​This event is hybrid; a Zoom link will be emailed to registered attendees closer to the date, but please note that the talk itself doesn't start until 6:30!

February is right in the middle of peak hiring season, and PNSQC has a couple of speakers lined up to help you land that next role in a very competitive market.

First, Jeremy Elwood will give his talk titled The Paradox of Plenty: A Modern Hiring Story. It's a reflection on finding a job, but told from the employer's perspective: exploring what actually differentiated successful candidates from the rest, why resume screening failed to surface the strongest candidates, and what to look for in a successful candidate. Along the way, it offers concrete advice for everyone: how job seekers can better present their experience, approach take-home challenges, and prepare for interviews; and how hiring managers can ask better questions, design meaningful evaluations, and reduce unnecessary pain in the process. Ultimately, the talk aims not only to surface systemic problems in modern software engineer hiring, but also to offer practical guidance and cautious optimism for navigating (and surviving) the "paradox of plenty".

Heather Wilcox is excited to follow with her talk titled Resume Tips and Tricks, which will go further in depth on how to write a resume that hiring managers will notice, along with other helpful hints for survival in the era of AI. As an experienced hiring manager and job seeker herself, Heather has reviewed hundreds (maybe thousands?) of resumes. She can tell you that the AI and recruiter generated resumes are usually easy to spot and often treated with a certain amount of disdain and distrust. But, at the same time, you need your information to get past the AI screeners and into the hands of a real human. It's not an easy needle to thread, but she's done it and so can you!

Schedule (all times in PT): 6-6:30 PM: Light refreshments (soft drinks, pizza) and networking 6:30-7:30 PM: Talks/Presentation 7:30-8 PM: Q&A and more networking

Thanks to Trimble this month for lending us their space for the evening!

It's time to come out from behind your desk or easel and meet your audience. In this hands-on workshop, you'll learn 10 essential tips for making powerful presentations whether it's to a client, your staff, or an auditorium of strangers. Discover how to give talks or readings that serve your audience and present your message with confidence and ease.

Fee: $40 advance registration, $50 at the door Instructor: Gigi Rosenberg (www.gigirosenberg.com) Location: CubeSpace, 622 SE Grand, Portland For more information: www.cubespacepdx.com/node/1992 To register, call: 503.206.3500

If you have ever dreamed about becoming a professional speaker, the National Speakers Association (NSA)-Oregon Chapter (www.nsaoregon.net) encourages you to attend its “So You Want to be a Professional Speaker” seminar in which you’ll learn how to:

* Leverage the information you already know to launch your speaking career
* Market your speaking skills so you get paid for your speeches
* Develop a successful professional speaking business 

You will also discover how NSA Oregon’s Candidate Program, which begins in October 2009, can help turn your professional speaking dreams into a reality. Previous graduates and instructors from the Candidate Program will be present to answer your questions about this exciting opportunity.

It's time to come out from behind your desk and meet your audience. In this hands-on workshop, learn 10 essential tips for making powerful presentations, whether it's to a client, your staff, or an auditorium of potential investors. Discover how to give presentations that serve your audience and present your message with confidence and ease. Topics include how to:

-Structure the content of a presentation

-Use clear language that avoids jargon and paints pictures

-Manage nerves and anxiety

-Handle inevitable mishaps with ease

-Rehearse like a pro

Ticket Info: $5 for MCNW clients and $10 for community members (check/cash. All proceeds benefit Mercy Corps Northwest programs.

Contact Anu ([email protected] or 503-896-5080) to RSVP. Check website (www.mercycorpsnw.org) day of the event for any cancellation notices.

5pm - CHIFOOd - Join us for dinner before the talk across the street from the Art Institute at Deschutes Brewery

6:30pm - Networking starts at the Art Institute

7:00pm - Presentation Starts

Scott Berkun, "Confessions of a Public Speaker" If you ever wonder why your wonderful ideas rarely get accepted or are compromised beyond recognition in meeting after meeting, it might not be your creative design talents that are the problem. It could be your ability to frame, shape, and pitch your ideas effectively to others. This fun, brutally honest talk, loosely based on the O’Reilly book Confessions of a Public Speaker, will give you everything you need to know to present, pitch, and sell your ideas so your world domination plans can begin.

In addition to the CHIFOO event, Scott Berkun will be making the following public appearances:

January 6, 9am - The AM Northwest television show on KATU Channel 2 He will also be in the Primetime show, which airs at 7pm on Channel 2.2 (without cable), Channel 302 if you have Comcast cable, or 464 on Verizon FIOS.

(First Thursday!) January 7, 7pm. Burnside Powell’s City of Books - Book Signing for “Confessions of a Public Speaker.” This is a free event.

About Scott Berkun: Scott Berkun is the bestselling author of Making Things Happen and The Myths of Innovation. His work as a writer and public speaker has appeared in the Washington Post, New York Times, Wired Magazine, Fast Company, Forbes Magazine, and other media. He has taught creative thinking at the University of Washington and has been a regular commentator on CNBC, MSNBC, and National Public Radio. His many popular essays and entertaining lectures can be found for free on his blog at www.scottberkun.com.

5pm - CHIFOOd - Join us for dinner before the talk across the street from the Art Institute at Deschutes Brewery

6:30pm - Networking starts at the Art Institute

7:00pm - Presentation Starts

Scott Berkun, "Confessions of a Public Speaker" If you ever wonder why your wonderful ideas rarely get accepted or are compromised beyond recognition in meeting after meeting, it might not be your creative design talents that are the problem. It could be your ability to frame, shape, and pitch your ideas effectively to others. This fun, brutally honest talk, loosely based on the O’Reilly book Confessions of a Public Speaker, will give you everything you need to know to present, pitch, and sell your ideas so your world domination plans can begin.

In addition to the CHIFOO event, Scott Berkun will be making the following public appearances:

January 6, 9am - The AM Northwest television show on KATU Channel 2 He will also be in the Primetime show, which airs at 7pm on Channel 2.2 (without cable), Channel 302 if you have Comcast cable, or 464 on Verizon FIOS.

(First Thursday!) January 7, 7pm. Burnside Powell’s City of Books - Book Signing for “Confessions of a Public Speaker.” This is a free event.

About Scott Berkun: Scott Berkun is the bestselling author of Making Things Happen and The Myths of Innovation. His work as a writer and public speaker has appeared in the Washington Post, New York Times, Wired Magazine, Fast Company, Forbes Magazine, and other media. He has taught creative thinking at the University of Washington and has been a regular commentator on CNBC, MSNBC, and National Public Radio. His many popular essays and entertaining lectures can be found for free on his blog at www.scottberkun.com.

5pm - CHIFOOd - Join us for dinner before the talk across the street from the Art Institute at Deschutes Brewery

6:30pm - Networking starts at the Art Institute

7:00pm - Presentation Starts

Scott Berkun, "Confessions of a Public Speaker" If you ever wonder why your wonderful ideas rarely get accepted or are compromised beyond recognition in meeting after meeting, it might not be your creative design talents that are the problem. It could be your ability to frame, shape, and pitch your ideas effectively to others. This fun, brutally honest talk, loosely based on the O’Reilly book Confessions of a Public Speaker, will give you everything you need to know to present, pitch, and sell your ideas so your world domination plans can begin.

In addition to the CHIFOO event, Scott Berkun will be making the following public appearances:

January 6, 9am - The AM Northwest television show on KATU Channel 2 He will also be in the Primetime show, which airs at 7pm on Channel 2.2 (without cable), Channel 302 if you have Comcast cable, or 464 on Verizon FIOS.

(First Thursday!) January 7, 7pm. Burnside Powell’s City of Books - Book Signing for “Confessions of a Public Speaker.” This is a free event.

About Scott Berkun: Scott Berkun is the bestselling author of Making Things Happen and The Myths of Innovation. His work as a writer and public speaker has appeared in the Washington Post, New York Times, Wired Magazine, Fast Company, Forbes Magazine, and other media. He has taught creative thinking at the University of Washington and has been a regular commentator on CNBC, MSNBC, and National Public Radio. His many popular essays and entertaining lectures can be found for free on his blog at www.scottberkun.com.

I've officially been holidayed! It's been too long since we've had a meetup on the calendar, but that is about to change.

January's Portland Tech Leadership happy hour will be here before you know it. Open topic. New members always welcome!

Where: Breakside Brewery - NW Slabtown 
1570 NW 22nd Ave, Portland, OR 97210

When: Wednesday January 10th, 2018. Soft start at 5:30pm. Goes until we are ready to stop talking. Hope to see you there! 

Tim 

PS- new topics are always welcome. If you have a great happy hour topic please send me note and I will try to get it on the calendar.

Whether you’ve given hundreds of talks, just gave your first talk, or perhaps are thinking of giving a talk next year, we all could use tips in not only overcoming our fears of public speaking but getting good at it. As engineering professionals, sometimes we may focus on the engineering problem and analysis yet don’t realize that how we deliver the message can be just as important as the message itself.

If you break a sweat when speaking to more than a few people as we did, you’ll appreciate these transformational tips as Brian and Phil discuss practices for putting together a talk for a conference. As an engineer, learn a step by step pragmatic approach with several techniques and exercises to cure your nervousness and improve your delivery in a systematic way. Public speaking is a top skill for anyone who wants to effect change. Whether speaking to a department, at a meetup or presenting keynotes around the world, Phil and Brian have worked to hone their presentation skills.

You’ve heard “Practice Makes Perfect” right? Well, that’s not quite right. “Practice With Feedback Makes Perfect”. In this free workshop, you will learn systematic methods with exercises so that you can improve on the spot.

Walk away more confident in your ability to improve your public speaking skills with a framework and techniques for improvement.

This is a free three-hour workshop limited to the first 18 people. The content will be in three parts, but each section builds on the previous. Please RSVP on Meetup: https://www.meetup.com/Pacific-NW-Software-Quality-Conference-PNSQC/events/266871919

Both Brian and Phil are officers and board members of the Pacific NW Software Quality Conference (PNSQC).

Brian Gaudreau is a seasoned quality professional with 20+ years of management, software testing and QA experience relevant to telecom, enterprise metadata, government, multimedia, health care and marketing CRM platforms.

Philip Lew, CEO of XBOSoft, has founded and managed companies in his 25+ year professional career. He frequently can be found speaking at conferences including Softec Asia, HUSTEF, TestIstanbul and StarEast.

It's that time of the year again! Join us online to hear some experienced engineers in our community share valuable insights on how to find your next job or advance your career. Whether you’re looking for in-person or remote work, or are trying to break into the industry for the first (or seventh) time, they'll give actionable advice to help you stand out from the competition. From perfecting your resume to navigating the interview process, we’ll cover key strategies to showcase your talents and find the right fit for you. Expect an interactive session with plenty of opportunities to ask questions and exchange personal experiences!