Michiana Career Network

2009-05-31T18:46:00.000-07:00

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Next Meeting - June 5, 2009

2009-05-25T06:10:00.000-07:00

Meeting Time 12:30pm - 2:00pm
Location Firehouse (Clay UM Church South)
Address 17646 Cleveland Road South Bend, IN

Link to Google Map

This weeks Meeting

Pat McMahon
Director of Project Future of St. Joseph County
will speak on:
“How we can expect technology to impact our economy and job markets”

Meeting May 22, 2009

2009-05-19T09:25:00.000-07:00

We met in the main hall at Clay Firehouse Youth Center where Hodge Patel, District Director from the Office of Congressman Joe Donnelly spoke on “The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act and How it Impacts You”. Mr. Patel explained how Federal programs are impacting the Michiana Community, and explained what Congressman Donnelly can, and cannot do to directly impact the job picture in South Bend, Elkhart, Mishawaka and surrounding communities. We were pleased to hear about a new Veterans Clinic that will bring new jobs to the area, and were interested to hear about developments with Electric Motor Company. Those interested in becoming more involved with Congressman Donnelly's efforts are encouraged to contact his office and learn about opportunities to participate in advisory councils on subjects ranging from Veterans Affairs to Jobs.

Meeting - May 15, 2009

2009-05-14T21:25:00.000-07:00

Speakers:

Amy Kanouse of Indiana's medical support programs

Norm Robertson leader of St. Pious Job Support Ministry and owner of Mishawaka's Express Employment

Amy opened the meeting with an explanation of Indiana's medical insurance programs for adults and children.

Norm spoke on the importance of building an effective job search campaign.

Elkhart Chamber Presentation: David Zachs, Futurist

2009-05-14T21:23:00.000-07:00

First, thank you for asking me to attend this presentation on Monday (May 11) at the Matterhorn Restaurant in Elkhart. The speaker, David Zach, Futurist, was very thought provoking and provided a very good overview of the fads and trends impacting our way of life and economy.

As you know, the presentation was sponsored by the Elkhart Chamber of Commerce with approximately 40 people in attendance that spanned representatives from local government (John Letherman--County Commissioner), Economic Development Corporation as well as people representing local businesses, health care and social services.

Mr. Zachs has carved out a career as a Futurist for well over 15 years, giving presentations to a wide variety of organizations---community civic organizations (Chambers of Commerce, Rotary, Optimist, Kiwanis Clubs, Corporations, Regional Development Groups, Service organizations).

The discussion centered on the major influences and trends that are occurring around us and how we need to consider the implications of these influences/trends as we look to carve out what Elkhart

/ Elkhart County should look like in 10-20 years.

Some of the major trends:

(1) Age of Design--the better the design of the item, the better the value. This does not only suggest the design of a article, component, piece of equipment; rather, it also considers how you design 'access' to your organization (simple things like access ramps, doorways, web sites, etc). The value of good design will continue to take on a stronger and stronger role in the future. (An interesting comment from an architect was that instruction manuals are indications of poor design)

Reference Book---A Whole New Mind---Daniel H. Pink

(2) Age of Measurement--our capabilities to measure things more precisely drives organizations to focus more effort on measuring many of its activities to improve efficiencies, enhance quality, better understand trends. However, the more we measure the more we are raising question on 'trust' of our people versus the talents they possess. We need to balance the interest and need to measure versus a strong focus on design (of products, work procedures, instructions).

Reference Book---The Pirate's Dilemma--Matt Mason

Some recent businesses (i.e., Craig's List, Drudge report) are examples of questioning or 'hacking' the current rules--Craig's List--providing 'ads' for free on the Internet was very disruptive to newspapers as the Drudge Report and other blogs are to news services. China is also a very disruptive force to US manufacturing.

As we currently view the how products are made, information is shared, services provided are there trends or 'hackers' that are starting to disrupt the rules as we know them.

(3) Automation--we are finding the items that help perform basic tasks are becoming more and more automated, moving you to focus your efforts elsewhere (i.e., vacuum cleaners--in Japan, robots are taking over more tasks)

(4) Location--the amenities and cost of living of a location will become a more important aspect of work due to our ability to remotely access systems, data and availability of telecommunications.

(5) Customization--the breadth of product options continue to expand turning customers into co-workers in designing of products and services

(6) Data Environments---power of computing is driving more local ability to create and store vast amounts of data locally

(7) Wealth Invention

(8) Everything Gets to Talk--RFID tags becoming more miniature, thereby creating a mechanism down the road for businesses to automatically know their stock levels and re-order points and to establish systems to remove need for human intervention in the process of procurement and re-ordering.

(9) Risks vs Innovation--if everything gets measured and there is more instantaneous communication on changes (RFID tags that can communicate shifts in inventory, etc) will this reduce the entrepreneurial spirit of taking risks

(10) Healthcare vs Care--advances in monitoring devices for the elderly are becoming so advanced that a person can be remotely monitored on a variety of fronts--will this 'enhanced' healthcare reduce our contacting our loved ones to check on how they are doing?

(11) Nanotechnology--we are understanding more and more about the laws of nature as gain more insight into this technology

Future attitudes will be seduced by fads (there is money to be made on taking advantage of emerging fads) but trends are about investments over time.

What should Elkhart/Elkhart County do in reshaping the breadth of industries and services that would form the economic base for the future?

(1) Take breaks and speak to strangers (David Zach example---start taking on the cues from 'smokers')

(2) Get engaged with others--breaking bread breaks barriers (Example--start drinking)--engage other communities

(3) Re-learn to fight dragons---dragons can be beaten. They are different today--arrogance, intransigence.

(4) Set a time frame--establish a frame of reference and establish benchmarks. Also, in remaking the future of Elkhart, do not simply forget the past but learn from the past and extract those virtues and strengths of this region and build from that basis.

My take is that the message Mr. Zach was conveying to the group had many aspects of the situation that all of us as job seekers are currently facing in determining what we need to do to land that next career opportunity-----

(1) Who am I and what do I want to do (my strengths, weaknesses, transferable skills)

(2) Developing your message (resume, cover letter, elevator speech, other marketing materials)

(3) Targeting your campaign (industries, companies, functions, positions, locations)

(4) Networking through direct and indirect means

(5) Establish your targets to monitor progress on your campaign

(6) Adapt/change your strategy, approach to what has, has not previously worked (learn from the past)

Overall, I found his comments very stimulating but also is and will become a daunting challenge for the community leaders in the room who need to develop a vision for the region by talking with other communities who have gone through or are going through these transformations while pulling in business, civic, educational and service leaders for their inputs and insights. In the end, this transformation for the region will be evolutionary over 10-20 years but will need to have some strong principles established as to what Elkhart needs to retain from its past while laying out clear markers (5, 10 years out) of progress to measure our advance in changing Elkhart and Elkhart County to this 'new' region.

For members in our networking groups, our vision and need is definitely more immediate but we all want to be more assured that the opportunity we choose or position we take will provide us not only a challenge at an acceptable wage or salary but that this region continues to provide a rich opportunity for years to come. While it is our personal responsibility to perform well at our jobs it is also our responsibility and need to keep ourselves up to date on our skills and add those we need to remain competitive in this changing economic environment. We are hopeful that this region continues to prosper as a rich manufacturing environment but recognize the need to have a broader base of industry to better support the region and weather any economic downturn.

D. Gregory Wilkerson

Meeting - May 8th

2009-05-06T09:54:00.000-07:00

Meeting Time 12:30pm - 2:00pm

Location Firehouse (Clay UM Church South)
Address 17646 Cleveland Road South Bend, IN

Link to Google Map

This weeks Meeting

This week's meeting continued to build on networking skills with a focus on establishing an "I am" statement.

Upcoming Speakers
MCN - May 15th

Speaker will explain Indiana Insurance Options

Job Search Seminar: April 30th

2009-04-25T06:55:00.000-07:00

Demystifying the job search puzzle seminar is scheduled
RSVP: michianacareernetwork@gmail.com

Elkhart, Ind. -- April 25, 2009 -- People Between Jobs (PBJ) and the Michiana Career Network (MCN) groups presented the first of two free presentations focused on "Demystifying the Job Search Puzzle" Friday, April 24th. Sixty people attended the first half of the seminar at Elkhart's First Presbyterian Church.

Make plans to attend the second half of the seminar on Thursday, April 30^th at the First Presbyterian Church 200 East Beardsley Avenue, Elkhart, Ind. Presentations are aimed at providing job seekers guidance and insight on useful skills in uncovering and landing their next position.

Presentations topics scheduled for Thursday, April 30th include Networking, Establishing a Successful Job Search Campaign, Keys to Successful Interviewing and more. Several speakers are area individuals in various stages of their job search. These presentations are directed towards professionals and managers in Elkhart and St. Joseph Counties that are currently undertaking a job search.

These presentations are free, although a small volunteer donation will be accepted to help defray some of the costs of the presentation materials. Due to limited space, please RSVP by no later than Tuesday, April 28th.

To reserve your seat, send an email to

michianacareernetwork@gmail.com

expressing your interest. A confirming email will be sent.

Map to 1st Presbyterian Church - Elkhart

Next Meeting - May 1st

2009-04-24T17:00:00.000-07:00

Meeting Time 12:30pm - 2:00pm
Location Firehouse (Clay UM Church South)
Address 17646 Cleveland Road South Bend, IN

Link to Google Map

Upcoming Speakers
PBJ - April 27th

United Way Director, David Sisk, will review support services available for Michiana area residents via Indiana's 211 service.

Meeting - April 24th

2009-04-17T17:00:00.000-07:00

South Bend Meeting Moved to:

1st Presbyterian Church, Elkhart

200 Beardsley Ave, Elkhart, IN

The April 24th meeting was moved to Elkhart Presbyterian Church in support of the Job Search seminar being held by PBJ and MCN.

Upcoming Speakers

PBJ - Monday, April 27th 8:00 am - Elkhart

United Way Director, David Sisk, will review support services available for Michiana area residents via Indiana's 211 service.

Meeting - April 17th

2009-04-10T17:00:00.000-07:00

United Way Director, David Sisk, will reviewed support services available for Michiana area residents via Indiana's 211 service. Dietra Rosenkoetter from Purdue University provided details on new and exciting training programs being offered to displaced workers from Purdue and Vincennes Universities. Available programs are available to Professionals and Non-Professionals and include topics such as welding, LEAN, Six Sigma, Green and others.

Small group sharing took place after the presentations.

Upcoming Speakers

PBJ - Monday, April 27th 8:00 am - Elkhart

United Way Director, David Sisk, will review support services available for Michiana area residents via Indiana's 211 service.

Meeting - April 10th

2009-04-07T17:00:00.000-07:00

The meeting split into groups by function, sharing leads, backgrounds, and job search strategies within respective professions.

Meeting - April 3rd

2009-03-29T22:13:00.000-07:00

Elaine A. Kendell, Financial Advisor at Merrill Lynch for Global Wealth Management spoke on maintaining financial security during a job transition. Elaine and a colleague answered questions about transitioning 401K funds after leaving an employer. Information from Elaine is posted on the Blog under Financial Resources.

The group shared progress on job searches after the presentation. Don Locke reviewed resumes at the end of the meeting.

Meeting - March 27, 2009

2009-03-25T14:15:00.000-07:00

The membership was polled for interest in a half-day seminar on effective networking techniques. The motion was accepted with 90% interest. The MCN leadership team will begin making plans for the seminar the second or third week in April. Volunteers will be needed to help: select a site for the seminar, plan sections of the presentations, and for speakers. More to come in the next few days.

Larry Podojil presented "Functional Networking through LinkedIn". The presentation focused on ways to use LinkedIn to identify networking contacts. The presentation was held in the Firehouse Sanctuary to take advantage of the large projection screen for the presentation, after which the group ajourned to the basement to share networking progress as small groups.

WNDU was on site for interviews on the formation of MCN and review job seeking progress with members. The interview will air on WNDU's evening broadcast Thursday April 2, 2009. WNDU has asked if members of MCN or PBJ are available to answer questions during the Thursday evening broadcast. Anyone interested in helping others understand how our local networking groups can help with their job search - please contact Eric Huggins at eric.huggins1@gmail.com or 574.850.7-31.

News from Greg Wilkerson

2009-03-25T11:12:00.001-07:00

News from Greg Wilkerson @ PBJ

March 25, 2009

Greg Wilkerson met with Kari Huus, reporter and Robert Hood, multimedia director from MSNBC.com today at the Daily Grind in Elkhart for about 1 hour. MSNBC asked a lot of questions covering a range of topics for the area. Greg was able to include information about our networking group efforts at MCN, PBJ, PBJ II. Although the two reporters Greg spoke to are leaving to go back to Seattle, two more reporters will be coming back to the area soon. Kari, one of the MSNBC reporters, wanted to know if the MSNBC reporters could attend one of the PBJ or MCN meetings. Greg said they could as long as we have advance notice.

The MSNBC reporters are also reaching out to Greg Flatt of PBJ Greg Wilkerson believes the reporters did speak with someone from PBJ, perhaps Pam Duncan.

MSNBC's plan is to begin posting stories on their web site (msnbc.com) either March 30 or April 1. They told Greg they will try and set up an easily recognizable sub -tab within the page (ie, Elkhart or Michiana) that can be clicked on to look at the report. This should provide us a routine stream of news articles they will be doing on the area that could be linked to or placed on our site.

Meeting - March 20, 2009

2009-03-22T11:31:00.000-07:00

We moved to our new larger space in the basement of Clay Church's Firehouse Youth building this week. The new space allows more room for our expanding group and provides much better facilities for our guest speakers.

Mike Watson from Work One sent Kerry Laughman from United American Insurance to meet the group. Kerry is a Branch Manager looking to hire 20 new area representatives. Kerry spoke to several people in the group about setting up interviews next week. Kerry can be reached at 574.287.8519 or uasouthbend@yahoo.com.

Mary Roehmer spoke on depression, helping those in attendance to understand the causes and signs pointing to potential problems. She helped us to understand we can avoid problems by eating well, exercising regularly, getting out and meeting people - and seeking professional help and guidance when needed.

WSBT reporter, Darla Hernandez filmed a segment for WSBT's "Faces on the Unemployed". Several of our members had an opportunity to speak on the benefits received from attending MCN meetings. See a transcript of the story or view the video.

Larry Podojil and Eric Huggins announced a series of discussions on networking best practices to be held on weeks without speakers. The eight week series is designed to help MCN members practice effective networking processes for finding new jobs.

The series will cover:

Self Assessment: Focusing on the next Position
How to target potential Employers
How to quickly let people you meet know what you are looking for
How to contact people you don't know
The best methods of getting interviews
How to prepare for an interview
How to build momentum in a job search
The Highs and Lows of Dealing with Emotions

We closed the meeting by sharing networking experiences in small groups.

Meeting - March 13, 2009

2009-03-10T20:04:00.000-07:00

Carolyn Anderson brought us up to date on upcoming speakers. Carolyn Anderson and Larry Podojil lead the group in job search discussions and personal sharing.

Meeting - 3/6/2009

2009-03-10T12:58:00.000-07:00

Friday's meeting represented our current high-water mark for attendance, with 23 people attending the meeting. The meeting started on a high note as we learned David Carr is leaving the leadership team to accept a position with WBND. David has been instrumental in helping craft our messages to the community.

Congratulations - Dave! Your presence will be missed. Two other members were out or were planning for interviews as well - one in Ft Wayne and the other at Notre Dame.

Friday's meeting focused on presentations from Pratik Royshoudry and Work One. Pratik, a local entrepreneur responsible for the Networking Web Site: MyLatch.com and member of the MCN leadership team, gave a presentation focused on building and communicating your personal brand in a Web 2.0 world. Pratik's presentation discussed ways in which resumes can be quickly modified to standout as recruiters rely more and more on search programs to sort through the many responses to open jobs. The presentation went on to highlight the common recruiter's practice of Googling potential candidates for additional background, and how new tools such as LinkedIn, Twitter, and Personal Blogs can be used to ensure online searches find job seekers at their best.

Work One returned again Friday to highlight how Indiana Career Connect can be customized to act as a virtual recruiter for job seekers.

Meeting Minutes - 2/13/2009

2009-02-19T13:46:00.000-08:00

Summary

The group met to continue defining focus and to establish practical, procedural and systematic processes for meetings. All attending agreed the MCN will make decisions based on the needs from current group members and address changes when needed in the future.

A suggestions was made to have monthly speaker who could clarify critical unemployment and job search questions regarding Unemployment Insurance Benefits and Stimulus package details.

Meeting Highlights /Action Items

Meeting Agenda & Forum - ALL

Will continue with the activities on what have you done for job searching, yourself, and others this past week and next week

Action Item: Manage MCN on LinkedIn – Carolyn, Vern

Action Item: Build MCN BLOG and website – Eric, Daisy

Will determine the usage of LinkedIn

Examine the creation of BLOG

Action Item: Request assistance from society of HR managers (SHRM) – Carolyn

Information Sought:

Clarify the details in Unemployment Insurance benefit in regard to severance pay, continuation pay and others
Obtain information about new training needs, job posting, resume submit, and recruiters’ contacts to assist our group for job searching

Action Item: Carolyn and David will attend the SHRM meeting on 2/17 at 11 am

Suggestions

Plan to have monthly speaker - Carolyn
Invite WorkForce One to explain the UI benefit and Q&A
Invite Chamber of Commerce to share the potential employers, stimulus plan details relevant to us
Greg has the Elkhart contact; we need South Bend or St. Joseph County’s contacts