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To date we've had more than
50!
Career Landings!!
As part of our regular process at Network For Work™ we like to recognize and celebrate the successful career landings of our members.
Members post their landing stories in their own words, sharing what worked for them in this market, what didn't and what words of advice they have for other members.
At each event we allocate a portion of the agenda to new career landings. Members are able to share their stories in person and we celebrate their successes with them.
We hope you will join us if you haven't already. We know we can help you in your search and we can't wait to hear your successful landing story!
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August, 2009
 Lou Susi, Lead UX Designer, Dimdim
Hi Jim, Hello Lori, and Everyone at Network for Work.
I also agree that Network for Work provides an amazing sanctuary for people like me that found themselves recently released from a previous place of employment, looking to keep positive and stay focused on making that next career move amidst a struggling but hopeful economy.
I have to say, I think that luck, timing and a generally friendly and playful demeanor helped me get to a fantastic new opportunity in just under a month! I really only got to attend 2 Network for Work sessions in the month of July ( and the introductory sneak peek session of The New England Job Show too ), but found support, encouragement, coaching and interaction to be extremely helpful in keeping my head in the game. It is SO important to remain confident and to do a LOT of self-assessment and soul searching, but to evaluate and reconfigure very quickly to precisely target the people and places that you anticipate will lead to the best mutual successes in your career.
For me it was incredibly powerful to hear one of the landing stories from the first week in July. To hear that a talented and passionate professional had been out of work for 6 months, in any economy, just blew me away. The story of this gentleman and his discovery of Network for Work, his evolution from a lone, hurt online job applicant to a more engaged, community-minded participant in the Network for Work group definitely shows the sheer power of real people brought together in a real space coming together to help each other help themselves. And, I told Jim and Paul both this, as a user experience design professional, to learn of this professional networking group that was basically completely user-centered design ... designed for the people, by the people, for a real human need ... well, this story alone piqued my interest and resonates with my own professional and personal beliefs and methodologies. If the systems that are already in place are not working effectively ... or not working AT ALL ... then the writing is most definitely on the wall and its just time to roll up our sleeves and just create a more powerful and serving solution ( I wish we all had this same attitude about our politics and government as well ... perhaps another new business model and vertical to explore? ;] ).
Anyhow, after talking with my new best friend Scott Durgin over coffee at the local Panera, I came up with a personal gameplan to network like crazy and to go completely independent as a User Experience Design Consultant through my DBA BXOS !nteractive! ... With each day, each week, I met up with countless people from my previous lives 'out there' in the industry. I attended Refresh Boston at the Microsoft Labs building in Kendall Square, Cambridge and bumped into several colleagues, friends and even students I taught back in 2004. I talked with several prospects and even contacted a client that my wife and I did work for last year to seek out a badly delinquent payment, trying to keep that discussion as professional and positive as possible ( an unheard of 5 or 6 months out w/ no payment whatsoever ... still patiently waiting ). I also met with each person in a very personable and friendly way, completely removed from any potential negative energy. Confident, happy, enthusiastically using this 'down time' as an excuse to catch up with people I haven't met up with face-to-face in far too long. I mean, I possessed and expressed an almost cartoonish depth of commitment to learning about what everyone was up to ... discovering if they knew 1 or 2 contacts that might be able to use my talents ... really listening and learning beyond my own immediate need to gain new clients, income or a job. It was truly more about living in the moment and appreciating every moment with each person. And although I say 'was' a lot here, I definitely plan on continuing on with this spirit of human connectedness with living each moment of life in the moment.
Anyhow, I was about to give a previous colleague and friend of mine a call regarding potential contract work when suddenly I received a voicemail from him. It just so happens that Steve Chazin, Marketing genius from Apple, Avid, BowStreet and Tubes, was looking to have a designer come in to his latest venture called Dimdim to help bring a cohesive, world-class experience to their online meeting and webinar product. The role seemed too good to be true. I went in and talked with him on a Thursday and started just last Monday and completely love every second of it. The energy at the Dimdim offices is off the hook. Just an incredible, open, friendly and creative environment with fantastic, talented people ... each of us devoted to improving the product to help Dimdim users facilitate better browser-based conferencing. SO many ideas come to me on a daily basis and the entire crew is open, honest, and into it. I feel fortunate on SO quickly landing this new job, and coming out to attend Network for Work.
 Melissa Croteau, ITS Reports Developer, Concord Hospital
Hello! I wanted to say Thank you to the Network for Work group, you were my positive energy for the last 6 months.
But I am happy to say that I landed at Concord Hospital as a ITS Report Developer/Project Manager. Today was my first day! The way I got the job was NETWORKING. I was discussing my situation one weekend at the lake with a friend and she said we might have an opening. Next thing I know I was sending my resume and applying for the job. I probably wouldn't have applied for this job if it wasn't for her telling me what the job was and how my skills were exactly what they needed. Two Interviews later, and realizing this was perfect for me, I Landed and with benefits comparable to what I was getting. I am very excited and looking forward to this opportunity.
Network for Work group you are great! Keep your hopes high and it will happen!! Thank you for everything!
Scott Smith, Application Consultant
Hello Jim,
Just want to drop a quick note and say thanks to Network for Work. I joined the network in late April 09. The weekly meetings gave me the confidence and toolkit I needed to land my new opportunity. Developing and delivering the elevator speech, as well as the table talk sessions helped me prepare for my interactions with potential employers. Your guest speakers are phenomenal and the topics are succinct.
While I did not find this opportunity through NetworkForWork I found the group and meetings to be very supportive and beneficial. I was introduce to this opportunity by a recruiter I have been working with for about a year now. This particular recruiter specializes in contract and temporary assignments. My skill set did not match the recruiters specific contract placement requirements. Contract and temp work was not high on my list however I continued to remain in contact with them. When I found a company I was interested in I would see if they had any contact names etc. and pursue the opportunities on my own. My constant contact with the recruiter paid off when one of their clients was looking for a permanent placement candidate . I was top of the recruiters list for this role and quickly became the top candidate for the client as well! It took what seemed to be a very long month before the decision was made and I got the position!
My start date is August 24th I am a Pre Sales Solution consultant. It is a role I did not focus on however the position combines all of my previous experiences into one role. It is an exciting opportunity and I can’t wait to get started.
It has been a difficult search to find a role the job market is changing out there. You need to market yourself based on skills not title and be flexible. Below are the steps I followed to find my opportunity. I have seen most of these from others in the group.
Tips:
- Don’t sit on the computer searching all day. Get out there and interact.
- Don’t give up everyone is or knows of a potential contact.
- Update your resume with the companies terminology to meet the requirements of the specific role.
- Be flexible with your job search in terms of title.
- Be creative remember everyone you meet is a Network connection so keep the elevator speech at the ready and tell them your story (people like to help people).
This is just another way of getting names that may help out in the job search. I went to the Monster.com Job Fair in Braintree a couple of weeks ago. The companies represented there did not have any specific openings I was interested in. I motivated myself to get up and go thinking I might be able to network. I used my elevator techniques to get contact names within those companies. It was a lot of fun and I walked away with a stack of business cards. I was hoping to network with them for job opportunities when I got the phone call for the job offer.
Thanks to all and Good Luck in your search.
Scott Smith
 Linda Sawicki, Project Manager, Measured Progress
Hi Jim,
I am excited to say that I have landed a job for a 6 month contract with the possibility of extension. I start on 8/24/09 at Measured Progress in Dover, NH.
I want to thank everyone for their support and all the information provided on job search and ideas. I especially want to thank Symantha Gates for telling me about network for work.
Several people interviewed for the project manager position including myself and it came back that they hired no one. They wanted someone with technical experience but during the interview they never asked a technical question which confused me to say the least. Most of the questions were related to people issues. I thought they didn’t know what they wanted. I did find out I was their top candidate and they said they had another position that would open later that I would be perfect for. Two weeks later I was called in for 2nd interview for the same job I interviewed previously, the problem was not really because of technical expertise it was technical writing which we had not discussed. Since I do have experience writing technical documents as a programmer and project manager that clinched the deal.
Thanks and Good Luck to the Others!
 Betsy Burtis, Director at Cross Cultural Communication Systems
What a relief to say, "I have landed!" First & foremost, a big thank you to NFW, and all the friends I've made there (already feeling like an Oscar Award acceptance speech). While I didn't get this position through my NFW networking, it was through networking, and I learned so much about myself, and what I needed to do through this group. I really enjoyed the social aspect of this and found going to the meetings and connecting with people was critical to me staying upbeat and energized about a job search. It also helped my self-esteem (which had taken a beating) to know there were so many bright and talented people in the same situation - I knew then it couldn't just be me.
So, the story...Because of my last job, I've been involved in several State and Nashua based committees, and became familiar with my new company through that work. The president of this company (Cross Cultural Communication Systems, Inc, located in Woburn and Nashua) was familiar with my work and was impressed. When I was laid off she contacted me and said she'd love to have me working there, but couldn't afford me FT. Instead she asked me if I would be willing to manage a project for her developing a new training program and I started that in July. In the meantime, with the departure of one full-time person from the company and a lot of reorganization, she offered me a full-time job last week. We're still working on the job-title and description because we're combining elements of a couple jobs into one. But I am very excited about my job and the work the company does. To do something I love in a great work environment is more than I dreamed possible coming out of unemployment. But it does exist, so stick with it everyone!
I am not officially starting until the week of 9/14, so hope to be able to come to NFW next week and share my story there and give my new contact information to people. Many thanks for the support, advice and friendship which you all provided in the last 4+ months!
 Fran Dwyer, QA & Technical Program Manager
Hi Jim -
I was able to land a full time role at a small company and will start next Monday (9/14).
Thank you for asking me into the N4W group. The information provided in these meetings was very helpful in my job search. One thing that folks don't mention much when they land, but which is a big help, is the opportunity to do public speaking (via your elevator speech) in such a large forum. It's a real nice way to build confidence that you can take with you to other networking meetings and interview opportunities when the occur.
Also, it was interesting that one of the things that really seem to help in the interview process was to have lots of questions written down and at the ready in case the interviewer was not sure where to take the discussions - which happened more than once. They seemed quite appreciative of the up front effort and thought.
Kelly M.
John C.
Tom D.
Richard A.
Cindy V.
Linda A.
Doug M.
Tamra L.
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