Neighbors-Helping-Neighbors for Wayne!!!

SPECIAL ADDITION!

FOR WAYNE, New Jersey!

Meet at the Wayne Public Library, 7PM, Thursday!

Neighbors Helping Neighbors is a grassroots, non-profit group that is dedicated to getting people back to work by:

• Sharing ideas
• Sharing contacts
• Supporting each other

There is really no one else like us. Go to nhnusa.org for meeting locations!

http://www.neighbors-helping-neighbors.com/meeting-locations.html

Neighbors-Helping Neighbors Blog, issue 14!

More about training!
More about LinkedIn!
More about our website!

More opportunities for escaping stagnation!

Training!
Getting jobs these days require two things, both of which seem impossible at times, both of which are actually within reach.
Networking and Skills!
How sick am I of seeing these two words and dreading them because they seem like these massive, insurmountable mountains. They loom ahead of us; so much to understand and grasp, we wonder what is the point, while we are confronted with fears of failure and humiliation.
The simple truth, however, is that to climb and conquer them, we only need to take a little at a time.
Networking, meeting people, developing professional relationships, fielding professional ideas, sharing information, is done all the time in Neighbors-Helping-Neighbors. It is what we do. It can also be done at trade shows, union meetings, job fairs, and a host of other places. Bring business cards, with your contact info and talk. Personally, I like Neighbors-Helping-Neighbors and my volunteer jobs at networking opportunities as they give me something to do, something to show, something to work on, where conventions are a little harder to show off my capabilities.
Training. Bills, tuition, man, didn’t I already graduate from college. College is an investment, but when did it turn into a financial black hole? All that work and a degree and none of it seem to matter. Now I am told my skills are inadequate, I need more experience, but how do I get experience if no one will hire me?
There is a way you can help yourself in both of these areas. Actually, there are several ways you can help yourselves in these two areas, but today we will be covering just two as they relate to our Beloved Libraries! Neighbors-Helping-Neighbors meets in several local libraries, as the list below will indicate and many of these libraries already have small training programs for those looking for work, those displaced by the Recession. We have been pushing the Hasbrouck Heights Library as one, but there are other Libraries that hold programs as well.
Here they are!
Here is, once more, what Hasbrouck Heights has to offer:

January, February, and March are a great time at the HH library to get to know these programs!

The programs cost $40.00 and run from 10AM until 12 on Saturdays. For more info:
General Info: (201) 288-0484 and (201) 288-0488. The Children's Room can be contacted at (201) 288-0485. The Reference Room can be contacted at (201) 288-6653.
Check out the Hasbrouck Heights Library Website for more info, looking at Ca lander of Events.

In February, Morris County Library is offering the following classes:
Excel 1 & 2, Feb. 19 & 26, 2PM
PowerPoint 1 & 2, Feb. 4 & 11, 2PM
Word 1 & 2, Feb. 6 & 13, Wed., 10AM-Noon

Maywood Library: 6-9pm Resume & Cover Letter: 1/7, 1/28, 2/11, 2/25, Interviewing and the Thank You Letter: 1/9, 1/30, 2/13, 2/27. MS Word: Jan 8, 15, 22, 29, 12:30-1:30. PowerPoint: Jan 8, 15, 22, 29, 1:30-2:30pm. Excel: Jan 4, 11, 18, 25 12:30-1:30pm. http://maywoodreads.org/ click the Events icon to see full calendar

Bloomfield Library doesn't have any scheduled computer classes but they offer one-on-one self paced computer training. You have to register by calling 973-566-6200x502

There could be other training programs we do not know about. If your local library is not one of the Libraries I have listed, ask them if they have any job training or computer training programs!
LinkedIn!
We cannot stress the importance of this tool. Not just a site on the internet, but a tool for job seekers. This is a tool that can be used as part of a proactive job search whether you are unemployed or employed, though it is important to remember that it is just one tool and a tool for long term goals. Do not, under any circumstances, expect to use LinkedIn one day and have a job the next.
What can the proactive job seeker use on LinkedIn?
Communication- After you complete your profile you can join up to 50 groups. Find the groups the best fit the career you have or want to get into. Join them, post introductions and articles and see what kind of responses you get. In addition, see what kind of activity is happening in the groups. Some groups gain members, but none of them really partake and contribute. This could be due to a lack of leadership. Many people start groups with good intentions, but do not know how to manage them. Find one with strong leadership and become a member and contributor. In doing so, you gain insight, perspectives, news and get to introduce yourself to others.
Portfolio-LinkedIn gives you an chance to lost your accomplishments when you add a job or place you have worked. Remember, do not put down RESPONSIBILITIES, but down ACCOMPLISHMENTS. That is what HR managers are looking for in resumes and it is what they are looking for when they look around Linkedin. Another application, Boxed.com can be loaded onto your LinkedIn profile and can be used to upload portfolio pieces you have crated, be it book covers, white papers, manuals, photography work, that sort of thing. This way you have a resume and proof of your work all in one spot.
Status update-Status updates can be extremely useful if you want recruiters to take notice. Updating your status show activity, life, and that you are there, that the profile is being used by you. You can update on things like promotion, or accomplishments, maybe even challenges you are having at work. There is also a link that lets you attach a link from another site; if you have articles or videos you want to share about your interests, you can do so. Again, the status update shows activity and life; don’t put too much thought in it, but do not write it off as a waste.
News Articles-Every time you go to LinkedIn, they have articles, business articles you can read and probably should be aware of. They tend to be insightful, not just news articles or strict opinion pieces; one talked about the lack of employee engagement in some businesses and how it can be related to the overbearing manager. Another talked about where creativity comes from. One article alone should not be life changing, but reading them for a year will definitely help you in making better informed decisions about the business world and your own career.

All this and more is at your finger tips. We, at Neighbors-Helping-Neighbors, find LinkedIn to be of great value. Find out group, the Neighbors-Helping-Neighbors LinkedIn group and find out more about us. Just set the search box on the top right of the site to groups, type are name in, and check up out. And, while you are at it, check out our website…..

NHNUSA.ORG!
Whether you are on LinkedIN or not, believe in social networking or not (and social networking does work, just takes a little time effort and a touch of RESTRAINT), NHNUSA.org is the place to go for all kinds of relevant information about the group, Neighbors-Helping-Neighbors and where we meet, as well as other events we will be having, such as….

OUR TWO YEAR ANNIVERSARY!
Check out the link below for more information. But the guts or it are as follows, Friday, January 25, 2013, from 10AM until 2PM at the Hasbrouck Heights Hilton!

http://www.neighbors-helping-neighbors.com/two-years-and-counting.html
Whether your attending or not, take a look at the rest of the site, particularly the success stories! They are not just happy tales of unknown people beating the Recession, they offer strategies and proof that it can be done. Read them, learn from them, and go forward!

In closing, I would like to leave you with a few useful links:

New Jersey’s Occupational Explorer
http://lwd.dol.state.nj.us/lpaapp/OccupationExplorer.html

The Industrial and Occupational Projections for NJ: 2008-2018
http://lwd.dol.state.nj.us/labor/lpa/employ/indoccpj/stateoccemp.pdf

And the Occupational Outlook Handbook:
http://www.bls.gov/ooh/

Our Meeting List:
NhN Meeting Locations
Founding NhN Library Program

River Edge Library
685 Elm Street
Thursdays 7:00pm-8:30pm
Phone - 201.261.1663
http://riveredge.bccls.org

Bergenfield Library
50 West Clinton Ave.
Tuesdays 7:00pm-8:30pm
Phone - 201-387-4040
http://bergenfield.bccls.org

Hawthorne Library
345 Lafayette Avenue
Tuesdays 7:00pm-8:30pm
Phone - 973.427.5745
http://hawthorne.bccls.org

Westwood Library
49 Park Avenue
Mondays 7:00pm-8:30pm
Phone - 201.664.0583
http://westwood.bccls.org

Ridgewood Library
125 North Maple Avenue
Thursdays 7:00pm-8:30pm
Phone - 201.670.5600
www.ridgewoodlibrary.org

Waldwick Library
19 East Prospect Street
Mondays 7:00pm-8:30pm
Phone - 201.652.5104
http://waldwick.bccls.org
at St Lukes while library
room is renovated

Mendham Township
2 West Main Street
Brookside, NJ 07926
Mondays 6:30pm-8:00pm
Phone - 973.543.4018
www.mendhatwplib.org

Cedar Grove
1 Municipal Plaza
Thursdays 6:30pm-8:00pm
Phone - 973.239.1447
Http://cedargrovenj.org/library

Fair Lawn Library
10-01 Fair Lawn Avenue
 Mondays 7:00pm-8:30pm
Phone - 201.796.3400
http://www.fairlawnlibrary.org

Ringwood Library
30 Cannici Drive
Tuesdays 10:30am-12:00pm
Phone - 973.962.6256
www.ringwoodlibrary.org

Oakland Library
2 Municipal Plaza
Thursdays 10:30am-12:00
Phone - 201.337.3742
http://oaklandnjlibrary.org/

Emerson Library
20 Palisade Ave
Tuesdays 7:00pm-8:30pm
Phone -  201.261.5604
http://emerson.bccls.org

Oradell Library
375 Kinderkamack Avenue
Tuesdays 1:00pm-2:30pm
( every other week )
Phone - 201.262.2613
http://oradell.bccls.org

Cranford Library
224 Walnut Avenue
Wednesdays 6:30-8:00pm
Phone - 908.709.7272
http://cranford.com/library

Hasbrouck Heights Library
320 Boulevard
Mondays  1:00pm-2:30pm
Phone - 201.288.0484
http://hasbrouckheights.bccls.org

Lake Hiawatha Library (Parsippany)
68 Nokomis Ave.Lake Hiawatha, NJ 07034
phone:(973) 335-0952
Tuesdays 7:15-8:45 pm.
http://parsippanylibrary.org/our-branches/lake-hiawatha

Monmouth County Library
Eastern Branch
1001 Route 35
Shrewsbury, NJ 07702-4398
Phone: (866) 941-8188
(732) 683-8980 (Freehold area)

Neighbors-helping-Neighbors USA, Inc. (NhN) is a cost-free, highly successful Peer-led volunteer support and networking group targeted to individuals who are actively looking for work and interested in reinvigorating their job search. Membership is open to anyone in career transition, including unemployed or underemployed individuals and recent college graduates in the fields of business, non-profit, and education, as well as persons re entering the job market, struggling small business owners and retirees looking for part-time or volunteer work.

Nhnusa.org

Wishing all of you Luck and Success!