Interview with Edwin Duterte from PinkSlipMixers.com

 

San Diego to host national PinkSlipMixers event. Read the San Diego PinkSlipMixers Press Release for event details.

Labor Day is taking on a new meaning for many due to the troubled economy and rising unemployment across the country. Today, it was announced that the national unemployment rate reached a 26-year high of 9.7%.

As more people are joining the ranks of the unemployed, what are they doing to help themselves and others find a new career opportunity?

Many are banning together and forming job clubs, meetups and other networking groups to exchange job leads and network.

Social Media and Social Networking sites are emerging as a major resource for online networking, Linkedin, Facebook and Twitter are at the forefront of a lot of job search activity. Thousands of recruiters and job seekers are connecting online and communicating with each other to fill the jobs that are available in a very competitive employment market.

One group in particular is combining both live events and online networking to help one another uncover the career opportunities that are available.

Pink Slip Mixers have emerged as one of the most talked about groups. I had the pleasure of taking to the Founder of the Pink Slip Mixers, Edwin Duterte about Pink Slip Mixers and how they help both job seekers and employers connect with each other in a fun, "unjobfair" way.

Q. Tell me a little about yourself, what is your background and how did you come with the Pink Slip Mixer concept?

I have been a real estate professional since 1988.  I have worked with large institutions such as Freddie Mac, Cal Fed (now Citibank), ChinaTrust Bank USA, Wells Fargo and First Bank of Beverly Hills.  The last 12 years I have been concentrating on commercial real estate construction lending. In January 2008, the bank I was working at closed it's commercial construction department.

After being unemployed for over 3 months, I went to the Los Angeles Economic Department Council Summit.  They correctly predicted that there was going to be a recession starting in 2009.  The next day I decided that if that were to happen, I wanted to do my part to make the recession easier for people who would be affected by the recession.

I remembered what the Tech Community did in the early 2000's to get out of their recession, whereby they banded together in social atmospheres to help one another find jobs that were not publicly announced.  The idea of PinkSlipMixers is to meet professionals in your industry interest and utilize their network to introduce you to your next company. 

Also, when you are at home searching online and see a posting that fits someone you met at the events, forward that posting to the other job seeker.  If we can develop small communities where everyone is forwarding job postings to one another, our job search will be that much easier.

Q. Labor Day, you are putting on a national event, Tell us about it?

Traditionally, Labor Day was to celebrate workers.  With this recession, PinkSlipMixers wanted to also honor those affected by the recession.  On Monday Sept. 7th, we will be hosting a national jobs rally in several cities across the country, San Diego, Pasadena, Irvine, San Jose, CA, Las Vegas, NV,  Fort Lauderdale and Orlando FL.

Our initiative is to provide hope to other job seekers and let them know that by forming a community of high quality professionals, we can get help them find employment and move to get us out of the recession.  We also want to show the media that there are a lot of us who are unemployed are as professional and talented as those who are still working.  It was not our fault that we are unemployed but still have the knowledge and skills to be valuable to employers.

Q. How will PinkSlipMixers help job seekers during a job search?

Everyone knows someone or knows someone who knows someone that can help one another.  Based on the "six degrees of separation" idea, if we think of who in our personal networks can help another job seeker, maybe we can help more people than we currently do.  We know that 80% of jobs found were due to networking with people you know.

Q. How do Recruiters benefit from attending a PinkSlipMixer?

Recruiters benefit from attending a PinkSlipMixer by not only meeting high-quality professionals, but by observing how those professional mingle in a social setting.  The recruiters can see how the candidates interact with others and that will give them a great idea if they would fit in their company culture.

Q. What are your top 3 PinkSlipMixer tips for attendees?

My top three tips are:

1) Be open to meet everyone.  You never know who you are going to meet and what connections that person has.  The saying "Don't judge a book by its cover" really applies.

2) Offer your network and think how you can "connect the dots" between the person you met with people in your network.

3) When you approach other job seekers, ask them "who in my network can I introduce you to".  If we can have our members openly willing to help one another, the community environment we create will be a positive experience.

Q. What motivates you to get up in the morning and go to work for PinkSlipMixers?

I am motivated by knowing I can make a difference in people's lives.  This project is not about making money.  This project is about knowing I can help others help one another.

Q. Knowing that you must be very busy with PinkSlipMixers, what do you like to do in your spare time?

Recently, I learned the fun with being on a train and traveling.  In between mixers, I like to get on a train to my next event and talk to other tourists.

Thanks Edwin, It's been great talking to you.

Join me, our volunteers, job seekers and recruiters at our event at the Hotel Solamar, LOUNGEsix in the Gas Lamp District, Sept 7, 2009, 2-5 pm. You may RSVP online Meetup.com