TUES 17 DEC MEETING CANCELED!

With apologies, the meeting tonight, Tues Dec 17 is canceled. I've asked Xavier Gordon if he can return to speak in January. I'll keep you posted.

Andy

Guest Speaker this Tuesday is Xavier Gordon from Conn Dept of Labor

Our guest speaker this Tuesday is Xavier Gordon from the Conn DOL.  

After speaking to Xavier for a few minutes, I got a great dose of his positive energy. Xavier is not only uber knowledgeable about the job search but he is a top notch motivator! I'm honestly sorry I never went to one of his workshops and I may try going at some point on general principle!

For those of you that were at the last meeting and saw the energy that our guest Lisa Hayes has and how she engaged our group, Xavier is the same way and probably more energized. 

I understand it is December and that our meeting is a week out from Christmas Eve and it might be easy to decide not to go. Please go. Unemployment does not stop because of Christmas (sadly) and we aren't either. Do yourself a favor and fight the temptation to stay home and go to the meeting!

Be aggressive in your job search - Si Vis Pacem Para Bellum...If you want peace, prepare for war. Attack your job search and never stop trying....

I look forward to seeing you on Tuesday!

Andy

Referrals are Job 1 in the Job Search

Greetings!

One of the best and time tested methods for landing your next position is to get referrals.

Virtually all of us are networking. If you aren't you aren't networking, start today!

However, networking alone may not yield the results that you seek. The critical step that many job hunters miss is to ask people in your network for referrals. 

Cold contacts are rarely effective whether you fill out an online application or write a letter or cold call someone in a company. It's always easier and get better results with a "warm" call, that is having someone refer you to a key contact in a company or organization.

Here is an article I saw that talks about referrals and their place in the job search.

Click Here for Referrals in the Job Search Article

Thanks for visiting and remember our next meeting is a week from Tuesday.

Andy

Job Search Support Group Update - Oct 20

Greetings!

A special thanks to all of you that attended the second meeting. I also want to thank Jim Hedges from coming up from lower Fairfield County to be our guest speaker. 

Although we didn't have quite as many people on Tuesday as we did at the first meeting, this group was very engaging and there were some good ideas and feedback from the meeting.

---------------------

It appears that I found a guest speaker for the November Meeting. I won't reveal who it is just yet because I want to include a bio and other information when I do. But she is an HR exec. I've worked with her in the past and she is excellent!

---------------------

Please return to this website blog once or twice a week. I'm going to try and post at least twice a week.

Thanks for visiting,
Andy

Overcoming the Word-of-Mouth Flaw!

Greetings!

Word of Mouth is flawed! 

I was flabbergasted when I first heard this point of view about of word-of-mouth. Tom Gay, a business development and business growth expert brought this to my attention. 

Tom is an entrepreneurial guru who heads a forward thinking internet company called 22Touch. 22Touch is a powerful system that gives its users the tools to build successful and productive relationships. 22Touch helps build relationships that not only last, but also transforms those relationships into successful networks through referrals. Here is a link to 22Touch.

Click this link to go to 22Touch

So what am I talking about? You may be thinking that word-of-mouth is the best advertising vehicle in any marketplace. 

By way of an explanation, consider the following.

Rod is talking to Mike. Rod tells Mike, 'You know you really should sign-up for Andy's Saturday one day course on Marketing. I took the course and it was excellent.' 

Mike replies, 'I think I'll do that, I've been looking for a course like that. Thanks for the information.'

This is an abbreviated version of a classic word-of-mouth conversation. Conversations like this happen almost daily in our lives. But what's missing? 

Here is the missing link. I'm Andy and even though I stand to benefit from the word-of-mouth encounter of the two friends, I'm out of the loop. I have a great chance for a new customer and I don't even know it! 

I appreciate's Rod's efforts but I'm missing one vital piece of the puzzle. I'm missing Mike's contact information. 

I need to train the people in my network how to give back to me. It sounds a bit self centered. But it is a necessary step to help make my referrals really count. 

So how do you do this? It is very simple. When the people in your network refer someone to you, ask them to provide you the name, phone number and email address of the person they referred.

Now the referral is in your hands and you can follow-up. You can now take action and increase the chances of gaining a new customer or in the case of your job search, add another viable contact.

Good contacts are like gold in a job search and you want to do everything possible to build your network. After all, odds are that you'll find your next job through your network!

Thanks for visiting,
Andy

Are You LinkedIn - Part ll

Greetings!

So you now have a LinkedIn account. You've created your LinkedIn Profile - essentially, your online resume and website. You've have linked in with some contacts. Now what?
---------------------------
Adding to your network
First you can add to your network. Here is one way to do it. 

In your account looking at the menu above your picture click on "Profile". When the profile screen comes up look to the right of your picture. You will see some thumbnail pictures to the right. The title above them is "People You May Know." 

Click "People You May Know" as it is a link besides being a header. A two-column page with a number of people on it will come up on the screen. These are your contacts, contacts. Scroll down and connect with those people you know.

Also make a list of the people you see that you might like to meet. Under each person displayed is a link called "Shared Connections." Click on "Shared Connections and you will find out who you and the person you are checking out have in common. The person(s) you have in common would be the person to make the introduction.
-----------------------------
Ask for Introductions
Second, go to the LinkedIn page of each of your connections and look at their all of their connections. Make a list of anyone that you might like to meet and ask your connection to introduce you.
-----------------------------
Recommendations
I suggest you seek out people you've worked with in the past and ask them to write you a recommendation. It is helpful to have some recommendations to add to your profile. 

Recommendations can be quid-pro-quo. Tell your former co-worker, boss, customer, vendor or whoever, that you will write a recommendation for them, if they will write one for you.
----------------------------
Endorsements
If you find that you want to generate some activity on your LinkedIn account, try this. 

Go to the page of one of your contacts. Above that person's picture is a text box and on the bottom of it, there are two buttons, "Endorse" and "Skip."

Click the "Endorse" button. When you do another box will appear in the same spot titled "What skills or expertise do your other connections have?" Go through them if you can endorse your contacts for skills endorse them. 

If you reach a point where you can't really endorse any of the four persons displayed, then click "See More" on the bottom right of the box and a new set of people and skills to endorse will appear.

I've found that when I endorse others, others tend to endorse me. Besides the benefit of being endorsed, it can also lead to conversation. Any job search oriented activity in a job search is good activity and using the endorsement function in LinkedIn is good way to generate some activity!
----------------------------

Thanks for visiting!
Andy

Thanks to those who attended our first Meeting!

Greetings!

Thanks to all who attended our first meeting. I hope you found value in the meeting. 

I liked and was encouraged by the networking interaction that I saw after the meeting. 

The two goals of every meeting is that you'll pick up some valuable job search tips and can share ideas and thoughts about your job search with others. 

With one meeting in the rear view mirror, we move forward. We have a guest speaker for next month. He is Jim Hedges one of the directors of the New Canaan Career Transition Support Group. I think Jim will have a lot of valuable advice for us. I hope you'll plan to attend the next meeting!

More to follow...

Are you LinkedIn? Part 1

Greetings!

A few years ago, I was reading an article about job hunting. It said the first thing a job hunter should do is to get a LinkedIn account and set-up a profile. 

At the time I didn't know what LinkedIn was all about. I do now. It is about networking. I've read that 80% of a job search should concentrate on working your network.

A good friend of mine who is heavily involved in helping people with job searches told me that your LinkedIn page is your job hunting website. 

The first step is to create your profile. Creating your profile is obviously important because people need to know who you are, what you do and what you want to do.

Then start linking in with almost anyone you know. Family, acquaintances, co-workers, former co-workers, friends of friends, are all good contacts. 

I'll discuss more in the next post. Stay tuned.

If you are not already on LinkedIn, please consider it.

Here is the link:  Click to go to LinkedIn

Thanks for visiting,
Andy

The First Meeting of the St Mary Job Search Support Group

-->At 7:30 p.m. Tuesday September 17, 2013
-->In the Meeting Room in the Rectory Basement
-->Topic of the Night: Networking for Results 

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Greetings! 

Father Donahue addressed the issue of unemployment and under employment in his Message to St Mary Parish this past weekend. 

In the message he talks about the formation of our job support group and his hope that it will provide a viable venue for support and networking. I am confident that this ministry will bring value to all that participate.

Father's message is below.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dear Friends:

This Monday we mark the annual  celebration of Labor Day, which has come to be  associated with the end of the summer, the  beginning of school, and the onset of the regular pace of life with the fall season. Labor Day can be traced in its current form to 1894  when President Grover Cleveland signed legislation establishing it  as a federal holiday. Other societies around the world observe a  day of celebration for workers usually on May 1, a day which is  popularly known as “May Day.” In the Church May 1 is celebrated  as the feast of St. Joseph the Worker. In the United States,  however, the date for Labor Day was set as the first Monday in  September owing to the great emphasis that Communist countries  placed on a festive observance of May Day.

These are difficult times for laborers, and for business in  general. The national economy has been stagnant, essentially flat,  for the past several years and recovery has been slow. The  unemployment rate hovers around 7.5% and many claim that it is,  in fact, much higher since the government does not take into  account the numbers of those who have stopped looking for work  when it compiles statistics for purposes of computing the  unemployment rate.

Work is essential to human life and to human progress, as  Blessed John Paul II noted in his encyclical Laborem Exercens.  Work is not optional, but critical. More than that, human labor is, v on a spiritual level, a direct and concrete participation in the  ongoing work of God who continually is busy with the work of  creation.

Here at St. Mary’s, as elsewhere, there are, to be sure, a  significant number of parishioners who are either unemployed or  underemployed. Such a situation can be stressful as bills pile up  and financial pressures increase. The sense of idleness and  incompleteness can be devastating. With that in mind, we are in  the process of establishing a support group for the unemployed and  underemployed. Andrew Ancel will coordinate and lead this  group. It will serve as an opportunity, once a month to start, for  those out of work or working only part-time to come together for  mutual support and networking. It can be helpful to know that you  parishes in the Archdiocese have had such support groups and they  have proven to be very beneficial. Indeed, one parish, St. Ann in  Avon, has had such a group for almost twenty years. Watch the  bulletin for details on the organizational and informational  meeting. I fully support the establishment of this support group  and it is my hope that it will prove to be helpful in at least several  ways. I thank Andy Ancel for his willingness to serve as first  coordinator and convener of this group.

A reminder: Mass for Labor Day, Monday, September 2,  will be celebrated at 9:00 AM. There will be no 7:00 AM Mass on  that day.

Rev. Aidan N. Donahue

----------------------------------------------------------------------
Just a reminder that you can see prior posts by scrolling down.
Check back again soon for updates!

Thanks for visiting! 
Andy

Welcome to the St. Mary Job Search Support Group!

Greetings! 

On behalf of Father Aidan Donahue and St. Mary Parish of Milford, Conn, Welcome to the St. Mary Job Search Support Group! 

The St.Mary Job Search Support Group - JSSG, will hold its first meeting on Tuesday September 17, 2013 at 7:30 p.m. in the meeting area in the rectory basement. The JSSG will meet once a month. 

This blog will serve as information central for the JSSG. Meeting schedules, meeting agenda, information about speakers when we can get them, links to other job search support groups as well as any changes in meetings schedules or times can be found on this blog. 

In addition, if I, or any other person finds an interesting article on the job search, I will post it here on the blog. 

The JSSG is a ministry of St. Mary Parish and falls under the Community Outreach and Support (COS) Committee of the Parish Council (one the advisory groups for our Pastor, Father Donahue). 

The JSSG is open to most anyone who is searching for a job that might like to attend as long as attendees respect the property and spirit of our church. For instance, we will begin every meeting with a prayer.

Networking will be a key component of our meetings. How much time is devoted to various aspects of the job search will depend on the number of people that attend. 

Typically there will be a topic of the night that the Chair (me) will discuss. I hope to find guest speakers to talk to the group. After the topic of the night, there will be an "Introduction" segment of the meeting where attendees will introduce themselves and tell the group a little about their job search and the type of position they are looking for. Then the last part of the meeting will be for networking. 

If you have any questions please send an email to:  stmaryjssg@gmail.com

Please check back here from time to time for updates.

This blog address:
http://www.stmaryjobsearchsupport.blogspot.com

Thank you for visiting!
Andy Ancel - JSSG Chair