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. 

Networking Lunch on Friday, 11 May 2012 was a Jason’s Deli, 4801 West Parker Road #105, Plano, Texas 75093. There were ten people present. Participants get to know each other better, discuss their experiences in the job search, encourage each other, and enjoy a meal in the company people looking for their next employment opportunity. 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/.

The Preston Trail Job Network group met on Wednesday, 09 May 2012 at Preston Trail Community Church, 10501 E. Main Street, Frisco, Texas 75035. There were 15 people present. The agenda included: 30-second commercials, name tag template, announcement of speakers for upcoming meetings, Career Tip of the Week, and open forum. A name tag template is available in the files sections of the CareerDFW.org website and the Preston Trail Job Network -Yahoo! Groups. A name tag should be worn at each networking event. Official information about the Preston Trail Job Network is posted to http://finance.groups.yahoo.com/group/PrestonTrailJobNetwork/. 

Terry Hill presented Living in the Endorphin Zone™ to eight people at Career Jump-Start on Tuesday, 08 May 2012.

“Use the science of happiness to optimize the quality of your life.”

“Happy people are healthier, more fulfilled, earn more, accomplish more, and live longer.”

“Focus on what you DO WANT – NOT what you don’t want. Focusing on what we don’t want creates negative emotions.”

“Endorphinomics™ is based on the Seven Endorphin Domains™:

1. Your Operating System
2. Your Powers
3. Your Passions
4. Your Purpose
5. Positive People
6. Positive Places
7. Sustainability”

Mr. Hill encouraged us to do three things:

1. Make a list of what you are grateful for
2. Make a list of people you like and want to spend time with
3. Have a dream

Mr. Hill suggested two books to read:

1. Authentic Happiness: Using the New Positive Psychology to Realize Your Potential for Lasting Fulfillment by Martin E. P. Seligman 
2. What Happy People Know: How the New Science of Happiness Can Change Your Life for the Better by Dan Baker 

 
Mr. Hill is with Terry Hill & Associates of Highland Village, Texas 75077 - http://www.terrylhill.com/. 

NEXT WEEK, 15 May 2012, Career Jump-Start will meet in Room 230 A&B upstairs at the West end of the building.

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

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/. 

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/.

Jewish Family Services – 50+ Networking Group met on Monday, 30 April 2012. Allison Harding led this meeting. At age 5, we dream that we can do anything; at age 15 mysteries go away and we begin to focus on possible occupations usually following suggestions of a mentor, and at age 25 we are in a profession that we selected. Too often our job search plan is fixed on what we have always done – positions that do not exist in the current economy. Therefore, Plan B is required to help us land our next employment. Consider other things we would like to do; these need to be unrelated to our former career.

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/.