Employment issues

[rameumptom]

So, I find myself in the unemployment line.  I know the best ways to find work are usually through networking.

 

What are the best places to network, especially among  LDS? 

 

Is it proper to ask people online to pass around your resume for you at their places of work, etc?

 

BTW, if anyone wants to share my resume, please PM me and I'll pass it along....

 

rameumptom / Gerald Smith

[Gretchen]

ldsjobs.org.

 

I would say it would be better to e-mail your friends a copy of your resume and ask them to pass it along. They know you better than us, and can give better/stronger recommendations.

[Backroads]

Are you on LinkedIn?  Only it's a useful way to keep up with friends and spot possible career connections they might have.

 

Sorry you're out of work, Rammy!

[Iggy]

So, I find myself in the unemployment line.  I know the best ways to find work are usually through networking.

 

What are the best places to network, especially among  LDS? 

 

Is it proper to ask people online to pass around your resume for you at their places of work, etc?

 

BTW, if anyone wants to share my resume, please PM me and I'll pass it along....

 

rameumptom / Gerald Smith

Try: https://www.ldsjobs.org/ers/ct/?lang=eng   and seek out your Ward AND Stake Employment Specialist.

 

For us here on the coast of Oregon - this isn't that much of a help - unless one is willing and able to move farther east. 

 

BTW Welcome back to the forum. 

Edited September 6, 2014 by Iggy

[Palerider]

Good luck with your search. I found the church employment site for my area was helpful. The other job sites were more helpful such as monster and the others. Seems today friends are a good way to help in find employment too.

[rameumptom]

Thanks for the support.  I am on LinkedIn and a few other sites.  Seems to me that when the Law of Consecration kicks in, there will be a better and more personal way to do all of this....

[rameumptom]

Raven,  actually there are several people here that know me fairly well. I used to be a moderator here a few years ago.  And I find that many of my online friends have become some of my best friends....

[Leah]

Unemployment is stressful. I never expected it to happen to me when I went through it for about a year, a few years ago.

Where are you looking for work?

[beefche]

I'm sorry hear that, Ram.  I'm facing unemployment in about 7 months.  It's a frightening experience.  

 

Networking is great.  Let everyone and anyone you know that you are looking and even let them know the type of job you want.  I used the LDS employment services when I first returned from my mission and found it to be helpful in making some connections.

[Guest]

Sorry to hear that you are unemployed.  Been there, done that at least a couple of times.

 

My career has been in kind of a "niche" industry, and most of my jobs have come from job boards (and yes, that includes Craigslist).  I will say this, however... remember that "yes" opens doors, even if opportunities don't look like much at first.  When I was unemployed, I found a really crummy job making $200 per week part time, and out of desperation I took it.  Believe it or not, within a year that crummy part time job turned into a pretty good full time job.  I later exchanged that job for an even better one that I currently hold.  So never underestimate an opportunity... you simply never know where things might lead.

[pam]

At least you have some income coming in from your military retirement.  Sorry to hear about your job though.

[Just_A_Guy]

Bummer. 

 

During my last job search I did the job boards and stuff to show Just_A_Girl I was Doing Something™--I think I sent out well over seventy or eighty resumes--but I wound up getting my current job because someone I had known at my last job was drinking buddies with my now-boss and happened to say some very nice things about me.  So . . . the best advice I could give is to find old co-workers who got out of your last employer before you did, and see what they're doing now and if they can put in a good word for you.

 

Also:  LinkedIn is a joke (and creepy--it keeps suggesting I connect with old criminal defense clients of mine.  HOW does it know that I know these people?!)  I keep a public profile there, but I don't really do anything with it and don't expect to make any useful career connections with it.  I did use Facebook to make one announcement letting my social circle know I was on a job hunt, but I think it really is all about the personal connections.  (Which stinks, because I'm an introvert.)

Edited September 7, 2014 by Just_A_Guy

[PolarVortex]

What are the best places to network, especially among  LDS? 

 

I mentioned this in a previous post on an unrelated topic, but I have found that a good Toastmasters club can really beef up your networking.  The key is to find a good club with lots of members.  Some clubs are small and lackluster, but many are wall-to-wall energy and fun.  After a few weeks or months of regular attendance, you will know everyone else quite well and they will know you, too.  Stay positive and say you're "between jobs."  If you are positive and friendly, you will attract people, many of whom have very fat Rolodexes that can lead you to your next job.  I used to go to a club with 50 members, and I can't count the number of business connections that were made: realtors, therapists, car repair, web site design, writing and editing, photography... the list goes on forever.  One of my best friends (a civil engineer) got seriously ill and had to drop out of work for a year, and when he returned to the job market he found his career in tatters and was highly undesirable as an employee because of his need to visit doctors so much during working hours.  But from Toastmasters he met some big shot executive at one of the largest airports in the U.S., and he got a job and is now pulling down oodles of money.

 

Think you can't speak in public?  Toastmasters is especially wonderful with total beginners who have no experience or skill in public speaking.  I really can't recommend them highly enough... if you find a good club that meets often.

 

I just Googled "LDS Toastmasters."  There is an LDS Toastmasters club in the Philippines, and one person on LDSPlanet mentioned her Toastmasters activity, and LDSLiving had a 2009 article on public speaking that mentioned Toastmasters.  That's it, surprisingly. 

 

Best wishes to you.  My career came to a dead stop in early 2013 but I crossed paths with the right person, and professionally I'm in the best place of my career now.

 

PV

 

P.S. I agree with the "LinkedIn is creepy" comment.  I stopped logging into LinkedIn because all it did was rub my nose in fresh updates about former co-workers I loathed who had become turbocharged Silicon Valley executives making fantastically inflated salaries.

Edited September 8, 2014 by PolarVortex

[Irishcolleen]

So, I find myself in the unemployment line.  I know the best ways to find work are usually through networking.

 

What are the best places to network, especially among  LDS? 

 

Is it proper to ask people online to pass around your resume for you at their places of work, etc?

 

BTW, if anyone wants to share my resume, please PM me and I'll pass it along....

 

rameumptom / Gerald Smith

I'm so sorry you are out of work.  It is a stressful time.  We just went through this.  My husband lost his job on Aug. 1st (my birthday).  He just received a job last Wednesday. We will be moving next week- unfortunately not to Utah, but to Virginia.

 

My husband wouldn't have received a job so soon if he hadn't done serious networking.  He called every business contact he had to let them know he was looking for a position. They kept him informed of job opportunities and a former customer ended up hiring him.  The position he was hired for is a step up!  It is stressful preparing for a move in two weeks, though!

 

I will be praying for you.  The prayers of our friends were very encouraging to us. 

[mordorbund]

Despite the LinkedIn negatives, it's what I primarily used in my recent job search (turns out a fb contact that randomly reached out to me was the one that actually landed me some work).

 

For a template in networking, I was pointed to The 2-hour Job Search. It gives focus in the who/where departments so you can get your resume past the e-doc goblins. It's geared toward recent grads, but in my head I replaced "alumni" with "former coworkers".