job search notes: This is "a performance driven marketplace"

Last February, designer Michael Locascio started calling recruiters after he was abruptly laid off from a Chicago-area company. “Usually within a couple of weeks, I would find something, even just project-based work, but this time there was nothing or the pay was ridiculously low,” he says.

Locascio, 50, always disdained networking. “I felt like you’re always asking someone for a favor,” he says. But last summer, out of desperation, he joined St. Hubert Job and Networking Ministry, one of Chicago’s largest free job-support groups. “There was a no-whining policy,” he says. “You’re there to stay focused on the task.”

The ministry breaks participants into small groups of eight to 12 job seekers from different occupations who problem-solved, shared job leads and held each other accountable for progress. “That helped to keep me going—seeing others land jobs,” says Locascio.

Read the full article in AARP Bulletin Today.

LaidOff Camp is designed to provide the same type of experience as a networking group, compressed into one afternoon. You get to choose the sessions you need and make new connections at the same time.


Register for LaidOff Camp Attleboro/Providence here


This was originally posted on the LaidOff Camp website