Creating Effective Application Materials, online – August 18 and September 1
King County Career Support Services staff will provide you with strategies and tips on making your application materials stand out. Learning objectives will include understanding the purpose of the job application, resume, cover letter and supplemental questions and how to make each of them more effective, deciding what to include in your resume and the best format to showcase your qualifications, and more.
- Tuesday, August 18 from 10 a.m. to noon. Learn more and register here.
- Tuesday, September 1, from 1 – 3 p.m. Learn more and register here.
Additional courses are available on the Career Support Services training page. For questions or more information visit www.kingcounty.gov/CSS or contact Career Support Services at CareerSupportServices@kingcounty.gov.
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Strategic Interviewing Tips and Techniques, online – August 20 and September 3
King County Career Support Services staff will provide you with strategies and tips to help you to do your best during the interview. Learning objectives will include how to prepare for a virtual job interview, the interview structure and types of questions you will be asked, the STAR-LA method and how to use it to provide organized and complete responses, and general tips and strategies.
- Thursday, August 20 from 10 a.m. to noon. Learn more and register here.
- Thursday, September 3 from 9 a.m. – 11 a.m. Learn more and register here.
Additional courses are available on the Career Support Services training page. For questions or more information visit www.kingcounty.gov/CSS or contact Career Support Services at CareerSupportServices@kingcounty.gov.
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Discount available for Brookdale Senior Living
King County employees can now take advantage of exclusive discounts on fees at Brookdale communities. These discounts are available to employees and their immediate family members. The savings are 7.5% off the basic monthly fee/service rate at a Brookdale community and 10% off Private Duty Home Care. Certain conditions apply, please see website for details.
Individuals must show your King County ID Badge, paystub, or other proof of employment or affiliation with King County to receive discount. Employees can also turn to Brookdale for resources, support and advice to navigate their journey to finding the right senior living options. Brookdale Senior Living has 17 locations in the Seattle Metro Area and over 740+ locations nationwide. Visit www.brookdale.com/employee or call 1-844-585-5502.
View all available discounts at www.kingcounty.gov/employeediscounts.
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RASKC shares new video highlighting services
Ever wonder how Regional Animal Services of King County (RASKC) helps both people and pets? These services will make you feel proud to be part of the community!
Learn more at the Tails from RASKC blog or visit the RASKC website at www.kingcounty.gov/pets.
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County recognized for procuring, distributing face coverings for community
Pictured: Employees in the warehouse prepare to ship face coverings to jurisdictions around the county.
Crossposted from the DES Express
With King County in Phase 2 of the Governor’s Safe Start Plan, and state requirements about face coverings in effect, the county is distributing 5 million cloth face coverings and 20 million disposable face coverings to residents, workers and businesses. Emergency Management procured the face coverings, and the Executive Department is managing the distribution efforts, working with Chambers of Commerce, King County cities, County Councilmembers, community organizations, churches and faith-based organizations, food banks, senior centers, and other key stakeholders.
“As a business that benefited from the King County Safe Start Supply Kit, I want to thank you for setting up not only an excellent service for business owners but also to let you know that this experience was such a positive one,” said Shelley Gaddie, President of ProjectCorps. “We drove right up to the SODO location, and the whole process took about 15 seconds tops. Given the uncertainty and complexity that all of us are living and working with, it was such a pleasure to drive up and see smiling faces who were doing important work (and doing it well) for the business community. Thank you for all of the hard work that went into making this happen!”
The county is partnering with various groups to host “pop up” distribution events around the county.
Get more information and a schedule.
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Former Metro drivers take on new role as King County Health Ambassadors to slow the spread of COVID-19
Crossposted from Cultivating Connections
Fatigue from months of quarantine and welcome summer weather have spurred an alarming rise in COVID-19 infection rates compared to early Spring, making it more difficult than ever to observe public health guidance to slow the spread of COVID-19.
Taking quick action, King County is launching a new COVID Health Ambassador Program next week to offer community outreach, education and health promotion resources to prevent COVID-19 transmission.
The first ambassadors already know King County: they are former METRO bus drivers redeployed to engage and inform neighborhood and community groups on the importance of social distancing, wearing facial coverings, practicing healthy hand hygiene, and observing phase-appropriate business and gathering standards.
“We must slow the spread of the virus, prevent infection rates from rising, and save lives, and the COVID Health Ambassadors will help us to do this,” said King County Executive Dow Constantine in announcing the new program. “Rather than lose valued public employees, we will invite them to continue their service to the community by promoting the health and safety of our residents in this time of need.”
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Firefighters train in Moses Lake
By Clint Herman, Sergeant, ARFF
Recently the KCIA Aircraft Rescue and Firefighting (ARFF) firefighters participated in a live fire training scenario at Big Bend College in Moses Lake. This type of training is required by the FAA for ARFF personnel to hone our skills in the event of an actual emergency.
Moses Lake is the closest and most realistic training prop available to us in the Pacific Northwest. A training prop is a steel mock-up of an airplane with fuel-ignited fires so we can practice putting them out. Here’s a video to give you a better idea of how we use a training prop.
We were joined by our partners from Paine Field Fire Department and the Pendleton Oregon Fire Department. Having multiple agencies train with us give us the chance to learn from them and improve our response to potential emergencies.
During this training we conducted different scenarios ranging from interior search and rescue in a zero-visibility environment to truck-mounted turret operations on real fuel-based fires. The fires are fueled by the same type we might see on an actual emergency and are mounted on a large-scale model of the types of aircraft we have at KCIA. We were also lucky enough to do hand line operations, using actual fire hose with a fire fighting nozzle instead of our truck-mounted water turrets to simulate fighting an engine or compartment fire. This allows us to get up close and personal with the airplane to fight smaller or hard to extinguish fires.
Last year ARFF purchased new breathing apparatus which included on-board thermal imaging technology. This allows us to pinpoint the location of trapped victims by observing body heat on the screen. With these training props we were able to become very proficient with this new technology. We look forward to returning next year for continued training.
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Get to know the Voluntary Separation Program
During challenging budgetary times, King County’s Voluntary Separation Program (VSP) allows approved agencies to offer retirement-eligible regular employees a financial incentive of $20,540 to leave County employment in a mutually beneficial agreement. Currently, there are a few agencies that have been approved to offer the program for a limited time in 2020.
In order to be eligible for the program, an employee must:
- Have at least five years of continual current County service,
- Not be a temporary employee, and
- Be eligible to apply for a pension from the Law Enforcement Officers and Firefighters Retirement System, Public Employees Retirement System, Public Safety Employees Retirement System or the City of Seattle Retirement Plan, before December 31, of the calendar year in which the employee applies for the program.
- While the employee must be retirement-eligible and must separate from the county, the employee need not actually begin drawing a pension to be considered eligible for the program.
An employee’s request to participate will be considered by their agency and reviewed on a case-by-case basis. However, merely meeting the minimum eligibility threshold does not guarantee approval. Approval is discretionary and consideration will be given to the impact to service delivery, impact on retention of skilled employees, cost of refilling the position, short- and long-term savings, and length of service.
In addition to the employee receiving a financial incentive, benefits to the agency will include:
- It helps to minimize the number of employees subject to layoffs (reductions in force) – the position of the separated employee may be eliminated instead of laying off an employee
- It provides for cost savings and efficiencies
- Agencies can better align resources and work programs with its priorities by creating greater flexibility.
Not all agencies or divisions within agencies are eligible to participate each year. Approval to participate is received by the Director of Performance, Strategy and Budget (PSB) and generally depends on the agency’s financial situation. A current list of participating agencies can be found here.
To learn more, view the Frequently Asked Questions, or speak with your department’s Human Resources Manager (employee access only).
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Providing guidance during an unprecedented pandemic
King County Emergency Management (OEM) is like an orchestra, with a conductor directing the work of many virtuosos. Their work is helping us carefully move forward in Washington’s Safe Start plan, so we can all get back to our favorite tunes. Stand together, six feet apart.
Learn more in the video below and visit the OEM website here.
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Pet of the Week: Peter
Here’s looking at you, cat! This is Peter, our Pet of the Week. This young shorthair was brought in by an animal control officer in late June. Peter’s personality color is “Rambunctious Red,” meaning he is a spirited cat with a fun-loving personality. He is an independent kitty who likes to do his own thing, and prefers getting attention on his terms. Peter can get overstimulated with petting, so his new family will need to keep an eye out for signs that he might need a break. Because of this, he would do best in a home with a cat-savvy family who knows when to give him some space.
Read more and view all available pets at www.kingcounty.gov/adoptapet. Have you or someone you know adopted a pet from RASKC? Let us know. We’d love to tell your story.
Employee News 