What you learn in this class could change your life!
The Crossroads Career® 6-week course has been offered at various churches in the Atlanta area for about 20 years. In 2010, our volunteer team started offering what we called a “crash course” version of the course.  The "crash course" version was a more intense class and compressed the seven 3-hour sessions into under 3-weeks using 6-7 facilitators, each with the experience and expertise needed for each session. The elements of the “long” course and the “crash” course were the same.

In early 2020, COVID-19 made meeting in person at our church host locations impractical, so we moved the Crash Course online in a modified format. Three hours is a long time to sit through an online class session, so we shortened each session to 2 hours and added a 1-hour orientation session. We combined Step 1 and Step 2 into a single session.  Instructional sessions on resume writing and interviewing are still included, but we are unable to offer the individual resume review and mock interview session that was a part of our face-to-face class.  The online class includes the same content shown below except that Session 6 is not included! Note that due to scheduling constraints we sometimes combine the orientation with Step 1 and Step 2.

Session #1 - Reaching Forward to What Lies Ahead

​The focus of the first session is to make sure you’ve dealt effectively with your current job situation – accepting loss, realizing the time to move on, opening your mind and heart to the upcoming search, spending time seeking God’s guidance for your career, and identifying the things in your life that might derail a successful search. Until you’ve addressed this ATTITUDE step effectively, you might not really be ready to move on.

Session #2 - Discover and Develop Your Strengths

It’s interesting how little the average job seeker knows about their own job skills, life goals, career options, and work passions. In this APTITUDE session you spend time taking and reviewing a skills/talent survey and discussing the results with industrial psychologists or career coaches that can lead you through understanding if your career, your passions, your personality, and your skills are effectively aligned.

Session #3 - Developing Your Brand / Writing Resumes for Results

After getting your heart in the right place for your job search and after assessing your personal assets and goals, it’s time to focus on the marketplace and your marketing tools. This “ALTITUDE” step spends a modest portion of the time discussing resumes and how they work in the traditional sense (read by managers and recruiters) and how they need to be revised for the challenges of corporate Applicant Tracking Systems, online job boards, and other technology-based career search strategies.

 Session #4 – Methods for Finding Opportunities

​This SEARCHING session focuses on the under-utilized approach of job networking for personal referrals—a highly effective way to get an interview, but a rather uncomfortable activity for many job seekers. The instructors will work with you in this session (and often in several of the other sessions) to help develop and refine your networking statement. Other key items will be addressed such as contact cards, networking groups, and social media.

Session #5 – Interviewing

There are several interviewing steps and many different methods of interviewing, so SORTING through the proper things to say (and not to say), determining the right clothes to wear, and knowing how to respond to the different types of interviews (Stress, Team, Screening, Situational, etc.) are a few of the many diverse topics covered in this session. 

Session #6 – Interview Practice /Resume Feedback (Session not included in online course!)

As an extension of the Interviewing lecture and resume lecture, this ‘double session’ provides critique on resumes that were submitted and offers the opportunity to practice interviewing with a volunteer. Mock interviews are scheduled with each participant to allow for some constructive feedback and 1-on-1 advice from experienced interviewers. When not interviewing, participants get verbal and written feedback on their resumes based on the Session #3 guidance. This is a bonus session that not many of the other Crossroads Career® programs offer.

Session #7 - Evaluating Job Offers / LinkedIn for Jobseekers

This final session focuses on SELECTING the right offer. It’s not uncommon for some negotiations to occur when a firm makes a job offer – it might be salary, working conditions, benefits, relocation or any number of other final points. There’s also sometimes the tough decision to not take an offer based on a careful evaluation, so this session shares insights on making smart decisions. As a bonus, the last part of this session spends time looking at LinkedIn and giving some guidance on how a job seeker might modify the profile, engage in groups, or build a strong network that benefits the job search.
“Crossroads Career®” and “Crossroads Career® Network” are registered trademark of Crossroads Career® Services, Inc. – https://www.crossroadscareer.org/about/

Please be sure that you can attend all sessions!

The material covered in this class builds from one session to the next.  We strongly encourage you to plan to attend ALL SESSIONS.  If you do not attend all sessions, you will not get the full benefits of this class.