USF’s free community resume review event

I coordinated and hosted a free resume review event for the community at USF yesterday. I wanted to do something to help people who have been laid off and are struggling due to the economy, so I reached out to recruiters and others in the community who have experienced writing resumes. 16 of them volunteered their time for four hours to give free 10 – 15 minute resume reviews for the community.

150 people signed up for the event ahead of time, and 112 showed up. I was surprised we didn’t have a higher turnout. We had the capacity to see double that number. There are so many people out there looking for jobs – why wouldn’t they want a free resume review from a professional? We got plenty of publicity, thanks to  WTBN, 970 WFLA, Mix 100.7, ABC Action News, Fox 13 (I appeared on Good Day Tampa Bay Friday morning), the St. Pete Times, tbt, and I’m sure others we missed.

Overall, the event was a success despite the lower than expected turnout. Everyone was extremely appreciative and said the advice they received was very helpful. The resume reviewers said they noticed a lot of common resume mistakes, so I think we provided a great service for the people who came. I met one man who is over 70 years old and looking for a job in the IT field. He has a great deal of experience but is worried about his age keeping him from finding something. He was also disabled due to a motorcycle accident. He was so thankful and appreciate of the help. The look on his face made the event all worthwhile. I really hope he finds a good position soon, and that companies will see him for his tremendous experience, not his age.

Where’s the bailout for non-profits?

I’m re-blogging this because I think it’s so important. It’s from a worker at a NPO in California who makes some very good points about the government bailing out large industries while non-profits suffer.

Nonprofits in a faltering economy
Where’s the bailout for agencies that help our neediest?
By Teresa DeCrescenzo
December 1, 2008

I am a social worker, not an economist, and what I know is this: The stock market is in free fall, financial organizations are being bailed out and the Detroit automakers may yet get financial help from Washington. But what about those of us in the nonprofit world? Where’s our bailout?

Full story: http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/sunday/commentary/la-oe-decrescenzo1-2008dec01,0,5497098.story

 

Twitter Challenge for Charity

I recently joined the Twitter community. For those of you who don’t know, Twitter is a microblogging program that allows you to post “updates” of 140 characters or less. With Twitter, you “follow” people, which means you have regular access to their updates. I’m only following 32 people at the moment, and I have already realized some of the benefits. Contrary to what I used to think, Twitter isn’t about telling people that you are going to the bathroom or getting a cup of coffee. It’s a way to connect, network and communicate with people in ways you never thought about. People share articles about events, new technologies, public relations, social media and anything else that interests them and their followers. Some of the updates do include information about what people are doing at the time, but so far I have found most of the updates (or “tweets” as they are called) interesting.

The best thing I’ve been able to do on Twitter is contribute to a weekly charity challenge set up by @amandamooney. I don’t even know Amanda, and unless I’m ever in Chicago or she’s ever in Tampa, I probably never will. But, that’s the beauty of it, isn’t it? Amanda works at a PR firm, and she started a weekly Twitter Challenge where her followers suggest different charities. She then selects a charity and encourages everyone to donate $5 to it every Friday. The first week I donated,  I helped raise $180 for breast cancer. The second, the charity of choice was Barry’s Donor’s Choose, a group I had not heard of that helps teachers raise money for classroom projects. Together, we raised over $400, enabling a teacher in NY to purchase flip cameras for her class. I donated to a local music teacher who wants to purchase drums for his students.

This is a great way for people across the U.S. to unite and make a difference together, for just $5 a week – what you would spend on your morning latte (I usually drink the free coffee at work, but still).