How We Hire

What We Look For In Potential Employees

While there is not an exact formula for success at North LA County Regional Center (NLACRC), our employees share some qualities that make our organization thrive! 

Passionate And Service-Oriented

Passionate, service-oriented, and positive people make a difference both for the individuals we serve in our community and with one another in our agency.  Our employees believe in the purpose of consumer service and are eager to work together as a team. Positivity is contagious, and we welcome it! 

Communication and Collaboration

Serving our consumers and the community involves a collaborative environment at NLACRC. We seek self-motivators who take the initiative and have the ability to pull people together to reach a common goal – serving individuals with intellectual and development disabilities in our community. 

Critical Thinking

Critical thinking and problem-solving help NLACRC employees to help individuals served with their planning and service needs; service providers with their service needs; and each other to achieve the agency’s goals and outcomes.   Employees with these skills can be trusted to evaluate situations using logical thought and making decisions independently for the betterment of our consumers. 

Adaptability/Flexibility

 Our jobs change and evolve constantly at NLACRC. Our employees look for new opportunities to learn and grow through the changes.

Thoughts To Consider Before Submitting Your Resume

• When submitting a resume, consider including a cover letter. This is your one opportunity to stand out and show our supervisory and management hiring teams who you are, why you are qualified and what excites you about service-oriented roles when applying to us! 
• Tailor your resume for the job(s) you are applying for. Take the time to align your skills and experience with the job description(s) posted. Tie your work directly to the role and include data points. 
• When invited to complete assessments, be specific about projects, tasks, and responsibilities you have worked on. Briefly detail the outcome of the project(s) and how your success was measured. 
• If you were in a leadership role, briefly describe the size of your team and scope of the work. 
• If you are a recent college graduate or have limited work experience, include school-related projects or coursework that demonstrates relevant skills and knowledge. 
• Triple-check all documents for typos and make corrections before you submit, as this is your first impression to the hiring manager. 
• Remember, a longer resume is not a better resume! Keep it brief and to the point. 
• Do you know a current NLACRC employee?  Reach out to them and ask them to refer you to the position, since we offer a referral bonus award program for current employees. 

Preparing For Your Interview

We realize that interviews can create some anxiety, because, hey, we were once looking to join NLACRC, too! Our recruiters and interview hiring teams are passionate, caring groups of people who seek to get to know you and answer your questions in a relaxed and conversational way. 

Four tips to consider:

1. Get to know who we are as an agency and how we serve the community. Please stay here to look around on our website, and our social media accounts, so you can learn what we do! Any information you can gain about our agency, our culture and our service model is a plus.
2. Make sure you understand the role you are interviewing for. Research within our website to get a basic understanding of the types of activities we do for the community. Don’t be afraid to ask hard questions – we want to make sure you have all the info you need to decide whether this is the right place for you. 
3. Think about potential interview questions you may be asked and how you plan on answering them. Come up with your short “elevator pitch” on how you would describe yourself or how your past manager would describe you. Have a few work-related stories and examples in mind that can show us your problem-solving skills. This really helps the team understand how you deal with business or customer-based challenges and how you voice your thoughts.
4. At NLACRC, we consider our dress code to be” Smart” Business Casual, as so many of us are working with members of our community. So, one tip to consider for your interview – even on video-based interviews – is to aim for what you consider to be “business attire” for a panel interview. Ultimately, you want to look and feel your best as you present yourself to us during your interview.

The Interview Process

Phone/Video Interview

Applicants who have submitted interest and hold required qualifications will be contacted by a member of our recruiting team to have a brief, introductory phone or Microsoft Teams video interview with them. These interviews are designed to assess key skills you’ll need for the role. 

Assessment(s)

NLACRC departments ask candidates to complete either skills assessments, small project questions, or both prior to an in-depth panel interview. This could range from prepping a case study, sharing your visual design skills, relaying how you might respond to a common consumer need, and/or understanding your technology and/or foreign language skills (when applicable). This helps us understand how you think and approach problems, and how you would work with the tools and resources used at NLACRC.  

In-Person Panel Interview

If possible, we love to have candidates come to NLACRC to meet us in-person and feel the vibe of our amazing culture! Interviewing is a two-way street – we want to give you the opportunity to get to know us just as we want to get to know you!  Depending on the role, and the panel team assigned to interview, you may be asked to join them in-person OR meet with them in a panel video (MS Teams) interview.