Abby Kohut will speak at Career Jump-Start on Tuesday, 28 May 2013 beginning at 6:20 PM and ending about 8:00 PM. The program title is “Maximizing Your Position Using Social Media.” Read about her speaking tour at http://abbyacrossamerica.com/. The website http://www.absolutelyabby.com/ provides general information about Abby. Her LinkedIn profile is at http://www.linkedin.com/in/abbykohut, and this profile indicates that she is a LION (LinkedIn Open Networker – a person who accepts most if not all invitations to connect on LinkedIn). She has spoken to other career networking groups in the vicinity of Dallas, Richardson, Plano, and Carrolton, Texas. Career Jump-Start meets at First United Methodist Church, 503 N. Central Expressway in Richardson, Texas. When attending Career Jump-Start look for the sign below and enter the church through the entrance nearest this sign.
I attended the Succeed on Purpose® – Find Your Purpose! workshop on Saturday, 18 May 2013 held in a conference room of a high rise office building in Las Colinas, Texas. The energetic and lively Terri Maxwell led this workshop with the help of three assistants. There were 12 participants in this workshop. Participants learned how passion and strength comprise purpose. We practiced identifying doors to knock on and learned the three Career Personas™: builder, solver, and doer. Fears that block us from doing what our soul longs to do were discussed. Five participants acted out how desire, belief, purposeful expectations, action, and results interact. Lunch was included in the workshop; each person selected a box lunch prepared by Jason’s Deli. I was fortunate to win a seat in this workshop when Terri Maxwell spoke to Career Jump-Start at First United Methodist Church of Richardson, Texas.
Career Jump-Start met on Tuesday, 16 April 2013 at First United Methodist Church of Richardson, Texas and was led by Katherine Bradford and Robert Sage. There were 20 people who participated in this meeting. The presentation by Terri Maxwell at the meeting last Tuesday and the book The New World of Work: From the Cube to the Cloud describes a shift in some jobs. However, other jobs have not made this shift. Similar shifts in employment opportunities occurred when the typewriter was invented and again with the availability of personal computers; however, neither of these inventions affected all jobs.McAfee is hiring and appears to have 12 openings. Check the McAfee web site http://www.mcafee.com/careers/. If you find a job description that might be a good fit, research the rest of the McAfee website’ Google McAfee to find news articles about the company; look up the company on Reference USA to learn about the executive team, who competes with the company, and who supplies the company; look for possible contacts on LinkedIn, and call these contacts. The two companies that have the contracts with HP are Kforce and Peek, they are both temp agency and you must go through them to get into HP. UPCOMING Career Jump-Start meetings: 23 April 2013 Elizabeth Lions
30 April 2013 Networking Round Table
07 May 2013 Stewart Rosenfield
14 May 2013 Jon Sotts Networking Round Table Some acronyms are well known while other acronyms might not be recognized at all. SWAT is typically recognized as being used by law enforcement agencies to mean Special Weapons And Tactical. Business managers recognize SWOT as an acronym meaning Strengths Weaknesses Opportunities Threats. Businesses use SWOT to evaluate the marketplace where they do business. SWOT might also be used by hiring managers to evaluate candidates for positions they are trying to fill. Career Jump-Start attendees organized into four groups. Robert Sage assigned each group a word from SWOT, asked the groups to think like a hiring manager, and think of questions that job candidates can be asked to evaluate their assignment. Strengths · - What three strengths can you cite that are appropriate for this position? ·
- What is a strength that could turn a negative situation around? ·
- Talk about an accomplishment that is relevant to this position and explain why it is relevant. ·
- Tell me about a strength that is not on your resume. ·
- What strengths would be most commonly cited by your coworkers or your neighbors?
Weaknesses · - What do you believe your weaknesses are? ·
- Tell me about how you handled a problem; what the problem was, and how you solved it. ·
- Tell me about a time when you had a problem with a supervisor. ·
- Have you had a disagreement with a coworker; if so, how did you deal with it? ·
- Have you ever been late to work? ·
- Do you have reliable transportation? ·
- Are you flexible? ·
- What computer programs are you skilled with? ·
- Why did you leave your last position?
Opportunities · - Are you interviewing with competitors? ·
- In your own words what do you bring to this position? ·
- Where do you see yourself in 3 – 5 years? ·
- Why did you apply for this position? ·
- How could your strengths benefit the company? ·
- With regard to how you fit the culture of this company, describe your management style or how you like to be managed? ·
- Describe training opportunity.
Threats · - How would you deal with stress? ·
- A company would do due diligence, (i.e. check Facebook, LinkedIn for any negative postings). ·
- What type of management style do you like best? ·
- Do you like micro managers? ·
- What team building events do you like?
NOTE: This summary is also posted to the Career Jump-Start Yahoo! Group at http://finance.groups.yahoo.com/group/CJS-HPUMC/message/15372.
About 30 people attended the class titled “Stock Picking 101” at the Richardson Public Library on Tuesday, 26 February 2013. Ryan Wood and Norman Tang of Crown Capital Management LLC taught this class. Ryan Wood is a Portfolio Manager, and Norman Tang is a Research Analyst. “Buy stocks that go up. If they don’t go up don’t buy them.” Will Rogers There are three types of analysis: technical, quantitative, and fundamental. Quantitative analysis studies statistical patterns and uses mathematical models. Fundamental analysis looks for financial patterns, earnings, profitability, and P/E, P/S, P/B multiples. There are three types of investors: value, growth, and blend/GARP. These types of investor are recognized in the Morningstar Style Box™. Fundamental Scope can be top down or bottom up. Top down starts with global factors, focuses on country specific factors, narrows the field to sector specific factors, and then makes a stock selection. Bottom up starts with stock selection them follows the sequence up to global factors. Capital Structure – Corporate Lowest Risk Senior Secured Debt Next Higher Risk Senior Debt Next Higher Risk Subordinated Debt Next Higher Risk Hybrids Highest Risk Equity Key financial statements were described. Income statement places operating section at the top and earnings section at the bottom. Profitability ratios are sales measures. Balance sheet is a statement of financial position at a specific point in time. There are three liquidity ratios. Current Ratio Quick Ratio Working Capital There are three solvency ratios. Debt to Equity Debt to (Debt + Equity) Financial Leverage There are three valuation ratios. Price to Earnings Price to Sales Price to Cash Flow Price to Earnings ratio is historical because it changes over time. Warning signs that companies have problems include. Companies will typically warn that inventory is being increased because they anticipate increased demand. Channel stuffing makes distributors take more inventory than what they need. Share repurchases are usually good; they are NOT good when share was repurchase was made to improve earnings per share. It is best for Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Board to be different people. World Wide Web resources for stock pickers include: Value Line® Reports are available in the Richardson Public Library.
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)
Dallas Pen Collectors club met on Wednesday, 06 February 2013 and was attended by approximately 75 people. Pens for sale were displayed on tables. The club library was available to members. Tickets were distributed to every attendee and ticket stubs drawn to award two door prizes. Mike Stein led a program about pen ephemera. Ephemera is something originally intended to have no lasting value, typically used for a brief period of time then thrown away, that has become a collectable. Mike and other club members showed a variety of ephemeron related to pens that included: - Advertising in magazines – some examples were from Saturday Evening Post and National Geographic
- Point-of-sale displays
- Machine that demonstrates how a pen writes on a roll of paper
- Christmas advertising mobile with spinning ornaments
- Catalogs – a catalog that is 100 years old was shown
- Stamps that were intended to be placed on a calendar as reminders to purchase pens for gifts
- Ink wells that held ink to dip test pens at sales counter
- Ink wells for display on a desk
- Boxes in which pens were delivered to customer
- Instruction sheets that were packed in box in which pen was sold
- Giant Styrofoam replica of a pen
- Objects such as banks and dolls or action figures that compliment or enhance a pen display
The Dallas Pen Club meets in the Holiday Inn at 1665 North Central Expressway in Richardson, Texas. The next meeting will be 03 April 2013 (the first Wednesday night) beginning at 7:00 PM. This club hosts the annual Dallas Pen Show. Additional information is available at http://www.dallaspenshow.com/ and at http://www.meetup.com/DallasPenClub/.
Alcatel Lunch Bunch met on Wednesday, 06 February 2013 at Golden Corral in Richardson, Texas where ten people participated. Current and former employees of Rockwell International or Alcatel USA enjoy lunch together and stay informed about the current status of colleagues.
Career Jump-Start met on Tuesday, 05 February 2013 at First United Methodist Church in Richardson, Texas. David Badger led this session attended by 20 people. Jon Stotts of List of Leads spoke to this group. Brand yourself or you are destined to wear somebody else’s brand. Cattle rustlers rebrand cattle to make them their own. The only way to prove cattle were rebranded is to examine the inside of the hide. - Handshakes convey a brand: limp fish, evangelist, etc.
- How you dress conveys a brand.
- Corporations do not care about you; you are a number to them.
- People should have their own unique logo.
- Your voice is also a brand because people can recognize you by the sound of your voice.
- Helping others can be a retired person’s brand.
- Equestrian vaulting is acrobatics done on horseback.
- Paul Harvey is recognized by his voice after he speaks one or two words.
- Dress/Sport coat pocket square (folded handkerchief) is a brand for Jon Stotts. He had a four point pocket square – not the cardboard replica that dry cleaners supply.
- People should have their own domain name. You can get a domain name with email address for $15 per year. Having your own domain name can make you standout. Jon Stotts got his domain name from Go Daddy.
- Hot Mail, AOL, and a few others are near the bottom of the list in terms of current desirability.
- LinkedIn is profession and business oriented.
- If you have a personal logo, place a small unobtrusive logo at bottom of your resume.
Jon Stotts will return to Career Jump-Start probably in September to speak about networking with LinkedIn contacts. Four people won tickets to a Chili Lunch by United Methodist Women through a drawing before the group adjourned. The Chili Lunch will be on Sunday, 17 February 2013 from 11:00 AM to 1:00 PM in the Bartula Family Life Center of First United Methodist Church Richardson. Career Jump-Start usually meets at 6:30 PM 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.
Career Jump-Start met on Tuesday, 29 January 2013 and was attended by 20 people. Bethany Williams presented a program titled “Live Your Best Life in 2013.” She recommends starting a dream journal. This journal should contain a page for each of your life areas including: God, family, work, relationships, hobbies, and fitness. Priorities need to be reviewed annually. We need to dream big and dream a lot. Write your life plan down and include action items. Action items need to be scheduled on your calendar. . See her web page at http://bethanywilliams.org/. Career Jump-Start usually meets at 6:30 PM 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.
Career Jump-Start met on Tuesday, 28 August 2012 at First United Methodist Church of Richardson, Texas. About 20 people were present for Sol Cartier’s program titled “Influencing the Influencer.” It appears that people stay away from Career Jump-Start when they know there will be a workshop. The workshops can be difficult; however, they help us learn in a safe environment. So, they are a good thing. My band director in seventh grade told us to make a sound with our musical instruments emphasizing that otherwise he has no way of knowing how to help us learn how to play the instrument. He has to hear the sound that we make with our musical instrument to know what to tell us to do. Practice sessions in the band room were where we needed to make and learn from our mistakes not during performances. Career Jump-Start workshops are a place where we can "make a sound" and receive help that improves that "sound" so that we provide outstanding performances in interviews. I blew a slide trombone from 7th through 12th grade. I decided that I needed more study time and less music time in college; therefore, I decided not to participate in band or orchestra in college. Sol Cartier helped us understand how behaviors vary from person to person and how behaviors change as time goes by. Some people are logic driven while other people are rapport driven. See figure 1. Sol provided the mnemonic “lefty logic right rapport.” Human resources people primarily evaluate how people fit the culture and secondarily apply logic to evaluate people. While being logic or rapport driven, people are also either extrinsic or intrinsic. An extrinsic person is very outgoing making a point to shake everybody’s hand. An intrinsic person is very inward finding a corner with six or eight friends and ignoring the rest of the world. An extrinsic person can be logic driven or rapport driven. Likewise, an intrinsic person can be logic driven or rapport driven. See figure 2. Sol had B+ marked on his arm to remind him to be positive. It is possible to act outside of your stable behavior. It is not easy to shift like this. It requires a conscious effort. See figure 3 for an illustration of how behavior changes as time goes by during an interview. In this example, behavior is rapport driven as the interview begins. Behavior becomes logic driven as the interview progresses. Behavior changes back and forth between rapport and logic as the interview progresses. An interviewer answers the question “If I am a good fit for this job, do you have any concerns about how I would fit?” based on whether they are logic or rapport driven. A logic driven person should provide a meaningful answer to this question. A rapport driven person will “sugar coat” their answer. Have a 90-day plan for what you will do if hired. NEXT MEETING: Tuesday, 18 September 2012 will be a celebration of the seventh anniversary of Career Jump-Start. This event will be upstairs in room 230A. So, park in the lot near Custer Road and enter the education building near the middle of the building. The room is on the second floor at the west end of the hallway. 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. .
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