Princeton Community Church will hold a free employment outreach conference open to the entire community on Saturday, January 19.
The event, which features a keynote talk by Marianne Grady, director of human resources and administration at LS Power Development in East Brunswick, on “Laser Focus: How to Keep It and Stay Motivated During Your Job Search,” begins at 10 a.m. at the church at 2300 Pennington Road in Pennington. On site registration begins at 9:30 a.m. RSVP by Wednesday, January 16, to secure a seat. To register, go to pcceoe.eventbrite.com.
Other presentations at the event include: a panel discussion on “Should I just start my own business” moderated by Ted Klett with panelists Jim Golis, Tim Irons, and Perry Warren; “Focus and the Job Search: Planning, Preparation, and Follow,” by Clare Hart; and “LinkedIn Training: Improve Your Profile on the World’s Largest Business Network,” by Barrie Byron.
Also, “I Am Not Your friend: Interviewing Communication Skills from HR perspective,” by Grady; the “New Job Market,” by Ed Andriessen; “Removing the ‘You are Overqualified’ Barrier” by Michelle Lewis; and “Going Up: Describe Your Skills Elevator Speech,” by Thaine Shetter.
“This free employment outreach event,” says Grady, “aims to help job seekers stay motivated in their search, offers interview tips, job search strategies, and provides training on networking and social media.”
Grady describes herself as “a beneficiary” of the church’s Employment Support Group and employment outreach event. “After a finite employment term of almost four years at IBM, I was between jobs in April, 2011, when I joined the Princeton Community Church twice-monthly employment support group,” Grady says. “I got hooked on the support and stellar volunteer leadership.”
In addition to her job at LS Power, Grady this year is starting a new company called Rise Above Resources LLC that will offer business and interview coaching services, corporate training, and speaking services.
She also serves on the executive committee for the American Diabetes Association’s Jersey Shore Tour de Cure cycling event. Her team, called the Grady Bunch, has raised more than $65,000 over the past four years to help find a cure for diabetes.
Grady says that as a member of Toastmasters International and frequent speaker at technical communication meetings and conferences, she was enlisted to speak at the church’s first employment outreach last January. “It did not take long for my presenting role to morph into a leadership role.” Other members of the event’s leadership team are Martin Brophy, Jim Golis, and Ted Klett.
Grady says the event will serve as her High Performance Leadership project for Toastmasters. “The volunteer leadership and event planning experience serves well to reinforce the Toastmasters International tagline: where leaders are made,” she says.
