Meghan’s Story: An old technique for a new job

At Champions, we continually talk about finding the right job for the right person. We believe it is important for a person to not just find a job, but truly meaningful employment. Sometimes our clients come to us with very specific careers and job targets in mind, other times they are more open to career planning and finding a position which suits their unique abilities. Above all, we follow a similar mantra as espoused by Dr. Richard Pimental, who once stated “there are no good jobs for people with disabilities, but there are people with disabilities who do good jobs.” This point is to not pigeon-hole people into pre-determined roles but rather let their skills, strengths and interests determine their career path. 

Meghan came to Champions with a very clear job target in mind - she wanted to be a florist. She thought her passion for flowers and gift arrangements would mean that a floral shop would be a perfect environment for her to work in. After a layoff from work to deal with a mental health issue, Meghan decided she needed help from Champions to develop her resume, work on her interview skills and support her in her job search. However, having a very particular career in mind meant there were limited opportunities available for her when she began her job search as there were no advertised or readily available positions in the Calgary floral industry. 

To overcome this perceived barrier to the job market, our Employment and Retention Specialists coached Meghan on the technique of cold calling. Cold calling is a job search technique where you contact a person you don’t know in the industry in which you want to work. People who work in sales are often very familiar with this technique, as it is a method they reach out for potential clients or purchasers. In job search, the technique is a form of networking which allows job seekers to connect with decision-makers in their industry, convey their interest in an organization and explore possibilities for working together now or in the future. Depending on the industry, or who you want to get in touch with, cold calling can be as simple as a quick phone call, email, LinkedIn message, or even tweet. 

Coming to Champions every day and using our resource area to do internet searches for open positions and to make calls, Meghan connected with a local floral shop who were thrilled with her tenacity and interest. Recognizing they would be in need of a new employee very shortly, the floral shop hired Meghan and she is thrilled to be working full time in the industry she loves.

*Image made available by AdamBindSlev under Flickr's Creative Commons license.