Employment Resources for BDPA Members

The national Black unemployment rate continues to rise. The economic crisis in America hit hard for many African Americans in the information technology (IT) industry over the past few years. Many are worried about being laid off. I thought it would be worthwhile to provide some insights on ways that BDPA can help those members that are unemployed or under-employed.

1. BDPA Talent Management System - This is the primary source of employment opportunities for BDPA members and supporters. BDPA corporate sponsors post IT career opportunities on a regular basis. There are currently over 480 postings. You should ensure that your current resume is posted in this system as these same sponsors often mine the resume database for private one-on-one interviews.


2. Online Executive Auction - We have 23 executives who are donating their time to meet one-on-one to discuss career and business options with you. Don't procrastinate as this auction closes on Friday, August 7th.


3. BDPA-Jobs YahooGroup - This online community is open to any employer that wants to post IT job opportunities or contracts and anyone (particularly BDPA members) may retrieve and apply for employment. Currently, there are over 1900 subscribers. Last month there were over 200 IT-based career postings.


4. BDPA Groupsite Career Center - There are over 1800 subscribers to our BDPA Groupsite. One of the most active discussion areas is the 'Career Center'


5. Career Coaches - Career coaching service is provided through a collaraborative effort between Blacks Gone Geek (Milt Haynes), and other career coaches such as Diversified Search Services (Tanya Hinton), and Fields of Success (Linwood Bailey)


6. Small Business Development Centers - Small Business Development Centers (SBDC) provide management assistance to current and prospective small business owners. SBDCs offer one-stop assistance to individuals and small businesses by providing a wide variety of information and guidance in central and easily accessible branch locations. The services provided by SBDC are free and available in your city.

Please let me know if you have other resources that you think should be added to this list. Also, feel free to share your experience with any of these employment resources.