COMMUNITY.
That is what Launch Pad Job Club offers to the job seeker. We offer a supportive community to bolster the job seeker who may have just been laid off and is experiencing a real “deer in the headlights” moment. Or maybe that job seeker has been off the job market for several years raising kids or caring for a loved one. And then there’s the never-slowing numbers of professionals relocating to Austin’s “Silicon Hills” from other areas of the country. Regardless of their reason for seeking us out, we know our weekly programming and community of fellow job seekers are the main reasons our members tune in over Zoom most Fridays and join us once a month in person. It’s as our founder and former President Kathy Lansford-Powell likes to say, “Job searching is too scary to do on your own.” All of this we do for FREE.
Below is the programming we offer to our members:
- Launch Pad Job Club weekly meeting — The weekly, Friday morning meeting is where we share job leads, promote networking events, and feature a speaker with information relevant to today’s job search. The weekly meeting is held over Zoom with a once-a-month meeting in person.
- Club partner and sponsor Indeed — Biweekly, Indeed’s Job Squad team offers virtual, one-on-one consultations with our members regarding their website and its multiple features and filters so our members might benefit from the most relevant job search queries.
- Chat Room — A support group following the weekly meeting for our members to discuss their challenges or victories about their job search. Those interested remain in the Zoom meeting room. When in person, chairs are pulled into a sharing circle
- Interactive classes — Every Friday afternoon satellite classes are held focused on topics of greatest importance to job seekers. These classes are led by Kathy Lansford-Powell, club founder and former president, who is a career coach and trainer with over 40 years’ experience, formerly with Texas Workforce Solutions. Classes are small and interactive with attendees encouraged to ask questions and share suggestions based on their personal experiences. Virtual over Zoom.
OUR WEEKLY CLASSES ARE:
LinkedIn and Jobscan—A Job Seeker’s Must-Have Tools (1st Friday)
How to Ace Your Next Interview! (2nd Friday)
Master the Virtual Interview (3rd Friday)
Salary Negotiation—Get Paid What You’re Worth (4th Frida
Tips & Tricks for Filling Out the State Application (if a 5th Friday in a month)
Weekly e-newsletter chock full of tools and resources, featuring:
– Selected hot jobs (with links to same)
– Link to club’s own job board
– Topic and bio of speaker for that week’s meeting
– Regular, weekly satellite classes, plus additional classes hosted by area
career, financial, and insurance experts
– Success stories of members recently employed
– Resume format template to get past applicant tracking systems
– Regularly updated list of companies and recruiters
– Link to the club’s YouTube channel featuring video presentations of
previous club speakers
– Info on area networking events and links to virtual classes and
webinars (outside the club)
– Club sponsors with links to their websites
- Launch Pad Job Club Job Board – our own job board which is FREE to area employers and has been an excellent resource utilized by Austin Water, LCRA, Accountability Resources, Evins Personnel, Creative Liaison+Marketing, Star HR, Lionsbridge, and more.
Our signature programs are Leap to Success and Launch Pad Toastmasters:
Leap to Success provides pro bono, short-term, professional projects assistance to other area nonprofits utilizing volunteers from the club so they might keep their job skills sharp and give back to the community while seeking employment. Since 2012, the program has delivered over 150 projects to more than 100 Austin and Central Texas nonprofit organizations and has been awarded the Nonprofit Advocate of the Year by Peoplefund (2013) and Nonprofit of the Year by the Austin LGBT Chamber of Commerce (2017). leaptosuccessatx.org
Toastmasters, an internationally-recognized and awarded organization, helps our members improve and master their presentation skills and instills in them greater self-confidence – exceedingly important when interviewing either in-person or virtually. launchpad.toastmastersclubs.org If you find yourself unemployed and job searching in the Austin area, check us out! We welcome you. Launchpadjobclub.org
