SGI Reunion on Monday 7/22!

To all SGI alums,

It’s been almost two years since our last reunion, so it’s time to get the old gang together and rekindle the SGI magic again!

We’ve got over 100 coming as of now, so it should be a fun night!

Please RSVP via the Evite:
http://new.evite.com/l/6TVCGKISRR

Monday, July 22
6:00 – 9:00 p.m.
The Patio
412 Emerson, Palo Alto

Thanks for spreading the word so we don’t miss anyone.

This is the same place we usually have it in Palo Alto (formerly Fanny & Alexander’s). It’s no-host food and drinks, and just tip the staff generously. They’re not charging us a room fee since we usually have such a big crowd.

It will be so great to see you all again and the weather should be terrific.

IMPORTANT: If you or any SGI friends aren’t on the SGI Gang Yahoo Groups list, please make sure you subscribe so that you can reach friends and get future reunion info. Just send an email to SGIgang-subscribe@yahoogroups.com

See you there!

Sue

It’s worth it to reply to a job post! Don’t lose heart.

Hello Everyone,

I want to encourage you all to not lose heart in your job search.

As the KIT List founder, I get emails from so many KIT List people who’ve gotten one — and even two or three! — jobs from the KIT List over the years.

So it’s worth it to reply to a job that interests you!

Since we are smaller than the huge job boards (we have 70,000 people in our KIT List community), your odds are so much better with the recruiters and employers who post with us. And many jobs are only posted here.

If you qualify for about 80% of the job requirements…GO FOR IT!

I’ve asked recruiters and employers about the long list of job requirements in many posts (often what seems like an impossible list!). Yet they say that if you match about 80%, that they’ll consider you. Don’t rule yourself out before even trying!

Important:
Take the time to write a brief cover email providing a few key points about why you’re a great fit for that SPECIFIC job (please avoid the generic, “Here’s my resume” or worse yet, no personal note!). If you capture their interest, they’ll look at your resume. It’s a good idea to include your resume in the body of your email so they can get to it quickly.

It’s smart to customize your resume to highlight your skills and expertise that will help that company solve their problems by hiring YOU!

Also, the spirit of this list is “friends helping friends.” If something is a good fit for a friend, forward it to them. The ripple effect of this has gotten so many people into jobs they love.

Finally, if you don’t get a response, don’t lose hope.

Recruiters and HR folks are under tremendous workloads. Though they’d like to, they just don’t have the bandwidth to get back to everyone. I saw a recent discussion on a Recruiter forum that recruiters were puzzled why they didn’t hear back for jobs they were applying and interviewing for THEMSELVES. They thought that as recruiters, they would at least get a response as a professional courtesy from another recruiter.

In the Recruiter discussion, the main reason for the “no response” problem was that the recruiters said they were so buried themselves. They are under the gun to fill jobs quickly, and with fewer resources than ever.

Job search is uncomfortable for all of us, but don’t give up and just know that the next job you apply for might just be the job you land!

Hang in there and keep helping each other!

— Sue