The Job Forum Volunteer Dinner
The importance of connecting in-person was on full display during The Job Forum’s annual volunteers’ dinner. On Thursday June 8th, a lively group of more than 40 volunteers dined and mingled at the Toy Soldier restaurant. In between our delicious entrees and closing prize drawing, each attendee was given the mic to introduce themselves and share an update. What an impressive group of great people!. Over the past 3 years, we’ve seen our events migrate from The Russ Building in Downtown San Francisco to a video communications on Zoom. Seeing many of our dedicated volunteers together in the same room sharing new professional and personal updates was a wonderful sight! Extra, extra read all about it, The Job Forum has new and exciting updates to share!
Job Forum Events
We’re now offering job hunters events to help them skill up and land the jobs they want on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and most Thursdays. From 1-1 advising, to group job search strategy meetings every Wed evening, to industry-specific Q&A speaker panels, our events are dedicated to help job hunters in so many areas of your career journey. We’ve boiled down our target audience into the 4 groups we especially focus on and advise:
- General job hunters in the SF Bay Area
2. Workforce of the Future- those ages 15-25
3. Veterans who are job hunting
4. Women job hunting in Science,Technology, and Finance careers
New volunteers are welcome
Our agenda tailored towards job search and skill expansion is more robust compared to previous years. We are extremely grateful when new volunteers provide their expertise to The Job Forum. Everyone loves a hard-fought and well-earned success story on the job front. Former job hunters who came to our nonprofit organization for help in the past are great candidates to direct their advice to our target audience job hunters. As a participant on a panel, moderator or a host (Master of Ceremonies) at our workshops, you’ll have a chance to share your job search expertise with job seekers or craft relevant questions for our guest panelists.
Once a job hunter now a volunteer
Many of the tricks of the trade in today’s work climate come from people like our own volunteer, Ismail Bugdayli. At the annual dinner he shared the details that In April, he landed a sales executive role and thanked The Job Forum for giving him so many tools and strategies learned at job search events. While speaking at the annual dinner, Ismail provided a mindset he embraced, “Ask lots of real questions about what the person you are speaking with has experienced themselves and ask them what they think it is like to do the job or be in the company or work in the field.” You can call this a full circle effect! We look forward to cheering on more volunteers who want to give back.
Calling on all hiring managers! Currently The Job Forum has more than 100 member panelists and many more volunteers who repeatedly help out on career and industry panels.
Perhaps you will want to join us as a member and volunteer 3 times a year at zoom events to help job hunters? This year our Thursday special events have covered such industries as biotechnology, marketing, finance, techniology and roles in corporate philanthrpy . Your leadership, content about job roles and functions and your company knowledge has a big impact on our job seekers who are already putting tremendous effort into their job searches. Real progress begins for them with more networking opportunities, warm Linkedin connections which evolve into informational and job interviews. Whether you work in HR, Operations, Product Management, Finance, Customer Success or another job role not listed, we’d love your advice and guidance for job hunters at our Job Forum events. We hope you sign up to become panelist with us!
Diverse and productive
The Job Forum is broader, deeper, and more diverse than a decade ago. Since we went virtual back in 2020, there have been a total of 373 events! Our organization is a group of effective, positive, generous, high skilled, dynamic managers,who are encouraging, advising, and making a real difference to the economy of the SF Bay Area and to the job hunters who may have no Bay Area network or not enough of an industry network and yet they find one at The Job Fourm.
We celebrate the success of The Job Forum with you today and hope to see you contributing with us over Zoom soon. New volunteers please offer to volunteer here. https://thejobforum.org/volunteer
Thank you to our sponsors
Thank you to the Toy Soldier Restaurant and Johnny Methany for sponsoring our annual dinner for the organization at the restaurant (California & Comfort Cuisine on Belden Place) in their delightful “SpeakEasy” space upstairs. If you want to host an event of your own with them, contact johnny@bluelightsf.com
Thank you to Linkedin for your community support of The Job Forum.
Thank you to the SF Chamber of Commerce for sponsoring The Job Forum for 70 years so far. Thank you to The Miranda Lux Foundation for support of the Workforce of the Future program for job search and career readiiness for 15-25 year olds via The Job Forum.
By Jason Slamovich
