Unproductive Hours

It's been a little while since I posted, but I've been using my time to conduct job-hunting activities that ultimately have gotten me not even one iota closer to a job.

Last evening, I headed downtown to the Rivers Club for a presentation sponsored by the Pittsburgh Foreign Policy Association.

Although I was interested in the presentation topic, I was more interested in the potential for job networking.

Surely some of the movers and shakers in the Pittsburgh region would be on hand, and after some light conversation, would hand me their business card, urging me to call them to discuss job opportunities at their organization.

Unfortunately, it turned out that the vast majority of the attendees were well into their retirement years.

Other than myself, three grad students from CMU's Heinz School and one or two others who were in their 40s or 50s, everyone else in the audience was considerably past their working years.

I sat there for a minute, mulling over my alternatives, and realized that if I left immediately, I still could make it to another event -- this one billed as an actual networking event for young professionals -- at Station Square.

I hurried to the Houlihans restaurant in Station Square where the Pittsburgh Young Professionals group was holding its 'Speed Networking' session. PYP's Web site stated that speed networking was "a great opportunity to not only meet new acquaintances, but also to catch up with ones that you have not seen for awhile, and it all happens at break necking [sic] speed. So bring your business cards, yourself and a high desire to interact with other individuals."

Why not? I had nothing to lose. So I joined the speed networking activities taking place, moving from one table to the next for a timed four-minute discussion with the person at each table, only to discover that many of those in attendance were there to push the multi-level marketing programs they were involved in.

Sigh.

Out of politeness, I sat through about half an hour of these brief networking meetings, then slipped out at an opportune time to get something to eat.....and mull over a relocation to a city with a better job market.