Meeting - March 20, 2009

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.