Have a question or concern about attending one of our Pink Slip Parties? Read on. As always, you can contact us with any question you don’t see listed below. Hope to meet you at our next event!
- What is a Pink Slip Party?
- Why is it called a “Pink Slip Party”?
- Why attend a Detroitnet.org Pink Slip Party?
- Who attends a Pink Slip Party?
- What makes a Detroitnet.org Pink Slip Party different?
- Okay, it sounds interesting. When and where?
- I thought all of these were in Novi?
- How did the previous Pink Slip Parties go?
- I sent you my resume a while ago. Should I send it again?
- Do I need to bring a bunch of copies of my resume?
- Should I wear a suit?
- Is there a cover charge or admission fee?
- Okay, limited resumes, no tie. Go it. What do I do when I get there?
- Wait–I thought you guys didn’t do sign-in sheets?
- Okay, I guess that makes me feel better. So I’ve signed in. Now what?
- I’m a recruiter. This is the first one of these I’m going to. What do I do?
- I’m looking for a job. Do I have to wait until an event to do anything?
- Anything else I should know?
- I’m not really looking for a job, or to hire anyone, right now. Can I still come?
- I can’t come to the event, should I still send in my resume?
- What should I make time to read?
- What is a Pink Slip Party?
It’s a tradition that has evolved from 1910, when hundreds of unemployed workers gathered to commiserate being laid off, factories closing and the country being in a state of flux. Sound a little familiar? Recently, with the meltdown on Wall Street, the crisis in the auto industry, as well as foreclosures running rampant as more workers lose their jobs, Pink Slip Parties are cropping up all around the country. So no, we don’t own the term…and yes, ours tend to be a lot different from any other event using this same name.
- Why is it called a “Pink Slip Party”?
Tradition, more than anything else. It was a standard that developed in many companies that “separation notices” (gotta love euphimisms…) were printed on pink slips of paper. Hence, “getting a pink slip”.
- Why attend a Detroitnet.org Pink Slip Party?
This is the perfect place to network with colleagues, meet recruiters, learn about new opportunities, brush up on your interviewing skills in a relaxed, social environment and have some fun. Plus, they work. More than 350 people have founds jobs through our events, many stemming from connections made at the Pink Slip Parties.
- Who attends a Pink Slip Party?
Whether you’ve been downsized, outsourced, pink slipped, or as Donald Trump says…”Fired!” Pink Slip Parties bring together people looking for work with recruiters and companies that are hiring. Believe it or not, yes, even in the metro Detroit area, there are jobs to be had, honest.
Detroitnet.org is here to help you find your next career move, or at least a few good connections to add into your network. If you haven’t gotten that pink (or whatever color your HR department uses these days) slip yet but you think one’s coming and you haven’t dont anything about it yet…well, we have a blog entry for you. And if you’re perfectly confident and comfortable in your job…well, you still need to network, right?
- What makes a Detroitnet.org Pink Slip Party different?
The dynamic hosts and their ability to provide top-quality recruiters and staffing agencies who know how to help get Detroit back to work – in a casual, relaxed atmosphere that promotes successful networking. No speakers, no sales pitches, no multi-level marketers trying to get you to buy soap…this is the group that we always wanted to find and couldn’t, and so we created it.
Bob Waltenspiel is the consummate sales guy, with a decade and a half of experience in selling products, commodities and services all up and down the information technology food chain. Dave Phillips is the geek that’s been pushed into management roles over the years, but still keeps his hands dirty so that he can translate from board room to server room and back. Given that people always joked that they knew just about everyone in the metro Detroit area between the two of them, it was a no-brainer to take that network and use Detroitnet.org to start helping people make connections. Jeff Mackey has over 15 years of industry experience; he’s done the programming thing and the management thing, and is good at explaining the technical to the not so technical. He also keeps Bob and Dave from killing each other.
Together, they try and make sure that everyone gets what they need out of every event. The job seekers need to find the right recruiters, and the recruiters need to find the right candidates.
More than that, we might just actually help you. We’re not going to mince words here – we’ve been to several other events that have billed themselves as “Pink Slip Parties”, and let us assure you that we are not:
…a single recruiting company holding an open house. We’re not even recruiters.
…an institution trying to get you to buy something. We don’t sell training. We don’t want to print business cards for you. We don’t care who your long distance carrier is or where you buy soap. We don’t sell anything. Well, if you happen to own a data center, Bob might try to sell you some HP hardware for it, but that’s about it.
…going to get your hopes up with false expectations. If six recruiters say they’re coming to our event, we’ll tell you that six recruiters have said they’ll be at our event. If we have no idea what the hell we’re doing, we’ll tell you we have no idea what the hell we’re doing. We value our reputations, and we know that word of mouth has a lot of power.
We know that there are a lot of events out there…some even billing themselves as “Pink Slip Parties”…and that’s all fine and good (like mentioned above, it’s not like we own the name or the concept or anything), but we’ve heard from a lot of folks that they’re confused. It’s actually really pretty straight-forward: if it doesn’t say Detroitnet.org, it’s not one of our events…and ours are a little different.
But don’t just take our word for it…
“Hi Dave,
It was great running into you & Jeff at the Pink Slip Party Wannabe event. Since there was only ONE IT recruiter there, it would have been a huge waste of my time had I not had the opportunity to share a beer & a few laughs with the two of you! Thanks in advance for your help & I look forward to seeing you again at the next ORIGINAL Pink Slip Party in a few weeks.”
- S.M.
- Okay, it sounds interesting. When and where?
The next one is June 21, 2012 at Woody’s in Royal Oak.
Keep an eye on our events page here: http://www.detroitnet.org/index.php/our-events/ for dates, times and locations of all Detroitnet.org events.
- I thought all of these were in Novi?
No.
The locations for our events are based on need, timing, and where we think it makes sense for them to occur. Always keep an eye on our Events page – http://www.detroitnet.org/index.php/our-events/ - for specific locations, dates and timing.
- How did the previous Pink Slip Parties go?
Quite simply put, they went outstandingly well. Channel 4 (NBC, ClickOnDetroit.com) showed up early at the May, 2009 event and did interviews with both us and job seekers, and then hung out for a while – you can see the video by clicking here. More than 200 people submitted resumes ahead of time. Over twenty recruiting firms showed up. Hundreds of people looking for jobs arrived – both those that were already planning on coming, as well as those that had heard or seen about the event throughout the day from various outlets. For August, Channel 7 (ABC) showed up when the event was in full swing (still trying to hunt down a video capture…) and got some great shots of the crowd. More than 50 recruiters showed up. Over 300 people submitted their resumes in advance and got distributed out to recruiters. October was even bigger, and our first event at the Post Bar in Novi. January of 2010 went extremely well as we kicked off the year with a PSP to try and jumpstart things for people looking for work, and our most recent event in April of 2010 was…well, it was ridiculously successful. By 4:30, a half hour before the event even started, there were 50 people there…with hundreds more to soon follow. We had the most recruiters, most job seekers, most headhunters and HR personnel and hiring managers than we’ve ever had at an event to date, and the feedback from all of those groups was outstanding. As we continued them through 2011, results kept rolling in and people kept having success with them.
Here’s some feedback that we got some folks that have attended our Pink Slip Party events:
“It’s a small world” – and Detroitnet.org makes it smaller, when it comes to job searches by actively helping people get connected with other people. It’s given networking a new name and a new face.
Kudos to Dave, Bob and Jeff for spending the time and energy in order to make this venture a success. And I’ll say it’s a success since I’ve landed a job through Detroitnet.org. Dave helped me get connected with the right recruiters, and leads, and the rest is history!
- Meera S. (job seeker)
“Thanks so much for hosting this event, I did attend and thought it was a great way to bring people together! I will definitely keep you informed as to any activity that it generates for me!“
- Fran. D. (job seeker)
“I thought the pink slip party was a great way to meet people. Whether they you were looking for a job or not. I have added the third Thursday of the month to my calendar for your future events.“
- Mike S (job seeker)
“Dave,
Good Morning! The Silverdome is available for the next Pink Slip you throw. If you book it, they will come… What a turn out!! If only we could put half of them to work, a recruiter can dream… You have been very successful in reaching out and creating an environment where much is possible, Congrats!!
Time to breathe and relax for a few days…”
- Diane K (recruiter)
Most importantly, results prove everything. We’ve always said that these events are useless if people don’t actually get jobs out of them, and we know that it’s happened because we’ve been kept in the loop by both job seekers and recruiters as people have found new jobs through us. More than 350 people have found jobs through our events since that first Pink Slip Party, and we think that speaks volumes about “results”. With each passing day, more are in the final interview stages, and both recruiters and candidates have been pleased with the results so far. We hope to see you at future events, and that you find them to be equally as successful.
- I sent you my resume a while ago. Should I send it again?
Yes, please do. It’s been a while, and it’s always good to get them into the hands of the recruiters again to be recent. Plus, new recruiters are always joining the group and planning on coming this time around, and it’s a good idea to get your resume into their hands as well. Just send it to detroitnet@gmail.com, and we’ll take it from there. However, there’s a caveat to that – if you know you’re not coming to the event, please, don’t send us your resume. Just don’t. We’re not a resume forwarding service. The whole point of sending your resume into us for distribution out to the recruiters is so that they can be at least vaguely familiar with you – who you are, your name, and what you do – before you (hopefully) get a chance to speak that night in-person. Sending a resume into us for distribution to people that you’re not going to meet pretty much goes against the grain of our entire group. We want you to be more than a file in someone’s inbox, we want you to take advantage of the opportunity to meet with the recruiters face-to-face so that you can form a relationship with them.
- Do I need to bring a bunch of copies of my resume?
No.
You might want to bring a couple, since there will always be people on hand that might want to take a look at it, or be willing to offer you some tips…but don’t plan on handing out copies of your resumes to recruiters that you meet. Get some business cards made up – either at VistaPrint, OvernightPrints, Kinko’s, or on your home printer. Basic contact info – who you are, what you do, phone and email. That’ll help you far more than a resume at these.
More than anything else – remember, you’re coming here to be a face, not a file. Have the conversation. Make the connection.
All of the recruiters that will be in attendance will have business cards – make sure you get one. If you want, follow up as soon as you get home that night or the next morning with an email containing your resume. Remember to put a few details of your conversation in the email – reinforce the connection, and again: be a face, not a file.
More importantly – you don’t want to carry around a stack of your resumes all night, right? Well, the recruiters don’t want to carry around a stack of everyone’s resume all night, either.
- Should I wear a suit?
Completely unnecessary. This is a networking event, not a formal job interview. If it makes you feel more comfortable, sure, I guess you can…but remember, it’s in a bar, and you’re there to have conversations and make connections. I wouldn’t suggest showing up in destroyed jeans and a tattered t-shirt either.
The best way to get you in the right mindset is this: Think of being at a bar (because, well, our events take place in bars…), and imagine that at the table next to you, you hear someone talking about needing to hire someone for what is basically your dream job.
Don’t wear anything that would keep you from approaching that person and starting a conversation.
- Is there a cover charge or admission fee?
Uhhh…no. We’re not that group.
Just like all of our other events, we don’t think it’s either necessary or good karma to charge people for these, and so we don’t. No cover charges from you, no kickbacks from recruiters when they hire someone, no cut from the bars we go to…hell, we even pay for our own drinks, since we don’t even ask for that.
- Okay, limited resumes, no tie. Go it. What do I do when I get there?
Step one is always “relax”. When you walk in, you can either ask the hostess where we’re located, or just follow along the bar until you get the back room. Please take a moment to sign in…
- Wait–I thought you guys didn’t do sign-in sheets?
We usually don’t. However, we’re making an exception for the Pink Slip Parties, for several key reasons:
- We would like to keep tabs on how many people show up for this event versus the guesstimating that we do for our other events. We’re taking these seriously, because we know that you are.
- We think it’s the best way to help (more on that momentarily).
- We’re making it really easy. All we really want to know is who you are, whether or not you’re looking for a job or you’re looking for people to hire, an email address, and whether or not you want your name and email address shared with the opposite group – i.e., if you’re a recruiter, do you want your contact details shared with job seekers, and if you’re looking for a job, do you want your contact information shared with recruiters. If you say no, then your information goes no further. If you say yes, great, we make sure that even if you don’t get the chance to talk with the right person that night, we ensure that your contact info winds up in the hands of the people that you want it to. We are sticking with one basic rule though – nobody else gets your contact info. We don’t put you on mailing lists. We don’t add you into anything else. Also, just because someone checks “recruiter” when they sign in doesn’t mean that they’ll automatically get a dump of everyone’s information either – we will personally ensure that we know each and every individual that receives these details on a personal basis. While we realize that sounds like a “schtick”, it’s not – we don’t want our names sold or given to anyone randomly, and so we don’t do it to people that come to our events, either. There are a number of recruiters from multiple companies that have been a part of making Detroitnet.org successful and getting people working recently, and they will be the ones that you get directed to initially, just to make sure that we don’t make liars out of ourselves.
- Okay, I guess that makes me feel better. So I’ve signed in. Now what?
Grab a beverage of your choice, relax, and start chatting. If you need a starting point, start with either Bob, Dave or Jeff. All of us have photos attached to our profiles here…and since this isn’t a dating site, you’ll actually recognize us from our photos.
One of us can get you started in the right direction, and help you meet the right people over the course of the event. - I’m a recruiter. This is the first one of these I’m going to. What do I do?
The basics still all apply – show up, sign in, grab a beverage, and start chatting. For recruiters in particular, we strongly recommend getting to know us quickly, since odds are good we’ll be playing traffic cop and directing people around all night…and if you want job seekers directed your way, then we have to know you’re there and what you’re looking for in particular.
Please – and we cannot stress this enough – please let us know in advance that you’re coming. It’s not like there’s a registration fee for you to attend, either. It’s not like there are any negatives at all to letting us know that you’re coming…in fact, there are only positives. We really felt badly in May when we ran out of the name badges we’d set aside for recruiters…all because a number of them didn’t tell us ahead of time that they were coming. Many of those recruiters without badges then had a really hard time being found by job seekers, and that defeats the whole purpose of the event.
- I’m looking for a job. Do I have to wait until an event to do anything?
No. Please feel free to drop us an email at detroitnet@gmail.com with your resume, and we’ll make sure that it gets out to the recruiters that we mentioned up above that are regular participants of our events.
- Anything else I should know?
Probably, but that’s all we can really think of at the moment. Oh, I guess you should be aware that we have a running series of blog entries titled “Don’t Be That Guy“…so, yeah, don’t be that guy.
We look forward to welcoming you to the next Detroitnet.org Pink Slip Party!
- I’m not really looking for a job, or to hire anyone, right now. Can I still come?
Of course. As long as you’re in/around the information technology industry here in metro Detroit, you’re more than welcome to attend. People find jobs at our casual networking events, networking takes place at our Pink Slip Party events.
- I can’t come to the event, should I still send in my resume?
No. While we really do want to help people, the whole point of our group and our events is “networking”, not “being a resume forwarding service”. If you know you can’t make it to our Pink Slip Party events, we really have to ask that you wait until after the event has passed, and then we’ll be more than happy to get them out as we can. We also recommend that you join our LinkedIn group: http://www.linkedin.com/groups?gid=91763 as that’s where recruiters tend to post jobs that they want our members to know about, and you’re more than welcome to initiate contact with them that way.
- What should I make time to read?
We’ve got a lot of blog entries out here, we know. However, they all serve a purpose.
If you’re looking for some highlights and really want to get into what we’re all about, then here are a few suggestions:
By Category
Don’t Be That Guy over at http://www.detroitnet.org/index.php/category/dbtg/ covers all of the various behaviors that will cause you to fail at networking and networking events.
Entries for Job Seekers out at http://www.detroitnet.org/index.php/category/jobseek/ is a combination of our Don’t Be That Guy entries and random thoughts that are specifically targeted for people looking for jobs
Entries for Recruiters out at http://www.detroitnet.org/index.php/category/for-recruiters/ are the postings that we’ve had specifically geared towards those looking to hire people.
Networking Basics out at http://www.detroitnet.org/index.php/category/networking-basics/ covers, well, the basics about networking.
Things We Hate over at http://www.detroitnet.org/index.php/category/hate/ is a good list of entries to read if you want to avoid being That Guy.
Specific Topics
The Recliner Principle at http://www.detroitnet.org/index.php/22/the-recliner-principle/ is a good entry about WHY networking is important.
The 10 Commandments of Networking at http://www.detroitnet.org/index.php/68/the-ten-commandments-of-networking/ continues to be a popular topic.
The 7 Deadly Sins of Networking lives at http://www.detroitnet.org/index.php/1309/dont-be-that-guy-the-seven-deadly-sins-of-networking/ …because what good are the 10 Commandments without the 7 Deadly Sins?
Through The Looking Glass at http://www.detroitnet.org/index.php/887/through-the-looking-glass/ gets into why we think job fairs suck, why we don’t “do” them, and why we get annoyed when people think our Pink Slip Party events fit under that umbrella.
Multi Level Marketing Guy at http://www.detroitnet.org/index.php/935/multi-level-marketing-guy/ exists because we have to keep dealing with them, and this is who you won’t find at our events. And if you do, point them out so we can have them removed.
Bad Resume Guy at http://www.detroitnet.org/index.php/101/bad-resume-guy/ walks you through the process of how to craft your resume effectively.
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