Key ERS Message

Begin your discussions with resources by communicating the value ERS offers them. The following key features serve as an impressive demonstration of the reach of ERS:

• A growing database of searchable active and passive candidates, with a large number of placements each year
• Diverse candidates who have been taught principles of hard work and reliability
• Over 70 years of experience as a global organization making a local impact in communities all over the world
• Experience helping thousands of companies fill their opportunities with qualified candidates
• Professionally managed program
• Links to online communities as well as proprietary universities 

Don’t Walk Away Too Quickly

Don’t walk away from a potential resource if you do not see an immediate need for what that resource has to offer. Although some may not be instantly helpful, many will prove helpful later on. Resources are not only businesses with jobs immediately available; in many cases, you build a relationship with a company first and then the job leads, networking resources, or training opportunities come afterward.Proactively develop relationships so that resources are already in place when the candidates need them. Also, some resources may have opportunities in locations other than your local area; you should cultivate these relationships because they may benefit candidates in other places around the world.

Keep Track of Resources, Leads, and Candidates

Encourage employers to create a profile on LDSJobs.org. Help schools and other community resources create these profiles. As you work with resources, keep detailed records in the progress notes of their profiles to keep yourself and other staff members up-to-date. For more information on records, please refer to section 18, “Handling Records.”

Pool of Candidates

Resource development is not simply about making sure there are resources available for candidates. It is also about making sure that there are candidates available for resources. The LDSJobs website allows ERC-approved employers to search on their own for qualified candidates. To make this possible, strongly encourage candidates to:

• Register on the website.
• Complete at least 90 percent of their profile.
• Make their profile searchable by employers.

It is incredibly important that candidates make their profiles searchable by employers. Employers often register on the LDSJobs website because of the opportunity to search for candidates at no cost. If there is a significant pool of candidates for employers to search, they will be more impressed with ERS and the LDSJobs website, and they will be more likely to hire ERC candidates.

It is equally important to ensure that candidates create quality profiles. Having a pool of candidates with poor profiles will not give employers confidence in ERS candidates. As you teach candidates about LDSJobs profiles, encourage them to use the principles taught in the Career Workshop to complete their “Me in 30 Seconds” statements and power statements. Also encourage them to use the Resume Builder available to them at no cost on the website.

Resource development is generally categorized into three different levels to help center staff identify resources. Missionaries and volunteers will be involved only in levels 1 and 2, while paid staff will be involved in all three.

A relationship between ERS and a resource does not require a contract or an agreement. It is based on an individual’s or company’s desire to work with ERS. Informal relationships are often successful and beneficial. Although relationships may be informal, encourage resources to register on the LDSJobs website. When resources are registered on the website, candidates will be able to search and apply for their opportunities. It will allow ERC-approved employers with an editor role on the LDSJobs.org to search for qualified candidates.

The following three sections talk about each level of resource development.

This level involves identifying resources that exist in the community and sharing them with candidates, employment specialists, Church leaders, and other center staff. After a potential resource has been identified, the ERC should attempt to make contact with that resource and cultivate a beneficial work relationship. All centers should actively search for these opportunities.

Often, you’ll identify some of the best resources to share as you talk with candidates and Church leaders during your normal, day-to-day activities at the ERC. Remember, this level of resource development need not be difficult. A few ideas for where you can learn about and identify potential resources are listed below:

• Job Placement
  • Job postings and company resources on LDSJobs.org
  • Stake jobs posted on the website
  • Casual discussions with Church leaders and ward members about their careers
  • Career expos and job fairs
  • Past candidates placed by the ERC
  • Community and governmental resources that provide information on employers, companies, and key referrals in the community
• Career Development
  • School websites or education resources on LDSJobs.org
  • Candidates who have recently earned degrees or completed training programs
  • Education fairs
  • Community and governmental resources that provide information on schools, training programs, and funding options
• Small Business Management
  • Database of small business resources on LDSJobs.org
  • Local small business owners who have recommendations for microcredit lenders or small business associations
  • Past candidates who successfully started or improved a business with the help of ERS
  • Community and governmental resources that provide information on small business associations, microcredit lenders, and self-employment training programs

Do not feel restricted to the ideas listed above. There are many places you can look to identify resources in your area. After you’ve identified resources in the community to help your candidates, do what you can to meet and create relationships with these resources. These relationships may not be formal or extensive in the beginning. Some ideas for meeting and creating relationships with resources are listed below.

• Talk to Ward and Stake Leaders and Members

Speaking to ward and stake leaders is an excellent way of finding resources and could help you get referrals to key resources in the community. The likelihood of creating a successful and beneficial work relationship with a resource will be increased if you can be introduced to them by a mutual acquaintance. These are called warm contacts.

• Talk to Past and Current Candidates

Past candidates who successfully found employment, started a business, or enrolled in a training program can become valuable contacts. These people often know which companies are hiring in their field, what schools offer the best preparation, and which small business organizations provide the most support to entrepreneurs. Current candidates are also a great source of information. During their searches, candidates learn about opportunities and meet contacts that could help other candidates. Both past and current candidates can either lead the ERC to valuable resources or serve as resources themselves.

• Make Cold Calls

A cold call is when you introduce yourself to a resource without a referral. This is only a moderately effective method of meeting resources, but it may be your only method in some cases. If you want to contact a company but do not know anyone who works there, you can search online job-networking sites, such as LinkedIn.com, to see if any Church members are with the company or know someone within the company.

• Participate in Professional Organizations that Have Value

Chambers of commerce, the BYU Management Society, and other professional organizations where businesses come together are excellent means of meeting resources. Participants are there to make connections to benefit their businesses, so this is a natural setting to learn about their needs and explain the benefits of the ERC. Every ERC should seek out and actively participate in these types of organizations. These groups may also be a means of introducing the ERC to new companies in the area that are looking to hire employees.

• Get to the Right People

Your goal should be to get to a representative who has the appropriate level of authority. These decision makers are the ones who can benefit the center. Avoid the pitfall of spending too much time with less-influential personnel because they are easier to meet with. Try to obtain referrals to the decision makers who manage the organization’s staffing, sourcing, or enrollment.

You don’t necessarily have to meet with resources in person to participate in this level of resource development. Beneficial relationships are often developed during phone calls or even via e-mail communication. Spend an appropriate portion of your time on resource development, and don’t presume that relationships can only be cultivated in person.

This level of resource development typically involves an exploratory discussion, either in person or over the telephone, and focuses on cultivating center-based relationships and leads as the ERC learns what resources are willing to do for candidates.

As you create these relationships, you may encounter employers who are willing to post openings on LDSJobs.org before posting them elsewhere, representatives from small business organizations who could attend networking groups for self-employment candidates, or enrollment advisers from a local college or training program who may speak at an ERC. All centers should actively explore what resources are willing to do for ERS candidates.

• Communicate Value

This level of resource development may seem intimidating at first glance because of the misconception that ERC staff should ask for unwarranted handouts or special favors for candidates. However, there are many reasons why potential resources are excited to work with ERS and provide extra incentives to our candidates. Some of these reasons include the resource’s ability to:

• Post opportunities on the LDSJobs.org website

Resources are encouraged to post job leads, training opportunities, and self-employment services that will be available for viewing by hundreds of thousands of candidates. Resources must register on LDSJobs.org to post opportunities and create a profile. Community resources are encouraged to register and create profiles on the website so they can post opportunities as well.

• Search for qualified candidates

Typical placement agencies and job search engines charge substantial fees for employers, schools, and small business associations to search for candidates on their websites. ERS, however, provides this service at no charge, giving resources the opportunity to personally take charge of finding and contacting qualified candidates through LDSJobs.org. After resources register and create a profile on LDSJobs.org, they will need approval from ERC staff via the website to search candidates.

• Spend less on marketing and acquisition fees

Many schools, self-employment associations, and companies will spend large sums of money for acquisition fees or marketing charges to promote opportunities with their organizations. By registering for free on the LDSJobs website, resources can potentially save money on these fees.

• Reach more candidates

Although resources won’t be spending extra money on marketing or posting opportunities on LDSJobs.org, they will still have access to an audience of hundreds of thousands of candidates. Encourage job placement candidates to complete at least 90 percent of their profiles and make them visible to employers. When candidate profiles are 90 percent complete, employers can search for them after gaining approval from the ERC.

Communicating the value and benefits behind ERC services will help you feel more confident as you approach potential resources and create relationships that will be advantageous to your candidates.

Resource Development Strategy Questionnaires are a tool that can help you gather necessary information from resources during your discussions with them. ERS headquarters has created four questionnaires for you to use in collecting this information. These documents are not meant to be completed question by question in front of a resource. Rather, they should be reviewed before a meeting to help you know what to ask resources. You should not take the questionnaire with you when meeting with a resource. The information you gather from the meeting should be recorded in the progress notes of the resource’s LDSJobs profile.

This level involves collaboration with global organizations that can assist candidates in obtaining jobs, skill training, or self-employment in countries throughout the world. These types of high-level relationships are cultivated by paid staff in collaboration with ERS headquarters. Global organizations are important resources because they extend beyond the boundaries of any one ERC and can potentially help hundreds and even thousands of individuals gain valuable opportunities.

• Aggregation

Because many of the companies ERS works with on this level are global organizations, posting the hundreds and possibly thousands of available jobs on LDSJobs.org would be virtually impossible if done individually. In order to accomplish this feat, ERS has developed a process to aggregate, or compile, these jobs from individual company websites onto LDSJobs.org. This aggregation process is often initiated by the ERC and always completed at ERS headquarters.

In order to aggregate jobs, ERS should have a relationship with at least one person in the company. The individual should work within the professional levels of an organization and should have an influential position in the company. Contacts do not necessarily have to be human resources representatives or those who are in hiring positions.

The key is to ensure that the individual in the organization can serve as a valuable contact for ERS. More than one relationship within a company is desirable and should be cultivated over time. It is not necessary to inform contacts within a company that ERS plans to aggregate their jobs. Simply tell contacts that their jobs will be fully accessible to ERC candidates.

• Aggregation Process

Companies can request to have their jobs aggregated through ERS. Employers will contact the ERC and make the request, after which the ERC will complete the online request. Instructions for creating and submitting the request are as follows:

• Open a Web browser and go to LDSJobs.org.
• Scroll to the bottom of the screen and click on Contact Support. This will open the LDSJobs.org Help site.
• Click on the ERS Staff Log-in hyperlink on the right side of the screen. This will open the log-in screen.
• Enter Username: wel-ers; Password: employment
• Click “Log In” to access the Staff Help website.
• Click on the Submit information tab beneath the Staff Help website logo at the top of the screen.
• Click the Request Jobs for a Company hyperlink. The online form may open in a new browser window or tab.
• Read the instructions on the form in order to complete the request.
• Fill in the required information and click the “Submit” button at the bottom of the page. The request will be sent to ERS headquarters for completion.

• Strategic Employers

Not all resources on this level are Fortune 1000 companies or global organizations. Companies on this level are often local, strategic employers or institutions. Strategic employers are those companies that are important to a specific community. These companies may not have thousands of employees like some of the global organizations ERS works with, but they often hire or enroll many individuals within an area, making them important resources for candidates within a particular region.

Resource development is a major component in the services ERS offers to candidates and Church leaders. The ability to develop beneficial working relationships with resources that can help candidates with their employment needs, career development, and self-employment pursuits is one of the defining characteristics of ERS. To help you have productive discussions with potential resources, ERS has prepared the following tools.

Questionnaires

Resource Development Strategy Questionnaires are a tool that can help you gather necessary information from resources during your discussions with them. A questionnaire is not meant to be filled out question by question in front of a resource, but it will help you know what information to look for during an informational interview. Once you’ve gathered information from a resource, record it in the resource’s LDSJobs.org profile.

Brochures

There are three resource development brochures available for ERC staff to use while meeting and enlisting the aid of potential resources.

• “Want to Help More Small Businesses?” (self-employment brochure):This brochure is intended for organizations that are dedicated to helping small businesses, such as microcredit lenders and small promotions agencies.
• “Fill Your Classes with Motivated Students” (schools brochure): This brochure is intended for postsecondary schools, training programs, and vocational institutions that could offer additional resources to career development candidates.

These brochures can be ordered through distribution.

Career Outlook

See section 2.12, “Career Outlook Information,” for more information.

Additional Resources

Local Church leaders look to the ERC to direct their members to community resources in addition to acting as a resource for job placement, career development, and self-employment pursuits. Both at the center and on LDSJobs.org, the ERC should provide members with referrals to additional resources that provide aid with:

• Assessments
• Child care
• Food assistance
• Government services
• Legal resources
• Literacy programs
• Medical assistance
• Senior care

Be judicious when contacting resources you find on LDSJobs.org, especially from companies whose jobs ERS has aggregated. As a professional obligation and as good business sense, contact the owner of those contacts that originally created a relationship with the resource. The staff there may have valuable information to share about the resource before you make contact.

Use your best judgment when providing a resource’s contact information with candidates. Do not offer or provide contact information to candidates who are unprepared or unqualified for the opportunities in question. You obviously can’t stop them from applying for positions for which they are not qualified, but you can encourage them to become more prepared for those opportunities through some of the ERC Career Self-Reliance Training opportunities.