Evaluation Brings Strength
Kathy Diekmann keeps a box of tissues on her desk at all times. That’s because at her office of the YWCA San Francisco & Marin FiftyPlus Program most of the people who come to see her “inevitably cry,” Kathy laments. “They are out of work. They are at the point where they can barely make the month, many are depressed.”
But Kathy is there to offer help and guidance. The YWCA motto of empowering women is extended to both women and men in her office. Through a series of evaluations and skills assessments Kathy can help her clients find a way to accomplish the goal of employment. When people start to see a list of their strengths and accomplishments “they start to get excited.” Diekmann also advises, “The internet is impersonal and discouraging, you have to get used to the fact that no one calls back.”
Learn about why flexibility is so important in today’s job market. “In the old days loyalty and a professional demeanor were highly sought after, today it is energy and flexibility.” Kathy encourages her clients to “lighten up” and be willing to think out side the box.
One of her clients, an Asian man, who worked most of his life in manufacturing had recently lost a good deal of money he had invested in stocks. Out of work, he was really having a hard time, even though he had a lot of experience. He was also an inventor, but everything he tried just didn’t work. With Kathy’s advice he applied for a job as a crossing guard. It sounded outside of his realm, but it could serve as a step to get back into the job market. Well, it turns out that he loves it. He told Kathy it was the job a lifetime. “He meets nice people, it is friendly and it feels good, it even stimulated his creative nature and he is now working on inventions to help the lives of crossing guards across America,” Diekmann says proudly.
Hear more about what Kathy has to say about getting out of depression and out of sweat suits and back on track.
