Career Networking Groups - CareerDFW

If you lost your job recently due to the virus outbreak. It's OK to sulk about it for a few days or relax for a few days but you should at some point soon after get out there and start looking. Even if your in a job category that is part of the business shutdown, now maybe the time for an occupational change. It differs by city but in most large cities the churches have banded together to setup a re-employment network you can join to look for another job in either your current occupation or explore other occupations you might be interested in by talking with other folks in those specific discussion groups. The way it works in the Dallas area is you first attend a General Meeting, usually held in a large church so I don't think social distancing would be an issue. It serves as an orientation where they identify the local occupation based meeting groups and where they meet along with the workshops they hold and the job search resources they have. In Dallas they charge a one time fee of approx $20-40 to use this service but it is far better than any outplacement service. The value I found in using it long ago was via the networking you can find from other former employees of various firms if your applying at a loser company with issues or the company is worthwhile. Also in some cases you save time because their are companies that advertise for help and they have no real interest in hiring anyone they just post the advertisements for legal reasons to fill a labor department requirement. So you can save time by not wasting time with them and being more targeted with your job search. Also you can show your resume to the various former and current HR people that are also part of the network and they will review it and tell you how to improve it to get in the door of where your looking. Overall worth the money and time if your in the older age group and have been out of the labor market for a while or if you might be interested in jumping to a new career field or exploring a new career field. Recommend highly you call ahead using the phone numbers to see if the groups are still meeting and also note the dress code is business casual. The example given is for Dallas and Fort Worth but most major cities have one of these setup. You don't have to be religious to attend but also you should not be surprised if they have a prayer or two. They don't hit you up or anything to join a church.....so none of that goes on.