February Meeting: "Speed Resume-ting"

For February's chapter meeting, STC Chicago eschewed its traditional meeting format. In honor of Valentine's Day, a "Speed Resume-ting" session was held on February 16th to help attendees tighten up their resumes. Despite the Saturday morning meet-up time, roughly 10 intrepid souls from all over Chicagoland braved the sub-20s temperatures to attend.

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The event, held at The CARA Group's Oak Brook headquarters, was inspired by speed dating. The following format was (more or less) followed after enough caffeine was imbibed:

1. Everyone had stacks of their own resumes with enough copies for each other person at the table.
2. All stacks were passed to the left.
3. Participants were given two minutes to view and mark up the top resume on the stack.
4. When time was up, the top resumes were placed on the bottoms of the stacks, and the stacks were passed again to the left.
5. This was repeated until the stacks made it back to their original owners.
6. The idea was that recruiters only look at most resumes for a few seconds to form their initial opinions. Therefore, given only a short time to view and comment, participants were able to focus on those ever-important first impressions—what worked (or didn't) and what stood out.

Attendees were given two minutes to read and mark up others' resumes.

Once everyone's marked up resumes were returned, the floor was opened to general questions and discussion. Here are some of the topics that came up:

• Serif versus sans-serif fonts
• Functional versus chronological resumes
• Value of value added statements
• Ideal section arrangements
• Inclusion of months on start and end dates
• Means to emphasize what recruiters want to see
• Mixing present and past tenses for currently held positions
• Ideal page counts
• Tips and tricks

After the general discussion, the group broke into pairs or trios so attendees could receive more detailed feedback on their resumes. Advice and business cards were also exchanged. Finally, CARA’s own Lisa Vitale, a recruiting manager for the company, was kind enough to answer some questions from the group.

Participants discuss their resumes on a one-on-one basis.

The seemingly low turnout was actually a boon; the group size was perfect for meaningful discussion with only a little chaos. Attendees left with advice, answered questions, new ideas, and (in at least one case) pastries.

Thank you to those members who made it to the event despite frozen fingers and toes—there would be no event without you. Thanks also to Linda Kelley for facilitating the event and minding the stopwatch to keep everyone on track. Finally, a very special thank you to Lisa Vitale, for sharing her experience, and The CARA Group, for sharing their space.

TECH Cocktail Chicago

The next TECH cocktail takes place on February 19 in Chicago, so don't forget to save the date. If you like big crowds, you'll like TECH cocktail. These popular networking events often have several hundred attendees. In fact, the October 2008 event attracted over 700 Chicago-area professionals.

If you're wondering who you might meet at one of these events, check out the following chart. Event organizers recently published attendee demographics:

About the Event

Date: Thursday, February 19, 2009
Time: 6:30pm - 9pm
Place: John Barleycorn’s - 3524 N Clark
Cost: The event is free. RSVPs are required.

Mark Your Calendars for Silicon Prairie Social 3

Silicon Prairie Social 3, an outstanding networking event for those of us in the western suburbs, has been scheduled for Thursday, July 10 at Mullen’s Bar & Grill in Lisle.

Admission, as well as the drinks and hors d’oeuvres, are free, thanks to sponsors such as Sun Microsystems, Obtiva, Imprint Enterprises, Delivered Innovation, Saper Law Offices, M5 Networks, and the Bradley Wiltjer Marketing Group. You will need to RSVP, since space is limited.

Networking Opportunities We Love

Check out the revamped WindyBits.com. It's an excellent resource for tech-savvy Chicagoans interested in learning about local networking opportunities. You'll find the WindyBits RSS feed on our blog. See below.

Thursdays @ STC Chicago will appear on the WindyBits event calendar each month. I posted our March 6th event to the calendar just two days ago, and we've already received positive feedback from people who first learned about our networking event via the feed. Long live RSS!

Top 7 Reasons Why Everyone Needs a Network

I get occasional e-mails from Top7Business and one of the topics in this week's e-mail was the importance of having a network. Worth the read.

Celebrating STC Chicago

Have you ever wondered how STC Chicago is able to develop, promote, and carry out some of the most innovative and engaging programs for technical communicators in the Chicago area?

Could it be that you’ve never met any of our committee managers or volunteers?

Well, wait no longer! Join us on August 21st in Downers Grove to celebrate the unbridled enthusiasm and extraordinary dedication of our community members. Better still, become a volunteer and help to shape the future of technical communication in Chicago and beyond.

For details, see our Special Announcement.