HISTORY
The Wednesday Support Group first met in the first quarter of 2009. It was a small group of job seekers who had the good fortune to be provided "outplacement" services from Right Management.The individuals who started the Group simply wanted to stay in touch with each other once they outplacement was completed. The Group initially met at Caribou Coffee at Carmel Road.
After a couple months, the Group expanded and outgrew the original meeting place. We moved to Cafe Carolina in the Ballantyne area.
MEETING FORMAT and MISSION
Since its beginnings, the Group has been dedicated to providing Networking opportunities and to providing Job Seekers with information and training they need to help their job search - and, to help them "get ahead of the crowd!"
Each meeting consists of several sections, including:
- Announcements about current issues or items of interest to the Group.
- Introductions - each members has 30 seconds to introduce themselves using either their "30 second commercial" or simply stating name, profession and target companies.
- The "Resume Roast" which is our effort to provide Job Seekers with the feedback they need on their resume.
- The value of the Resume Roast is that it provides Job Seekers with feedback from individuals with years of experience as hiring managers - as opposed to the feedback from family and friends that is usually not all that helpful.
- We review the resume of one individual each week.
- The review is supported by a Survey Monkey survey that members (both current and alumni) use to provide feedback in a consistent format.
- A Business Card Review - where the Group evaluates the cards used by members in the Networking process.
- We also spend time discussing issues appropriate to the Job Search process - such as using AGE to your advantage and the use of social networking (including LinkedIn) in the Job Search.
