The lights were low and the music was just loud enough to make you shout your qualifications across the bar.

For those desperate to find work, it was a tenser happy hour than usual at Houston's House of Blues. But on the other hand, a few sips of Pink Slip Lemonade could take the edge off of meeting a prospective employer.

Houston's first pink slip party was a testament to the swelling demand for jobs and to the increasing resourcefulness of people who have gone months without work. Modeled after Wall Street's networking mixers for laid-off financiers, Wednesday night's event was meant to help prospective employees meet employers as a face and a name instead of as a resume on a desk.

As Houston's unemployment rate nudges past 5.5 percent, career counselors say job seekers need to do whatever they can to set themselves apart from the competition.

Ninety percent of jobs are found through networking, not on a job board, said Michelle Tepolt, a manager for Workforce Solutions, a government-funded employment services agency. The more feelers you have out, the better.

The agency has seen a landslide of newly unemployed Houstonians. Its Westheimer office alone, one of 16 employment centers in Harris County, saw as many as 1,000 job seekers a day last month.

The face of unemployment is changing, too.

In the last few months we've gone from blue collar to more white collar, Tepolt said.

As savings accounts bottom out, the unemployed are motivated to push the limits of the traditional job search.

At the House of Blues on Wednesday, about 100 job seekers milled about, outnumbering potential employers by about 20-to-1. Pink wristbands signified unemployment. Green wristbands meant you had a job to offer.

Attire ranged from business casual to suits and ties. Some came dressed for a nightclub. The rules of pink slip parties are flexible, since they are more mixer than job fair.

At Wednesday's event, there were drink specials for $4, Pink Slip Lemonade was essentially a Cosmopolitan with pink lemonade instead of cranberry juice and bowls of artichoke dip. Ace of Base boomed in the background.

In many ways, job hunting over cocktails incorporated the same techniques you might use at a singles bar. Confidence was key, and you had to come up with a good opening line. So, what do you do? was among the most popular. Giving out your number was one thing, but success hinged on whether you actually got a call.

A 23-year-old security alarm salesman named Phillip took a no-frills approach: Just smile and introduce yourself.

The worst that could happen is they turn around and ignore you. Absolute worst case, said Phillip, who asked that his last name be withheld because he is currently employed. In sales, you go through 70 nos before someone says yes, so I'm used to it.

He had an advantage over many who bellied up to the bar a job but working on commission is tough during a recession, and home alarm systems aren't flying off the shelves. Phillip has a background in information technology, so he's hoping to switch fields before things get even worse.

The mixer drew a handful of companies with a relatively small pool of jobs: an online university opening two new campuses in Houston, a small life insurance company, a staffing agency and the event's organizer, Houston radio station 106.9 The Point. None of the city's major employers in the energy industry or the medical field sent representatives.

But more than 400 job seekers RSVP'd, and organizers say they will host another pink slip party next month.

Mark Corkrean, a manager for American Income Life who wore a green wristband, set a goal of finding five prospective agents for an insurance office.

Unlike alarm systems, life insurance policies are selling like hotcakes these days. The pink slip party gave him a chance to instantly evaluate candidates' sales mettle.

He and an associate stood at a high cocktail table in the dim light of a votive candle and waited for candidates to approach them.

Midway through the mixer, he had identified only one promising candidate: Phillip, who strode confidently to the table and handed Corkrean a business card.

He was very sharp, Corkrean said. I'm definitely going to call him.

January 31, 2026