Steve's 2 Cents

job search notes: Try writing someone else's resume

2009-11-12T06:10:00.000-05:00

Stuck on your resume?
Feel that is doesn't really work for you?
Not sure what to modify to get the edge you need?

Try writing or rewriting someone else's resume. Stepping out of focus on your own will allow you to see the parts of the resume in a new light. To focus on the key words, the accomplishments told in a compelling manner.

When it is not your own words, your own background, you can step forward with a little more focus. When you have finished with theirs, hopefully you can step back to your own and look at it with a sense of detachment. And make good progress.

My monthly entry to the Joyful Jubilant Learning blog was on writing in a different format. Writing as if Shakespeare or Dostoevsky wrote. It is worth a read. You have my permission to click on over to read and review the article and the comments.

Have you tried writing a different format?
What did you learn?

Let's thank our veterans today!

2009-11-11T05:47:00.000-05:00

When you see a veteran today, thank them for their service to our country. Their service has enabled us to live the life we have.

My father, Gerald Sherlock, served in the Pacific Theater during World War II. One of his favorite sayings is that the real heroes did not come home.

job search notes: quick links roundup

2009-11-10T06:17:00.000-05:00

I am catching up to "business as usual" in these post-LaidOff Camp days. Without much embellishment, here are some links that should be worthy of following

Questions on using a recruiter on your job search?

from Out of Work Chicago by Veronica Ludwig

Job Seeker: 10 Things I Know About You

from Spin Strategy - Blog by Tim Tyrell-Smith

LinkedIn works with Twitter, and vice versa

from The LinkedIn Blog by allenblue

How to Handle Annoying Red Flags in Your Resume

from Work Coach Cafe by Ronnie Ann

Did you find any good articles to share?

Fall yard work finds some burrs

2009-11-08T16:51:00.001-05:00

Fall yard work finds some burrs still with me. What sticks for you?, originally uploaded by shersteve.

still with me as I head back into the house.

What sticks for you?

supposed to be

2009-11-07T05:54:00.000-05:00

Today was supposed to be the LaidOff Camp event we had been planning for pretty much since July. The day was going to be full of busyness around the event. Last minute things to do.

Supposed to be greeting people, introducing folks to each other, making connections, learning, sharing, exchanging tips and tricks that have worked ...

Supposed to be yet canceled for lack of confirmed registrations. Only one third of the required number we needed to break-even had registered. We couldn't afford to take the financial risk. We are an all volunteer, non-profit group.

The Team will regroup. We will get together an plan something for Feb or March 2010.

We will need your feedback on what we could have done differently.

We have heard we should provide a registration option for those who don't want to pay by credit card online.

Should we still plan for the event on a Saturday? or plan for a weekday?

What would you want the event to be like?

You can help us prepare for our next try.

Chris Brogan wrote: "Celebrate small victories often. Mourn failures quickly. Do what is necessary without fanfare."

5 for Friday

2009-11-06T21:34:00.000-05:00

late in the day, but there is still time for Five for Friday!

1 - The one that caught my eye here was Wisestamp

Using Online Tools to Save Time During the Search

from WSJ.com: Laid Off And Looking by Jon Gray

2 - One I had found early this summer was LinkUp.com. It is a good and worthy tool to use.

LinkUp.com, A Job Search Engine For Company Websites

from (title unknown) by Marci Reynolds

3 - While I am overdue on my book review of Trust Agents, this is a good summary of the main points.

Trust Agents- An Introduction

from chrisbrogan.com by chrisbrogan

4 - Some honest writing from Kathryn Proulx, wife to Erik (www.lemonademovie.com/)

The Yin And Yang Of It – By Kathryn Proulx

from Please Feed The Animals by admin

5 - and finally, a good posting on a serious topic, privacy.

The Privacy Genie

from Media Bullseye by Jen Zingsheim

LaidOff Camp Attleboro/Providence - EVENT CANCELED

2009-11-05T22:01:00.000-05:00

Event: LaidOff Camp Attleboro/Providence - CANCELED

Date: Saturday, November 07, 2009 from 1:00 PM - 5:00 PM (ET)

Location:
Living Waters Church
15 John L Dietsch Blvd
North Attleboro, MA 02763

For more information click here: http://laidoffcampprovidence.blogspot.com/

Regretfully, the event has been canceled. We only achieved one third of the required registrations for this non-profit, all-volunteer event to break even.

The Team will gather information on what we learned during this process and likely attempt to create an event sometime early in 2010.

Your registration fee will be refunded in full to the credit card you used to register.
Thank you for your interest.

Go right, right, right to LaidOff Camp!

2009-11-05T05:16:00.000-05:00

We have located a fine facility to hold LaidOffCamp Attleboro/Providence. The Living Waters Church in North Attleboro has been gracious and accommodating working with us to plan for this event. You may recall that they hosted the United Regional Chamber of Commerce Job Fair in September.

Living Waters is conveniently located off Exit 5 on i95. Whether traveling northbound or southbound, the directions are the same. Take Exit 5. Turn right at the end of the exit, turn right at the first light and right again into the first driveway.

Go right, right, right to LaidOff Camp!

Here are some photos of the facility to help you navigate around the building the day of LaidOff Camp:

The registration info also includes directions to Living Waters Church. In the meantime you can view the local map here.

Register for LaidOff Camp Attleboro/Providence here

Need your help

2009-11-04T08:27:00.000-05:00

I need your help.
What can we do to get 70 registered for the LaidOff Camp Attleboro/Providence?

Why 70?
That number allows this all volunteer and non-profit effort to break even on the facility.

Any advice you can provide is appreciated.

job search notes: start thinking big

2009-11-03T08:46:00.003-05:00

From Michael Port's "The Think Big Manifesto":

"Thinking big will produce a society that prizes people of values, not people who have net value; that elects people of principles, not people with cronies who have the most principal in their bank accounts; that seeks truth, not trite, media-generated baby food to distract us from the realities of our world; that considers that each and every one of us has the potential to think big about ourselves."

You can visit Michael's website at http://www.thinkbigrevolution.com/

If you are looking for work, or know someone who is looking, have them take the next step to think big by registering for LaidOff Camp Attleboro/Providence at http://locattleboroprovidence.eventbrite.com/

For more about the Laidoff Camp check out the website here:
http://laidoffcampprovidence.blogspot.com/

Congressional reports - Open CRS

2009-11-02T05:25:00.000-05:00

Want to read reports that Congress gets?

American taxpayers spend over $100 million a year to fund the Congressional Research Service, a "think tank" that provides reports to members of Congress on a variety of topics relevant to current political events. Yet, these reports are not made available to the public in a way that they can be easily obtained. A project of the Center for Democracy & Technology through the cooperation of several organizations and collectors of CRS Reports, Open CRS provides citizens access to CRS Reports already in the public domain and encourages Congress to provide public access to all CRS Reports.

You can find the Congressional Research Service (CRS) here

From Richard Sylla - insights on the Crash of '29

2009-11-02T05:21:00.000-05:00

From the Wall Street Journal, a bit of history I had not recalled:

Because their teachers and their history books said so, most people know that the Great Crash of 1929 caused the Great Depression of the early 1930s. I am not one of these people.

What I know is that the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at 306 the day before Black Thursday, October 24, 1929, and at 199 on November 13, three weeks later. That drop of 35 percent was the Great Crash. I also know that on April 17, 1930, the day before Good Friday, the Dow closed at 294, or 96 percent of its level before Black Thursday. In other words, almost all of the decline of the crash proper had been undone by a recovery of 48 percent in the Dow between Halloween ‘29 and Easter ‘30. Most people don’t know that, or if they ever did they forgot it.

On Good Friday ‘30, the New York Times referred not to the Great Crash, but to “the break in the market last Fall.” The Times that day also noted that the day before, April 17, “average prices worked higher and a few outstanding issues shot up smartly to new high prices for the year to date,” and that “British interests were investing heavily in these issues.”

The Great Depression began sometime after the spring of 1930, most likely when a lot of banks failed late that year. But the so-called Great Crash a year earlier had almost nothing to do with those bank failures, the first of thousands of bank failures that occurred from late 1930 to March 1933.

What’s interesting from the perspective of 2009 is that from September 12, 2008, the Friday before Lehman, to the low of March 9, 2009, the Dow lost 44 percent. The Great Crash of 2008-09 was actually a greater crash than the Great Crash of 1929. And half a year after the crash lows of last March, the Dow again is up about 50 percent, as it was half a year after October 1929.

Is the market’s recovery since March now giving us a better forecast of what lies ahead than it did in April 1930? Let’s hope so. Let’s hope, too, that people stop exaggerating the effects of “the break in the market” in October ‘29.

The original was posted to the Wall Street Journal here

job search notes: two important days

2009-11-01T07:38:00.001-05:00

Two days to mark your calendar for next week:

1 - Wednesday, Nov 5th

The United Regional Chamber of Commerce, in conjunction with Living Waters Church, is sponsoring Employment Workshops and a Job Fair on Nov. 5 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Living Waters Church, 15 John L. Dietsch Blvd., North Attleborough. Companies that are actively hiring, as well as representatives from educational facilities, will be at the event.

Do you or someone you know need to sharpen your job search skills? Then you are welcome to attend this free event!

The following workshops will be offered in two sessions (10:30 a.m. to 11:15 a.m.) and (11:30 a.m. to 12:15 p.m.):
          * Ten Tips for the Tongue Tied
          * Interview Tips for the Non-Salesperson
          * Develop a Marketing Plan for Your Job Search
          * 10 Most Common Interview Mistakes

Need a resume? We can help you prepare your resume and print it on the spot.

2 - Saturday, November 7th

If you participate in LaidOff Camp, you should leave with more knowledge about the job search, more connections and hopefully an extra dose of confidence to add extra spring to the next step in your job search.

Register for LaidOff Camp Attleboro/Providence here

Impressionist view

2009-11-01T07:32:00.002-05:00

The leaves floated on the surface of the canal. There was enough sun to peak through the clouds and create this impressionist view of the world.

BRBP_impressionist view, originally uploaded by shersteve.

Dolores and I took our bikes for a ride on the Blackstone River Bikeway. We started at the rest area on northbound i295 (just past RT 146 in Cumberland) and went south this time.

The trail crossed the river several times as it wound it way down a scenic route. The old canal on one side, the river on the other. With the trees half leafless, the view was expansive. Farms and houses appeared where previously we had no idea what was beyond the wall of trees.

The breeze was strong facing us as we rode south. Not so strong to hinder our ride. It was a benefit on the return. The best surprise was the what the trail did with the old Lonsdale DriveIn.

They kept the sign to advertise the bikeway.

What a great use for this slice of Americana!

The World of Tomorrow (If The Internet Disappeared Today)

2009-11-01T06:29:00.000-05:00

Sent to you by Steve Sherlock via Google Reader:

The World of Tomorrow (If The Internet Disappeared Today)

via TomorrowToday's Blog by Barrie Bramley on 10/28/09

This is a great read (look) at what the world would look like if the internet disappeared today. A photo contest by the readers of Cracked.com. Some really fun stuff to think about how much the world has changed : ) While there's a lot that's funny, there is a reality check and reminder at how [...] Related posts:

The world is changing cell phones Once upon a time cell phones changed the world. They...
How to reduce energy at school – world class example I am involved with a project management company called SEDS...
Stop Tweeting about these… Had to smile as this post from The Oatmeal this...

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dogwood tree in autumn glory

2009-10-31T08:14:00.002-04:00

dogwood tree in autumn glory, originally uploaded by shersteve.

The changes this tree goes through each season are amazing. I'll add this photo to the collection I have at the Joyful Jubilant Learning blog.

Have you stopped to notice what changes around you?

Are you looking for work?

2009-10-30T05:44:00.000-04:00

Do you know someone looking for work? You are not alone. With unemployment at 13% in RI and 9.3% in MA, there are lots of folks out of work and looking.

There is a heavy population of those 40+ looking for work. There is also a significant number of recent college graduates out looking for work.

In the course of my own job search effort, one thing became evident: the power of we. Who you know is as important as what you know. By talking with each other, sharing our experiences, sharing what has worked or didn't work. By networking with each, sharing our connections, who knows who, we can help each other get a better connection to the next position.

With as many resumes being submitted for each job posting, the pile for the hiring manager is overwhelming. How do you get out of the pile? Your network!

A core group my connections who understand the "power of we" are working hard to put together the LaidOff Camp. The camp will facilitate the best practices of the job search effort. In one afternoon, over the course of four hours, you'll be able to participate in a session to help your own individual job search effort. Sessions on networking, using LinkedIn, interview tips, a practice interview session and others are being planned for this event.

This is a non-profit effort. The $10 charge will simply allow us to cover the facility fee and provide some refreshments during the afternoon.

For this small dollar cost, you will walk away with more knowledge, more connections and hopefully more confidence in taking the next step in your job search effort.

You should visit the LaidOff Camp website to register.

You should tell whomever you know that is looking for work about this event.

We are in this together and the 'power of we' can help us to success!

A sample of recent posts to the LaidOff Camp website:

job search notes: This is "a performance driven marketplace"

2009-10-27T07:44:00.000-04:00

Last February, designer Michael Locascio started calling recruiters after he was abruptly laid off from a Chicago-area company. “Usually within a couple of weeks, I would find something, even just project-based work, but this time there was nothing or the pay was ridiculously low,” he says.

Locascio, 50, always disdained networking. “I felt like you’re always asking someone for a favor,” he says. But last summer, out of desperation, he joined St. Hubert Job and Networking Ministry, one of Chicago’s largest free job-support groups. “There was a no-whining policy,” he says. “You’re there to stay focused on the task.”

The ministry breaks participants into small groups of eight to 12 job seekers from different occupations who problem-solved, shared job leads and held each other accountable for progress. “That helped to keep me going—seeing others land jobs,” says Locascio.

Read the full article in AARP Bulletin Today.

LaidOff Camp is designed to provide the same type of experience as a networking group, compressed into one afternoon. You get to choose the sessions you need and make new connections at the same time.

Register for LaidOff Camp Attleboro/Providence here

This was originally posted on the LaidOff Camp website

Nail in the coffin for focus groups?

2009-10-26T05:50:00.000-04:00

Focus Group Failure

The stories mention that brain scans are less convenient and more expensive than traditional focus groups for gauging audience reaction to a movie. The real story is that focus groups are simply incapable of providing the kind of specific and accurate feedback that we see by measuring brain activity and biometrics in real time. Focus groups may still have a purpose, but gauging how scary particular elements of a film are isn’t one of them.

Indeed, there are many points of failure for traditional focus groups. People may not say what they really think for a variety of reasons. Even when they try to be totally honest, people may not be able to articulate their experiences, rationales, or intentions.

Read the full article here

What do you think?

job search notes: posture matters!

2009-10-26T05:40:00.001-04:00

The body and mind connection is reinforced with another study:

Researchers found that people who were told to sit up straight were more likely to believe thoughts they wrote down while in that posture concerning whether they were qualified for a job. On the other hand, those who were slumped over their desks were less likely to accept these written-down feelings about their own qualifications…

Read the full post here.

So in addition to keeping good posture during your interview, it is also important to keep good posture when you are preparing your plan, when you are preparing your application to a job posting.

Yes, NE Revs win 1-0

2009-10-25T20:39:00.000-04:00

Jeff Larentowicz hit a laser of a free kick that went through the hole in the defensive wall and then over the keeper before he could do much.

Next up is the playoffs against old nemesis, Chicago Fire.

The stars have aligned - let's go Revs!

2009-10-25T11:12:00.000-04:00

Down to the final game of the season, the NE Revolution can continue their streak of making the playoffs with a win or a tie on the road at Columbus this afternoon.

It seemed improbable with the multitude of possible combinations for playoff scenarios but the one major factor only a few articles actually mentioned with some importance was the fact that all the major contenders for the final playoff spots were playing on the road.

So while the hype for some teams was there (i.e. Toronto in particular) that they were playing on the road where they historically have not done well was the key.

Chivas lost on the road at Chicago on Thursday to set up the weekend. Chicago's win gave the Support Shield to Columbus and guaranteed a place for Chicago.

DC tied on the road at KC. Toronto lost on the road at NY (their last game at Giant Stadium). FC Dallas lost on the road in Seattle (where they have arguably the best 12th man). Colorado lost on the road at Real Salt Lake.

Now all the Revs need to do is win or tie to make it! The MLS playoff standings are here.

The Revs should win. They have a good road record. They are also starting the same team, and more importantly, a healthy team for the second game in a row. This is important. Missing Twellman and Albright all season, then losing Ralston for the last several weeks has deprived the Revs of their top players. Several others have spent time on the sideline with injuries but all will be ready today.

The final regular season game. On the road. Against the Crew.

I am looking for a good Revs win!

How bad is unemployment in New England?

2009-10-25T05:56:00.000-04:00

The Wall Street Journal provides a nice interactive chart to pick five states to compare. I do subscribe to the Journal online edition and took a screen shot to share here.

Rhode Island leads the pack with 13%. Connecticut 9.8% leads Massachusetts with 9.3%. Vermont actually improved on the bottom 6.7% and New Hampshire passed it with 7.2%.

These are not great numbers to work with, hence one of the reasons why LaidOff Camp is so important. You need an edge to get your resume out of the pile that flows in every time some one posts a position for hire.

You can come to LaidOff Camp, share what you know, pick up tips and tricks from others and take the next step in your job search with more confidence!

This is something you CAN do.

Register for LaidOff Camp Attleboro/Providence here

Links to follow

2009-10-24T09:01:00.000-04:00

Today, I'll point you to some links that you should be aware of

Reducing carbon footprint on the Franklin Area Climate Team page

How bad is unemployment in New England? Check out the LaidOff Camp Attl/Prov page

Take action today! You can do it.

job search notes: LaidOff Camp - Press Release Published

2009-10-23T05:51:00.000-04:00

The LaidOff Camp Team has prepared and published the press release out to the MA and RI newspapers.

You can view the details here.

Note: the LaidOff Camp also added 'day of' registration tickets priced $5 more than the regular ticket purchased in advance. Hopefully, this will be an incentive to register early. At $10 for an early registration, you get a great deal. If you wait for the 'day of', the $15 charge shouldn't be an issue.

It should help us in planning for making this event a success for you!

You can view the LaidOff Camp website here.