Episode 36: Pocket Change Podcast
Are you interested to learn tips for interviewing, resumes, and job applications? Listen to our podcast to learn from the VP of Human Resources at Leaders Credit Union, Erin Mitchell, as she shares her advice on how to be prepared for your job search. If you’re interested in working at Leaders, check out the full episode to find out what it means to be a financial champion and what opportunities they offer for their employees.
“Our mission here at Leaders Credit Union is, 'We power your passion and make lives better,' ” says Erin. “For us, that really is more than just the saying that we use or a statement on a wall or on a billboard. It is truly what we're here for.”
Summary
As you begin applying for jobs, research the companies you’re applying to before you seriously consider taking a position. Your job is so much more than just your daily responsibilities and projects – it’s the people around you and who you’re serving. The company you work for will dictate how you are able to serve your clients, customers, or members. It is important that you keep this mind when you’re applying for jobs.
“I think the best advice that I could give somebody looking for a job would be to do your research on the company first and foremost,” says Erin. “The interview process is just as much an interview for the individual as it is for the employer. Make sure that the company that you're applying with and that you're interviewing for is a great fit for you and your career goals.”
At Leaders Credit Union, we have an intensive training process, so new hires can establish a firm understanding of our brand, products, and services. Aside from initial training, financial champions are offered continued training opportunities throughout the year called Leaders University. This is an online program that consists of courses taught by our own employees.
Key Takeaways
- Be sure to know the company you’re applying to as well as you know the open job position.
- Simple is better when it comes to crafting a resume.
- Leaders is currently expanding further into the Greater Memphis Community with their new branch going into Arlington, which has several open positions.
- A financial champion is someone who helps people power their passions and make their lives better by helping them to reach their goals.
Be sure to listen to the full episode today!
If you're interested in pursuing a career at Leaders, visit leaderscu.com/careers.
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Full Transcript
Shea:
Hey, this is Shea.
Carrie:
And this is Carrie.
Shea:
Welcome to the Pocket Change podcast.
Carrie:
Where you'll learn better ways to spend, save, and invest, and take control of your financial journey.
Shea:
You know, Carrie, I recently read a study, and it said that eighty percent of job seekers really count culture as one of the main things they look for when looking for a job.
Carrie:
Did you really read that or did you just Google it?
Shea:
Hey, stop picking on me or else I'm going to call HR.
Carrie:
You know, speaking of, we actually get to talk to one of our very own. She's an HR expert here at Leaders, who's going to tell us all about how culture is important and how it helps employees to feel seen and heard, and so I can't wait to talk with our guests today.
Shea:
I'm excited.
Carrie:
We're excited to welcome one of our very own today, Erin Mitchell, VP of Human Resources to the Pocket Change podcast. Welcome, Erin.
Erin Mitchell:
Thank you. I appreciate you all having me on.
Carrie:
Tell us a little bit about yourself and your background in human resources.
Erin Mitchell:
My education and background is actually in accounting. I worked in public accounting for a while after college and then transitioned to Leaders almost ten years ago this year. I came on an internal audit in compliance, and then eight years ago transitioned into human resources, which is really what I found to be my passion, and I've been doing that ever since.
Shea:
What is the best advice you would give somebody looking for a job?
Erin Mitchell:
I think the best advice that I could give somebody looking for a job would be to do your research on the company first and foremost. The interview process is just as much an interview for the individual as it is for the employer. Make sure that the company that you're applying with and that you're interviewing for is a great fit for you and your career goals. Also, when thinking about the application process, focus on the questions, not just the resume. So the questions on the application are also really important. Then for resume structure, my advice is less is more. In a lot of situations, if a resume gets a little too wordy or too long, somebody may not be able to get through all of those details. So, short and sweet and to the point would probably be best.
Shea:
So for instance, learn more about what a credit union is if people aren't familiar because we are a type of financial institution, but a little bit different than some others, so finding that out can be helpful in an interview.
Erin Mitchell:
Absolutely.
Carrie:
So why is culture and fit so important in the hiring process?
Erin Mitchell:
Our mission here at Leaders Credit Union is, "We power your passion and make lives better." For us, that really is more than just the saying that we use or a statement on a wall or on a billboard. It is truly what we're here for. We're here for our membership, and so when we're looking for employees, passion around that mission is what is really important to us. We need people that are going to come to work and be excited about helping our membership succeed. We really set the stage during the interview process that our brand and our culture is a really important thing here at Leaders. We have what we call brand personalities, and those are traits that we really feel like we embody as a credit union, but that we also look for in individuals who are going to work here. We look for people that are genuine, that are who they are, whether they're at work or whether they're at home or whether they're at the ball field. We look for people that are going to advocate for our membership and work really hard for our members. We look for people that are assertive, that are going to stand up and always do what's right.
Erin Mitchell:
We look for people that are innovative, that are going to be creative, that are going to be solutions-minded, and going to look for ways to help our membership, and then we also look for people that are passionate, that love leaders, that love our membership, and that are going to be passionate about what we do. Those things really make a great team member. We know that not everybody is going to have the same level of all of those, but that's what makes us each unique and different. Some of us, we don't necessarily meet with members every day, but our job is to serve the employees that do and help them feel supported so that they're able to meet the members' needs.
Shea:
So at Leaders, we're all called financial champions. If we're wearing our name tag, it says financial champion on it. So what does that mean?
Erin Mitchell:
I think champion is a cool word because it can mean a lot of different things. When I think about financial champion, I think about a winner. I think about somebody who has reached a goal. Our goal here at Leaders, as I already mentioned, is to power people's passions and make their lives better. And so our goal is to help our members win. Our goal is to champion them and help them succeed and become financial champions themselves.
Carrie:
Can you tell us a little bit about the training that is offered to new and existing financial champions?
Erin Mitchell:
Absolutely. Training is really important here at Leaders. I always say, you're not going to love your job if you don't know what you're doing. We want everybody to love their job. Really, training starts on your first day. All of our employees spend several days in the classroom just learning about leaders, our brand, our culture, our products and services, and then it transitions from there. We're very intentional with training, and we do take a lot of time to focus on that with our new hires because we want them to go in to their role prepared and able to meet the members' needs. For our existing employees, we still want them to be able to learn and grow no matter where they are in their career. So we've created a project that we have done that's called Leaders University, and it's internal training. We did a lot of research on training and looked for external resources, which we do utilize some, but we found that we have a wealth of knowledge in our 200 employee base. And so we utilize internal champions, internal experts to come in and teach live courses. We typically do about two a month, and those are all recorded and kept in a system so that they can be taken at any point.
Erin Mitchell:
We've got career pathing through this. We've got certifications through this. It gives our employees a great way to continue to grow, whether they've been here two months, two years, or twenty years. There's opportunity for them to learn within the credit union.
Shea:
Yes, I'm a graduate of Leaders University. I don't know if I'm a graduate, a participant, but graduated from courses, so it's very helpful that we have that for our employees and staff that we can learn more about something that I may not be an expert on. I may not know much about accounting or HR, but next up, we'll do one about podcasting since we're the experts now. Leaders has also been named one of the best credit unions to work for for several years. Describe what that process is like and how do we go through that application?
Erin Mitchell:
Absolutely. So it's actually a pretty intense process. It starts with an application where they send me a file, and I have to fill out a lot of questions about the credit union, about our training programs, about our benefits, about how we function. Then they actually send a survey to all employees, and that survey has a lot of different questions based on employee happiness and benefits and questions it can range really from anything, and it does change from year to year. It's really interesting when we get to see those results. But then they compile all of this data and run an analysis on it to see which credit unions are truly the best to work for in the country. That's a title that I'm really proud of that Leaders has held for several years.
Shea:
Erin, we know Leaders is growing. Can you tell us about our new markets we're entering and how people can apply for open positions?
Erin Mitchell:
We're really excited that we're going to be opening a branch in Arlington, Tennessee in early 2025. We've started that construction process. We'll begin hiring during the summer. Please check out our web page, the career section on leaderscu.com, which has all of our available positions. We're also continually growing in the Jackson market. We're always looking for great people to join our team. Those positions would also be posted on the website.
Shea:
You can find that at leaderscu.com/careers.
Carrie:
Okay, so I have one last question for you. If you were to find some extra change in your pocket, what would you spend it on?
Erin Mitchell:
I really struggled with this question, but I would probably buy some more yarn. I like to crochet.
Carrie:
You do.
Erin Mitchell:
So I think that's what I would spend a little extra change on.
Carrie:
That's fun.
Shea:
Nice.
Carrie:
Well, thanks so much, Erin, for being with us today on the Pocket Change podcast.
Erin Mitchell:
Absolutely. Thanks for having me.
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