The 4th Annual Un-Company Picnic held on Friday, 31 May 2013 was attended by 38 people – three more than participated in the 3rd Annual Un-Company picnic on Friday, 25 May 2012. These picnics were at Preston Park Meadow Pavilion in Plano, Texas. Those who landed described their new positions. Lee Brucker read a very short list of job fairs and workshops. Everybody recited their 30-second introduction. Paulette Wagner and Bobby Wrenn played a game of Cribbage. The wind blew a few things around, but otherwise attendees enjoyed the fellowship and food. The North Dallas / Plano Career Focus Group, Jeff Morris, organize these picnics. Advance registration for $5 or at the picnic for $6 got two all beef hot dogs, a bag of chips, two drinks, and a large cookie. Funds not used for the picnics are donated to CareerDFW. Potato salad, fruit, and other items were brought and shared by some participants. Photographs taken at the 4th Annual Un-Company Picnic follow. 

The 50+ Re-Employment Group (sometimes called 50+ Networking Group) met on Monday, 25 February 2013 at Jewish Family Services in Dallas, Texas. Allison Harding led this meeting. There were 17 people who attended this meeting. A few things that job seekers need to remember include:

• Job seekers should avoid limiting themselves to a specific industry. Recognize how experience and skills can transfer to different industries.
• Avoid acronyms and abbreviations in 30-second introductions. 
• Companies are using Skype instead of traveling. 
  

Each person has their own “Comfort Zone.” Each person has a different style. How we adapt ourselves to other people is one of four styles: Compliance, Steady, Dominance, , or Influence.

Compliance person is detailed, needs facts, is analytical, task oriented, doesn’t like chit chat, and fears criticism.

Steady person wants no sudden changes, “hates” confrontation, is a peacekeeper, is consistent, is predictable, and makes no changes in voice or questions.

Dominance person has a strong personality, is competitive, is disorganized, is social, talks a lot, and dislikes details. They fear loss of control because if they lose control they cannot direct activity, discussion, etc.

Influence person is competitive, forceful, and quick decision maker. They are focused on relationships and open to new ideas. 

Career Jump-Start met on Tuesday, 19 February 2013 at First United Methodist Church at 503 North Central Expressway in Richardson, Texas. They met in room 230A&B because the United Methodist Men were meeting in Ogden Fellowship Hall. This room change occurs on the third Tuesday except during the summer time because of United Methodist Men meetings. The sign in the photograph that follows appears in the church lawn nearest the room where Career Jump-Start is meeting. When this sign is not outside of Ogden Fellowship Hall, go to the parking lot nearest Custer Road and look for this sign near the west end of the building. When you find this sign on the west side of the church:

1.       Follow the sidewalk at the left of this sign to the doors on your left (about the middle of the building)

2.       Enter the building through these doors

3.       Go up the stair case or take the elevator to the second floor

4.       Turn right in the hallway on the second floor

5.       Go to the end of the hallway where you will find room 230A&B

6.       Enter the room through the left door and sign-in at the registration table

Career Jump-Start meets in Ogden Fellowship Hall on most Tuesdays. When you find this sign on the east side of the church (the side close to US-75 Central Expressway):

1.       Enter the building through the door closest to the sign

2.       Go to the right down the hallway

3.       Enter Ogden Fellowship Hall through the second doorway on your right and sign-in at the registration table

There were 19 people in attendance at the Career Jump-Start meeting on Tuesday, 19 February 2013. General remarks before the program included:

• Assessments attempt to determine your comfort zone. 
• Assessments are company specific. 
• Your digital image needs to be pristine especially while looking for a job.
• Read documents backwards to find things that you miss be reading the document forward. 
• Office Max and Office Depot are merging. 
  

Robert Sage presented an excellent review of “Only BFFs Need Apply” by Logan Hill from Bloomberg Businessweek 07-13 January 2013. This magazine article states that companies are hiring people who fit the existing corporate culture even though they are not the best qualified for the position. Culture and diversity are described in this magazine article; however, diversity is beyond the scope of this meeting. Culture is about interactions between people. How do choices you make indicate how well you fit the workplace?

Robert wrote workplace positives and negatives on a white board as people in the meeting named them.

Workplace Positives:

• Family Friendly
• Christian Oriented
• Teamwork
• Halloween Competition
• Fun at Work
• Employees as Valued
• Golden / Platinum Rule
• Lunch and Share

Workplace Negatives:

• Pass the Buck
• Not Invented Here
• No New Ideas
• Always Done This Way
• Good Old ____ Network
• Politics
  

Glassdoor (an online database of information about interviews, salaries, and jobs) collects questions asked by hiring managers. There has been a significant increase in the number of questions asked to determine cultural fit. Companies have distinctive cultures. This culture at Southwest Airlines include going to a weekly party.
 
You should research people who will be interviewing you; Google and LinkedIn are great tools for this. Strive to develop a rapport with the interviewer. A nice firm handshake is important.

“You signal trust in four ways: Look them in the eye, smile, open your body language, and synchronize …” Bloomberg Businessweek, 07-13 January 2013, page 65.

Books recommended in this article are:

• How to Make People Like You in 90 Seconds or Less by Nicholas Boothman
• The Fine Art of Small Talk by Debra Fine
  

Both of these books are available from Amazon. If you want to purchase them from Amazon, help support CareerDFW and CareerUSA as follows (this does not change what you pay; however, CareerDFW and CareerUSA receive a portion of the purchase price):

1.       Go to http://careerdfw.org/J/ or http://www.careerusa.org/

2.       Scroll to the bottom of any page on either of the above websites

3.       Click on the Amazon advertisement

4.       Make purchase from Amazon

A wild card is a statement at the end of a 30-second introduction to catch attention. “He walked on fire during the initiation ceremony.”

LinkedIn profiles will replace resumes. There are 30,000 to 40,000 recruiters who are online.

Remember A-R-P (Awareness – Research – Preparation)

Seven Loaves CommUnity includes several segments of service. The Seven Loaves Food Pantry provides clients one week of healthy food and is the portal that provides access to resources for other needs. Joseph’s Coat distributes free gently used clothing to registered pantry clients. Project Hope provides women in crisis opportunity to make real changes in their family's life. CareerCare helps persons who are unemployed or underemployed by providing access to career assessment testing, networking that includes 30-second commercials/introductions, training based on the Crossroads Career® Workbook, and job leads. Health and Healing is provided through Plano Children’s Medical Clinic and West Side Clinic. A Legal Clinic provides clients help with legal issues. Transitional Housing assistance is provided to clients with this need. Education assistance helps children learn to read, people learn English as a second language, and people study for general educational development (GED) tests.

Information about Seven Loaves CommUnity is available on the World Wide Web through LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter. Use the following universal resource locators (URLs) to find Seven Loaves CommUnity on the World Wide Web.

LinkedIn:
http://www.linkedin.com/company/seven-loaves-food-pantry-&-community-center

Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/SevenLoaves

Twitter:
https://twitter.com/
#7LoavesPlano

World Wide Web pages:

Seven Loaves Food Pantry
http://www.7loavescommunity.org/home.html

Joseph's Coat
http://www.7loavescommunity.org/josephscoat.html

Project Hope
http://www.7loavescommunity.org/projecthope.htm

Career Care
http://www.standrewumc.org/connect/ministries/learning/career-care/

The 50+ Re-employment Group of Jewish Family Services in Dallas, Texas met on Monday, 18 February 2013. Mitch Jacobs led this session that was attended by 21 people. If you only apply for jobs on the World Wide Web, you have a 3 percent to 6 percent chance of landing. Job seekers should research people by whom you expect to be interviewed on Google and LinkedIn. Other useful websites include: http://www.onetonline.org/ and http://careeronestop.com/. Each job seeker gave their 30-second introduction and the group critiqued each introduction. 

The 50+ Re-employment Group met at Jewish Family Services on Monday, 28 January 2013 and 21 people were present. There was an article in the Dallas Morning News on Sunday 27 January 2013 about jobs that pay between $38,000 and $68,000 going away. Robots are doing many jobs and other jobs are being outsourced.

We need words that make a powerful statement about ourselves to use in 30-second introduction. These need to be descriptive and specific; avoid generic words that describe a large group of people. Have words for conversation that identify what makes us unique. Find ways to be different for all the other applicants applying for the job that you are targeting.

This 50+ Re-employment Group (formerly called 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/.