Hopkinton Networking Group: “Finding a Job That Fits When You are Older than 50”

Hello Everyone,

The agenda for this Friday's Hopkinton Networkers Group (HNG) meeting will be featured by a Moderated Panel led by Robert Dandrade. The facilitator for this week will be Ronaldo Lu. We will devote the first hour to the following agenda: Welcome, Landings, Announcements, New Member Intros, and Needs & Leads. Important Note: Please make a serious, concerted effort to arrive before 10:00 AM. We are going to start the meeting on time at 10:00 AM. In the second hour, the Moderated Panel will discuss “Finding a Job That Fits When You are Older than 50."

Moderated Panel Discussion Talk on “Finding a Job That Fits When You are Older than 50”

A panel comprised of professionals who have a wide range of diverse experiences and knowledge in the job search and hiring: a Program Manager for a software provider, a Career Advisor and Workshop Facilitator at a local Career Center,a former Sales and Marketing Executive who has his own business, a Recruiter for Human Resources and Financial Services, and a Director of Human Resources.

Lyn Baird

After having been with Compaq and Hewlett Packard for a combined eighteen years, Lyn went through four turbulent transitions over the past nine years -- including two extensive periods of unemployment, as well as moves from commercial high-tech into defense contracting, and then back into commercial high-tech. Presently Lyn helps ready new products for market with MathWorks, a provider of software products for engineering and science. Lyn maintains Program Management and Project Management certifications with Project Management Institute. Lyn developed the “Networking” module for Job Search Workshops for MetroWest and holds the copyright. Lyn is married to Linée, his bride of 30 years, who is a commercial pastel artist. They have three adult special-needs children -- a daughter and two sons. Lyn and Linée live and serve among Trinity Church Congregational of Bolton, where Lyn presently serves as elder and pursues a passion to help the wider church move beyond being a closed club to genuinely engage with the community and the culture. Lyn is part of the leadership of Job Search Workshops for MetroWest.

Norma Brandt-Krevis

Norma Brandt-Krevis is presently employed by Metro Southwest Employment & Training Career Center in Framingham. She has been with the organization for over 11 years and works as a Resource Room Career Advisor and Workshop Facilitator. Her areas of expertise include Using Your Age to Advantage, Résumé Development, Avoiding the Black Hole and triaging customers for training eligibility. She is a PARW certified Résumé Writer. Norma originally came to the center as a customer who experienced first-hand the difficulties of a lay off. Armed with the information she gained through taking workshops, Norma discovered how to use her “transferable skills” to sell herself to an employer and was able to secure two job offers on the same day. Her past experience includes the NF Foundation, Neonatology Associates and Southborough Medical.

Norma is married to “Big Al”, a former NY Jets tackle, and together they have 6 grown children. They are actively involved in their church life at Church of the Nativity in Northborough

Robert Dandrade

For over 42 years he has worked in many roles in multiple industries, hiring hundreds of people. He has also had unexpected job loss twice. In 2012, as part of a 30,000 workforce reduction, he accepted early retirement and transitioned from being an Engineering Program Manager in Hewlett Packard. Rob’s experience also includes Fidelity Investments, Compaq Computer and Digital Equipment Corp, Pepsico and Carrier Corporation. At one point, with Fidelity, he was unexpectedly laid-off. Working with their out-placement agency he realized that his past job searches were based on many incorrect assumptions. Rob applied their recommended practices and he experienced success. Some of the teaching points of the non-profit Job Search Workshops for MetroWest, which he co-founded, emphasize what he learned.

Job Search Workshops for MetroWest is a non-profit organization which has helped over 700 participants address short term job loss situations. This “best practices” workshop is focused on professionals who don't have paid outplacement help when they lose their job. The Workshop summarizes advice the outplacement service firms might provide in two or three weeks into two nights and delivers the content in the context of one’s Christian faith.

With his wife Carol, Rob celebrated 46 years this past year. They have a 22 year old daughter (plus 3 other children over 39).Rob is a “Elder Emeritus” for Faith Community Church of Hopkinton, having served there in multiple capacities for 30 years.

Wende Malster

Wende has over two decades of search and placement experience in Human Resources and Financial Services. She is a meticulous “detective,” uncovering the real needs of each client and developing a detailed picture of the requirements for each position. Her proven discernment and genuine commitment to client satisfaction has resulted in exceptionally high rates of retention and advancement for her clients. Prior to starting her own practice, she was a Vice President at Gatti & Associates where she recruited HR professionals for companies such as GE, Bain Capital, Sonesta, Moderna Therapeutics, and Rhode Island School of Design.

Wende is a Principal with M2-Partners. She is considered to be one of the most successful Executive Search professionals specializing in Human Resources in the New England area. She finds outstanding HR leadership for high-growth Fortune 500 companies as well as start-up ventures. Our placement track record is exceptional: over 90% of our candidates are retained for more than one year and over 70% are promoted within three years.

Wende holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from St. Lawrence University, and completed several courses in the Human Resources Professional Certificate program at Bentley University. She is active in several Human Resources associations and is on the Board of Directors of a local non-profit organization. The content she developed for a Job Search workshop at New England Chapel in 2009 has been incorporated into the curriculum used today in the Job Search Workshops for MetroWest. Wende is married to Rob, and they have two daughters, Lindsay (17) and Lauren (15). They are active members of New England Chapel in Franklin.

Donelle Wright

Donelle Wright is a Director of Human Resources at EMC. She is the HR Business Partner for two global sales organizations--strategic alliances and global accounts. Donelle joined EMC three years ago after several years of working as an independent HR consultant and leadership coach. Prior to that, Donelle worked for the legacy Hewlett Packard Company for 18 years holding a number of positions in Human Resources at the regional, national, and corporate level. She is also a
professional certified coach. When not working, Donelle is the mother of two teenage daughters, and on the boards of three non-profit organizations in Worcester County where she lives in Holden.

Recap of HNG Meeting of May 15, 2015:

Our 146th meeting had 18 people, this is two less than the previous meeting; no one signed the New Member list. Gil Krispien was our facilitator. There were no introduction speeches.

Landings:
Jocelyn Beauregard Started May 25th full time at People United Bank in Westborough as HR Manager; was out 10 months
Bob O'Donnell Started May 21st full time at Regal Beloit as District Manager of Sales; was out 4 months

We conducted an Interview Questions Workshop which went over very well. It was enlightening; it was informative; and it was interesting to hear the various suggestive responses to the questions. Jocelyn, since she is a HR person, gave a lot of good input for answers to the questions.

We had 8 people who took advantage of William's photo session and had their photo taken

Schedule for HNG Meetings:

June 5, 2015 Moderated Panel Discussion “Finding a Job That Fits When You are Older than 50”
June 19, 2015 Brian Hawley and Tom Bodine "10 Things You Should Know About Long Term Investing"

General Information

The networking group meets in Hopkinton, at St. John the Evangelist Church parish hall. The meeting occurs, from 10 to 12 noon, and will meet the first and third Friday of the month. The parish hall has a capacity for 250 people and there is plenty of parking spaces in the parking lot and on the street. Around the perimeter of the parish hall are rooms to allow us to have focused network groups or for any other purpose we need. We chose the first and third Friday to allow everyone to attend the Acton Networking Group or any other networking group, if they wanted, on the Friday we do not meet.

We will maintain our close affiliation with Acton Networkers by using the same list-server to share information between the groups. Any e-mails specific to the Hopkinton Networking Group (HNG) will be indicated in the subject line either by "Hopkinton Networking Group" or "HNG"; this way anyone attending these meetings will know the e-mail is intended for them.

We will follow the following agenda items:
* Welcome
* Landings (with doughnuts)
* Announcements
* New member introductions
* Needs and Leads
* Speaker(s), Workshop, or Focus Group
* Cleanup

For those new members who give their introductions, this is what we would like to know:
* Name
* Skills and Value Statement
* Where have you been?
* Where are you going?
* Your title
* Your target companies
* Geography of search
* Name and e-mail address

If anyone wants to join our team, please let one of us know; we could always use the extra help and input for ideas.

Directions:
Take Rt. 495 North/South and get off Exit 21A. Go through three traffic lights. Colella's Supermarket is on the right at the third traffic light. The first street after the third traffic light is Church Street, take a right turn. The church is on the right. Go around to the left of the parking lot and go into the side entrance of the parish hall.

Depending upon where you live, perhaps you may want to use Mapquest for a more direct route. The address of the church is:
St. John the Evangelist
20 Church Street
Hopkinton, MA 01748

Regards,
Hopkinton Networkers Group (HNG) Coordinators:
Emilia Gordon emiliagne@gmail.com
Gil Krispien g.krispien@verizon.net
William Lam wmlam508@yahoo.com
Michelle Levesque mdlevesque222@yahoo.com
Ronaldo Lu ronaldo.lu@comcast.net
Vincent Rocheleau vrocheleau@hotmail.com