www.LarryRobbin.com



Larry Robbin Youth Employment Webinars Sponsored by the National Youth Employment Coalition!

November 10, 2016

Learn state-of-the-art strategies that will end your recruitment challenges.  Transform successful private-sector marketing and sales approaches used to get youth to buy merchandise into recruitment plans that will help youth buy in to the benefits of your program.  Find out how to unleash the power of peer-to-peer recruitment, use the hierarchy of influence, wrap around marketing and learn many other innovative ways to make your program a magnet!


December 1, 2016

Has your job readiness work been vetted by private sector employers to make sure it really matches their current hiring agendas?  If not, your work is out of date with the contemporary employer definition of job readiness.  Make your job readiness efforts match private sector employers' "hidden hiring agendas."  Hear the feedback from hundreds of employers about what they want in the youth they hire.  Update and reinvent your approach to job readiness so more youth get jobs in less time!



January 26, 2017

Learn how to make the profit making case to employers so they see the bottom line benefits of hiring youth.  Find out why describing your services is a big mistake and get better ways to communicate what you do.  Fill your employer presentations with the antidotes to their resistance to hiring youth.  Close the gap between what you say and how employers think - open the doors to more employment opportunities for the youth in your program!  



February 16, 2017

Recruiting youth is a challenge, but keeping them engaged so they stay in your program and take full advantage of what it has to offer can be even a bigger challenge. Discover how engagement with your program is, in part, determined even before youth start your services. Learn from the feedback of youth what programs inadvertently do that alienates them. Upgrade all the aspects of your model and direct services so they appeal to youth at the highest levels and you can help them finish your program successfully!

For questions about the webinars contact Thomas Showalter at 

Larry Robbin Training Topics

Larry trains on more than 300 topics. This list features some of the most requested workshops. Click here for the list of training topics. If you do not see what you need, please contact Larry to see if he trains on that subject. Larry trains onsite, by telephone or by webinar.

DO YOU KNOW HOW TO HELP YOUR JOB SEEKERS MANAGE BAD ONLINE REPUTATIONS?


Google is part of the application process. Most employers will Google the name of a candidate before they decide whether or not to schedule them for an interview. If negative things come up, true or false, that can be the end of the road for that job seeker. Workforce professionals need to know how to help people manage a bad online reputation. There are things you can do to minimize the impact of a harmful online citation.

WHAT ARE THE TRANSFERABLE SKILLS OF THE
PROFESSIONAL DRUG DEALER?

As someone that has done a lot of work designing and improving programs for people in reentry, ( click here to see more about the reentry employment program services I provide), I have had many conversations with people about their criminal history that sounded just like the conversations I have had with many of my private sector clients. I will use these conversations to help people understand that the skills they used in their criminal enterprise can have value in the workplace. This is not to glorify their criminal activity. I also discuss the fact that a person involved in criminal activity is much more likely to have a relatively short run as a business person. In addition, their life long earnings will much less than many business owners because they won't be earning anything or very little while they are incarcerated. But it can be helpful to help people see how these skills can be used for another purpose. This article highlights some aspects of this comparison. I have developed a handout that can be used to help people in reentry get a better understanding about what led them to being incarcerated, to get the handout What Were the Steps on Your Path? click here.   Click here for the article on transferable skills of a drug dealer.

  YOU MAY ENCOURAGE YOUR JOB SEEKERS TO VOLUNTEER, BUT DO YOU HAVE ALL THE FACTS YOU NEED TO CONVINCE
THEM TO DO IT? 

 Workforce development professionals often encourage job seekers to volunteer as a way of improving their chances of becoming employed or moving up in their career. But many job seekers do not follow this advice. In order to convince them, you need some statistics that will prove what you are saying about the positive impacts of volunteering. This article will give you those statistics and other facts that will help you make a much stronger case about the employment and other benefits of volunteering. Click here to check it out.

RESOURCES TO HELP NATIVE AMERICAN JOB SEEKERS 

 According to the US Census, Native Americans have the highest poverty rate of any group documented by the census. In addition, their unemployment rates both on and off reservations are much higher than average. This resource lists some very helpful websites that can help Native Americans find jobs. Click here for the website.

MUST READ REPORTS ON SOFT SKILLS! 

The Seattle Jobs Initiative is a very unique workforce organization. They combine direct services, research and advocacy in a way that is very effective. They have done two excellent reports on soft skills. To read The Importance of Soft Skills in Entry Level Jobs and Post Secondary Success click here.    For the Employer Perspective on Soft Skills report that SJI did with the Washington State Human Resource Council 

WILL YOUR JOB SEEKERS NEED A LICENSE OR CERTIFICATION FOR THEIR JOB AND WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THEM?

 Licensing and certification are hot topics in the workforce field. This interesting article will show the difference between them and also give you some information about the fields that are most likely to use them. 

HOW DO YOU HELP VETERANS TRANSLATE MILITARY SKILLS TO THE CIVILIAN WORKFORCE?

One of the many challenges veterans face in going from the military to the civilian workforce is how to turn those military skills into language that private sector employers can understand and appreciate. Click here for some helpful ideas about this topic. 

WHAT STRATEGIES HELP DISPLACED HOMEMAKERS GET JOBS?

There are a number of different definitions of displaced homemakers, but in general, these are individuals who have worked at home to provide unpaid services such as housekeeping, cooking, childcare etc. for family members and have been dependent on the income of a family member that is no longer supporting them. They can also have been on some form of public assistance that is ending. Both men and women can be displaced homemakers, but the vast majority are women. People become displaced homemakers because the death of the supporting family member, abandonment, divorce, domestic violence and other reasons. They face many challenges in finding employment. They lack work history outside of what they did at home and while that was extremely important, they often do not know how to market it in ways that will impress employers. They typically do not know how to job hunt. Networking may be intimidating for them. They often under value their experience and skills and this can make them suffer from low self-esteem. The loss of income can create panic and depression. This article will help you learn how to serve displaced homemakers and help them get jobs.
 

WHAT ARE THE 6 FUNNIEST ON SCREEN INTERVIEWS EVER?

There are many movies that feature job interviews. These excerpts from these movies can be helpful in a number of ways. They can be great stress relievers for you, your coworkers and job seekers. They can also be helpful in stimulating conversations with your job seekers about what is appropriate in an interview. For some good laughs click here.

ARE YOU TEACHING PEOPLE HOW TO NEGOTIATE FOR
HIGHER SALARIES?

Workforce professionals may do a good job helping people become employed, but much less emphasis is placed on how to help them negotiate for higher wages. For example, we have job search workshops that stop at the job offer and do not include strategies for moving up in the workplace. That information can help increase employment motivation as people learn about how to position themselves for whatever degree of paycheck upward mobility is possible on their job. This article has some interesting ideas about what people should do to negotiate for a higher salary. While it gives people some good ideas, getting ahead in the workplace is a much more complicated issue than an article can cover. I interviewed hundreds of managers to find out why they advanced some people over others. The information was eye opening! I used it to develop a training titled Upward Bound! How to Help People Advance on the Job! That workshop shows workforce development staff the complete range of competencies people need in order to get higher salaries, better hours, a promotion and other advancement opportunities. For more information about my Upward Bound training click here. To see the salary negotiation article,  
MANAGERS CORNER
LOOKING FOR TEAM BUILDING ACTIVITIES FOR YOUR STAFF?

When people in management contact me to do a team building session for their staff, I initiate a conversation about how team building works best if it is composed a big initial event that gets people on the same page and excited about the process. My training can start this process. They also need to pay attention to the long term management process of building a strong, cohesive and seamless team. It takes both of these elements to elevate a workforce from being a group of individuals to being a great team. Managers are often at a loss to think of follow up events that will build on the energy and new insights of my training and work for their on-going team building. This list has 32 interesting team building activities that you can use in your organization. If you would like to discuss the training and consulting I provide around team building, please email me at larry@larryrobbin.comClick here for the team building activities.

AUTISM SPEAKS EMPLOYMENT TOOLKIT

Autism Speaks is an education, advocacy and resource organization for people with autism, their family, friends and the general public. Their website is packed with a lot of helpful information and resources. The organization put together this toolkit that is a great resource for helping people with autism get jobs. I have worked with employment programs that serve people with autism and other types of disabilities to improve their employment outcomes. For information on my services for employment programs serving people with disabilities click here. One of those programs, Community Gatepath, hired me to help them produce a toolkit for job developers and their supervisors. To access the Employer Toolkit click here. To go to the Autism Speaks Employment Toolkit click here.
 

WORKPLACE HUMOR

A young employee is leaving the office late one evening, when she finds the CEO standing with a piece of paper in her hand. This CEO is known for being very arrogant and always acting as if she knows more than her employees. She has put down this particular young employee many times. "Listen," said the CEO, "This is a very sensitive and important document here, and my secretary has gone for the night. I can't get this thing to work. Can you make this copier work for me?" "Certainly, anything you say", the young employee says. She turns the machine on, inserts the paper, presses the start button and quickly goes to the elevator. "Excellent, excellent! I just need one copy." says the CEO as her paper disappears inside the machine, which is not a copier, but a paper shredder!!!
PLANNING BEGINS WITH ASSESSMENT A GUIDE FOR PROFESSIONALS WORKING WITH YOUTH WITH EDUCATION AND CAREER DEVELOPMENT CHALLENGES

This is an amazing guide and collection of resources for people working with youth that face education and career development challenges. While much of the information is focused on work with youth with disabilities, there is still a great deal of material that applies to other youth and some adults facing obstacles in education and careers. To get the guide  click here.
WHAT HAS LARRY BEEN UP TO LATELY?

It has been such a busy year, I can't believe 2016 is coming to an end soon. Where does the time go? I guess for me it is a sign of how much I love this work! I spent a very interesting day presenting at the Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce Business Services Conference. I want to thank Maria Dolores Nieto, the Director of Education and Workforce Development for the Chamber, for inviting me to present. The day was filled with interesting employer panels and insightful presentations on the labor market and its implications for workforce development. The audience was a very diverse group of people from the private sector, government agencies, education, community based organizations and other sectors. I presented How to Use Private Sector Marketing and Sales Strategies to Get More People Hired Faster! This is a very unique event and I was honored to be a part of it.

The Los Angeles County Department of Mental Health sponsored a new training of mine, How to Help Consumers Close the Gap Between Interviews and Job Offers. I want to thank the LADMH Education and Employment Program Manager, Kecia Coker, for inviting me to present. The LADMH has really put a lot of emphasis and resources towards helping consumers get jobs and it is a pleasure to help support this important work. 

Support for Families is a unique and wonderful organization that provides a wide range of services for children and youth with disabilities and their families. I presented a new training for them, Digging for Gold! How to Find Hidden Assets to Employment in Children and Youth with Disabilities. I want to thank Juno Duenas, Sean Lowry and Joe Goyos for inviting me and for their help with the event. We had many parents of children and youth with disabilities in the room and it was very rewarding for me to see how they learned to understand all the employment potential in their children.

The San Francisco Archdiocese Restorative Justice Conference invited me to be a co-presenter along with Felix Sanchez of Connexion in a workshop on job retention. I want to thank Julio Escobar for inviting me to present at such an important event for people in reentry, service providers, family members and others interested in helping people in reentry be successful. This wonderful conference brings together a wide variety of organizations that provide resources for people in reentry.

The Tulare County Workforce Investment Board is a dynamic and cutting edge organization. I want to thank Adam Peck, Executive Director of the Board, for inviting me to present. I had outstanding coordination and logistical support from staffer Sandi Miller who made sure all my needs were met and Jason Hopper, who was also very helpful at the trainings. I presented, Are You Talking Like Businesses Think? How to Get the Private Sector to Use Your Services! to a packed room of WIB staff and a huge array of community partners. This was really partnership building in practice. This training is my most popular business services training and I did it in a special version that included new strategies for marketing OJT. For a description of this workshop

Every year the Tulare WIB organizes a regional conference around their annual meeting. This year's theme was Innovators by Design. This a great event that really helps people in the region get to know each other. It features information about the impressive outcomes of the Tulare WIB as well as workshops on a range of topics. I presented my workshop, Career Counseling with the Hard-to-Employ! This workshop is quickly becoming one of my most popular training topics. For a description click here .

In October, I did a statewide tour for the California Workforce Association of my training, Through Disconnected Eyes! How to Recruit, Engage and Retain Disconnected Youth for Employment Success. If you want to bring this training to your program, click here for a description of the session. I want to thank Bob Lanter, Executive Director of CWA, for inviting me to do the tour. I had outstanding logistical support from CWA staffer Matt Hidalgo. Matt is new to this role and he handled every detail incredibly well. We exceeded our goals and we had over 260 youth program staff attend the trainings! Thanks to all of them for the incredible work that they do with youth.

One of the most popular parts of the workshops was when I interviewed three formerly disconnected youth that were now working and in school. Their powerful words and insights brought tears to many eyes in the rooms. The lessons and perspectives they shared about their lives and what programs can do to serve them better were so helpful to all of us.

I want to thank the staff that helped with this effort. In Fresno, this included staff from the Fresno Workforce Development Board. I want to thank Blake Konczal, Executive Director of the Fresno Workforce Development Board, for his support of this training. Nuvia Varela of his staff coordinated the youth presentations with a great deal of help from staffers Joseph Oaxaca, Rodney Casillas, Marcia Wills, Melissa Richie, Harvey Brackett, and Jennifer Cruz. The youth panel in Fresno was composed of Tonica Little, Sara Vargas and Tyler Potter.

In Los Angeles, the panel was coordinated by Maritza Dubie-Uribe of Community and Senior Services of Los Angeles County and the staff of Community Careers including Takiesha Harper, Armando Loza, Christian Villanueva and Christina Woodard with help from Alma Diaz from the Employment Development Department. They worked together to coordinate the youth presentations from Donna Chavez, Jose Gonzales and Yesenia Ponce. I want to thank Alberto Uribe, Executive Director of Community Careers, for his support of this effort.

In Sacramento, I was helped by people from the Sacramento Employment and Training Agency. I want to thank Kathy Kossich, Executive Director of the Sacramento Employment and Training Agency for her support of the training. Terri Carpenter of her staff helped to coordinate the youth presentation at the workshop. I want to thank Eric Flores for sharing his story of youth progress.

These sessions of the Through Disconnected Eyes were a highpoint of the year for me. It took a collective effort to make these sessions so successful. Thanks to everyone who played a part in helping us learn how to better serve disconnected youth. Thanks to all of you!

"Ability is what you're capable of doing.
Motivation determines what you do.
Attitude determines how well you do it." 

Lou Holtz


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