Career Jump-Start met on Tuesday, 22 May 2012 at First United Methodist Church of Richardson, Texas. Between 20 and 30 persons were present and heard Dave Peters’ program about Networking.

Serve others to serve yourself.

Good old Boy network is detrimental to networking.

Build a quality network.

Assertive Leaders serve others before their self.

Target companies should be listed vertically rather than horizontally. This places your most desired company at the top of the list with other companies being less desirable the lower they are in the list.

Companies treat employees in one of two ways: as a commodity or as a resource.

How do we setup a network? Approach networking like you will always be networking. Add contacts to your network based on predetermined criteria such as:

1.       They should be in the 95th percentile of what they do.

2.       They should value honesty and ethics beyond reproach.

3.       They should be flexible and adaptable.

4.       They should be servant leaders.

5.       They should have a passion for what they do.

This list of criteria should be customized to fit your specific needs.

Use the World Wide Web to identify where you want to work, and then use LinkedIn to find people in that company. Contact these people to determine if the company will be a good fit.

Setup an advisory board of four or five people who will guide your efforts.

Setup a support group.

Employment Transition Ministry (ETM), setup 12 years ago, is the other career support ministry of First United Methodist Church of Richardson, Texas.

NEXT WEEK: Curt Fuller will describe a marketing plan to send to your networking group.

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. 

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. 

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/.