Rotary Works offers guidance, resources for those faced with career transitions

The hope was that the massive number of job losses linked to the COVID-19 pandemic would turn out to be temporary.
“At the end of the summer, we were seeing how many of them weren’t coming back, how many companies had restructured just to stay afloat,” Peters Township business owner Kate Winter Cole said. “So you have all these people facing career transition.”
To help provide a degree of guidance to those seeking different occupations, she has been assisting North Strabane resident Stephanie Urchick in developing Rotary Works, a program that offers education, networking opportunities and financial resources for participants.

Harry Funk/The Almanac
Harry Funk/The Almanac
Chris and Kate Cole
Both women are members of the McMurray Rotary Club, of which Cole is serving as president for 2020-21. Urchick is in her second year as director of Rotary International Zones 33-34, a geographical region that stretches from Western Pennsylvania to the southernmost nations of the Caribbean Sea.
“These are unprecedented times, and we know that many Rotarians are facing uncertainty in many areas of their lives,” Urchick said in December during the program’s introductory webinar. “We know that many in our family of Rotary have lost a job, are underemployed, are in the wrong job and are feeling vulnerable.”
A major component of Rotary Works is its Career Development Professional Series, offered via Zoom from 1 to 2 p.m. Jan. 13, Feb. 10, March 10 and April 14.
The theme of the first session is “Vocation, Evaluation and Opportunities,” and Urchick and Cole are presenting “Building Your Personal Brand” in February. Subsequent sessions address the topics “Essential Tech Tools for Marketability” and “So You Want to be Your Own Boss?”
The branding aspect ties in with what Cole offers through her business, Kate Winter Digital Solutions.
“I am a marketing and digital support person, essentially: web design, marketing plans, getting people up and running with simple things like search engines and social media presence,” she said.
For the Rotary Works session, she plans to address the professional identity component of social media.
“My portion of the content is going to focus on LinkedIn, which is a workshop I’ve done for other small-business clients. We talk about the biggest mistakes you make on LinkedIn,” she said. “Stay off politics, because what you did is you just shot half of your referrals in the foot.”

Along with the career development series, Rotary Works organizers plan to launch a job board in the spring, for employers and potential employees.
“If you are a Rotarian business owner hiring another Rotarian, you kind of already know the caliber of person you are dealing with,” Cole said. “I think that’s really important, from the job seeker’s and the hiring perspective.”
Also being established is an Impact Fund to assist Zones 33 and 34 Rotarians and members of affiliated Rotaract clubs for young leaders. The fund gives those who have experienced financial stress an opportunity to apply for a onetime grant of $500.
The coordinator for Rotary Works is Cyndi Doragh of Fort Myers, Fla., and others taking charge of various facets of the program hail from states including Georgia and Virginia.
“To see all these people reaching out to help others right now: That’s what Rotary is,” Cole said. “And that’s what more people need to know Rotary as.”
For more information, visit www.rizones33-34.org/rotary-works.