Job hunters can network in Heights

Meetings start Jan. 5 at Trinity

by Kevin Olsen
staff reporter

Unemployment in Cook County is around 10 percent, but there is help for those here looking for a job.

Donna Mazalin, of Sundance Group, will hold meetings of her Job Hunters Network in Palos Heights starting in the New Year. Sundance Group is a human resources practice specializing in recruitment, employment and retention.

Mazalin began holding meetings to offer tips and advice for job seekers a year ago in Midlothian. They will soon be held at Trinity Christian College’s Bootsma Bookstore Café in Palos Heights, 6513 W. 123rd St. The first meeting is planned for Tuesday, Jan. 5, from 9:30 to 11:15 a.m.

“I have a lot of insight and perspective to share with others,” Mazalin said. “I give perspective from the other side of the desk.”

Mazalin is experienced in corporate recruiting, employee retention and related employment services through her work in a range of industries. She is certified as a professional in human resources. The club meetings provide for personal interaction and are a mutually supportive forum for experienced adults.

The meetings are primarily a sharing tool between job seekers and Mazalin. The main point she gets across is how to network and how to improve interviewing skills. The majority of people that have attended meetings are between 40 and 60 years old, Mazalin said. Many have not had to look for jobs in decades and interviewing for a job is “brand new” to them, she said. Some people hold MBAs or Ph.D.s in the club. Mazalin does not allow negative conversation and prefers to focus on helping people learn and become positive in their job searches.

“People feel very good when they leave,” Mazalin said.

She stresses the importance of networking, even if it is just networking between group members as a start. Mazalin will share job leads, holds separate workshops for interviewing skills and resume writing, and teaches participants how to market themselves in a changing economy.

“A lot of it is being prepared, with resume development and cover letter writing, and how they are marketing themselves,” Mazalin said.

She holds mock interview sessions with the group, teaching appropriate technique and how to dress. An important part of interviewing is knowing what intelligent questions to ask at the end and how certain answers are analyzed, Mazalin said.

“I help people with the best way to be recognized, noticed and able to adapt,” Mazalin said.

Each meeting has a $5 entry fee, but a membership in the group will provide people with a vast array of tools for finding jobs. Interested people can pay $25 for a six-month membership that includes an engraved name badge, reduced rates on further workshops and most importantly, provides access to a 24-hour online forum for job searches.

The online forum is facilitated by Mazalin, but also allows club members to interact with each other with networking and sharing job leads. Mazalin constantly posts links to general job sites and niche sites, including ones specifically for women seeking jobs. She will post local companies hiring, other job openings in the area and job fairs on the forum. She shares human resources management articles that the public does not have access to. She also provides links for further schooling, training and government jobs.

“Networking for work is one of the most prominent focuses,” Mazalin said.

She has had about 100 people come through the club over the past year, but said most meetings have about 20 to 25 people attend. She chose to move the meetings to the morning at Bootsma because the café has a nice, relaxing setting.

At the meetings, members will openly discuss their experiences with interviews and receive critiques on what they were doing right and wrong. Mazalin said since most of the people have not ventured outside of one job they may have held for years, they need to learn how to best market themselves and present themselves as “forward thinking, so employers will take a chance on them.”

She encourages members to sign on with temporary placement agencies because companies are leery of who they are hiring now. By working at a temp agency, people will have a greater opportunity of receiving a full time position when jobs open up in an improving economy.

There have been several guest speakers at the meeting, including people from temp agencies and speakers talking about services for unemployed people. Mazalin champions members to become knowledgeable with social media sites, specifically LinkedIn. She said members can find useful ways of researching companies on LinkedIn and start to network themselves with other users.

Meetings for the first three months are already scheduled. After the Jan. 5 meeting, the club will meet Feb. 2 and March 2. Advanced registration is recommended as space is limited. People can contact Mazalin at 687-4878 or find more information online at sundancegp.com.

This is part of the December 31, 2009 online edition of The Regional.

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