FEATURE: Being a Community
During Tough Times

by Paula Robertson, Senior Member

No Stranger to Unemployment

My heart goes out to our members who are feeling the impact of the current economic climate in the very real form of unemployment. I am thankful that I am currently employed, but this time last year, I was not. I was out of work for half of 2008. Like a number of us, I have dealt with “recurring unemployment,” and more than once, for periods of at least a year.

But there is a reason that in 200 4, the LSC Council chose to change our name from Lone Star “Chapter” to Lone Star “Community.” We are all connected—by our geography, professional interests and challenges, and career pursuits. But the Lone Star Community strives to be more than that. We are a built-in network for all manner of support, be it:

• Sharing answers to tool/technique questions submitted to the Help Desk
• Advancing our knowledge from informative, engaging meeting topics
• Socializing through various learning and volunteer opportunities
• Giving and receiving job leads and contacts

Community is not just what we are named—it’s what we do.

When One Door Closes, the Light(bulb) Comes On!

During my stint “between opportunities” last year, I landed a short contract only to have it cut even shorter after only three weeks. The client claimed they couldn’t afford to pursue the project. What really irked me was that the client had found me indirectly through the LSC Job Bank. A Minnesota recruiting company was savvy enough to know about our Job Bank and post the opening for a contract with a Dallas company. I couldn’t help but wonder whether things might have turned out differently if the Dallas company had found me directly through the Job Bank. If they were paying my hourly rate without the markup, would that have made all the difference?

Even more so today, companies are deferring any plans to pursue documentation projects because of the cost. So I propose that we test my theory by actively marketing, selling even, the LSC Job Bank to local companies. We have a wealth of talented professionals to offer to prospective employers, and sometimes we just need the employer to find us, if we don’t seem able to find them. So here is where the community support comes in. I have an idea for how we all can help our colleagues and ourselves, as the case may be. I’d like to hear suggestions from you on how we can promote and aggressively market the LSC Job Bank to local companies.

Community Personified

Think of it as a “community effort” that has the potential to benefit any and all of us sooner or later. Have you ever gotten an interview from a posting on the Job Bank? I have. Have you ever been hired for a job that was listed on the Job Bank? I have, more than once. So I would like to, shall I say, put something back into the “bank,” having made several withdrawals in the past!

So I’m appealing to all LSC, whether you’re in the job market or not. At the very least, we need to collect direct contact information for local companies you know of that have ever had or might ever have a need for technical communication services in any of the various forms. We can always contact companies like this on our own, but I believe that if we do this as part of a community, with the weight of the LSC and STC names and logos, we will have a better chance of presenting the Job Bank as a credible, professional service although it’s offered entirely free to prospective employers.

Again, I’d very much like your input on the best way to approach this project, so we can have a reasonable assurance of success. Will you join me in putting community into action? Please send your responses to newsletter@stc-dfw.org or contact me directly.

And stay tuned for more information.