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News & Events - Business and Career Programs

Career Programs Newsletter

Special Programs

5 Things You're Doing Wrong in Your Job Search and How to Fix Them
25 June 2013 | Hubbard Room 6-8pm
Melanie Szlucha

Career expert Melanie Szlucha is the featured speaker for this workshop. This program will cover the most frequent and effective tips she gives to her clients. She will address:

Easy ways to customize a resume

What a good cover letter looks like

Networking outside the box

Sealing the deal in the job interview

Following up without stalking

Melanie Szlucha’s company Red Inc. helps job seekers land the jobs they want by writing resumes that get interviews, coaching clients to be more confident and prepared for interviews, and then appropriate strategies to follow up to land jobs. She has over 15 years of experience as a hiring manager and 5+ years as a job search coach.

Do you know what it takes to stand out in a stack of resumes? Jan Melnik does. In this intensive, hands-on workshop she’ll show you how to revitalize your resume for a tough job market. Learn simple changes you can make to modernize your resume and extend its reach beyond paper and ink. This program will cover:

The NEW resume conventions and standards

Choosing a format that puts your best foot forward

Maximizing impact while minimizing effort

Optimizing keywords for applicant tracking systems

Supplementing your resume with your LinkedIn profile

Resume Reboot
Tuesday, July 16, 2013 | Hubbard Room 1-5 pm
Jan Melnick

Jan will also share strategies to overcome common pitfalls, such as lack of relevant experience, insufficient credentials, job hopping, gaps in employment, long bouts of unemployment, underemployment, career transitions, ageism, or a criminal background.

Jan Melnik is a Master Resume Writer, Credentialed Career Manager, and Certified Professional Resume Writer. She founded her private practice, Absolute Advantage, in Durham in 1983. She helps clients coast-to-coast with career strategies, resumes, and coaching services. She has been featured in numerous publications, is a regular career expert on NBC, and speaks frequently at such venues as the University of Hartford, numerous community libraries throughout Connecticut, Hear Here Hartford, the University of Wisconsin, and Central Connecticut State University as well as industry conferences nationwide (Career Thought Leaders annual conference in Baltimore, National Resume Writers Conference in Charleston, etc.). She is the career expert for MoneyWise radio, launching an ongoing job-search boot camp for listeners in 2011. She holds a master’s degree from Wesleyan University and two undergraduate degrees in business (University of Maryland and Bay Path College, where she is an adjunct professor and developed/teaches the business school’s career and life planning class). Jan's slogan is, "Be inspired. It’s your career. It’s your life.”

Please register at the Information Desk or call 860-347-2520.

Ongoing Programs

Russell Library Job Group

Take the opportunity to network with other job seekers, as well as get the advice of expert professionals. Guest speakers will focus on the job market and provide industry information. The group meets 9:30-noon on Thursdays in The Hubbard Room.

Practice Interviewing

Improve your interviewing skills and get the job you want. Bob Carlson will assist you by conducting and evaluating your face-to-face practice interview at Russell Library, 123 Broad Street, Middletown. Videotaping the session is optional and confidential. 45 minute sessions are available. Please call (860) 347-2520 for more information and to sign up.

Job Coaching Appointments

James Kubat , Associate Director of the Wesleyan Career Center, will offer individual career coaching sessions. All appointments are confidential and can be arranged in person at the Information Desk or by calling 860-347-2520. Please bring a resume if you have one. You will receive a reminder call a week in advance. We ask that you confirm your appointment within 3 days of that call. To cancel an appointment, please call the Information Desk at 860-347-2520 at least 48 hours ahead of time so that another job seeker may be served.

Resume Review and Interview Coaching

Business professional Jeff Thierfeld offers in-depth resume review and interview coaching. Sessions are held three Saturdays each month. To sign up for a 1 hour appointment call 860-347-2520. If you need to cancel, please allow 48 hours notice. We ask that you bring your resume (printed out or saved on a flash drive).

Practice Phone Interviews

This service is being offered by Russell Library, 123 Broad Street, Middletown. Phone interviews are a fundamental part of the job search process and need to be treated as seriously as the face-to-face interview. Improve your interviewing skills without leaving the comfort of your home. Bob Carlson will call you at your location and scheduled time. ½ hour sessions are available. Please call (860) 347-2520 for more information and to sign up.

Much gratitude is due to our presenters, who contribute their valuable time and talents to Russell Library’s Career Program.

We also owe many thanks to our sponsors, whose generous support makes it all possible:

Middletown Community Development Block Grant
People’s United Community Foundation
The Friends of the Russell Library

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