Ethan Chazin started with boot camps for unemployed Hudson County residents, and now he’s moved on to local schools.
The local career coach and author was hired earlier this year to take his career building expertise to Hoboken High School for a string of workshops with juniors and seniors.
In the past, Chazin, founder of The Chazin Group career management firm, had offered his services to struggling job-seekers in a series of “Job Search Boot Camps” in Hoboken. The series ran from January to March on the Stevens Institute campus, assisted by 5th Ward Councilman Peter Cunningham.
New Jersey’s unemployment rate rose to the national level of 9.8 percent in September, according to the state Department of Labor and Workforce Development.
“Do you want to spend the rest of your life flipping burgers?” – Ethan Chazin
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But it isn’t just students who may be unaware of the issue, he said.
“I don’t think people understand the gravity of the situation,” Chazin said in an interview later. “Whole industries are going out of business. They all are walking around, wondering when things are going to turn around.”
What is different about coaching hungry job-seekers and preparing students for the realities of the job market?
The preparation is different, Chazin said. But the reality is the same.
“We’re in fundamentally different times than we’ve been in before,” he said. “The old rules don’t apply.”
Jobs search 101
There are four main points Chazin tried to make last Monday as he met with his first group of students:
1. Dress to impress. Chazin tried to hammer home the need to “package yourself as a product,” one of the many ideals he credits to his background in marketing. “These are the things you were never taught in school,” he said.
2. Find a role model. “There are role models out there [locally],” Chazin said. Coaches, religious leaders, teachers could all be suitable, he said. “There are resources here in town available to you.”
3. Network yourself. “These kids have significantly varying degrees of a support network,” he said, noting it is important reach out to potential employers and keep an open dialogue, especially if the employer is guarding the gate to your dream job.
4. Interviewing is essential. “They may have things they have done that may make them more attractive that they didn’t even realize,” he said, like sports or club commitments.
How to avoid flipping burgers
At 42 years old, he is trying to pass down the knowledge he has learned through experience. “Some of the students, I was able to make a connection with,” he said. “Some were clueless.”
Clueless, he said, about the uncertainty of a brutal job market where a college degree guarantees nothing.
Chazin said he was surprised at the “lack of respect” some of the students gave him during his visit on Monday, Oct. 26. “Maybe I’m getting old,” he said.
“I didn’t want to say it, but [I thought], ‘Do you want to spend the rest of your life flipping burgers?’,” he said. “They are going to be competing with 20-year-olds and 30-years-olds [in the job market].”
Students are impressionable at this age, he said, and he’s trying to strike while the iron is hot.
“These kids are tabula rasa [blank slate],” Chazin said. “They’re already more inclined to be shaping and molding themselves. That’s why I think I can make an impression.”
Bringing the coach with the kids
Chazin reached out to the schools to offer his services earlier this year, but never heard back.
Recently, school board member Theresa Minutillo connected with Chazin and paired him with Dr. Cecilia D’Elia, program director of the Students’ Center at Hoboken High School. She agreed that Chazin could bring valuable knowledge to the students.
“The students need to be prepared to enter the world of work on a part-time basis or a full-time basis after school,” D’Elia said. “It’s intended for people to learn how to present themselves professionally. This is a service that virtually every student will have access to.”
“The Students’ Center is a good point place for other community services to come to us,” she said, “and for us to refer kids to them,” for instance services for pregnant teens.
The Student Center provides mental health services and career preparation for the students of the high school.
Once the school board approved the program at a cost of $1,400 for the year, Chazin started his series of workshops with classes of mostly juniors and seniors. He thanked D’Elia for her trust. “[Helping these kids] is her passion,” Chazin said.
Chazin also does one-on-one career coaching and his book, “How to Bullet Proof Your Career in Turbulent Times,” is available for $14.95.
For more information on Chazin’s services, visit www.thechazingroup.com.
Timothy J. Carroll may be reached at tcarroll@hudsonreporter.com.