St. Benedict’s Offers Crossroads Career Network

Published: September 11, 2003

DULUTH—When the “dot.bomb” disaster and other economic problems that cause job layoffs hit north Fulton County, there were those who wanted to do something positive to help.

In late 2001, Jack Scherer, a parishioner of St. Benedict Church and a parish council member, met Brian Ray, who had started a group to help with job transitioning called Crossroads Career Network. Crossroads Career Network is a Christian-based church ministry with the mission of providing spiritual, emotional and educational guidance to those who may be at a “crossroads” in their career and who are seeking a new or renewed direction.

Ray recognized that many people needed objective, dedicated advice as they were going through career transitions, whether these transitions were by choice or by chance.

In early 2002, Msgr. Hugh Marren, pastor, agreed to make St. Benedict’s the first Catholic church to join the Crossroads Career Network and Scherer organized a volunteer committee with specific training sessions.

Today St. Benedict’s is one of approximately 30 churches in the Atlanta metropolitan area that comprise the Crossroads Career Network. Jane Fadgen serves as the executive director and Renee Crosby is the administrator.

The Crossroads ministry at St. Benedict’s has been meeting for almost two years on the fourth Wednesday of the month from 7-9 p.m. Each meeting consists of a professional guest speaker who presents information on career opportunities, networking and sharing of job leads. There is no charge and everyone is welcome to come.

On Aug. 27, the ministry at St. Benedict’s Church hosted Randall Cumbaa, senior staff recruiter at Emory University in Atlanta, to speak about job search strategies and techniques to an audience of over 80 people. Cumbaa presented a comprehensive overview of the structure of Emory, pinpointing specific job opportunities from administrative assistant positions to information technology managers.

The second part of his presentation consisted of resume preparation and interviewing skills—two areas that are critical to the hiring process. He discussed how both the content and appearance of the resume are very important and said the average time a hiring manager spends with each resume is seven to 10 seconds, unless something relevant or unique catches his or her eye. Cumbaa’s advice was to be prepared for some of the most common (and sometimes uncommon) interviewing questions because the interview is where the hiring decision is made.

The St. Benedict’s Crossroads Career Network volunteer staff currently consists of Jack Scherer, lay leader, and Patti Cammack, Janina Gregory and Judy Scherer.

At a recent meeting a new program was presented—the opportunity to submit a confidential prayer request which is then remembered and prayed for by a specific group of St. Benedict’s parishioners. Many people responded and this program will be continued at future meetings.

For information on upcoming meetings at St. Benedict’s, contact Jack Scherer at jas@atlantasales.com.

For information about the Crossroads Career Network and other church meetings or job leads, visit their Web site at www.crossroads-career.org or call the corporate office at (770) 558-8187.