Career Jump-Start met on Tuesday, 26 June 2012 at First United Methodist Church of Richardson, Texas. About 42 people were present to learn from a panel of human resources experts. Panelists were: Kurt VandeMotter, Myra Olvera, Joyce Wood, and Sedrick Evans. Kurt VandeMotter is a principal at Calise & Co.  Myra Olvera is a manager in human resources at Borden Dairy Company. Joyce Wood is a contract recruiter. Sedrick Evans is a human resources consultant to Dean Foods.  Advice provided by this panel includes:

• Keep a positive attitude
• Select an accountability partner or team of up to three or four persons
• Resumes need to match interests and be tailored to each job description
• Tell a great story about yourself
• Include a professional summary in your resume 
• Understand that average recruiters read only the top one half of the first page of each resume
• Interviews continue through conversations with receptionist, breaks, lunch, etc. 
• Realize that the CEO’s secretary might be giving the receptionist a break and participating in your interview
• Two-minute introduction provides response to request to tell about yourself – have this memorized to overcome nervousness 
• When possible, tour the business (retail store) before going to the interview
• Research the company thoroughly 
• Phone interviews are some of the hardest - dress for the job and watch your expressions in a mirror – expressions are conveyed over the telephone 
• Follow-up with a thank you (details were debated)
• Answer why they should hire you

NEXT WEEK: NO MEETING on Tuesday 03 July 2012 due to the Independence Day Holiday on 04 July 2012

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/ and  http://www.fumcr.com/pages/caring_career_support. 

Fourteen members of Quarter Century Wireless Association (QCWA) – Chapter 41 (Dallas, Texas) met on Saturday, 02 June 2012 at Midway Point Restaurant. Each person who attended this meeting was nourished by the food, conversation, and friendships. Some members selected food from the buffet and others ordered from the menu. Separate checks were identified by first names and included an automatic gratuity; a copy of the check was available by request. A video presentation about the “High Frequency Active Auroral Research Program (HAARP)” was shown. Thought provoking remarks made in this video include statements that this project could be:

• “Ground Based Star Wars Technology”
• “Electromechanical Warfare”
• “Geophysical Warfare”
• In violation of a “Treaty Prohibiting Weather Modification”
• “Embarking on an Arms Race that is totally unnecessary” 

Interest in this video presentation was anticipated because it discusses:

• Radio Frequency transmissions
• Antennas 
• The Ionosphere
• The scientific method
• Events that require the services of emergency communications responders

Next Month: The meeting will be on the usual day, at the same time, and in the same location.

Official information about the Quarter Century Wireless Association (QCWA) – Chapter 41 (Dallas, Texas) is available from http://www.chapter41.org/. 

North Dallas / Plano Career Focus Group met on Friday, 25 May 2012 at the City of Plano - Preston Meadow Park Pavilion for networking and their third annual un-company picnic. The formal networking meeting agenda included:

• Announcement of Landings
• Announcement of Interviews
• Announcement of Job Fairs
• Announcement of Workshops
• Announcement of Practice Interview Sessions
• Reading of the Career Tip-of-the-Week – Networking Tools
• 30-second commercials

There was more networking while the hot dogs cooked. Items provided as part of the picnic were:

• Two hot dogs
• Bag of chips
• One large cookie
• Two soft drinks

Other food items (fruit salad, baked beans, deserts, etc.) were shared by members of the group. Everything tasted wonderful. The strong wind was somewhat troublesome and uncomfortable. Otherwise, I believe everybody enjoyed the meeting and networking.

Next Meeting: Friday, 01 June 2012 at Christ United Methodist Church of Plano, Texas (the typical meeting location) will be Open Forum.