Careersthatdontsuck.com » Associations/Events

The Pink Slip Party Payoff

careersthatdontsuck — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 19:27:48 +0000

Pink Slip Parties are back! We’ve returned to the era of booze-soaked business-card swapping and bar-hopping. Those of you who lived in Silicon Valley during the dot-bomb era may remember pink slip parties. Initially, they were a well-meaning attempt to get the newly unemployed and disillusioned dot-commers out circulating and commiserating. The events eventually became hunting grounds for recruiters from traditional brick-and-mortar companies, and those from the surviving dot-com firms. They also became fertile ground for new startups, as laid off dot-commers banded together to form new companies. Once the economy improved, pink slip parties went the way of the dot-coms (bombed).

Today, the recession has raised a new wave of pink slip parties. They’re still the same cattle calls–cheap fruity drinks, desperate jobseekers, and smarmy recruiters and party promoters. They’re still good opportunities to commiserate and share your experiences. But, I’m not sure the real pink slip party payoff–finding a job–is still alive and well.

Sure, there were recruiters wearing green dots and a few HR pros from direct hire companies, and plenty of unemployed folks wearing red dots. There were a few tables with brochures and job listings, and plenty of conversation about who was looking for what and what they’d done before. Maybe, there were even a few folks partnering up to find jobs or start their own enterprises.

Unfortunately, I can’t say that I met very many legitimate recruiters–ones with actual contracts with real companies, and not simply collecting people’s resumes and capitalizing on their misfortunes. There weren’t very many reps from direct hire companies, and the few that were there were from the same/similar companies, retail mostly. I’ve got nothing against retail, and I understand that there simply aren’t a lot of companies hiring, and that recruiters themselves been pink-slipped. This may explain why there were such slim pickings at the events. But, I couldn’t shake the feeling that today’s events are less about the mission and more about the organizers’ ambitions, with one possible exception–Jobnob. The two events I’ve attended had a healthy portion of startup reps looking for unemployed folks willing to work for free (Hey, work is work!).

Never one to knock an entrepreneur who sees opportunities and capitalizes, so I won’t start now. The organizers are simply business people providing a needed service. However, my goal here is not to comment on whether their business models or ambitions are good, but to offer an opinion on the value pink slip parties offer their target audience–unemployed jobseekers. Based on the last two events I’ve attended, my answer is “No, but…”

Is there a pink slip party payoff?

Yes. Your misery gets company. You meet new people. You let the universe know you are unemployed but not unemployable. You increase the likelihood that you will find a job or a business partner by merely leaving your home.

No. Pink slip parties are no panacea for jobseekers. The number of job-seekers outnumber job-givers by 10 to 1, at least. The organizers are more focused on growing jobseeker headcount than recruiter or company rep headcount (Understandable since you pay, you buy drinks and you make the events look good on Facebook and Meetup pages).

All that said, should you attend a pink slip party or mixer?

Absolutely. Attend at least one. They may not help, but they certainly don’t hurt.

The Pink Slip Party Payoff is a post from: Careersthatdontsuck.com

Job Fairs February 19th-23rd

careersthatdontsuck — Fri, 13 Feb 2009 17:29:01 +0000

DATE/TIME	CITY/STATE	JOB FAIR INFO
Feb.19/11a-2p	Melville, NY	Long Island Job Fair Hilton Long Island / Huntington 598 Broad Hollow Road Melville, NY 11747
Feb.19/11a-2p	San Antonio, TX	San Antonio Job Fair Omni San Antonio Hotel 9821 Colonnade Blvd San Antonio, TX 78230
Feb.20/11a-2p	Arlington, VA	Arlington Job Fair Holiday Inn Rosslyn at Key Bridge 1900 N Fort Myer Dr Arlington, VA 22209
Feb.21/10a-3p	Auburn, WA	Driver’s Job Fair Auburn Supermall (parking lot near Discount Tires) 1101 Supermall Way Auburn, WA 98001 E-mail: katherine.mcgee@employmentguide.com
Feb.23/11a-2p	Newport Beach, CA	Irvine Career Fair Radisson Hotel 4545 MacArthur Boulevard Newport Beach, CA 92660
Feb.23/11a-2p	Phoenix, AZ	Phoenix Job Fair Phoenix Marriott 1101 North 44th Street Phoenix, AZ 85008
Feb.23/11a-2p	Timonium, MD	Baltimore Job Fair University of Phoenix – Timonium Campus 1954 Greenspring Drive Timonium, MD 21093

Job Fairs February 19th-23rd is a post from: Careersthatdontsuck.com

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Job Fairs February 17th-18th

careersthatdontsuck — Fri, 13 Feb 2009 17:11:04 +0000

DATE/TIME	LOCATION	JOB FAIR INFO
Feb.17/1p-5p	Kansas City, MO	Kansas City-Putting Americans Back to Work DeVry University 11224 Holmes Rd. Kansas City, MO 64131
Feb.17/9:30a-2:30p	Dallas, TX	Dallas Early Bird Job Fair Westwood College 8390 LBJ Frwy Dallas 10th Floor Dallas, TX 75243
Feb.17/9:30a-1p	Charlotte, NC	Restaurant, Hotel, Management, Educational Opportunities, Customer Service, Healthcare Jobs Hyatt Place Hotel 7900 Forest Point Blvd Charlotte, NC 28273 E-mail: ncjobs@employmentguide.com Contact Phone # (877) 676-0051 Companies Attending: Charlotte Mecklenburg Police Department, Clearwire, TransTech Trucking School, Debbie’s Staffing, Yellowpages.com, Papa John’s Pizza, ECPI College of Technology, ADT Security, The Entrepreneur’s Source, Assurance Group, Time Warner Cable, Aflac, U.S. Army, NASCAR Technical Institute and more!
Feb.17/11a-2p	Bloomington, MN	Minneapolis Career Fair Holiday Inn Select & Suites Three Appletree Square Bloomington, MN 55425
Feb.17/11a-2p	Boston, MA	Boston Military/Veterans Job Fair Radisson Hotel Boston 200 Stuart St Boston, MA 02116
Feb.18/11a-2:30p	Denver, CO	Denver Job Fair DeVry University 1870 W. 122nd Ave., Westminster, CO 80234 Contact Phone # (303) 597-2800
Feb.18/10a-2	Oklahoma City, OK	Winter Diversity Career Fair Science Museum Oklahoma 2100 NE 52nd St. Oklahoma City, OK 73111
Feb.18/11a-2p	Plano, TX	Winter Diversity Career Fair Holiday Inn Express Hotel & Suites 700 Central Parkway East Plano, TX 75074
Feb.18/11a-2p	New York, NY	NY Career Fair Radisson Martinique On Broadway Hotel 49 WEST 32ND STREET New York, NY 10001
Feb.18/11a-2p	Chicago, IL	Chicago Military/Veteran Career Fair Holiday Inn Chicago- Mart Plaza 350 West Mart Center Drive Chicago, IL 60654

Job Fairs February 17th-18th is a post from: Careersthatdontsuck.com

More February Job Fairs

careersthatdontsuck — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 15:09:57 +0000

DATE/TIME	CITY/STATE	JOB FAIR INFO
Feb. 11/11a-2p	Philadelphia, PA	Philadelphia Career Fair Crowne Plaza 4100 Presidential Blvd Philadelphia, PA 19131
Feb. 11/11a-2p	Memphis, TN	Memphis Career Fair Holiday Inn Select Memphis Intl Airport 2240 Democrat Road Memphis, TN 38132
Feb. 11/10a-2p	Hillside, IL	Putting Americans Back to Work! Best Western Chicago Hillside 4400 Frontage Road Hillside, IL 60162
Feb. 11/10:30a-7:30p	East Wenatchee, WA	Rue21 Job Fair for location opening in March www.rue21.com/jobs Wenatchee Valley Mall 511 Valley Mall Pkwy # 200 East Wenatchee, WA 98802 (509) 884-6645
Feb. 12/11a-2p	Houston, TX	Houston South Career Fair Hilton 8181 Airport Blvd Houston, TX 77061
Feb. 13/11a-2p	Somerset, NJ	Holiday Inn 195 Davidson Ave Somerset, NJ 08873

More February Job Fairs is a post from: Careersthatdontsuck.com

50 Job Fairs in February

careersthatdontsuck — Tue, 03 Feb 2009 19:01:34 +0000

There are 50 job fairs happening in the month of February. Here are the first ten. Grab your resumes, your sensible shoes and your smart questions and head to a job fair near you.

DATE	CITY, STATE	JOB FAIR INFO
February 3, 2009	Cincinnati, OH	Putting Americans Back to Work in Cincinnati!! 10:00 AM – 2:00 PM The Woodlawn Ohio National Guard Training and Community Center 10050 Woodlawn Blvd. Cincinnati, OH 45215 Contact: (800) 675-9419
February 4, 2009	Rolling Meadows, IL	Chicago Northwest Career Fair 11:00 AM to 2:00 PM Holiday Inn Rolling Meadows 3405 Algonquin Road Rolling Meadows, IL 60008
February 4, 2009	Austin, TX	Austin Career Fair 11:00 AM to 2:00 PM Embassy Suites Austin – North 5901 North IH-35 Austin, TX 78723
February 4, 2009	San Antonio, TX	Free Career Fair for San Antonio Job Seekers 10 AM – 3 PM South Park Mall 2310 SW Military Dr # 136 San Antonio, TX 78224 E-mail: sajobs@employmentguide.com
February 4, 2009	Southfield, MI	Detroit – Putting Americans Back to Work 9:00 AM – 1:30 PM Embassy Suites 28100 Franklin Rd Southfield, MI 48034
February 5, 2009	Chicago, IL	Chicago Midway Career Fair 11:00 AM to 2:00 PM Four Points by Sheraton Chicago Midway Airport 7353 South Cicero Avenue Chicago, IL 60629
February 6, 2009	San Jose, CA	San Jose Career Fair 11:00 AM to 2:00 PMHoliday Inn San Jose 1740 North First Street San Jose, CA 95112
February 6, 2009	Mclean, VA	Tysons Corner Career Fair 11:00 AM to 2:00 PMCrowne Plaza Tysons Corner 1960 Chain Bridge Road Mclean, VA 22102
February 9, 2009	Ontario, CA	Inland Empire Career Fair 11:00 AM to 2:00 PMUniversity of Phoenix – Ontario Campus 3110 E Guasti Road Ontario, CA 91761 Call (909) 910-2277
February 9, 2009	San Antonio, TX	Putting Americans Back to Work in San Antonio! 12 AM – 12 AMThe San Antonio Employment Guide http://sanantonio.employmentguide.com San Antonio, TX 77040

50 Job Fairs in February is a post from: Careersthatdontsuck.com

Careersthatdontsuck.com » Associations/Events

The Pink Slip Party Payoff

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