Out of work Californians had a chance to mingle with potential employers at a job fair in Hermosa Beach Thursday.
The event was organized by PinkSlipMixers.com, an online community of experienced professionals who are currently unemployed.
About a dozen hiring companies were on hand at Thursday's Jobs Expo & Summit with openings for mid- to upper-level positions, including a few job openings with six figure incomes. Seminars were held in which job seekers were matched up directly with the people in charge of hiring.
Edwin Duterte, one of the organizers of the Pink Slip Mixers event, said the expo was different from other job fairs because it was actually created and organized by jobless professionals.
"I can help the community find jobs for themselves while I search at the same time," said Duterte, who was laid off in 2008 and is living off his retirement savings.
Guests at Pink Slip Mixers events are asked to help fellow job seekers by forwarding job postings and tweeting tips to each other.
"There's a huge social media component," Jennifer Hill said. "In fact there's a rule I've enacted called the 30-30-30 rule. If you want to find a job in this economy, you have to spend 30 percent of your time applying to jobs online, 30 percent of your time attending networking events, and 30 percent of your time leveraging your online social networks such as Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn."
