Look to Local Hero Vic Benoit for Job Seeking, Keeping

If you are looking to change your life in 2010, then Darien resident Vic Benoit is a good place to start.

Here's what he does: he sits in the Darien Library every Monday, starting around 8 a.m. until about 7 p.m., helping people improve their career finding-and-keeping skills.

Here's what he's paid: nothing.

Here's why he does it:

"I did well in the corporate world and I was blessed. I had some prosperous years," said Benoit, who has worked for Pepsico, Nabisco, and Price Waterhouse Coopers. "I wanted to find a way to give back."

First he joined the board of directors of the Stamford YMCA, but then, with the economic downturn, he had the idea of starting Monday at Seven, a career networking group that meets at 7 a.m. every Monday at the library (volunteer staff open the library early to accommodate the group).

After Monday at Seven ends, Benoit rolls up his sleeves and meets with individuals for thirty minutes to an hour each throughout the entire day. There are four main areas where Benoit helps people: résumés, mock interviews, career coaching and coaching on corporate politics.

I don't think I'm exaggerating when I say that Benoit is one of our local heroes. He spends his whole day sharing his expertise and his time, just because he "wants to help."

After attending a Monday at Seven, I put myself on Benoit's calendar and met with him for a one-on-one. I brought my résumé and a sample cover letter I had written. Since I wasn't a professional in the more traditional areas of corporate job searches: finance, sales, marketing, IT, or HR, my expectations were relatively low on what Benoit could offer me.

I was wrong.

Career Coaching

"The principles of job search apply across all industries and backgrounds," Benoit said.

He explained that in order to achieve my goal of a full-time job in my area of expertise (writing and correcting other people's grammar), I would need to join more than one networking group and use LinkedIn.

"People know people, who know people, who know people," said Benoit. "It's the six degrees of separation."

As he told me this, he remembered a contact in corporate communications and gave me his name and email address.

More advice from Benoit: you don't have to go every week to the networking groups, but it's good to become a regular attendee. Other networking groups are CATS in New Canaan and the Darien Professionals Networking Group. There's also a good networking group at the Temple Beth El in Stamford.

"It's like a twelve-step program without the negative connotations," said Benoit about the networking groups (aside: I had visions of Fight Club in my head).

Benoit also told me that I had to get "corporated-up." My confusion at this term was typical of a naïf like myself. Corporations and even just job-searchers have a whole set of lingo that you should learn if you want to do well in an interview. You need to know what things like "elevator speeches," "areas of opportunity" and "onboarding" are.

Mock Interview

I asked Benoit what a mock interview might entail, and he said that he would play different types of hiring managers such as a difficult one, or one that hasn't read your résumé yet.

"You'd be surprised how many people don't know their own backgrounds well," he said. "You actually have to study your own résumé."

Playing a hiring manager, he asked me what my "areas of opportunity" were, and I was perplexed. It turns out that "areas of opportunity" is a euphemism for "what you are bad at" or "what needs improvement."

Benoit told me that a lot of people could enumerate their qualities quite well, but when it came to talking about where they needed to improve they were stumped.

Which is exactly what happened with me. I couldn't think of anything I was bad at. ("Practically Perfect in Every Way," as Mary Poppins would say). Benoit helped me figure out things I could improve on, and helped me figure out ways to enumerate them as if they were positive assets (I'm not going to tell you unless you're offering me a job).

Benoit explained that it helps hiring managers in their "onboarding" process if they know areas where you have trouble. In other words, it helps them help you settle into your new (fantastic, well-paying) job.

Coaching on Corporate Politics

Benoit doesn't only help with job seeking; he also offers advice in job keeping. He explained that many of the people he helps are currently employed but feel as though they're not valued or are "having trouble."

"It's smart-proactive-to start the process before you lose your job," he said.

Résumés

"If you ask a thousand experts you get a thousand different answers on what makes a good résumé," said Benoit.

But he did tell me to make it easy on the reader. People usually look at a résumé for thirty seconds or less, he said, scanning for key themes such as companies, education, and number of years spent at different jobs. I got some quick advice on where underlining a few things would help my résumé and how my "objective" should be better.

Make an Appointment for 2010

Benoit meets with some people every week; some come just once. But, barring the occasional business trip, vacation or holiday, Benoit can be found there helping people in the third floor conference room.

To schedule an appointment, go to Monday at Seven or contact Alan Kirk Gray, the Assistant Director of Operations at the library.

As for me, I'm going to make Vic Benoit one of my New Year's Resolutions. I'm going to try to meet with him and network, per his advice. And, should I achieve success and have some personal resources to share, I hope to do it the way Benoit does: with my sleeves rolled up; sharing my expertise to help others succeed in their endeavors.

Here's to a happy and prosperous 2010.