in 2007 to run a staffing agency servicing land development and real estate clients. In 2009, the bottom fell out of the real estate market and the business closed. “At the same time, my husband had been laid off three times in six months,” Pierce says. “Both of us were literally not working.” Pierce grappled with returning to a corporate job or doing something else. She briefly took a contract job as a trainer with the U.S. Census when it had a Valley
Career Connectors’ next meeting in Gilbert will be held 8:30 a.m. to 12 p.m. Tuesday, March 24, at Central Christian Church, Gilbert Campus Student Center. Submitted photo
office. “I went to Central Christian Church and said, ‘Can I volunteer and help people that need some resume assistance?’” Pierce says. “They said, ‘Yes! Oh my gosh, people are calling us every day.’” Pierce’s husband was confused about her wanting to volunteer during a financially trying time. She began assisting people with their resumes once a week at Central Christian in Gilbert and then expanded that to two nights a month in the Gilbert church and two nights in its Mesa church. “About two months into that, we were
having 20 or 30 people showing up. We were helping them write resumes, bringing in speakers and this thing just started happening,” Pierce adds. Cal Jernigan, the senior pastor of Central Christian Church, called Pierce and asked if she would appear on stage at services and discuss her volunteer work. He wanted to give the congregation an idea of what it was like to serve. The day after the services, there were more than 250 people lined up around the church asking for job-related assistance. “As it continued to grow, I tried to figure out the best way to serve more people and that was turning it into a