December Meeting

Our next meeting will be Tuesday December 16th and 7:00 p.m. in the St Mary Church Rectory Basement. 
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One our team leaders, Dan Lenhart saw these items in the Milford/Orange Bulletin and found these items:

Milford Young Professionals Networking at The Milford Arts Council building (northbound train station) Tuesday Dec 9th from 6-9 p.m.

How to use LinkedIn to advance your Career seminar at Milford Public Library on Dec 18th at 10 a.m.

The next meeting of the Housatonic River Job Network is on January 8th at the Case Memorial Library, 176 Tyler Rd Orange, CT.
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Here is short and interesting article on 10 Emerging Job Search Trends, Tips and Tactics from US News & World Report.

Emerging Job Search Trends article from US News & World Report

November Meeting

Our next meeting is Tues Nov 18.

The team should be back together as Linda and Dan will be back with Linda focused on interviewing and Dan with his vast knowledge of the job search landscape.

There will be a presentation, discussion of resources and networking. The presentation, tentatively will include a chat by Linda on interviewing and using sales techniques in the job search from me.

Then we will get into networking which where we talk with each person - a group to person look at the person's goals, challenges and questions and give the person peer to peer feedback.

We hope you'll attend!

October Meeting Notes

Many thanks for those that attended the October Meeting. I hope you received valuable networking tips and came away from the meeting with a good perspective on your search.

St Mary Job Search Support Group News!

Greetings!

Thanks to everyone who attended our September meeting. If you were there you found yourself with a lot of individual attention from the group. It was a very interactive meeting that brought a lot of value to the people who attended.

Many thanks to Linda Cella for leading the meeting. Linda did a great job!

My latest informal count is that ten people who have come to our meetings have landed. We can't take credit for them finding a job but I would like to think that we helped them on their journey to their job.

Our next meeting will Tuesday October 21 at 7pm in St Mary Church Meeting room in the Rectory basement.

I will be giving a workshop on "Kick Starting Your Network." 

The job search gurus tell us that our next job won't come from someone you know but from someone you know's network. How do get there from here?

It is not enough to just tell people you know that you are out of work and looking or that you are just plain looking for your next job whether you are working or not. 

As a job seeker you need to nurture the relationships of those in your network, especially those that are connectors and influencers but you also have to build awareness with them. You will find out ways to do those things at the next meeting.

If you are on the job hunt, I hope you have a great week! We strongly urge all job seekers to check out Connecticut Works and take advantage of their great programs. I also would urge you to take advantage of other job support groups.

Happy Hunting!
Andy

Moving to Fall

Greetings!

I thought we had a good, interactive meeting in August. In fact it went so well that Linda and Kathy did not make it thought their program. They will finish at our September meeting. 

Please note for the 2014-2015 Job Search Year we will start meetings at 7pm. We will continue to have speakers when I can find them. 

But the real focus will be peer to peer information and experiential conversations. Except for Xavier Gordon't visit in March, our best meetings were ones where there was interaction between the people attending. 

More information to follow.

Thanks,
Andy  

JSSG Update

Greetings!

Many thanks to Dan Lenhart for his excellent presentation on Navigating the Phone Interview. We had time to do introductions and find out more about those who attended.

Tentatively we are going to have three peer to peer presentations at the August Meeting. More to follow!

July Meeting Note

Just a quick note to let you know that our own Dan Lenhart, Assoc. Director, will be our guest speaker for the July Meeting. Dan is an HR professional and has been on both sides of the fence in the job search process. Dan will speak on "How to Navigate the Telephone Interview."

Just a reminder that though St. Mary sponsors the St. Mary Job Search Support Group, it is open to anyone that would like to attend regardless of parish or religious denomination. We are a job knowledge and networking group and work to deliver value to all of our attendees!

A note of thanks for June Meeting Speaker

Many thanks to my good friend Kathlene Gerrity for taking the time to be our guest speaker in June. She did a great job in engaging the attendees and sharing valuable insights!

A Big Thanks and Looking Ahead!

I want to thank all of you who attended our May Meeting. Our guest speaker was not able to make it but I thought Linda Cella did an outstanding job given the last minute change! 

One of the things I had hoped would happen and did was more peer to peer interaction with the group. My apologies for having gotten away from that important part of the meeting. Moving forward time will be put aside for peer to peer discussion. 

I mentioned that a friend of mine, Super Julie Braun has company called Super Interns. I mentioned Super Interns in the meeting last night. I spoke to Super Julie today and she plans to share more details of how her intern program could benefit you. 

I'm not sure when I'll get the information as Julie's calendar is beyond crazy over the next two weeks. When I do get the information, I will post it here and send an email blast to our members. Stay tuned!

Interesting Job Search Article - May Meeting Information

Greetings!

There was an excellent article in the CT Post on Sunday titled "Relearning how to find a job in the digital age." 

If you did not see it or have a change to read it, here is the link...

Link to CT Post Article - Relearning to how to find a job in the digital age

Our next meeting will be on Tuesday May 20 at 7:30 pm. Our guest speaker will be Kathlene Gerrity who owned her own recruiting firm and will talk about the job search from the recruiters perspective.

At 6 pm, I'll lead a 30 minute work shop on how to set-up a Referral system for a job search. It will be along the lines of the workshop I gave in March.

Andy

April Meeting Information

Greetings!

Our next meeting is Tuesday April 15 at 7:30 in the St Mary Milford Rectory basement meeting room. 

The regular meeting will begin at 7:30 p.m. Al Tonry will be our guest speaker and his topic is commission based jobs. Al has over two decades of experience in hiring, training and working with people in commission based jobs. 

Commission based jobs aren't always the ideal alternative but can sometimes be the only real opportunity. Al will give us his insights!

At 7 p.m. for you early birds, I will be giving a short workshop on relational side of the job search, much like I did in February if you attended that meeting.

Remember if you are having a bad day on the job search, do one thing that will move you forward and never stop trying... 

March Meeting + Workshop

Greetings!

Our next meeting will be on Tuesday March 18.

Our guest speaker is scheduled to be Xavier Gordon from the Conn Dept Labor. I've been told by those that have attended his workshops that he is amazing! I've spoken to Xavier and can easily see why people would have that opinion. He is passionate about what he does. 

Xavier was originally scheduled to be our guest in December, then January then February. Mother Nature had other ideas as we were snowed out all three months so say your prayers that she doesn't sneak a mid March surprise snow storm on us!

I am going to give a 45 minute workshop on putting together a Referral Program starting at 6:45for anyone that might like to arrive early and participate in the workshop.

Thanks for visiting!
Andy

Tonight's Meeting CANCELLED!

CANCELLED! CANCELLED! CANCELLED! CANCELLED!

Our meeting tonight (Tuesday 18 February) is cancelled. 

As a general rule, when St Mary School is closed, which it is today, meetings in the parish are canceled. I don't think it is a good idea to meet on a day like today anyway. So mother nature has scored her hat trick as they say in hockey, this being the third straight meeting that has been cancelled due to weather. 

I will see if I can find the space and time for a make-up meeting I will give a workshop on referrals. Most people can get referrals from people they know, the challenge is to get a sustained flow of referrals over time long after you've exhausted your supply of friends, family and acquaintances.

Xavier Gordon has put us on his calendar for our March 18 meeting and Al Tonry who was suppose to speak tonight has put us on his calendar for our April 15 meeting. Get your taxes in the mail before our meeting in April. :)

Take care,

Andy

Sat Feb 8 Update

Greetings!

We have a guest speaker for our next meeting on Feb18!

A few months ago I was chatting with a former boss (when I sold insurance for the Knights of Columbus) after church and he offered to speak to our group about commission oriented jobs that we are sometimes tempted to take when we are in job search mode. What can you expect and how do you evaluate a commission job that might become an option for you? 

When Al finished his career with the New York City Police Department, he carved out a very nice two or three decade second career with the Knights of Columbus insurance program which is commission based. Al is also a delightful story teller. 

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I've said a couple of prayers and have my fingers crossed that Xavier Gordon will be able to be our guest at our March meeting on Mar 18. He has to give a workshop in Stamford on our meeting night and cannot make our meeting. If you've ever been to one of Xavier's workshops or have had the opportunity to talk to him, you know what a high energy person he is that really cares about those that works with in his workshops. He's a great motivator!

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I received another very nice email about the value of the things we talked about at our "make-up" meeting this past Tuesday. Thank you for the feedback. 

My apologies to Dan for calling my good friend Dan, Dennis. I can't believe I did that...actually I can - it is not beyond me to insert foot into mouth! Sorry Dan. There are I believe two Dennis's in the group so I'm easily confused.

I would also like to congratulate Linda Cella on her new job! I also want to thank Linda for continuing to be part of our group even though she accomplished her mission in getting her job! We've made to the point where I do need some help and Linda and Dan Lenhart have been very supportive.

Hopefully mother nature will cut us another break (like this past Tues) for our next meeting a week from Tuesday on the 18th. Three days, Mon, Tues and Wed of this week, almost 2' of snow and mom nature cut us a break by holding back the snow on Tuesday. I for one am very grateful!  

I'm going to post meetings and other tidbits on my twitter account if you are into twitter. My twitter handle is "AAofMFD" if you into that social media vehicle. 

Thanks for visiting,

Andy

Job Search Group Update

Greetings!

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First, I apologize for not putting in more articles. I will try to be better about that!
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Second, Thanks to all who showed up for our "make-up" meeting on Tuesday. I've gotten good feedback on that meeting. 

I went over sales tips that can be useful in your job search. I also got a bit into starting a referral program. I think I want to expand on the Referral Program and have either a regular meeting or workshop meeting that will go over how to set-up a referral program. Now that I work for a a referral marketing company, I can help our attendees set-up a robust referral program. 
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Our next meeting is Tuesday, February 18. Unfortunately Xavier Gordon is not available that night. Xavier and I are talking about him being our guest speaker in March. 

I have another person that I'm talking too about being our guest for our Feb 18 meeting. If he can't make it then I will start on my referral program workshop.

Thanks for visiting,
Andy

Three Articles for this Week!

Greetings!

One of my goals this year is to post links to three articles each week. Here is the first set.

The first two are by Arnie Fertig of JonHunterCoach.com and cover job seeking tips and exploring virtual, media rich resumes. The third article is by Miriam Salpeter and offers some tips to get noticed by hiring managers.

It's possible you've read many articles that are similar but you just never know when you might see information in a new light that might inspire you in some way and you wouldn't want to miss out on that possibility would you?



Money Us News The-9-best-job-seeking-tips-from-staffing-leaders- by Arnie Fertig



Money Us News Virtual-Media-Rich-Resumes-the-pros-and-cons-by Arnie Fertig , JobHunterCoach.com



Money Us News.com How-to-Attract-Hiring-Managers-to-You by Miriam Salpeter , Owner Keppie Careers

Xavier Gordon News :)

Greetings!

Xavier Gordon who was to speak at our December meeting will be our guest speaker at our Tuesday January 21 meeting!

This is great news as three of our group have attended his workshops and gave him high marks! We should have a very enlightened meeting with Xavier Gordon as our speaker!