Networking

Last night I went to a marathon networking event.

It started at 6:00 which meant that I had to drive to the suburbs in rush hour traffic. The event was held at the UMC in Roswell, not the Roswell where I go to Whole Foods, but the old town Roswell, where the streets change names three times (my Mapquest just said-follow route 9). I didn't get lost but it was slightly intimidating.

The church is on a campus so after navigating parking and schlepping around, I found the building. Luckily there were plenty of super-nice people to shepherd us to the appropriate area. The Fellowship hall had tons of tables, your choice of a ham or turkey sandwich and all the sweet tea you could drink.

The festivities started off with a prayer (natch) and an inspirational talk from a member of the congregation/job search ministry. He described what it was like to man the sinking ship of a local bank as it failed. It was interesting to hear that story from the other side.

Then we had table leaders facilitate a small group discussion and introductions. Did I mention that there were about 400 people in attendance? Did I mention that we were all about the same age? So what's that about? Let's digress for a minute to parse this out. So we're all in our late thirties to forties. No younger folks, just the middle aged. Why us? Were we the ones who were let go? Are we more likely to show up for networking, in person, at a church? It's an interesting question.

I suspect that there weren't any younger folks there because kids in their twenties don't take lay offs as hard as we do, nor should they. Entry-level jobs are easy-come, easy-go. It's the job/profession/industry that you've been in for twenty years that's hard to replace and psychologically difficult to get over. Additionally, the kids in their twenties network in a completely different way that we do. They do Facebook, My Space, drink with their buddies, they don't show up at church to eat a supermarket sandwich and commiserate with their peers.

After dinner there was a lull, they had 35 people who volunteered to review resumes. I brought three versions of mine. The result, print it out in bigger type/font, instead of Profile, do Competencies/Experience and customize it. My resume is fine, the fact that I've got two job nibbles in this market is great. I breathe a sigh of relief.

While waiting for the evening's main event to kick off, I natter with some folks. I received compliments on my matching green glasses, loafers and adorable jacket. I felt a bit like a movie star.

I'm an optimistic person and I got a serious depressed and desperate vibe from the crowd. The men in particular looked beaten down and unhappy. It must suck to have the weight of supporting your family on your shoulders. I wanted to give them all big hugs and tell them that it would be alright.

I must have sounded like Pollyanna. Yuk!

We were given a list of 17 speakers and we were in for "Speed Networking". Tables were re-configured and each of the 17 speakers were seated at their table. We were to select 3 topics and find our speaker. We'd get twenty minutes with each, then we'd be switched.

My first topic was "Getting Hired By The Federal Government." This was particularly interesting because I learned that everything is different in government. Rather than a short resume, they want a long one with every single aspect of your job elaborated. Aha! That was great information!

My second topic was "How to Wow Your Interviewer." This also was illuminating as it took something that I do now (a leave-behind booklet of information) and showed me a way to really maximize it. When you get to the part of the interview where the interviewer asks, "Do you have any questions," instead of asking questions you say, "I've prepared something that I'd like to share with you, I'm taking a bit of a risk here, are you okay with that?" Then you whip out your bound, 4 page PowerPoint and show them that you understand their business, how you could contribute and specific things that you can do. If you get to a face to face interview, you are up against 7 other people, typically this means you have a 12.5% chance of getting the job. With this method it goes up to 46%. It's good enough for me to try.

The third topic, I was torn between "Negotiating your Salary" and "Interview Questions". I picked "Interview Questions" because it was the next closest table and the lady who helped me with my resume was the speaker. She was very nice, but I probably would have gotten more out of the negotiation topic.

It was after nine by the time it was all over and I was DRAINED.

I can't believe that they hold this event twice a month. I'm completely shattered from the crowd and the noise and the heat. It was good though, I won't deny that.