Community

Volunteers Make this Community Work

This is a volunteer-run community, with more than 20,000 hours of volunteer work already put in.
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We as volunteers work so hard because we care about creating a private safety net for millions of people who have been laid off or let go (we are just at the beginning of that).
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We can't provide unemployment insurance – that's the government safety net, but we can provide what the private sector (and product community) does best: innovate a process that is *much* better than the conventional job search.
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If this mission excites you, and you want to help, then you can volunteer in one of several ways:
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Moderate a JSC
If you are a job seeker who has applied to join a JSC...you can volunteer to moderate that JSC - that will get you matched faster and improve your job search (moderators get more free training and support from us). Reply to the registration email you got to tell the team you want to moderate.
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Recruiter Network
If you are a recruiter and want to donate a few hours a month to providing free advice to JSC members (helping the figure out their Candidate-Market Fit), then apply.
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Amplify job seeker voices
This is an easy volunteer job. You'll get an email from us once or twice a week with posts from JSC members to go amplify.
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JSC Match volunteer
We have two volunteers right now who run the JSC match process (which is mostly automated, but has a lot of outliers that require manual support). We would like to add a third person. This is a serious commitment and a way to make a serious impact on the lives of thousands of people.
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Salesforce Admin
We are looking for experienced Salesforce admins who can help us scale this program. If you know Salesforce well, including how to develop/maintain flows, then join us.
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Formsite/Typeform volunteer
If you have experience working with Formsite or Typeform and can build and maintain a library of forms, then please consider joining us.
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Volunteer Team coordinator
Our volunteer team is growing big enough that we need a coordinator who can 1) recruit, interview and recommend new volunteers; and 2) help run the operations of the team. If you have love our mission, and experience running things, then consider joining us.

Core Team

This is the core team of volunteers who have made a two-year commitment to building the Never Search Alone community. (If you want to join this team, then sign-up for the NSA Newsletter where Phyl posts core team opportunities.)

Please thank these amazing folks.

Emily Teter – Never Search Alone Volunteer Team Lead

I’m a product manager and Collaborative Gain member. I work with Phyl to run the volunteer team as well as the team lead for placing job seekers in Job Search Councils.

I was a designer, front-end developer, and Product Design leader in my past life. Now I am a results-driven Product Manager that is passionate about contributing to high performing, accountable teams that focus on best in class digital solutions driven by user feedback while moving the business forward.

Tamara Adlin – LinkedIn Live Host, New Member Orientation Host

I am the host of the LinkedIn Live “Power of Job Search Councils” bi-weekly broadcast. We cover the basics of Never Search Alone and feature a guest to talk about the value of Job Search Councils and encourage people to join. I’m also the host of our bi-weekly Orientation sessions for new Job Search Council applicants and members. I helped create the Participant Workbook with other volunteers to make it easy for council members to find and use our support materials.

I have known Phyl since the early 2000’s when I was at Amazon. I created Adlin, Inc., in 2005 and have been consulting and advising early-stage startups, and bigger companies who want to behave more like startups, ever since. I’m a user experience OG, strategy expert, author, and coach.

Omar Corona – Ongoing Moderator Training and Support Host

I host the Never Search Alone community’s JSC moderator calls, where I facilitate conversations among over 100 moderators. I also lead weekly meetups for the product community within NSA. Additionally, through my facilitation practice (Orchestra), I am working with Phyl and the volunteer team to organize strategic priorities for the growth and advancement of NSA’s mission and find new opportunities to better serve its members and continuously improve operations.

Jessie Jackson – NSA LinkedIn Group Manager

As a volunteer group manager for Never Search Alone, I have the incredible privilege of welcoming new members- and sharing some of the free resources we offer to help get your job search started!

I live and work from home in New Jersey, as a senior consultant and practice lead with the Digital Strategy group at OSF Digital. Before starting a consulting practice, I led digital innovation and ecommerce for over 20 years, for companies including Victoria's Secret, Bare Necessities, J. Crew and the Vitamin Shoppe. I volunteer on the weekends at a non-profit horse farm nearby that does equine therapy for veterans. Bonus: I get to hang out with the horses.

Amy Love – Slack Administrator

As the Slack administrator, my goal is to Empower and foster a vibrant and inclusive community within our Slack channel, ensuring members feel engaged, supported, and connected.I am a seasoned User Experience Designer with over 20 years of experience in the SaaS tech industry, including 7 years in leadership roles. Throughout my career, I have excelled in creating user-friendly products that people love. Outside of my professional life, I reside in Santa Barbara with my husband, daughter, three dogs, and three cats. Away from work, outdoor activities with friends and family energize me and inspire my pursuit of harmony in design and life.

Sara Meis – LinkedIn Live Co-Host, Member Engagement

As a dedicated marketing and business development professional, I'm grateful for the opportunity to help build a supportive community and facilitate connections for those who are navigating the challenges of unemployment through the lens of the Never Search Alone method. Drawing inspiration from the Never Search Alone book's proven job-seeking methodology, I help to foster engagement within the community and moderate bi-weekly LinkedIn live sessions. By guiding discussion, answering questions, and sharing links to valuable resources, I aim to empower community members as they progress through the transformative steps of the Never Search Alone process. I'm a passionate people connector with a broad skill set in marketing, business development, and client engagement. I've known Phyl Terry for about 5 years and had the opportunity to contribute to the MANY drafts his book, Never Search Alone, went through during its development. At that time, I myself was a mid-career change job-seeker and owed much of the success in my new position to the support I found in his book. It's an honor to be able to give back to this highly-talented community in my small but mighty volunteer role!

Ferha Mirdawi – JSC Matcher

I'm the matchmaker for job seekers, making sure their Job Search Councils (JSC) are on point – keeping things aligned, diverse, and conveniently located.

With 23 years of corporate leadership under my belt in marketing and product strategy spanning diverse industries, I bring a range of perspectives, flexible communication, and thrive in the world of uncertainty. My partner in crime for the past 20 years, Samer, keeps it real, while my two fabulously intense little girls, Nyla & Rania, make sure I'm always on my toes.

Brigid Mitchel – Free Tools Manager

I manage the free tools and templates for JSC members and moderators with the goal to keep them up-to-date and ever-evolving.

Professionally, I have worked in organizations aimed at improving the lives of youth from underserved communities, ranging in ages from birth to early adulthood; personally, I have pursued my passion for singing and performing, joining diverse communities of singers and improvisers around New York City. With the help of the Never Search Alone process and JSC 252, I found a new path: I am now pursuing a masters degree in Speech-Language Pathology in an effort to combine my passions for service and the human voice into a career as a Speech-Language Pathologist.

Shaun Penrod – Moderator Orientation Host

I facilitate the New Moderator Orientation. The New Moderator Orientation is designed to help new moderators prepare for meeting 0 and 1 of their JSC by sharing best practices and answering questions. The goal is to alleviate the overwhelm people feel when they volunteer to moderate a JSC so they can fill out the role with confidence.
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After seven years of active duty Navy service, I jumped in with both feet into the online business world, quickly becoming an expert at digital marketing and online lead generation. After freelancing for several years, I now help growing businesses prepare to sell. I was fortunate to find the Never Search Alone community when I stumbled onto a LinkedIn live during a protracted job search.

Christoph Steinlehner – Website

I’m a Product Coach and Consultant. But from a past professional life, I'm also able to put together websites. So I built this website for the Never Search Alone community and help sometimes to keep it up to date.

Phyl Terry – Author and Community Organizer

I’m the author of Never Search Alone and chief community organizer — more about me.