Across the nation, local churches and other religious organizations have stepped up their recession-busting efforts with free career workshops, resume clinics and networking functions. The latter can generate quick leads if leveraged properly since religious-centered networks tend to have very invested members, says Elliot Lasson, executive director of Joblink of Maryland, a job matching service that works with the Jewish community in Baltimore. “It’s a community that wants to help each other,” he says. But netting results requires effort.
First, determine what you want to get out of a networking event beforehand, says Jay Litton, who has been the volunteer leader at the Roswell United Methodist Church job-networking ministry since 1997. “Put together a 30-second ‘elevator pitch’ that allows you to quickly communicate to other people what industry and companies you are targeting so they can help you with referrals and leads,” he says.
Many churches have posted their career help hours on their websites. It’s a good place to start.
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