On Oct. 7, the Division of Human Resources held its first "Connecting with Cornell" informal networking event to help connect laid-off Cornell employees with the HR staff who recruit for Cornell positions.

The event generated such comments from participants as: "I was able to be myself and approach people at my own pace and timeline"; "I think it was a great way to connect with the HR people at Cornell" and "The Wedge Group and our HR representatives are helping everyone make the best of a difficult time, and their positive outlook and enthusiasm make a world of difference."

In addition to members of the Division of Human Resources from across campus, representatives from the Wedge Group were on hand. The Wedge Group is an outsourcing consulting group that helps Cornell's laid off employees prepare for and conduct a successful job search.

"We also offer a three-day workshop to Cornell's layoffs to help them adjust to their loss, learn to develop networks and interview successfully" said Georgia Entwistle, Wedge Group consultant. "Having a meeting such as this one provides an extra avenue for networking, as well as practice in an informal interviewing situation."

About 30 recruiters and candidates came to the session, which allowed for ample time for each job-seeker to network with several recruiters.

"We were trying to find ways to match former Cornell staff with recruiters who may have openings now or in the future," said Lucy Pola, assistant director of human resources in the College of Human Ecology and an organizing committee member. "We hope to continue to offer 'Connecting with Cornell' events to connect laid-off staff with Cornell's human resource professionals, allow our recently laid-off talent to become aware of emerging opportunities and provide individuals on layoff status with opportunities to polish their networking skills."

For more information on the services and benefits Cornell offers to laid-off employees, see http://www.ohr.cornell.edu/benefits/jobStatus/layoff.html and http://www.dfa.cornell.edu/dfa/cms/treasurer/policyoffice/policies/volumes/humanresources/upload/vol6_12.pdf.