For us, by us: Home-grown networking events

Each month, a new wave of national job fairs blows through town on their grand tours, many of which have little to do with the Seattle job scene and are of dubious merit to local job hunters. But as October draws to a close, a number of home-grown networking and job-search events are being offered around the region that are geared specifically to Seattle-area job seekers. Here's a selection of some organizations that are offering free networking events this week.

Job Seeker Network, Mon., Oct. 26 - At each of these monthly meetings, sponsored by human resources expert Lesa Keller, a speaker gives a presentation about a particular topic relating to job hunting. This Monday, Maliha Ahmed, a law student who has gone through many career changes in her life, will present Life Transitions, a discussion about preparing for transitions and incorporating this mentality into your job search. Held at Bellevue's Newport Way Library from 5:45 to 8:30 p.m. Call 425-235-8192 for more information.

Notes From the Job Search - This informal peer support group meets twice a week at local coffee shops to share tips on job-hunting techniques and offer advice from their own experience about elevator pitches, resumes and interviewing skills. Until recently, the group (usually about 10 to 15 per meeting) met at two locations: C&P Coffee in West Seattle at 11 a.m. each Tuesday, and Green Bean Coffee in Greenwood at 3 p.m. each Wednesday. However, just yesterday morning, Green Bean burned down in an early-morning fire, along with several adjacent businesses. Organizer Stephen Paul says that, until further notice, the Wednesday meetings will be held at the nearby Wayward Coffeehouse in Greenwood at 3 p.m. The Tuesday C&P sessions will also continue as scheduled. For more information, contact Paul at spaul539@hotmail.com or visit his blog.

Bellevue College's Power Workshops - The college's Center for Career Connections presents a quarterly schedule of free job-search workshops and presentations. This week, the center is offering Creating an Effective Resume, Tues., Oct. 27, from 1:30 to 2:20 p.m. and Salary Negotiation, Wed., Oct. 28, from 12:30 to 2 p.m. Also, for those who are already enrolled as Bellevue College students, the center is holding one-hour Interview Practice Sessions on Thurs., Oct. 29, from 1:30 to 3:20 p.m. For more information visit the school's workshop page.

St. Martin's University Career Fair, Tues., Oct. 27 - For those interested in the fields of accounting or engineering, St. Martin's University in Lacey is holding a recruiting event for these careers from 1 to 4 p.m. at the Benedictine university's Norman Worthington Conference Center. Students and the general public and encouraged to attend to speak to representatives about employment opportunities. For more information about companies that will be in attendance, contact Ann Adams at 360-486-8842, or aadams@stmartin.edu.

Writer and editor Randy Woods has filled out more job applications than he can count -- so you don't have to. Email him at hireground@nwjobs.com.