Professional Background
For over 30 years Peter Fleming provided tremendous value to organizations in his professional capacity as a customer service, call center and operations expert. Initially getting his start in marketing roles, he transitioned to the customer service and call center business for most of his career. His expertise was used primarily to ensure these organizations had the most effective people, processes, and technology in place to handle customer requests through 800 numbers. Peter had this role for both Roadway Express, in the transportation industry, and The Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland, in the financial
industry.
Hudson Job Search Volunteer Advisor
Pete now uses his extensive background in both industries, call centers, marketing and operations to volunteer as an Advisor for Hudson Job Search, as well as in his role as Counselor and Workshop Chairman for Akron SCORE. As a volunteer Advisor for Hudson Job Search Peter plays a critical role in the organization's ability to provide effective support to job seekers.
In this post we feature Peter's involvement, experience and contribution and thank him for his continued efforts to help guide job seekers through their process.
Q: What inspired you to become an Advisor with Hudson Job Search?
A: Two times, about 9 years apart, I was searching for a job and came to Hudson Job Search for help. I found the Monday presentations and feedback from my mentors very valuable. I also was involved in hiring many people since the Call Centers at both Roadway and the Federal Reserve were in a rapid growth mode. Therefore, since I had experience both hiring and searching, I felt I could contribute to the success of the job seekers and Hudson Job Search.
Q: What do you enjoy the most about your role as an Advisor with the organization?
A: I enjoy talking with the job seekers and being able to give specific examples of how I did something in my search, or how someone else dealt with an issue, with an explanation how that might help them in their specific search.
Q: What’s your favorite Hudson Job Search story?
A: Although there are many stories to choose from, and I love helping job seekers, I have to say that the story you posted about Frank Ricard making sacrifices to become my kidney donor is unbeatable. (Although our families knew each other outside of HJS, we can call that a Hudson Job Search story)
Q: What would you say to someone who is thinking about becoming a Hudson Job Search Advisor?
A: HJS is a great place to volunteer. The work is very meaningful since we are helping people through one of the most difficult times of their life. Being out of work not only impacts the job seeker, but also their family, and even the community. Another reason that HJS is such a great place is the great volunteers. From the leadership team to the individual advisors, everyone is very positive, professional, and very open to helping any advisor with whatever they need for their client. This strengthens the organization and provides better support for our clients.
Q: How did you learn how to advise Job Seekers?
A: The process that HJS has documented gives a great framework for how to work with your client. The individual needs of the clients dictate what steps are more important than others, but our process gives a good overview. The advisor meetings are also a good way to hear how others have handled situations, which helps you learn how to improve. Attending our Monday Night Speaker Meetings is a good way to learn about the specific skills that are needed for a successful search. Finally, I learned from my own experience when job seeking or in my hiring role. It helped me relate better when working with our clients (job seekers).
Q: If Hudson Job Search could do anything, with limitless donations, what would you like to see the organization accomplish in the next 5 years?
A: I think because the way the hiring process has changed so much over the last 5 years, we need to develop and possibly spend more money on some of the challenges.
APPLICANT TRACKING SYSTEMS
For example, we could do more to help our clients understand and become more successful dealing with Automated Tracking Systems. There are still too many clients who don’t understand how they can send a resume to a company and get a rejection letter immediately. There are companies that will match our clients resume with the job description and suggest ways to improve their chance of getting past the ATS, but they cost money.
ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE (AI)
The newest challenge is how to gain benefits for our clients through the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI). We are just scratching the surface on all the ways that AI can help a job seeker. Our latest speaker gave a great presentation on how to use AI in the development of a resume. It is a game changer. There are, or will be, other AI uses for finding target companies and information about them, people to network with, salary information, and other subjects. As this grows we may need to pay presenters to teach classes for our clients, or we may need to pay or partially subsidize the cost of experts to work with our clients. Examples are how we subsidize the PRADCO Assessment.