DetermiNation Athlete's Special Story Featured on NBC's Today Show

"American Cancer Society DetermiNation athlete Karen Newman, who recently competed in the Nautica New York City Triathlon while battling breast cancer, was featured August 10 on NBC's TODAY Show."

The American Cancer Society at the Essence Music Festival

Tom Wilner - Director of Information Delivery - "Have A Ball" From "Turning Thirty, The Musical"

Tom Willner, Director of Information Delivery with the American Cancer Society, copes with a diagnosis of testicular cancer in a unique way.

Volunteering at the American Cancer Society - How do you fit in?

Monique Saunders - Managing Director, Business Management & Division Relations

Monique Saunders, Director - Business Management & Division Relations shares how she uses her Darden MBA to create a world with more birthdays and less cancer.

On the front lines..... My point of view

Guest Blogger Kathryn Foster, Cancer Information Specialist

Three years ago, I was working at a dead-end job where all of the employees were treated very poorly. Imagine working a 14-hour shift without a break! I was exhausted mentally and physically when I got home every night. You know it's bad when you are crying most days on your way to work because of what you know you're going to have to put up with. I decided I couldn’t take it anymore. I began searching online job websites and sent out tons of resumes to all sorts of companies. I came across the position of “Cancer Information Specialist” online and decided to apply. I was a little hesitant since it was in a call center, which didn’t seem particularly appealing to me since I had never worked in that type of environment.

However, the rest of the job description seemed very intriguing. Imagine my surprise when an HR rep from ACS called me the very next day to schedule the interview. I was hired in November 2006.

The first day of training, the other members of my training class and I had to go around the room and state why we chose to work at ACS. I’m sure you can guess what the most popular answer was--“I want to help people.” I thought, “Sure, we all do, but how helpful can we really be just talking to people over the phone? “.

I am a skeptic no longer—shortly after I began taking calls, I realized how much people truly appreciate what we do. In the beginning, I remember feeling a little overwhelmed by all of the new things to learn, and I seriously doubted that I would ever make it through the intense but imperative training for the CIS position. I remember many sleepless nights during those nine weeks!

The end result of being prepared for almost any call was definitely worth all of that hard work.Being at the other end of the ACS toll-free number (being “on the front lines” as we say) is both challenging and rewarding at the same time. It can be a lot of pressure to know that some people are making their treatment decisions based on the information that we give them.

Sometimes we get very complex cancer questions that our literature simply doesn’t address and we have to have our oncology nurses research these. Other times, we get requests for resources that are so hard to find, it’s like looking for a needle in a haystack. However, a lot of the calls we receive are so interesting. I like that moment when my phone starts ringing and I wonder what kind of call I will get. Even to this day, I get questions and requests that I have never heard before and probably never will again.

As CIS, we never know what will be thrown at us, but it’s exciting and keeps us on our toes.I have had some amazing feedback from several callers over the years; some of it has even brought me to tears (good tears!). I've been called a "doll", "a far away friend", and even a "guardian angel".

I’ve talked to a few people with symptoms that were of great concern but were very adamant about not seeing the doctor, most likely because they were afraid that they might receive a cancer diagnosis. We discussed certain diagnostic tests and by the end of the call, they had decided based on the information that we talked about they were going to have these tests done. At the end of a call, one woman told my supervisor not to let me go, and that I may have saved her life. I once talked with a man who had a very aggressive type of cancer but did not seem to realize how serious his diagnosis was. He was thinking about forgoing treatment because he didn’t think it was absolutely necessary. It was going to be very inconvenient for him to have radiation treatment five days a week for eight weeks, and he was concerned about the side effects. I answered a lot of his questions and, based off of that info, he decided that he would go ahead and have treatment. He called back a few days later just to tell my supervisor that I had helped explain some of the medical jargon that was confusing and overwhelming him and had helped him formulate questions to ask his doctor. He even said that he had planned to make a donation in my honor! He even became a little emotional when talking about the service he had received. How many jobs allow a person to get that kind of priceless feedback?

I know I’m not alone in getting these wonderful kind of compliments—many of my co-workers get praise from callers every day, and it is incredible to hear about. My co-workers are some of the warmest, most patient people with the biggest hearts that I’ve ever met.

It’s wonderful to work at the National Cancer Information Center and to have all of these amazing people together in one building.Whenever I meet someone new and they ask where I work and what I do, I can honestly say I’m proud to tell them. Some people grimace or get sad looks on their faces and say, “Oh…that must be really depressing.” My response? “Sure, some calls are sad, but the calls are interesting and most of the callers are incredibly sweet and grateful for what we do for them.” Almost every person I’ve ever told what I do for work has told me that their grandparent, cousin, mother, etc. currently has or has had cancer.

I'm known as the "go-to" person in my family whenever a relative has a question about cancer or needs information. I love educating people who are unfamiliar with ACS about what we do and always encourage them to call the toll-free number. One person I met whose father had just been diagnosed with cancer immediately saved our number in his cell phone when I told him about our 24/7 cancer information line! Every day that I go into work, I look at the giant ACS logo on the building and feel genuinely blessed to work for such a wonderful organization with a great mission. I wouldn’t have it any other way!

Learn more about how you can join us in the fight ar cancer.org

A Day In The Life of An ACS Recruiter

A standard workday; 7:30 in the morning. I arrive at my desk and find even at 7:30, I am not the first one here. Several of my colleagues try to manage Atlanta traffic and family commitments by arriving fairly early each day. Turn on my computer – can’t believe it takes so long for this thing to get started. Probably need to let IT have look, but that always falls pretty low on my priority list. Coffee in hand, I open my email. Priorities…priorities. Junk mail – delete. Industry news – put in a folder until I have a spare minute. ACS emails – Need to know what’s going on! – scan and decided if I should file for reference or read thoroughly right away. Candidates --- hmmm…. What position? Where did they come from? Any referrals? Need to make some quick decisions about how to invest my time. Now to our ATS (Applicant Tracking System). Where am I in the process? Requisition review meetings with hiring managers? Feedback to get? Interviews to be scheduled? Phone screens to do? Resumes to review? References to complete? What about time for ancillary projects? Priorities…priorities. I suspect my day is not much different from most recruiters. My biggest challenge is how to manage my time and deliver the best talent in the shortest amount of time. Today the approaches, techniques and avenues recruiters pursue are limited only by individual recruiters experience and exposure. The emergence of social networking has enhanced recruiting techniques providing the ability to respond to requisitions when they come in, but, more strategically, get ahead of the requisitions by reaching out before the need arises. But you just saw something online that has peaked your interest. You don’t know anyone who works for ACS and just don’t have a real sense of your chances. While we do a lot of proactive recruiting, we are the recipient of many strong resumes and many great candidates we ultimately hire. What made them standout??? Here are a few “do’s” and “don’ts” if you are interested in pursuing an opportunity with the American Cancer Society (at least if I’m the recruiter):

Do 1. Thoroughly review the position and tailor your resume to reflect your experience with the job requirements (One of my hiring managers was ready to immediately toss every candidate who clearly hadn’t considered how to customize their resume to the job description.) 2. Print the job posting or put it in an easily accessible area so you can refer to it quickly should I call. Speaking to your qualification for a completely different job is a death nail. I know, it’s tough when the job market has put so many in the unfortunately position of having to look for jobs after layoffs. Often the American Cancer Society position won’t be the only opportunity you are pursuing. But realize that if I am the organization’s recruiter and it’s my responsibility to find great candidates who are truly interested in us as an organization. I will hardly be convinced you’re the one if you don’t even remember you applied to my position. 3. Find someone to talk to. No need to mention how competitive the job market is these days. Applying online is simply planting the seed. You need to nurture your candidacy. Find someone to talk to. LinkedIn is fabulous for this. If you can find someone in Human Resources, contact them and chances are they will know who is responsible for recruiting. Be resourceful. Its smart and it makes you look even better. 4. Be ready to provide clear, concise responses to my questions. 5. Reference any technology you have significant experience. Almost every job function requires you to complete your work through some type of technology, so let us know what you know. 6. Mention any connection you might have to the American Cancer Society and our mission. It matters!

Don’t 1. Confuse the American Cancer Society with the American Red Cross (believe it or not, one candidate came in believing he was ready and printed a Powerpoint presentation with “American Red Cross” and their logo all over it – “oops” is an understatement!) 2. Ramble. Time is everyone’s most valuable asset. I understand you want to ensure you’ve covered all your qualifications, but recruiters have specific skills they are trying to identify quickly. We appreciate candidates and are more likely to forward those on who can provide clear, concise and directly responsive answers to our questions. 3. Apply to every posted position. In almost every case, the assumption will be you are not serious and lack direction. After all, no one is qualified for every job. 4. Assume I will read between the lines of your qualifications. If you see a requirement in the job description, however rudimentary it may seem, be sure to spell out your experience in your resume or cover letter. Use your professional experience to guide you and ask yourself, “If I were hiring someone for my position with my level of experience, what might I assume they know.” Then, make sure that is in your resume. Recruiters have stories!! Most could go on forever about the candidate with the “S” on their chest who flew in with a red cape trailing behind and the other candidate who spent an hour telling you why some other company he thought he was interviewing with should hire him. But, as we used to say in my agency days, “the best candidate will get the job.” Just make sure you are THE BEST!!