Lindsay Checks In

She thought she had the perfect life...

2009-11-29T21:59:00.000-08:00

...as goes the beginning of all lifetime movies, several of which I watched this weekend at my aunt carol's house. Especially since the remote is gonzo and the couch is comfy. The "missing" remote is intentional - my aunt ceases to use things that have excessive buttons. She's afraid that by having a surplus of buttons, she will accidentally push one of the ones that will cause the TV to break. Better to not have it, so it seems. Yes, she's admittedly a bit OCD, but she's also the sweetest person in my family and she's given me 100% love my whole life despite my shenanigans over the years so it's only fair to return the favor.

Don't you know I love digressions! Can one really digress in the opening paragraph of a post? Hmm. Before I get into the heart of the matter though, just to set the record straight, I did not think I had the perfect life, nor is it something I hope to have one day. Whenever things run like a well-oiled machine, I get nervous. What's the catch? Am I missing something? What is just around the corner? Call it skepticism, cynicism, whatever the heck you want. Things will always find themselves in balance. That's life. (This is Walgreen's.)

You and I are both wondering what my point was here. To take it back full circle, after watching movie after cheesetastic movie that only television for women could offer, I've been reminded of what's important in life, and it ain't paying the bills. Yeah, that's essential no joke, but I've had my head in career mode for too long now. I am driven to excel in my job, but I don't want it to be the focus of my life. I feel like I'm missing things. I miss the day to day stuff I should be shooting for - friends, family, my dog. My flipping dog! Oh how I missed her for the past two weeks (she's been staying with momola and broham while I've been out of town for work and holiday travel). The people who mean the most to me and who deserve my time the most are taking the backseat to work, and for more time than what I spend at the office. And that's just rubbish.

What does all this warm fuzzy stuff mean?

1: I'm shifting the focus of my blog from career stuff to extracareer stuff, with the hope being that I focus my thoughts and efforts more on the latter than the former.

2. I'm making my blog private. Future posts are going to be more for sharing personal trials and tribulations than tips about career searching and networking, I'd rather not share it with the whole wide internets. Fair warning that I'll be sending out invites...if you don't get one and want one, let me know! A nonforgetful lindsay is hardly a lindsay at all.

That said, I figure some of yall will not be interested in reading, and some of you may not want the hassle of reading a private blog. Understandable. I think I'm going to see how it goes here, and if it's a big pain for yall to read, I'll switch to writing notes on Facebook or something...will play it by ear!

walking the line between whelmed and over.

2009-11-11T18:38:00.000-08:00

Sooo...let me just say up front that I do heart my job. But what I'm starting to realize is that having a new position is like having a new company. It's great because I get to make it exactly what I want it to be. But everything I do, I'm accountable for. No pressure.

I'm the marketing manager ... ok, I'm actually the entire marketing department. So really, not only do I have the things that I want to do, but things that everyone else decides to lump under marketing get sent to me, too. And these aren't just my coworkers, these are external industry contacts. Literally, my inbox (yes, my inbox, which I usually keep to 10-15 messages or less if I can) is filled with "FWD: [insert something I haven't heard of]" and a brief message (maybe) that says "You might be interested in this/you should follow up on this/this is a good idea that we should look into." It absolutely makes my stomach turn.

Marketing for my company has, um, gone through some changes over its history. There have been periods where someone had a designated marketing role, but it seems like more often than not the marketing functions have been done on an as-needed and as-possible basis by anyone and everyone else on the staff. Sometimes it works, but most things end up falling off the table (based on the website and our newsletter publications, it looks like our company kicked the bucket in 2005, for example). So what I'm trying to do is take the haphazardness out of the job and do some strategic planning (you think that's too buzz wordy? Wait, it gets better - I'm gonna be doing a SWOT analysis with the staff tomorrow. Oh snap!).

In non-business-jargon, I'm forcing everyone to sit at a table and talk out 1: where are we in the industry (my boss recently referred to us as the Kmart of the players - eww), 2: what are our competitors doing, and 3: what do our customers need. Once that happens, we can make some decisions about where we want to be, and pick how to get there - both in terms of actions and timeline. Enter, FWD hell. I actually feel pretty lucky that one thing I don't have to do is guess how we need to reach out to our customers and other key industry players - people have been telling me for weeks. :)

Speaking of being lucky, I am so thankful that I have a great staff of people putting up with my tomfoolery. They are all on board when I ask them to think...creatively (you see what I did for you there? Avoiding vomit inducing cliches...don't say I never did you a favor). Any resistance I get is minimal and usually has to do with self-defense. But once they get that I'm not criticizing how they have done things up to this point, I'm just trying to make things better, everything is peachy keen. Honest to goodness.

The hardest part of my job (for the foreseeable future anyway) is going to be creating and implementing the marketing plan. And that's going to be hard enough on its own. As Tim Gunn would say, I've got a lot of work to do. Time to make it work!

i'll bring home the turkey if you bring home the bacon.

2009-10-18T20:38:00.000-07:00

"You got a job? That's so exciting! ...But, what happens to your blog now?"

Well, quite frankly, I didn't completely expect things to work out as quickly as they did. Granted, I was getting discouraged about not having any interviews, let alone job offers. Then, on the last Friday of September, I had not one, but two interviews. I was very excited, and also very nervous. I had managed to get my foot in the door for two companies to consider me - but I still had a tough battle ahead. I knew from talking to recruiters, going to job fairs and networking events that I was facing tough competition. And somehow, I ended up as the #1 pick for both companies.

Before I go any further, I now interrupt this digression to answer the question. Though I didn't know how long it would take, or if I'd have to fold clothes or take them off to make ends meet (that's a joke, kids), I knew I'd get a job one day. My goal wasn't and isn't to simply find a job and keep it - it's to make a name for myself. So it's not happily ever after now. I'll continue to update yall on how I'm doing. Do I know what I'll get myself a wikipedia entry for yet? No, not really. But I'm gonna get there. And yes, the goal is to do it for something momma would be proud of.

And now, back to the show. I had a very difficult decision, but after a little come to Jesus'ing and some drams, I think I am where I'm supposed to be. Both jobs had pros and cons, opportunities and uncertainties. Both involved working with very welcoming folks. Both involved marketing tasks that were actually marketing - not sales or advertising functions disguised as marketing, as many job descriptions go. One was a newly created position, another was being vacated as the person in the role was being promoted within the company. One company had 12 employees in the office and had just hired a new president. The other had been around for over 100 years and while still Maryland based, was the largest distributor in the US within its industry. One was found through a placement agency and was a temp-to-hire role, and the other was found on my own and would be permanent immediately.

I chose the path of less certainty. Its appeal was in the opportunity I saw. Opportunity to help an organization that has been very focused on day-to-day actions, and marketing had been placed on the backburner until now. The new president seemed to see the potential that the company had and was energized by the opportunities and challenges that were/are in store. While I felt hooked in the interview, I hesitated. I was scared that the staff would be skeptical of me. I'd be one of the youngest people there taking on a pretty high level role. I also saw the boxes upon boxes of files and wondered how long the company had been drinking from a firehose. Was this going to be a place where I could make a difference, or would I just end up treading water?

After two weeks in my role, I don't regret it one bit. I already feel like I've been able to bring some things to the table to help the company, and my coworkers seem genuinely happy to have me around. There's no tension or resentment towards me - I'm one more person on the team helping the company reach its goals. I work in the conference roomuntil the furniture and equipment comes in to restructure the offices/cubes to accomodate me. I don't mind...some of you may know I've worked in some less than ideal conditions, including but not limited to working in a storage closet. Without internet or a phone. Right now, I not only have connectivity, I have windows! And boom goes the dynamite.

Not only that, but last Friday, I received an offer letter for a permanent position. I'm happy as Kona with a Kong full of peanut butter. I miss daytime hours with my cuddlebug, but I just tell her this will all work out in her favor, with more cookiebones and other goodies and we may even work back in doggie daycare eventually. :)

And to my job seeking friends:
I know some of my peers are still on their own hunts. And I know I'm probably the last person you want to hear advice from, but you're reading my blog so obviously you care at least a little bit about what I have to say. I have two things I'm going to throw out there. If you don't like it you can throw it right back.

1: Keep on keeping on. I know it gets frustrating, but don't give up. I realize it's especially hard when you've got to be "on" at networking events, but you really never know when an opportunity will present itself. The job I found was something I was referred to at a networking event. The other job offer I received was for a job posting I found on Craigslist, of all places. Keep up your efforts on all fronts!

2: IMPORTANT! Here is something I read a few times on websites for job hunting tips, and I didn't take it seriously until several weeks into my job search. Your resume is NOT meant to get you a job - it gets you an interview. I ended up with three versions of my resume: one for marketing jobs, one for project management jobs, and one for admin-esque roles. Think about crafting your resume for job titles you want. And if someone refers you to a job, take the time to make a resume specifically for that position. Yes, it takes more time and effort, but when someone is referring you, you are more than likely going to hear feedback about it (as opposed to responding to want ads on job posting boards). And someone is putting their name out there on your behalf, so back them up.

As always, thank you for checking up on me. And reading my lengthy posts. And putting up with my sentence fragments. Will write again soonish :)

my name is lindsay, and i'm ... um ... here.

2009-09-27T16:55:00.000-07:00

Did I mention how uncomfortable networking is for me? Well if I didn't, there you have it. And talk about jinxing myself with that whole "singing the blues" comment in the last post. But more on that later. As of this point, I have been to a handful of networking events. Some were good, some were blah, and one was very Bridget Jones-esque...the latter of which I feel was inevitable. In sharing these anecdotal experiences, I also want to share lessons I've learned along the way.

Howard Tech Council's End of Summer Bash

I was invited to attend this event by one of my summer internship contacts at the Howard County Economic Development Authority. The Howard Tech Council is a group that caters to area tech companies, most of which work within the defense and intelligence community (Ft. Meade is a stone's throw away). I don't have a background in national defense, but since my mother has spent most of her career with the National Security Agency I don't feel out of place around professionals in the industry. Defense professionals I don't know and don't have a connection with...that's another story.

As I approached the venue, a wave of anxiety came over me. No, not excitement. Definitely anxiety. The event was hula themed, and I realized as I over looked the crowd that I was one of the very, very few people who thought that it would be fun to dress accordingly (more people ended up arriving theme-appropriate, but we remained largely outnumbered). As I got closer, I also realized that I was one of the youngest people (if not the holder of that title) in attendance.

Add to this the fact that I thought I had good things to talk about, but it turns out it was all crap. I had disobeyed the cardinal rule of communicating (well, at least of presenting, and I think the same holds true for all forms of communication) - I didn't properly consider my audience and what they wanted to hear. I had thought about what I wanted to talk about, which was that I was looking for employment opportunities. Now fortunately, I did happen to run into a few people who were interested in hearing my way-too-long-to-be-a-30-second-commercial monologue and wanted to know how they could help. But most people looked confused, disinterested, and disengaged as I fumbled through my speech, desperately trying to find some connection-provoking phrase.

The benefit: I touched base with a few of the HCEDA people I met at my internship, thereby making sure they remember who I am (hopefully, anyway). I also met someone I had spoken with during my internship, and I got her direct contact information. She was willing to review my resume and later suggested I attend the Maryland Marketing Group event. I also learned that I needed to do better with my 30 second commercial.

Baltimore City Chamber of Commerce Event - Ford's 2010 Business Appreciation Day

Sounds confusing, doesn't it? This lunchtime event was hosted by both the Chamber and Ford at the new green Marriott near the harbor. So many interested parties with things to say...which was sort of an issue, but I'll get into that in a second. I found this event on the Chamber's website under events, and since it was free to attend it certainly caught my attention. It also seemed like an opportunity to potentially put myself in front of three prominent groups - the chamber, Ford and Marriott, so I signed myself up.

For lack of a better reason, I woke up on the wrong side of the bed the day of the event. I was in a crummy mood and it really took me a while to convince myself to actually follow through and go to it. I told myself it was better to get myself in the mood first rather than go there in such a state, but I ended up regretting that call (let's not kid ourselves, I probably would have gotten excited/anxious and been able to turn around my attitude on the way there). I regretted not getting to the event sooner because I arrived when the speakers begun. And they had a LOT to say. I stood in the back of the room for about an hour, listening to the speakers talk about their respective organizations, give recognition to people who made the day possible, and explain their purposes in being there for the day. By the time the speaking portion was done, I had just enough time to grab a few hors d'oeuvres and meet a couple of people (people a friend who I had convinced to go - and who showed up on time - had met and introduced me to). The crowd quickly dispersed after the speakers were through, and it turns out most networking occurred before the talk began.

The benefit: I learned that fashionably late doesn't tend to work well for networking events. I also realized something pretty cliche and perhaps obvious to everyone but me - most people at these things are just as anxious about them as I am. The woman I spent most of my time talking with was not a fan of networking and we ended up having what felt more like a casual conversation.

The BOSS Group's Creative Connects Happy Hour

When I started browsing job postings last spring, I found an interesting position available through the BOSS Group and decided to keep them in mind for my future searches. The BOSS Group is a placement agency that specifically focuses on marketing opportunities (advertising, graphics, communications, and other marketing functions). Creative Connects is a monthly happy hour hosted by the group, where marketing professionals are invited to attend and - you guessed it - connect. I went to the group's last event, which has actually turned out to be my most promising event yet.

I could easily count on two hands the total number of people in attendance...and I already had ties to three of them. One was my networking sidekick, a fellow recent MBA grad seeking work. The other two I hadn't met before but were Black and Decker employees and knew my former boss. I had been nervous about attending this event, not knowing what to expect, and it was great to find a common link with 20% of the attendees. :P

The benefit: In a HH setting, the atmosphere was certainly casual and comfortable. And while few people attended, I was happy I got a chance to speak with some current B&D'ers. I also talked to the event host, who referred me to a contact at the BOSS Group's Baltimore office. I had an interview for a job available through the group last Friday...will keep you posted on that :)

Maryland Marketing Group Monthly Luncheon

So after having multiple experiences reinforcing that I should be comfortable going to networking events, I should have foreseen this one on the horizon. Okay, okay, the outcome wasn't that bad, but it definitely seemed that I was doomed at the time. Doomed.

I heard about the MMG meeting from a contact I met through my internship (previously mentioned) who recommended that I attend the luncheon. I was thrilled to have the opportunity to meet with a marketing-specific group and promptly looked for information about the group online. Only there wasn't any. I asked my referral if I was searching inaccurately and I was told that the group intentionally had minimal presence, preferring to primarily connect with professionals through word of mouth. Fair enough, I thought. At an informational interview I had the week prior to the MMG meeting, I asked if my interviewee had heard of the MMG. The contact had attended the group's events in the past, but thought that they were more graphics and communications focused and therefore outside the scope of said contact's professional interests, which were intelligence/defense related.

So imagine my surprise when I arrived at the event to find that everyone else in attendance was intelligence/defense related. But wait, there's more. After giving an intro about NSA defense contracting and info on the current business climate, the host of the event announced that the group would begin passing around the mic to each attendee so that everyone would have the opportunity to introduce themselves and their companies. Oh dear. Sitting toward the back of the room, I had plenty of time to examine all of my options - flee was number 1. After I decided to stay, mostly because I had paid good money to be there, I further examined my options...introduce myself as someone looking for employment. Hmm. That hasn't worked out so well for me in the past. Introduce myself as someone who works in marketing who was simply misinformed about the purpose of the meetings. Well, then I look like an idiot and/or I throw my referral under the bus. Option 4 involved promoting the volunteer organization I worked with. Success. Whew.

The benefit: I learned that I shouldn't assume people know what I'm looking for in terms of networking opportunities. I also got a chance to try out networking by way of volunteering my marketing skills - and realized maybe it wasn't as good of a fit as I thought. Glad to have figured that out early on, quite frankly.

Clemson Club's (the DC/Baltimore alum group) Annual Congressional Reception

After my last networking experience, I was more than a little apprehensive about attending this event. But having RSVP'd, I did not want to make a bad name for myself among my fellow Tigers. I carpooled with my networking partner in crime, also a Clemson grad, and I was so glad I did.

Once we walked through the metal detectors of the capitol building, I spotted orange banners and immediately felt at ease. There really is something special about being a part of the Clemson family. Apparently it can even be recreated outside of the dirty dirty. I arrived in time to hear Jim Barker and Oliver Purnell talk about Clemson's recent successes in academia and on the basketball court, respectively. I met a few fellow alums, and while none were employment perspectives, it was honestly enough to just have relaxing conversations with nice people.

The benefit: Renewed confidence in myself and pride for what I accomplished in the past two years of my life. And delicious barbecue.

I hope to post again soon but I don't make any promises - life is busy and so am I. But I appreciate those of you who have been keeping up with me :)

you are now leaving your comfort zone. come back soon.

2009-09-07T21:00:00.000-07:00

Please excuse my dear Aunt Sally, order of operations reference, and tardiness. I moved into my new place last week and have also been busy nom'ing the weekend away at cookouts. I can, in fact, has cheeseburger.

H'ok, so this week I said I would talk about additional resources for fellow job seekers, beyond job posting boards and places where you can find networking events. This post is going to be pretty general in nature. I might post some specific ideas later (especially regarding the web resources), but this should help get you moving in the right direction.

Your new BFF - The Public Library

And boy, let me tell you about this great little resource that I [re]discovered called the library (you may recall it from your Ramona Quimbly/Choose Your Own Adventure days, unless your parents weren't concerned about your Nick in the Afternoon addiction). I have been spending a lot of time there over the past month, mostly to use the free wifi and not feel obligated to buy a coffee every hour or so. Do you know what else is free at the library?

Newspapers, local and national, daily, weekly, and archives.
Magazines. Everything from BusinessWeek to Bark (if you heart dogs but not pretentious purebreds-are-the-best-ever magazines, you should check out Bark. I'm particularly fond of the centerfold spread of smiling dog photos. The business magazines are also good.).
Journals, like the Harvard Business Review (who's ready for more case studies???) and local Business Journals.
Books, on business topics like resume writing, networking, interviewing. And yeah, I know what you're thinking. You've heard about all you can stomach on how to improve your resume. Me too. But as great as I think my resume is, others clearly don't see it that way and so I've browsed a few to find tips on how it might actually get read.

I was recently asked how much time I spend on job searching, and I replied about 30 to 40 hours a week. Commenter bewildered, I explained that included searching and applying for advertised jobs, finding and going to networking events, and reading the aforementioned resources. I'm not going to lie, I suck at networking. But it's a heck of a lot easier to talk when I have something to talk about. It's even better to having things to talk about that people want to listen to, which tends not to be things about myself. Recent local and national business news, on the other hand, seems to work well.

Web Tools

1. Twitter

I've gotten into Twitter and blogs lately. I was reluctant to get on the Twitter bandwagon at first, too, but I'm glad I jumped on it (Sugar Hill Gang, not Sir Mix-A-Lot, originally sung that hit. Trust me, I lost a bet on it.). What are you supposed to tweet about? Sure, you can use it Facebook-status-update style. I used to tweet in haikus just to switch it up a bit. Again, I've had a lot more success when I started tweeting things people actually want to read (success = more followers). But really, it's not about getting followers. That's just as gratifying as a friend request. It's more useful for you to follow other people who know what they're talking about and talk about interesting things. I'm following a lot of marketing professionals currently, which has kept me in tune with the latest things people in my line of work are chatting about.

So what makes a good tweet? I'm not claiming to be an expert, but from what I've seen of the most interesting members, the formula includes an intriguing sound bite followed by a link to an article, blog or website. Sometimes it's shameless self promotion, but mostly it's interesting reads. Also, there are some accounts that solely tweet jobs all day long. There are at least three for Baltimore alone. Get on it, folks.

2. Blogs

As it turns out, I'm not alone in the desire to share one's newly acquired wisdom on job searching. There are other people, in fact, who are a good deal better than me (weird, I know). I feel like I've unearthed a huge new resource here. I have only briefly looked over a few (which I found via Twitter), but I'm sure there are many more and probably geographic and industry-specific blogs, as well.

Take time to find some that you want, but here's one to get you started:

Guerilla Job Hunting - Great tips, shorter blogs than the novels I'm leaving (but posted more frequently - I think it's a fair balance, IMHO).

3. QuintCareers

QuintCareers offers tips on many aspects in job searching, including resume writing, interviewing, and networking. Visually, the design of the site is a bit dated, but don't let that prevent you from thinking it's a legitimate and useful resource. Play around with the links and you'll find useful articles - some of which are written by people who also blog on the side.

Whew. Srsly. In the future, I'm going to shoot for shorter, more frequent posts to keep myself from getting too lengthy and less useful as the post goes on. Future plans include more detailed resource tips as I come across them and updates on my adventures in networking. Nothing too adventurous, mind you. I haven't exactly had to sing the blues to leave a venue. Yet.

hello - is it me you're looking for? (...and if not, do you know someone who is?)

2009-08-25T06:54:00.000-07:00

This week, as I continue to troll the job boards, I've focused on a new activity: looking for networking opportunities. Being in South Carolina for pretty much all of the past 3 years has left me with few contacts in the area. That's my excuse anyway. I probably could have done a much better job last summer while interning up here, but that was back when I had ideas of grandeur that I might actually not have difficulty getting a job. Not that I didn't know the economy was on shaky ground, I just preferred to believe it wasn't going to impact me. Ah, hindsight.

This summer, I got a part-time internship with a local economic development group. While I don't have a job prospect directly from the experience, I did make a few solid contacts that I hope will help move my career search along. They have offered to help me in any way they can, and I'm taking them up on it as much as possible. Additionally, I've been doing my best to attend a few of the events that the group has held to get my name out there and stay visible.

Which brings me to things I can actually do with all this free time I have. I realize I need to meet more people in the local business community. As they say, approximately 80% of jobs are "hidden", and the other 20% hasn't been doing much for me. I've been looking high and low for any and all opportunities to meet people. Primarily, I have focused on business-related networking events. Free events make it on the calendar, and careful consideration goes to the fee-based opportunities. My first real event is tomorrow night, which is being hosted by the group with which I interned, followed by a breakfast networking event at (yikes) 7:30 am in the city. September has several dates marked with events, as well.

So, how am I finding out about what to go to? I'm going to various professional organization websites and looking for open events on their calendars. I'll walk you through where I've been below. While these sites are geographically-specific, there are organizations like this everywhere. Search the following key words with your nearest metro area and you will find them.

Technology Councils

Tech Councils may vary regionally according to industry specialties, but basically they are founded to spur conversations among business leaders in the local technology community. They host events for guest speakers, awards ceremonies, business training, and of course, networking. They are great resources to stay tapped into the pulse of tech groups and emerging opportunities.

Howard Technology Council - This group is closely affiliated with the Howard County Economic Development Authority, the group with which I worked this summer. The director of the council invited me to a few happy hours and mentioned the event I'm attending tomorrow. I will continue to check the group's website for any upcoming events.

Greater Baltimore Tech Council - This group has been around longer than the HTC and is also closer to my soon-to-be house in the city. I've not yet met anyone with this group, but they are hosting a wine tasting event in early September, so it seems like a perfect opportunity to get over the jitters and meet them.

Chesapeake Tech Council - Another more established tech council, this group operates out of Annapolis, which is a little out of the way. But as an Anne Arundel County native, I'm not crossing them off my list. The events are a bit pricey, even in comparison to the other tech council events (not much in the way of free going on with these groups, but I recognize that they have less resources to work with than some of the other, government sponsored groups). However, last week they held a networking event at a mini golf course (unfortunately, the day before I started looking at calendars). I will be looking for other unique opportunities from this group, for sure.

Tech Council of Maryland - Though it would seem to encompass all of Maryland, the Tech Council of Maryland is located in Rockville and many events are in Montgomery County (a little out of my geographic comfort zone - Baltimore-to-DC is not a friendly commute). Still, it's a well established council and has events worth knowing about.

Economic Development Groups

These organizations tend to have a broader reach in the business community, have been in place for a long time, and are funded by the local government (read: potential for more free events!).

Howard County Economic Development Authority - Again, plugging my internship group. The events listed here are very broad - covers everything going on in the county, from networking opportunities to farmer's markets, so it needs to be carefully scanned for appropriate events. Howard County is rich with defense contractors, and so some of the events are tailored to that industry. Most are more general than that, though.

Anne Arundel Economic Development Corporation - This is likely to be a rarely visited site for me because the focus of the group's website is on developing new businesses. The events hosted by the group follow the same suit, as everything currently listed is training on how to start a business, write a business plan, etc. But they may post special events in the future.

Economic Alliance of Greater Baltimore - I have been pretty disappointed in the listings for Baltimore city and county. The county's page has an events page, but it covers several events that are quite broad (fishing season and beach openings are included) and the search feature doesn't seem to be very helpful. The Baltimore Economic Development page does not feature a calendar of events, and this group hasn't updated since late spring...maybe they have had a busy summer. I'll have to look in a few weeks and see if any changes have been made.

Maryland Economic Development Association - Ahh, a good site! While the last two sites have been awash, I wanted to leave them to show fellow event seekers that sometimes the hunt can be frustrating but just keep on keeping on. Back to MEDA: the events page includes those hosted by other organizations, including some listed above, as well as other Maryland events. Did you know that Baltimore is hosting the World Stem Cell Summit? Holy smokes. It's very very expensive to attend, but pretty cool for putting Charm City in the spotlight. Ok...seems a lot of the events are pretty expensive. But at least knowing that they are going on is good for conversation.

Chamber of Commerce

Like economic development groups, chambers of commerce are great resources for businesses. While some of the groups above focus on new businesses, the chamber of commerce appeals to all businesses in an area and focuses on providing connections.

Howard County Chamber of Commerce - The calendar has networking-specific events listed. Good sign! Also, what's great about this site is that professional groups are listed here...co-ops are named on the front page (if you're in a specific industry, find relevant organizations!). The chamber also has a Young Professionals Networking group, which hosts its own events. This may be a great group to get involved with early in my career to learn about companies and industries in the area from people who are excited about their jobs.

Baltimore City Chamber of Commerce - The calendar only has a few events listed, but one is free, and I haven't seen it listed elsewhere yet.

Baltimore County Chamber of Commerce - This group has a link for networking-specific events, and also features a young professionals organization. There are regularly scheduled free lunch meetings for networking.

Baltimore Washington Corridor Chamber - Covers the four counties between the two cities. Events seem a little pricey, but could be justifiable for the right group. There's a networking event for women, for example, that might be worth it.

Maryland Chamber of Commerce - Chamber and community events are listed on separate calendars. Very helpful for browsing.

And it goes on...

There are a ton of organizations out there. Consider looking at what your metro area has to offer. Also think about specialty areas that may have groups dedicated to serving niche markets. Here are a few final suggestions:

- Each metro usually has an affiliated business journal, and many have events calendars.

- Women and minorities - take advantage of gender and race specific groups. They tend to be great places to find people who are eager to help. I recently came across an overwhelming list of women-related groups, which I may review and add later but am running out of steam now.

- Professional industries have groups for networking, as well. The American Marketing Association, for example, has chapters nationwide. Unfortunately, the Baltimore site is a bit lacking. I had been on the listserv for Atlanta for a while, which was much more impressive.

Next week...other tools to improve the job hunt.

so i've got these sweet degrees...now what do i do?

2009-08-17T11:43:00.000-07:00

Nine days ago, I shook Jim Barker's hand and proudly received two master's degrees from Clemson University. While I loved my time and will always happily bleed orange, I was happy/proud/relieved to be done. After two years of hard work, I'm ready to re-enter the working world.

Just one problem...the working world seems less than enthusiastic about welcoming me back. In addition to graduating during a particularly unfriendly time to job seekers, I have also added the challenge of relocating from South Carolina to Maryland. I am happy to be back in my home state, but three and a half years out of the state has left my local network in short supply. I knew that I would be moving back, and so I sought summer internships in Maryland for the past two years. However, like most companies and organizations, neither is ready to hire additional staff right now.

So I'm pretty much at square one. I continue to stay in touch with both intern companies, just in case, but I am not counting on anything falling into my lap. Instead, I am gearing myself up for a serious job hunt. My strategy is to a) keep my eyes on [more legitimate] job posting boards online, b) find local networking events and opportunities among groups of interest (young professionals, entrepreneurs, economic development), and c) volunteer.

I know many of my MBA peers are struggling to find jobs, too. And that's when I decided to start sharing what I know here (I'm crossing my fingers that others will buy-in and share info here too... leave comments!).

This week, I want to cover what I've picked up about finding jobs online. I figure that's an area where everyone is probably looking, and it is also probably the biggest cause of frustration. I have found some resources to be much more helpful and worth my time. Now obviously I'm still unemployed, so I don't have a track record to prove this. But I know friends who have gotten jobs out of some of these sites, so I know they are worth something. If you are tired of CareerBuilder and Monster reposting the SSDD, check out the following sites for some new/interesting/relevant jobs:

Broad searching:

jobcentral.com
This is an aggregate job listing site that includes jobs from Indeed.com, SimplyHired.com, and Google. These sites pull jobs from other locations, as well, including CB and Monster, but most of them are from other resources. Using JobCentral.com is a great tool to get started and do more general searching. I have replaced searching with CB and Monster with using this tool. However, like the big guys, these jobs are viewed frequently and have several applicants per position. You've gotta really love it, be worth it (exceed requirements), and make yourself stand out to get noticed for these positions.

Industry-specific:

idealist.org
If you are interesting in working for non-profits, including charities, schools and hospitals, this is a great search tool. I have found that jobs posted here are not typically listed on the more general search boards. There are numerous and various types of jobs, as well as volunteer opportunities. You know, in case you have a little free time on your hands these days. :P

usajobs.gov
Looking for a job with the government? While many seem to require some government or military background, there are a number of jobs available to civilians. Program management and technical positions account for many of the job postings.

dice.com
If you are interested in working in the tech industry, this is a great resource. You don't have to be a techie yourself - even tech companies need marketers. Or whatever your functional area is.

quirks.com
This market research site is more of a B2B tool with company directories and educational resources, but there are job postings as well. I have found that area to be fairly limited, but the few that are posted appear to be interesting and worth applying for.

Local Resources:

Maryland Workforce Exchange (Your State's Job Bank)
This job resource is available through Maryland's Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation. These jobs tend to be unique from those available on other sites. Additionally, they also frequently include salary information, which I find to be a good indicator of the level of experience the company is seeking (beyond listing attributes that would be "preferred").

regionalhelpwanted.com
Find your region and browse jobs that are listed in local newspapers and other location-specific resources. Not my favorite tool, but if you want to see some jobs in your area that you didn't see on jobcentral.com, go here.

Those are the job boards I find more useful than the traditional giants of the field. If I've missed something great, let me know!

Next week, I'll talk about what I'm doing to find business networking events and opportunities.

Woe is me, and everybody else.

2009-08-10T23:13:00.000-07:00

Lindsay has recently changed her status from "student" to "unemployed."

I won't lie. I know I've been unrealistically optimistic that a job would come along to sweep me off my feet and lead me into the sunset. Let's call that cautious optimism, because I am not terribly surprised to be sitting in my mother's house, desperately seeking for hours on end any and all possible iterations of "marketing," "market research," and "business analyst" (non-technical related) that those few companies which are hiring might have posted. Or re-posted. Quite frankly, though, there's only so much searching and scrolling through job sites one can do, mentally deleting "sports-minded individuals wanted" listings and avoiding the temptation to apply for administrative and coordinator roles that might be the ticket to something big, because let's not kid ourselves. That a: rarely happens, and b: when it does, the women who have done such a thing have killed the drive that got them in that situation in the first place and are now bitter and cynical and unwilling to help anyone else not go through what they did. And yes, I'm calling out my gender, because men are smart enough to not put up with preheating milk for their boss' coffee and consistently working overtime for standard pay rate under the table...speaking of bitter.

Ahem. Where were we? Oh yes. We were talking about being out of grad school and unemployed and living with our parents in our mid-20s. And how much CareerBuilder and Monster blow. I'm opting not to rant (or to an overwhelming extent, anyway), but instead I'm going to attempt to figure out how to "make it work." While I have reached the point of lamenting that I will never find a job, iI have not yet reached the ultimate emo-low, which involves having pity party for one because I'm in this alone (and listen to Dashboard Confessional). In fact, I know I'm not, thanks to chat statuses and facebook updates and tweets and blogs.

I'm ready to stop going it alone. I know yall are out there looking for jobs like me, and in some cases for jobs that I'd like, too, but hell - at the end of the day we are all sitting at home, filling our time by reading fmylife [or insert your poison here] and being grateful at least it's not that bad (yet). After having one-on-one conversations with some of my peers and stalking others, thanks to Facebook news feeds of two-way discussions between friends (I know you know who you are ;) ), I realize that we all are privy to some tips and information that could be helpful to others. And as is the frustration of networking and dating, sometimes you do a lot of "woft"ing before you find one promising lead. So I propose that we help each other by communicating the things that we all know and either have been keeping to ourselves or think it's ridiculous that people wouldn't know such a thing.

I also realize that it may take some time for people to buy into this and/or realize "Lindsay is blogging now? And it's about more than being busy or hungry?" So I'm going to get this thing rolling on my own. I'd ask for additional tips if you have them, whether it's regarding the topic at hand or if you have a new topic to discuss. I've got an idea for week 1, and I plan on fleshing it out in the morning. Late morning. Early afternoon. Who's with me? Employment, ho!