Jewish Family Services – 50+ Networking Group met on Monday, 07 May 2012. Allison Harding led this meeting.

Key point made in the workshop lead by Jay Arbetter earlier in the day: make the person you are talking with know you like or love them.

A 30-second commercial should include:

• Names of target companies
• Description of what you do and job title
• What you want to do
• If changing careers, what is the desired career
• Specific statement of what you want to explore or what you want to sell
• Identification of who you are – NOT a job description
• Personality

Pain spotting involves identifying what you are doing wrong and changing it.

We all have something to offer; we need to figure out how to package it.

Emphasize different characteristics and traits depending on who you are talking with.

• When talking to Human Resources, they want safety and no problems. 
• When talking to a Director, they want somebody to save or make money, is knowledgeable, and looks good.
• When talking to CFO/COO/CEO, they want a big thinker, rock star, and problem solver. They want someone who is smarter than they are who will accomplish goals and win. 

This 50+ Networking Group meets on most Monday afternoons at Jewish Family Services of Greater Dallas, 5402 Arapaho Road - Dallas, Texas 75248. Official information for this group and other networking groups hosted by Jewish Family Services of Greater Dallas is available at http://www.jfsdallas.org/ and http://finance.groups.yahoo.com/group/JFS-CareerNet/.  

Networking Lunch on Friday, 04 May 2012 was at Dickey’s Barbecue Pit, 4032 Preston Road, Plano, Texas 75094. There were 13 people present. This is a great way to get to know people. The Networking Lunch is at a different eatery each week; the location is announced by message posted to http://finance.groups.yahoo.com/group/CC_NorthDallas/ and by live announcement during the North Dallas / Plano Career Focus Group meeting. 

The North Dallas / Plano Career Focus Group met on Friday, 04 May 2012. Attendees, who arrived on time, paired up, told each other their 30 second commercials, next each participant introduced the person they were paired with to the entire group. This caused the 30 second commercial to be less technical; therefore, they were better understood by persons in different professions. Plans for a group picnic on the Friday before Memorial Day were discussed. The last hour of the meeting was Open Forum. Some of the topics discussed were:

• Job Fairs – apply on-line to companies represented at job fairs prior to attending the job fair, then you can tell them that you have already applied on-line and ask for the name of the hiring manager; you might not be told the name, but there is no harm in asking
• Telling another person how to give a 30 second introduction for you forces you to put it in plain language
• Look at alumni list of networking group roosters for people working in target companies
• After landing, do not unsubscribe from Yahoo and Google groups; rather, modify profiles for web access only to avoid receiving all the e-mails

Next Meeting: John Jacobs, Executive Vice President, Economic Development for Richardson, Texas Chamber of Commerce is schedule to speak to the North Dallas / Plano Career Focus Group on Friday, 11 May 2012.

The North Dallas / Plano Career Focus Group meetings are on most Friday mornings at Christ United Methodist Church in Plano, Texas. Official information about this group is available at http://finance.groups.yahoo.com/group/CC_NorthDallas/. 

The Seven Loaves Food Pantry was open Thursday, 03 May 2012 from 4:00 PM to 6:30 PM. Fresh tomatoes and red onions were distributed in addition to eggs, frozen meats, peanut butter, a number-one bag of foods per family member, a number-two bag of foods per family member, and personal shopping items to 60 families with one to eight members. The number-one bag of food contains canned protein (tuna, chicken, salmon, chili, stew, SPAM, or ham) and three cans of fruit (apple sauce, peaches, mixed fruit, Mandarin oranges, etc.). The number-two bag of food contains four canned vegetables or soups, beans (typically a bag of dried beans when available otherwise two cans of beans), and a grain (rice) or pasta (spaghetti or macaroni and cheese). High school students receive credit for community service by volunteering at the Seven Loaves Food Pantry. This food pantry is typically open on Thursday afternoons and Saturday mornings. It is located in St. Andrew United Methodist Church, 5801 W. Plano Parkway, Plano, Texas 75093. Official information about the Seven Loaves Food Pantry & Community Center is available at http://www.7loavescommunity.org/home.html and https://www.facebook.com/pages/Seven-Loaves-Food-Pantry-Community-Center/136331916471019. 

Kimberly-Clark Corporation held their annual meeting on Thursday, 03 May 2012 at their World Headquarters, 351 Phelps Drive, Irving, Texas. I was surprised that only beverages (tea, juices, and coffee) were served prior to the meeting. When I attended these meetings between 1995 and 2002, a continental breakfast buffet (juices, coffee, cantaloupe, honeydew, strawberries, Danish pastry, etc.) was served prior to the meeting. About 30 to 40 shareholders attended the 2012 annual meeting; whereas, about 100 to 120 shareholders attended these meetings between 1995 and 2002. No shareholders spoke at the 2012 annual meeting; whereas, three to six shareholders spoke at annual meetings between 1995 and 2002. The 2012 annual meeting lasted about 20 minutes; whereas, annual meetings between 1995 and 2002 ran 45 to 60 minutes because a video about new products or factories was shown and shareholders spoke. Directors were elected, auditors were ratified, and advisory vote to approve named executive officer compensation was approved at the 2012 annual meeting.

This is the 140th Anniversary of Kimberly-Clark – founded prior to Levi Strauss, Wright brother’s flight, Edison’s light bulb, and modern Olympic Games. If $100 were invested in Kimberly-Clark in 1928 and dividends reinvested, it would be worth about $698,280 today. Kimberly-Clark has declared 40 consecutive annual increases of dividend. Information about Kimberly-Clark Corporation is available at http://www.kimberly-clark.com/ and https://www.facebook.com/pages/Kimberly-Clark-Corporation-United-States/110674865650599.  

The Alcatel Lunch Bunch met for lunch and conversation on Wednesday, 02 May 2012. Nine former Rockwell International and/or Alcatel USA employees and two spouses participated. This get together includes current and former Alcatel employees who have been meeting since 2002. These meetings occur the first Wednesday of most months at the Golden Corral, 1440 East Campbell Road, Richardson, Texas 75081 from 11:30 AM to about 1:00 PM. An e-mail reminder is sent to a mailing list most months. The Alcatel Lunch Bunch does NOT have an on-line presence. Send questions about the Alcatel Lunch Bunch to Keith at [email protected]. NOTE: Keith is NOT the custodian of the mailing list, but will forward your contact information to the mailing list custodian if you desire to receive the meeting reminders. 

I have been told for the past year that I should write a blog; however, I could not think what to write about. Just over a week ago, I was trying to publicize an event and needed a convenient web page to supplement a Tweet. My certified public accountant had told me about weebly.com; therefore, I gave it a try. It met the need for the supplementary web page, and I saw that weebly.com also makes it simple to publish a blog. Using the blog to document the various meetings that I attend came to mind. So, I began typing notes about the meetings I attend and posting them to this blog. Hopefully, this will give people an idea how they can benefit from these meetings. The related web page now provides a basic over view of networking with hyperlinks to selected websites produced by other people and organizations. Thus far, the objective has been to provide a summary of each meeting. In the future, I might include my personal thoughts synthesized from the various meetings. 

Stuart Rosenthal presented The Process of an Effective Job Hunt to Career Jump-Start on Tuesday, 01 May 2012. Stuart is a Senior Product Marketing Manager with Fujitsu.

“You are networking until the day you die.” – S. Rosenthal

During week one of the job hunt, get the word out that you are looking saying specifically what you are looking for, assemble the tools needed for the hunt, determine where to network, and establish a board of directors. Tools that I had not associated with a job hunt are a USB thumb drive on which to store job hunt documents and a folder in which to store receipts for job hunt expenses. CareerDFW.org identifies where to network. The board of directors is a group of three or four objective advisors, who are not related to you, that oversee your hunt and make suggestions to help guide the job hunt.

NOTE: Companies update their career web pages no more than two or three times a week usually at 2 AM; therefore it is sufficient to check these two or three times a week.

During week two, ramp up the job hunt, get out of the house at least once a day and meet people, go to lunch with an employed person at least once a week, volunteer and help others at no more than two organizations, and check in with your board of directors.

During week three and beyond, establish a focused routine for each week that provides activities for each day of the week.

Help people help you by providing key words that describe specifically what you are looking for. This helps them recognize opportunities that are likely to be a good fit for you. Provide job opportunities that match key words for jobs that contacts in your network are hunting to contacts in your network. As they get leads from you they will provide leads to you.  

Most people have to meet somebody three times before they remember who they are.

Never stop networking and keep documentation of the job hunt so you do not have to start from scratch when it is time to start the next job hunt.

Young people network at parties, bars, etc. Older people network in environments similar to classrooms.

Career Jump-Start usually meets on Tuesday evenings at First United Methodist Church, 503 North Central Expressway, Richardson, Texas 75080. Official information about this group is available at http://finance.groups.yahoo.com/group/CJS-HPUMC/. 

Julie Bartlett of Colour IQ spoke at Frisco Connect on Tuesday morning, 01 May 2012. The Colour IQ website provides much more information related to Julie’s presentation than I was able to document. Points that I wrote down are:

• Oh, The Places You’ll Go!
• Addressing Yourself Well – Be Well, Feel Well – Be Well
• Celebrate You – Be Well, Feel Well – Be Well
• Color Makes an impact on how you connect with people – color choice matters
• Horizontal vs. vertical lines in clothing influences a person’s appearance
• Be Well, Feel Well!
• Be Up to Dat

Frisco Connect typically meets on the first and third Tuesday of each month at Stonebriar Community Church, 4801 Legendary Drive, Frisco, Texas 75034 – church telephone 469-252-5200. Official information about Frisco Connect is available at http://www.stonebriar.org/helping-others/community-impact/frisco-connect/ and http://finance.groups.yahoo.com/group/frisco_connect/.

Foster Williams leads Frisco Connect and provides related information on his website http://search4uinc.com/.