Employment Resources

Employment Resources

Are you starting your job search? Here is a quick list of actions to get started with!

Do you need to register for unemployment compensation? A help guide can be viewed or downloaded from here.

Contact your Ward/Branch Welfare and Self-Reliance Specialist and get their assistance. (Sister Natali Wein)

Evaluate Your Path.

Plan Your Job Search

Create a profile on Employment.ChurchofJesusChrist.org. About 10-25 new jobs are posted on Employment.ChurchofJesusChrist.org daily. When you create a profile, make sure to complete it to 90%. When it is 90%, then employers will be able to see your profile!. The site has an Accelerated Job Search, Ask an Expert, and Job Search Skills Workshops sections available.  You sign-in using your church account.

Implement the 15-10-2 Approach:

Keep a Log of Your ​Daily Activities.


How to list a GED on your resume and job applications


How to apply for jobs if you have a criminal record

The Employment.ChurchofJesusChrist.org website is staffed by Church Service Missionaries who are available to help you.  The site has an Accelerated Job Search, Ask an Expert, and Job Search Skills Workshops sections available.  You sign-in using your church account and create a profile. Return to our Welfare and Self-Reliance page for self-reliance courses that are offered on an as needed basis in both our stake and regionally.

A Winning Job-Search Strategy

The Daily 15-10-2 Approach

According to recent data, the average length of unemployment has reached an all-time high—nearly doubling its previous peak roughly 25 years ago. This news is particularly worrisome in today’s fast-paced, ever-increasing technologically-driven world. The longer a person is unemployed, the greater the chance skills will become obsolete. Social safety nets, if they exist at all, have limits to the support they can offer. As such, long-term unemployment can lead to lower self-esteem, lower levels of individual productivity, and lowers an individual’s ability to maintain control over his or her situation.

Data further suggests that the average job seeker spends less than 6 hours per week looking for work. Through the scriptures, we are taught that “men should be anxiously engaged in a good cause, and do many things of their own free will…For the power is in them, wherein they are agents unto themselves” D&C 58:27-28). And then the promise, “And inasmuch as men do good they shall in nowise lose their reward” (28).

Effective job seekers understand that the ‘power is in them,’ and then become anxiously engaged in three daily, proven job-search strategies. First, they identify 15 new resources daily. Second, they make 10 contacts. And third, they hold two face-to-face meetings or interviews each day. At a glance, the 15-10-2 approach might appear a little overwhelming, but as we discuss each element you’ll see how straightforward and undemanding it really can be.

Identify 15 New Resources

Let’s start with resources. What is a resource? Like a noun, a resource is a person, place, or thing that can help lead a job seeker to a potential opportunity. People like friends and family, Church members and leaders, employers or co-workers, school teachers and career counselors, and virtually anybody else can provide you with useful job information and additional resources. Places like chambers of commerce, local ministries of employment, civic or professional associations each contain industry, market, and employer information vital to your search. Business and telephone directories, company web pages, the Internet, trade journals and magazines, newspapers, and other media outlets are all things that will enhance any search.

Like most things in life, some resources are better than others. Don’t get caught in thinking that specific job postings are the only means of finding employment. While these are resources, and should not be ignored, job postings attract high competition and expire quickly. In fact, most jobs are filled before they are ever advertised.

Make 10 Contacts

Now, let’s talk about contacts. A contact is not just sending a résumé or filling out an application. Nor does it imply that you should necessarily contact 10 of you 15 newly developed resources. Contacts should be counted as any employment related interaction you have: applying for a job, sending a résumé or a thank-you note, telling friends and family that you are looking for work, interacting with other networking contacts, or speaking to potential employers. Looking for opportunities to interact with people to let them know you are looking for work is an essential element of an effective search. Most people will gladly introduce you to other people they know. These connections form powerful networks of information and resources.

Hold 2 Face-to-Face Meetings or Interviews

Finally, effective job seekers have learned the value of meeting with at least two people, face-to-face, each day. Among other benefits, face-to-face meetings foster better communication and understanding. People often speak more clearly through body language and facial expressions—messages that are never received through email or over the phone. Additionally, face-to-face meetings provide job seekers with the unique opportunity of immersing themselves into a prospective work environment. Through this experience, they can observe certain subtleties such as the working environment and corporate atmosphere, and can even learn about up-and-coming projects and potential new job openings.

Putting it All Together

While most job seekers will admit that the 15-10-2 approach makes perfect sense, some remain skeptical about how to make it a daily reality. In time, resources become exhausted and opportunities to interact with people become limited—or so they think.

These same job seekers fail to recognize that they naturally do similar activities in other aspects of their lives. Imagine for a moment that you had just moved into a new city and were in desperate need of a haircut. Assuming you didn’t know anybody in the area, what would you do? Where would you go? When placed in this exact situation, I turned to the local phone directory to find nearby salons. I could have also turned to the Internet, looked in business or other directories, or simply talked to people I met. In the phone directory, I looked under headings such as: salons, barber shops, and beauty schools just to name a few. In less than five minutes, I found over 400 places where I could get my hair cut. Applying this experience to a job search, if I were looking to become a barber today I would have over 400 potential resources already identified—and it would have taken me less than 5 minutes to find them.

By identifying 15 new resources daily, you can control your job search situation. You now have something to fall back on when other aspects of the search don’t go as planned. You now have companies to research and specific job openings to find.

O.K., so let’s say that through your research you find an ideal job opportunity. What do you do next? Send a résumé to apply for the job, right? And, if you’re a typical job seeker, that’s where you’d stop. Great, one contact and only nine more to go! Fortunately, there’s a more effective way to get your 10 daily contacts.

Like the typical job seeker, go ahead and send your résumé (your first contact), but don’t stop there. Once sent, call the employer (second contact) and briefly introduce yourself to whoever answers the phone or greets you in the office. Explain that you have just sent a résumé to officially apply for a job. This allows the employer to verify that they have received it—you’ll never get a job the employer doesn’t know you are interested in. While you are talking, briefly ask two to three questions about the position or company to gather more information about the employer’s specific needs. The intent is to ask a question that the person is unable to answer with the hope that you will be referred to somebody who can give you the answer. In larger companies, this might be the human resources department (your third contact).

When talking to human resources, take the same basic approach; ask two to three questions about the position or company to gather more information about the employer’s specific needs. Again, the intent is to ask a question that the person is unable to answer in hopes that you will be referred to the hiring manager. But, before you go, make sure to thank the human resources representative for his or her time and suggest that the information provided was invaluable to you. In your conversation, you’ll likely identify things you wish you’d have highlighted in the application process. Ask the human resources representative if it would be alright to add this detail to your résumé, and, if so, if it would be alright to forward your updated résumé directly to him or her (fourth contact).

Now on to the hiring manager (fifth contact). The same basic strategy applies here. Briefly ask two to three questions to better understand the employer’s needs and the details of the position you are seeking. Here, the intent is not to ask question that can’t be answered, only to find ways you can provide value to the employer. As done with human resources, however, make sure to thank the hiring manager for his or her time and suggest that the information provided was invaluable to you. Again, offer to forward your updated résumé (sixth contact).

Your next two contacts could come from people within your network: friends, family, business associates, and so on. Simply let them know you have applied for a position with the aforementioned employer. Inquire if they know anybody that currently works there, has previously worked there, or perhaps even some of the employer’s customers or competitors that might be willing to talk to you about the position and the organization’s needs.

Talking to two of their referrals would provide you with all ten daily contacts. Supposing you met with the people in your network (or their referrals) in person, you would also have the needed face-to-face contacts.

That’s ten contacts and two face-to-face meetings for one job opening. And just think how many more contacts you could have, and the impression you would leave, if you followed simple business etiquette and sent each individual a thank-you note for their time. Now that’s a winning job search! Join me again for part-two of A Winning Job-Search Strategy where:

Let's Get Started

Please read the following letter which is an invitation to conduct a self assessment using the "My Path" booklet. Everyone is invited to take the assessment to encourage both spiritual and temporal self-reliance that may be needed now and in the future. Take the assessment on your own or with your stake at a "My Path" Devotional.

Invitation from the First Presidency

Dear Brothers and Sisters:

The Lord has declared, “It is my purpose to provide for my saints” (D&C 104:15). This revelation is a promise from the Lord that He will provide temporal blessings and open the door of self-reliance, which is the ability for us to provide the necessities of life for ourselves and our family members. This booklet has been prepared to help members of the Church learn and put into practice principles of faith, education, hard work, and trust in the Lord. Accepting and living these principles will better enable you to receive the temporal blessings promised by the Lord.

We invite you to diligently study and apply these principles and teach them to your family members. As you do so, your life will be blessed. You will learn how to act on your path toward greater self-reliance. You will be blessed with greater hope, peace, and progress. Please be assured that you are a child of our Father in Heaven. He loves you and will never forsake you. He knows you and is ready to extend to you the spiritual and temporal blessings of self-reliance.

Start Here

Stakes or wards hold My Path to Self-Reliance devotionals as needed. These devotionals start members on the path to self-reliance by helping them understand the importance of self-reliance, assess their current level of self-reliance, determine the skills and income needed to become temporally self-reliant, and select the self-reliance group that will help them reach that goal. The My Path to Self-Reliance workbook facilitates this process. My Path to Self-Reliance can also be used individually, with a priesthood leader, or with a self-reliance specialist.

The book can be found in the mobile Library app under "Life Help" then Self-Reliance".  The Library is also available on the church website here: https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study?lang=eng.  The stake keeps some hard copies of the My Path book on hand.  You can contact the Stake Welfare and Self-Reliance Specialist to see if one can be provided to you.  You can also click on the picture or this URL https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/self-reliance/course-materials/my-path-to-self-reliance to go to a church website where a PDF of it can be downloaded.

Clear Barriers

Clear barriers that may be standing in the way of getting a job. To review information about the items below, check out the Find A Better Job book.

Networking and Job Search Activities

Skill Development

Other Activities

See also:

Employment in the COVID-19 Pandemic and Active Job Search Program.

A Community Resource from Intelligent.com for helping formerly incarcerated people pursue higher education:


According to a report by the Prison Policy Initiative, only 4% of ex-offenders have earned a bachelor’s degree or higher, and they experience an unemployment rate of 27%. Studies show that having stable employment and a higher-education degree can reduce recidivism.


The following link is for a guide for people with prior convictions to learn about going to college. The service provides information about various grants and scholarships, advocacy programs and resources for ex-offenders, and other vital information to help them earn a degree.

You can view the guide here: https://www.intelligent.com/education-and-career-guide-after-incarceration/.


Evelyn Cooper

Higher Education Advisor

Intelligent.com

How to Request a Self-Reliance Group

If you would like to participate in a group, contact your stake Welfare and Self-Reliance Specialist to find out when the next groups are beginning, or request to start a group now. All you need is a few people interested in a certain group, a location, day, and time when you can meet. The stake Welfare and Self-Reliance Specialist  can help arrange for a facilitator and let you know how to get your course book.