AGENDA for May 1st Meeting, @SVC

PLEASE NOTE: New time for our meetings... 10:30am. Same place.

Eric Smith, from Aquent, will join us to talk Resumes.
For those who weren't able to attend last week's Aquent Breakfast Club meeting, they had a great presentation and Q&A session on crafting effective resumes.
Afterward, I asked Eric to meet with our group to give the same presentation. It's a subject we've tackled before, but an additional, fresh perspective would be good to hear.
For more info on Eric, click here.

NOTES from Meeting #14, April 24th @SVC

At last week's OCA meeting, Maria Scheleen and Terah Brossart met with the group to provide information on their staffing agency, The Creative Group (TCG), and to give their thoughts on the current and foreseeable hiring market. Below are notes from the meeting:

Background on TCG:
Part of Robert Half, the largest global staffing firm
30 locations in North America
Make a major effort to stay on top of trends through proprietary research
Place candidates for freelance, project based (work from home), contract and contract to hire
Not specialized in permanent placement
Focus of TCG business is on relationships
Diversified client base

Trends:
2009 forward:
Clients are very budget conscious
Clients looking for more hybrid talent - seeking core skills plus
Processes are taking longer - less hiring urgency
Candidates really need to leverage network and get internal referrals - VERY important
Average full time position is taking 9 - 10 weeks to fill

Growth industries:
Gaming
Healthcare
Green
Technology - especially new technologies

Slow industries:
Advertising/design
Financial services (except for refinance/collections)
Real Estate
Retail

Looking Ahead:
While Q1 & Q2 have been slow, there is optimism about Q3 & Q4
Microsoft year end - June
Work still needs to get done

What to do now:
While candidates are always more attractive when working vs. unemployed, it can be volunteer work or work for no pay
Volunteer to work someplace that you want to work

Benefits of TCG:
W2 Employee of TCG from first assignment
Free online training available once you register
Eligible for health insurance from 1st placement
Published salary guide information (Sue has copies for everyone)
Use of website as resource - lots of articles and information

Contact Information:
Terah Brossart: terah.brossart@creativegroup.com
Maria Scheleen: maria.scheleen@creativegroup.com
601 Union Street
Suite 4300
Seattle, WA 98101
206/749-9046

AGENDA for April 24th Meeting, @SVC

This Friday, 10am, at the SVC, One Connection Away will welcome guest speakers Maria Scheleen and Terah Brossart, from The Creative Group. They will join us to discuss their creative staffing agency and how to best work with them while looking for full-time and contract work in the Seattle area.

AQUENT - 'breakfast club' networking event 4/23

when: April 23, 8:00 - 10:30am
where: 1109 N 36th Street, Seattle 98103
how: RSVP to Katey Klump - kklump@aquent.com
what/why: Among breakfast treats and coffee, they're offering...
* Resume advice – how to structure your resume to make sure you present yourself in the best possible way.
* Updates on the job market – what’s happening at Microsoft and beyond.
* Networking

NOTES from Meeting #13 - April 17th (SVC)

WELCOME to four new members:

Lisa Ball (Graphic Designer / Marketing Specialist)

Dale Cody (Creative Director, Interactive)

Shannon Monts (Account Manager / Project Specialist)

Jerome Thiebaud (Product and Marketing Manager)

ADMIN
Aquent 'breakfast club' at their office, April 23rd.

DAVE MILLER, from 24 SEVEN TALENT, was our guest speaker this week and provided his thoughts on "Rebranding your Resume." Notes below:

- Cover letters?? Yes!

Keep them brief and to the point: "My name is ___, and I've got experience in A, B, and C, delivering X, Y, and Z.

Dave suggested adding a quote from one of your LinkedIn recommendations to the bottom of your cover letter to provide additional back-up to your qualifications.

- As for resumes:

Include a summary statement.

Key words (which he recommends placing at the end of your resume) can provide info that shows you can 'check the boxes' for hiring managers.

Dave prefers a chronological resume that highlights the functional achievements.

PDF versions are great for designers, creatives - but they can't be read by automated systems. Word docs also allow for HR / staffing reps to cut/paste your resume into their formats.

Including "interests" on your resume could help you stand out and connect you with the hiring manager. In today's world of information technology, a quick check on LinkedIn could provide these connections.

Does age matter?? It shouldn't, but if you're worrying about dating yourself, leave off the dates from your Education section, and only include the most relevant experience. Summarize other info, if you need to, so that there aren't gaps.

Titles - if yours don't map directly to what you're applying for, consider adding a 'functional title' to the front to help explain. Example: Project Coordinator / Project Specialist II.

Create a .txt version of your resume by cutting/pasting into Notepad, and formatting so that it looks good but doesn't contain anything that could throw off an automated reader.

Spell out industry experience.

Dave's contact info: dmiller@24seveninc.com

CENTERSTAGE THEATRE - Great 2nd working session with the production company out of Federal Way. A lot to do, and we're excited about working with them.

AGENDA for April 17th Meeting

This Friday, 10am, at the SVC, Dave Miller, from 24seven, will be joining us for a discussion on "Rebranding y0ur Resume."

At 11:30, a few of us will stay to meet with Laura, from Centerstage Theatre, for a second working session of marketing strategy development.

Social Media webinar - 4/14 @ 9am Pacific

VisualCV will host a webinar titled "Incorporating Social Media in Your Job Search."
From their website, the webinar will cover:
- Web 2.0 and the job search
- Presenting your strengths in a VisualCV
- Social media resources for the job search
- An efficient use of social media in the job search
- Social media job search success stories.

NOTES from Meeting #12 - April 10th (SVC)

* WELCOME to three new members to OCA:
- Arik Abel (former recruiter - The Creative Group, production experience)
- Marci Kearney (former Dir of Marketing - Northwest Framing, senior agency experience)
- Kim Prohaska (PR, Communications marketing experience)

* FILTER TALENT was on hand for a 1-hour plus discussion on how to best work with their staffing agency, and they provided their take on the current creative market.
- They recommend keeping in touch with their reps, especially when you have news.
- Feel free to work with multiple reps (they often work with different clients); they share information, so just be cognizant of how you're communicating with them.
- The hottest jobs they are currently staffing are hands-on, technical roles (UX, UI design).
- Best way to work with them:
o flexibility, patience, and a working partnership
o be willing to commute
o be willing to look at salary / pay rates that are lower than your ideal.
- A large portion of Filter's work is with Microsoft.
- Filter also has an in-house Studio that manages creative projects, and they have capabilities in developing icons and photo editing.
- Filter, because it's a Women Owned Business, sees and can present contract positions from MSFT before most other local staffing agencies.

Rep contact info:
Amanda Burleson - amanda@filtertalent.com
Bobby Morgan - bobby@filtertalent.com

* WUNDERMAN is hiring. New work that has been recently acquired is causing a hiring blitz.
HR Rep, Rachel Lissman, is taking resumes. rachel.lissman@wunderman.com

Seattle Job Social - next Tuesday

Date: Tuesday, April 14, 2009
Time: 6:00pm - 8:30pm
Location: The Parlor Billiards
Street: 700 Bellevue Way NE, Suite 300
City/Town: Bellevue, WA

www.seattlejobsocial.com to sign up.

Traditional Interactive and vice versa

For those who think your 'traditional' advertising roots could bar you from being looked at by the Interactive agencies in town... the lines between those two are continuing to blur.
An article in Monday's ADWEEK, titled RAZORFISH TRIES OUT TV, confirms that a wide variety of media experience is the best thing you can bring to the table. And for those wondering about the role of Social Media, check out the article's mention of how companies are using the social web to push product.

For more on the subject from AgencySpy, and a link to one of the 5-min 'viral' videos Razorfish produced, click here.

NEXT MEETING - Filter Talent to be on-hand

For those who weren't able to make the meeting with reps from Creative Circle (3/20), or if you did and you want a 2nd opinion...
Amanda Burleson and Bobby Morgan, from Filter, will meet with us to discuss their take on the market and how to best utilize their staffing agency. www.filtertalent.com
10am @ the SVC.

p.s. speaking of the SVC, don't forget about tonight's "how to get a job in a tough economy" session - 6:30-8pm. And Thursday's "LinkedIn" session, same time.

NOTES from Meeting #11 - April 3rd (SVC)

* We welcomed two new members into the group:
- Megan Burke (Biz Dev - Hornall Anderson, Acct Mgt - Publicis)
- Chris Lowe (Biz Dev - Hornall Anderson, professional recruiter)
* Good discussion on contracting at Microsoft and how to navigate the placement agencies (Filter, Volt, and Aquent).
* Held a 1-hour kick-off meeting with Laura and Alan from Centerstage theater. Discussed their current marketing strategies/tactics and needs going forward. Brainstormed several ideas and talked about timelines. Detailed notes to be distributed shortly.
Thanks to those from the group who met with them.

THIS WEEK:
same bat time, same bat channel. 10am @ SVC.