Welcome to St. Joseph the Worker Employment Ministry.
We are a
not-for-profit organization in existence for over 20 years, dedicated to
providing unemployed, under-employed, and networking employed people with the
coaching, skills, techniques, and emotional & spiritual support to help
them find their next job.
Our community outreach programs have assisted thousands of people in all areas related to making career changes. The meetings often include a featured speaker with practical advice on a variety of topics including: job search strategies, effective networking, resume preparation and critiquing, interviewing skills and techniques, dealing with COBRA and health insurance, starting your own business, personal finance/budgeting and many other topics to assist job seekers in a variety of areas. There are also networking opportunities at each meeting.
Meeting Schedule 2012
Meetings are 7-9 PM First/Third Wednesday each month.
We have two meeting locations:
First Wednesday - St. Margaret Mary Catholic Church, 1450 Green Trails Drive, Room #17,
Naperville IL (click for map)
Third Wednesday - Southminster Presbyterian Church, 680 South Park Avenue,
Glen Ellyn IL (click for map)
| DATE | LOCATION | SPEAKER | TOPIC |
| Feb. 15, 2012 | Southminster, Glen Ellyn |
Jerry Falasz |
All about COBRA |
| March 7, 2012 |
St. Margaret Mary, Naperville |
Small Groups Networking |
|
| March 21, 2012 |
Southminster, Glen Ellyn |
Small Groups Networking |
|
| April 4, 2012 |
No Meeting |
No Meeting | |
| April 18, 2012 |
Southminster, Glen Ellyn |
Steve Provenzano |
Resume Writing |
| May 2, 2012 |
St. Margaret Mary, Naperville |
Small Groups Networking |
|
| May 16, 2012 |
Southminster, Glen Ellyn |
Small Groups Networking |
|
| June 6, 2012 |
St. Margaret Mary, Naperville |
Scott Kane Gray Hair Management |
Networking |
| June 20, 2012 |
Southminster, Glen Ellyn |
Small Groups Networking |
|
| July 4, 2012 |
No Meeting |
No Meeting | |
| July 18, 2012 |
Southminster, Glen Ellyn |
Paul Cameron |
Interviewing |
Our doors are open to everyone regardless of religion, gender etc. We do not ask you to financially support our organization in any way. We do ask that you return one good deed with another and assist meeting attendees with networking. This way, the cycle of compassion and goodwill continues indefinitely.
We are always looking for help with St. Joseph the Worker, please see the volunteer tab above.
10 THINGS YOU WANT TO AVOID WHEN STARTING YOUR OWN BUSINESS
1.
IGNORING FAMILY AND TIME CONSIDERATIONS
You must talk things over with your family and be sure they are on-board with your idea. Discuss what this will mean in terms of time, commitment and finances. Do not go out there and start and then let your significant other know after the ship has left the dock!
2.
DO NOT START A BUSINESS BECAUSE SOMEONE SUGGESTED IT IS A
GOOD IDEA OR YOUR THINK IT WOULD BE “COOL” TO DO OR YOUR FRIEND IS DOING IT
What you do should be a passion,
something you love, and something you are good at and understand. You need to be fanatical and passionate
not infatuated with the idea.
3.
STARTING WITHOUT A WRITTEN BUSINESS PLAN
Some people do this and it can
be done, but a lot easier if you have a plan.
If you don't know where you are going,
how can you expect to get there? - Basil S. Walsh
By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail. - Benjamin Franklin
4. HAVING INSUFFICIENT FINANCIAL SUPPORT
Understand how much money you will need to start and how much you will need to sustain the business for at least six months. If you have poor credit history your chances of borrowing money is “0”.
5. DOING EVERYTHING YOUR SELF – I DO NOT NEED A LAWYER, ACCOUNTANT, WEB DEVELOPER, MARKETING ETC.
Understand your strengths and use them but focus your time on things that will get you started and make you money. Don’t save minimal dollars to avoid legal or accounting input. If not done right you will have to pay them anyway. Know your core competency and focus on them. Be sure insurance is considered.
6. BE SO FOCUSED ON YOUR BUSINESS THAT YOU IGNORE THE COMPETITION
You cannot be successful unless you understand your competition, their strengths, and weaknesses and how you can beat them. Cheaper price is not the answer. What distinguishes you from your competition? Know it t then sell it.
Research how the internet works in your industry, in your area and with your customers. Understand if Social Media will play a part in your business. If not be sure you are right. If it does what are you going to do about it. A key to your Marketing and Sales Plan needs to be where does Social Media fit or not.
8. I CAN RUN MY BUSINESS AND DO NOT NEED TO WASTE TIME LOOKING AT THE NUMBERS
If you work hard every day and every hour things will be ok. Not true. Pay attention to Cash Flow. You do not pay bills with profits. Details really matter. Identify a few that are critical to your success and manage them relentlessly. One of those is Cash Flow.
Who can help you? Family. Some teenage people know Social Media ask them for help or let them set you up. Some family member might send the bills and manage the collections. Spread a few little things out to others that can help and review periodically. They want to help and they are good.
10. YOU KNOW IT ALL
Seek and use mentoring and planning help. Use SCORE, the Small Business Development Centers and other organization that can help look over your plans, discuss your ideas, problems etc. Talk with people that might have other ideas and ways to do things. Use them to brainstorm or evaluate situations. The resources out there are AMAZING.
10 Words and Terms That Ruin a Resume
Your resume needs an update -- that is, if your resume is like that of most people, it’s not as good as it could be. The problem is language: Most resumes are a thicket of deadwood words and phrases -- empty cliches, annoying jargon and recycled buzzwords. Recruiters, HR folks and hiring managers see these terms over and over again, and it makes them sad.
Wouldn’t you rather make them happy? It’s time to start raking out your resume, starting with these (and similar) terms.
1. “Salary negotiable”
Yes, they know. If you’re wasting a precious line of your resume on this term, it looks as though you’re padding -- that you’ve run out of things to talk about. If your salary is not negotiable, that would be somewhat unusual. (Still, don’t put that on your resume either.)
2. “References available by request”
See the preceding comment about unnecessary terms.
3. “Responsible for ______”
Reading this term, the recruiter can almost picture the C-average, uninspired employee mechanically fulfilling his job requirements -- no more, no less. Having been responsible for something isn’t something you did -- it’s something that happened to you. Turn phrases like “responsible for” into “managed,” “led” or other decisive, strong verbs.
4. “Experience working in ______”
Again, experience is something that happens to you -- not something you achieve. Describe your background in terms of achievements.
5. “Problem-solving skills”
You know who else has problem-solving skills? Monkeys. Dogs. On your resume, stick to skills that require a human.
6. “Detail-oriented”
So, you pay attention to details. Well, so does everyone else. Don’t you have something unique to tell the hiring manager? Plus, putting this on your resume will make that accidental typo in your cover letter or resume all the more comical.
7. “Hardworking”
Have you ever heard the term “show -- don’t tell”? This is where that might apply. Anyone can call himself a hard worker. It’s a lot more convincing if you describe situations in concrete detail in which your hard work benefited an employer.
8. “Team player”
See the preceding comment about showing instead of telling. There are very few jobs that don’t involve working with someone else. If you have relevant success stories about collaboration, put them on your resume. Talk about the kinds of teams you worked on, and how you succeeded.
9. “Proactive”
This is a completely deflated buzzword. Again, show rather than tell.
10. “Objective”
This term isn’t always verboten, but you should use it carefully. If your objective is to get the job you’ve applied for, there’s no need to spell that out on your resume with its own heading. A resume objective is usually better replaced by a career summary describing your background, achievements and what you have to offer an employer. An exception might be if you haven’t applied for a specific job and don’t have a lot of experience that speaks to the position you’d like to achieve.
St. Joseph the Worker Employment Ministry
P.O. Box 2488
Glen Ellyn, IL 60138-2488
email: info@stjosephministry.org