Surfing (F)un-employment

The Greek Chorus

2022-07-20T11:12:00.003-04:00

Job searching is exhausting. You ride the emotional roller coaster of hopeful application, giddy anticipation of an interview, and the stomach-lurching drop of the "no, thanks," or worse - the no reply. After a few gut-wrenching turns, you're ready to get off this harrowing ride.

My experience in job hunting is quite noisy. On bad days, I imagine that inside my head is an ever-expanding Greek chorus that forms a diabolical Diana Ross and the Supremes-style antiphony in three-part harmony. Here's what they frequently sing:

"Yoooou're a failuuuuuure! No one will hire you! You're just dressing up in a professional suit! So what if you aced your PMP? You think that someone will give you a chance? You're trying to network? HAAAAA!"

It's a really worn-out song, and I'm tired of it. But the Greek Chorus is a one-hit wonder, and it's hard not to listen to them, especially after being in this for a few months.

I'm writing about this because sometimes the Greek Chorus is so loud, it's hard to hear what is actually true. If you feel this way too, know this:

You're not a failure. You will be hired. You really do have skills and abilities that others only dream of. You're the only you. Reach out and find your community. You are enough. You're doing the best you can.

Your Actual Resume

2017-10-11T16:10:00.001-04:00

You can lose yourself in the job search. After the umpteeth delicately-tweaked cover letter, painstakingly curated resume and well-written introductory email, you begin to feel like you're faking it.

So I created the resume for who I actually am. Here we go:

SELECTED EXPERIENCE

MahEars, Philadelphia, PA

Music Curator and Sonic Aesthetician 1989 - Present

Develop classic rock, sixties girl groups and sundry genres into bizarre yet pleasing playlists
Retain a disturbing amount of recording trivia and factoids gained from late-night Wikipedia rabbit trails
Alienate coworkers and friends with anachronistic song lyric quotes
Disturb fellow commuters on the Schuylkill Expressway with morning drive-dancing

MahBrain, Philadelphia, PA

Smartass in Residence 1986 - Present

Create charmingly/alarmingly specific to-do lists and goals
Actively collect strange facts to develop obscure jokes and stories
Despises the patriarchy, injustice, inefficiency and ferrets
Chief aficionado of tasty food and random Philadelphia/New Jersey restaurants
Paint word pictures with thoughts and feelings (all of them)
Love with every fiber of existence; prize steadfastness

SKILLS

Dancing with cats

GIF emotion translation

Rapid-fire texting

Handwritten correspondence/cursive

Greeting card selection

Ephemera research

Hugging babies

Self-deprecating humor

Crunchy exterior, nougat center

How would your resume look?

I Welcome Our Robot Overlords

2014-01-23T14:26:00.003-05:00

Resume scanning software. Ghastly. Gone are the days of the whimsically written resume and the manual review. Toss in a handful of keywords, delete the word creative, and voila, maybe someone will pay attention to you.
Fortunately, the way to evade being passed over by the robots is to add more robots.
I popped my resume over to Jobscan and threw a few job descriptions into the other field. I haven't updated my resume in a while (whoops), so it was expected that I only matched the descriptions at about a 56 percent rate. If you're new to seeding your resume with keywords, this is a great place to test what words work for you.

In praise of an emergency fund

2014-01-20T11:45:00.001-05:00

Today I came out to my car to find the front left tire completely flat. A bit of Fix-a-Flat later, I was off to the mechanic. In months past I would be freaking out, "I can't afford this!" But this time, I had the assurance of an emergency fund.
Building savings while unemployed or digging out of debt is horribly difficult, but it can be done. Best of all, it helps to break the debt cycle. It's not fun or glamorous, but it helps.
My mode was to automate my emergency fund and save spare change until I had enough to deposit. Not having the dull feeling of doom made it worth the months of scrimping.

Against DIY Gifts

2013-12-09T14:44:00.002-05:00

You're un/under-employed, so you're cutting costs for the holidays. Cue the avalanche of Pinterest-flavored posts on jar-based gifts.
Lucky Charms marshmallows? Another take on granola? Pepper vodka? Spare me.
Why am I so Grinchy about handmade gifts? I love hand-knit beanie and scarf presents....
It's the lack of thought as to real cost. Yes, you might be able to give a thrifty gift by saving all of your spaghetti sauce jars and mass-producing your family gifts. However, the time that's required to put together all these glass container concoctions (not to mention the cost of materials) may actually be more expensive than seeking out a just-as-sentimental gift from Amazon.

If you're still bent on a whimsical DIY gift, here are a few more personalized suggestions:

Note cards that feature your (good) photography. A useful yet creative gift.
Handcrafts exclusive to you. If you're a champion knitter, by all means, knit something spiffy. If someone knit me a sock monkey, I'd set that thing up on my desk and incorporate it into staff meetings. Ballin'.
Scrapbooks from times together. If you're going DIY, go the whole hog. The recipient will be so jazzed you took the time and put thought into such a unique gift. The same can't be said for granola.

Bad Boss

2013-07-13T17:59:00.003-04:00

I've been wanting to tackle this topic for quite a while, but with much apprehension. One of the hallmark of bad bosses is you don't want to speak ill of the defunct, lest it affect your career. Nobody wants to be the whiner. And especially in this economy, unless you're in horrific conditions and subject to daily abuse you want to keep your job until you can flip to something better.
Tons of horrible boss lists exist, imploring supervisors to dial back that narcissism just a bit, please. Other articles warn jobseekers about managerial red flags.
But sometimes you just have a bad boss and you didn't recognize it at first because you were so desperate for the job. Or maybe you are the boss and don't realize how callous you are to your employees.

Are you a bad boss?
Do you:

Require inhumane amounts of unpaid overtime
Treat interns like slave labor to prop up your (dying) business
Scream at/around underlings; making them your personal psychiatrists
Belittle their education or training to make yourself appear better
Ask employees to assist in cutting "dingleberries" from your aging cat (seriously, it happened!), or any other super personal errand not part of the job description
Refuse to fire dead-weight employees due to your own apathy or sentimentalism

It's one thing to make employees occasionally stay overtime on a critical project. It's another to make every assignment a critical project. I once had a supervisor who assumed that no one had a life outside of work. I'm not speaking as a millennial bemoaning a lack of work/life balance. I'm talking about routinely requiring the minions to stay past 9 p.m. because of (ultimately unsuccessful) projects that got dreamed up at the last minute to occupy time. The business had people commuting in from large distances, so it was even more inconsiderate. I ultimately left due to other issues, but I was glad I never had to endure such fruitless long hours ever again.

The intern fiasco is something that's close to my heart because I've been a 20-nothing, multiple-internship-taking workaholic journalist. Internships are the bread and butter of journalism students, for sure. And yes, some interns are a pain because they don't work hard and expect to be praised for every little thing. But it's easy to misuse the internship as a way to ensure a contant stream of cheap/free labor into a business. Do that too frequently and you could eventually end up in legal trouble. Completing an internship isn't a guarantee of future employment, either, so if you take an unpaid internship, you're essentially paying for the slight chance of having a shot at a job. Depending on the employer, it may not be worth it.

Sometimes work is work. You grit your teeth and get past professional unpleasantness. Millennials are oft accused of being lazy and entitled. I've witnessed this to an extent in my own various jobs, though I think it's rarer than older folks think. And I think many millennials' motives are misunderstood, as this article suggests.

But here's a clue that you're not being mistreated in your work.

"C'est la vie" traits of bosses:

Requiring moderate but fair amounts of unpaid overtime
Giving employees assignments mildly out of their purview because it's a small business
Requiring personal errands because you hired a personal assistant (if you don't want to get uncomfortably intimate with your boss' daily life, don't take this job!)
Constructive criticism of your work

Setting realistic expectations for your job helps to combat the ennui that comes with day after day of work. I hope you've never had a bad boss, but if you have a particularly humorous or compelling story, please post in the comments.

Wherein I Fire Facebook

2013-06-24T16:37:00.001-04:00

In all the fallout from the Snowden and NSA scandal, I think the only surprise news was that journalists woke up and actually started doing investigative reporting. Checking sources?! Stop the presses!
I don't think anyone with a shred of discernment was shocked that many companies track users and communications. Information is currency and some companies' currency rivals that of governments. Nevertheless, I decided to delete my Facebook account for a few reasons:

I wanted to protest (in some small, futile way) the creeping disregard for privacy (Verizon, you're next on my list!)
As a journalist, I shudder at the number of my colleagues citing sources from Facebook. Seriously. If you believe things posted on Facebook, I have some great swampland in Florida to sell you.
From a job perspective, having a Facebook account doesn't help me. If I want to post public information for potential employers, I'll stick to LinkedIn or this blog.
Facebook is incredibly hackable. Again, if I want people to see pictures of me with my prize-winning rutabaga (not a euphemism), I'll post them to either of the above outlets.

How To Annoy Via Email

2013-03-18T12:37:00.000-04:00

Myriad keystrokes have been devoted to email etiquette, but in last few weeks I've found annoying emails reaching a critical mass in my inbox. If you're job-searching and are guilty of these grievances, you might want to rethink your employment strategy.

Infractions that make me want to chew glass:

Reconfirming appointments multiple times even though you use Gmail and can see the entire conversation. Google calendar. Use it.
Extremely long signature lines with favorite quotes, apologies for clumsy iPhone usage, or "funny" job titles.
Color fonts, weird fonts, overused bold, italic or the cardinal sin, ALL CAPS THAT SCREAM I WANT MY PRUNE JUICE NOW, WHIPPERSNAPPER. I usually just hit delete rather than read. Smoke signals would be more effective communication.
Forwards of any sort. If you sent me an email about our meeting, don't send me a follow up on how Sarah Palin and Hillary Clinton use the blood of unicorns to condition their hair.
Waxing philosophical when I just sent a simple question necessitating a simple reply. If your email isn't kierkegard&maimonideslovechild@kant.com, just answer the freaking question.

Holding Pattern

2013-03-15T12:01:00.000-04:00

I just moved into the city. I'm not normally finicky about sleeping environments given my normal predilection for sleep deprivation, but the past week has been an exception. So catching up on blogs is a better option than counting squeals from rabid possums.
Last night I caught up on The Art of Non-Conformity, and I liked this post. Plus it quotes one of my favorite philosophers, Tom Petty.
One of the hardest lessons for me to learn while job searching was to not only wait patiently, but to continue pursuing other options. It was difficult not to pin all my hopes on the current prospect, freezing my life for that fateful phone call or email. Holding patterns stink.

Get away

2012-09-19T10:45:00.001-04:00

One of the challenges of job searching is becoming frustrated and exhausted. The idea of a conventional vacation seems out of reach because of lack of funds, necessity for being on hand for calls and interviews, and the odd twinge of workaholic guilt.

Loose thy chains, people!
I'm a fan of Chris Guillebeau, author of "The Art of Non-Conformity." Beside his trenchant commentary on living one's life without needing to submit to the normal 9-5 grind, I've enjoyed his section on travel hacking.
Back to loosing thy chains.
You can take a vacation for very little money. Sometimes you need a break from your circumstances and job hunting. Here are some ideas to get you on your way to feeling refreshed:

1. Become a tourist in your own town. Some museums offer free days - take advantage of these!
2. I love Airbnb. I recently went on a week's vacation and stayed in a nice apartment for about $18 a night. It was cheaper and much more comfortable than a hostel!
3. When traveling farther afield, skip the restaurants. Hit up a grocery store or farmer's market and see what the locals are putting in their baskets. It's a great way to get a broader cultural perspective.
4. If all else fails, couch-surf at a friend or relative's place. Sometimes just a change of scenery is enough.
5. Keep tabs on transportation trends. This Lifehacker article gives a good tutorial.

Bon voyage!

Questioning Interviews

2012-08-28T17:38:00.000-04:00

One of my favorite parts about working for the county newspaper in college was getting to interview many different kinds of people. Whether it was making a rural borough council member sweat with rapid-fire questions about millage rates, or profiling an Iraq War vet documenting his experiences, each interview spawned more stories than from the interviewee alone.

So it is with job interviews: I've come to value interviewers who step out of the "where do you see yourself in five years" line of questioning. The better candidate also needs to offer more than just generic questions. For me, it helps to think like a journalist. What questions would help draw out a good story?

Of course, we can't have all good interviewers and interviewees, but that's why these comics from The Oatmeal exist. They're old posts, but classic. My favorite bad interviewee is the mute, only because I like nachos.
What's the best question you've asked/have been asked in an interview? Which one was the lamest?

The Other Classroom

2012-08-06T23:22:00.002-04:00

I graduated college with 20K in student loans and not a whole lot of comprehension about education. In contrast, some of the smartest people I know didn't even graduate high school. One colleague - I call him Programmer 1 - dropped out of school after seventh grade. Yet he can worm his way around higher mathematic concepts, program in at least eight languages, and is at least bilingual (he gleefully refuses to speak anything other than English around me, so I can't confirm the third language). How did he manage this?

The other classroom. You know, where folks go after they leave work for the evening. They go home, pull up the laptop or book and start learning for their own benefit. One of my bosses told me about this classroom, and I initially dismissed it. Whatever happened to work/life balance? But it's not education solely for work -- it may be learning for the rest of your life.
A few years ago I had the opportunity to delve into information assurance. I didn't because it seemed too techie for me. Now I wish I'd looked into it because it may have helped with my writing and new media career. But the lost opportunity taught me an important lesson for right now - if you have a chance to learn a new skill, do it. It might help you. It might make interesting conversation for a networking party. But check out the other classroom.

Cover Me

2012-07-21T21:30:00.000-04:00

I have a confession to make. Although I identify myself as a writer, I HATE cover letters. Reading them, writing them -- doesn't matter. There's too much of a tightrope walk between bragging about your accomplishments (eloquently!) and trying not to seem too desperate as you plead your case for job competency.
Some people agree with me. Nevertheless, it doesn't seem as if the cover letter plus resume culture will completely fade. Unfortunately, I don't have a surefire way to construct a cover letter to guarantee it'll get read by recruiters. Some like a story. Some prefer a terse, businesslike recounting of your most interesting accomplishments. Others - who knows. I haven't cracked it yet.
I recently thumbed through Knock 'em Dead Cover Letters for the umpteenth time. I'll be honest. The book itself is boring, the examples providing inspiration on the level of an eighth grade remedial English class. If you're not a writer, it could provide some basic foundations. If you're a seasoned writer, it may be a bit depressing. Final thought - if you pour your passion (whether for accounting, phlebotomy or illustration, etc.) into this small summary of your work accomplishments, it'll show. Get excited about your calling. Then you can begin to communicate that excitement to others who may hire you for it.

Resuming Resumes

2012-07-03T18:51:00.002-04:00

I recently sent my resume to a friend for his review. It's fascinating to see different folks' criticism of form and content, but I wasn't prepared for his evaluation.

"It's only one page?!" he squawked.
"You can let it run to two pages?!" I squeaked back. I was stunned. I've read a lot of resume-writing articles and books, but I was still stuck in the one-page-or-bust mindset. Fortunately, my friend blew apart my mediocre resume. Miracle of miracles -- I suddenly had room to explain my biggest accomplishments.

There's a lot of advice about what works and what doesn't for resumes and cover letters, but I've learned to keep it simple. Show your strengths. If you're passionate about the projects you've worked on, it will show on your resume and others can catch the vision.

Most of all, I've learned about the power of human relationships. Not simply playing the job hunting equivalent of LinkedIn Professional Pokemon (gotta catch 'em all!), but spending time. My friends have offered job leads, support when I've gotten fatigued and frustrated, and distraction when the hunt has gotten too overwhelming (or taken an existential turn - what I am here for?!). Cultivate that. Cherish that. And don't take your contacts for granted, because you'll eventually be helping them too.

Fatigue

2012-06-19T10:53:00.002-04:00

The parallels have been noted many times, but job hunting really is like dating. You're all giddy and hopeful, and maybe if you're talented enough (or have friends), you get a call. You set a date. You stress out over your outfit and debate whether a Spanish soccer jersey (Casiiiiiiillas!) could be considered appropriate.

The day arrives. Conversation flows and you discuss vision, dreams, ideas. Everything's sparkly and magical and the receptionist smiles beatifically as you exit. Elated, you begin planning your new life.

Once you've ridden that delightful puffy cloud, reality dumps you into a steaming pile of silence. Trying not to look too desperate, you send a kind, handwritten thank you note. Nothing. The Easter Island statues talk more than your company-to-be. You spend weeks going over everything you said, searching for the source of some unnamed offense and driving your friends crazy with your self-psychoanalysis.

Screw that.

Though no amount of gelato can wash away the disappointment, keep focused. Don't pepper your industry with resumes. Although sending out 20 resumes a day feels productive, three applications with well-written cover letters may be more effective. Grab coffee with someone in your field - someone you respect.
And finally, don't panic. I made the mistake of freaking out and applying for everything in sight while still working full-time. I'd work a full day, come home and write cover letters into the night. Within a month I was exhausted, frustrated, and I wasn't writing very well. So I took a two week break. The thought of not applying for anything was frightening at first (what if I miss an opportunity?!), but it was necessary. It was also helpful for me to schedule job application times and stick to them.

What's been a helpful strategy for you to help focus your job search?

Tell Me A Story

2012-03-13T23:20:00.000-04:00

Friends sometimes ask me what should be put in a cover letter. I've read some cover letter books (boring!), and looked at tons of online examples. Maybe it's the journalist in me, but I always read the ones that tell a story. Don't tell me that you're a great _______, demonstrate that you're a great _____. I loathe the cover letter-speak we use: multi-faceted, creative, utilize, ideal candidate...the list goes on. Gag. I'm a literary ninja. What are you?

Fizzle

2011-07-29T22:44:00.000-04:00

I wish I could say that's the sound my computer made when it decided to die. It's been on life support since June. I work for mad scientists whose combined brain power could turn my lowly Toshiba into a space station (or at least a toaster), but there simply isn't time. I'll try to return soon, kiddos.

Un-unemployed.

2011-06-11T23:53:00.000-04:00

In 2009, I was laid off (quite suddenly) from a job I hated. I decided from then on I didn't want to take a job unless I liked what I was doing or I liked my coworkers. These two criteria were put on hold when I decided I wanted to take a job so I didn't have to live in a cardboard box under I-95.
I'm happy to say that I'm no longer in danger of that. Plus I have regained the two criteria in my job search. I accepted a job on Tuesday as a marketing and communications specialist for a manufacturing startup. I don't have too many details at this point, but it's definitely going to be weird to transition from writing tons of cover letters and resumes to writing public relations materials full time. I smell an adventure.
In the meantime, I still owe you a review of What Color Is Your Parachute 2011 and Knock 'Em Dead Cover Letters. Pinkie promise.

Malled. Really?

2011-05-31T20:00:00.108-04:00

In the late summer of 2008, I returned to the United States from Spain (at least we Americans don't have a 25 percent unemployment rate, eh?) and found the job market a vast wasteland. Like so many of my journalism brethren before me, I turned to retail. I worked at an independent pharmacy and gift shop until October 2009, when I was laid off.

So I have little sympathy for Caitlin Kelly, author of Malled: My Unintentional Career in Retail. She takes a stab at exposing the plight of the proletariat, but Upton Sinclair she is not. For starters, her "career" in retail was two, then reduced to one day a week stints at The North Face in a New York suburb. When I read career, I think 40 hours a week. She complains about climbing like a monkey in the dark, dirty stock room, I raise her a stock room that occasionally flooded with raw sewage. It brought another perspective to the phrase "crappy job."
I can, however, commiserate with her chapter on customers from hell, her apt depiction of tyrannical managers, thinly-veiled nepotism and short-sighted company rules. Her stories about slaving for little more than minimum wage strike a chord.

But Kelly spends too much time name-dropping publications she's written for, and alternately fondly reminisces about and looks down upon her less-than-middle-class former co-workers. If the book is about your unintentional career in retail, give me more of the hilarious and tragic stories. My retail brothers-in-arms and I love swapping tales of woe -- once, an old lady threw a temper tantrum in my store when I told her that she couldn't purchase an individual rubber glove and instead must buy the sealed box. After days of tantrums, she vandalized a rubber glove box, then gleefully trekked in each week thereafter for a single rubber glove from it after our manager gave up. Or there was the woman who used a live, molting parrot as her shopping consultant. The stories are endless.

So in conclusion, the book was a quick read and a good introduction for those unfamiliar with the retail machine. But for who have worked in the ranks, it wasn't a complete picture.

Putting on the Guerrilla Suit

2011-05-24T20:00:00.003-04:00

I attended my first career fair today. I'm not normally claustrophobic, but the sheer amount of people, schmooze and desperation in the air was enough for me to make the event a search-and-employ mission. I scouted out a few companies, pitched myself, handed them my resume and walked out. I needed a latte.
Next time I'm developing an all-out battle strategy, which brings me to my next funemployment item.

GUERRILLA MARKETING FOR JOB HUNTERS 3.0 IS OUT! It's like finally getting an iPhone 3 when the 4 came out. But lest you be dismayed, here's the highlight reel for the rest of 2.0. It's still chock-full of fantastic tactics. Parts two through four of Guerrilla Marketing detail what you should overhaul in your job-hunting arsenal. If you have a non-specific resume that doesn't state keywords from the job you're applying for, you'll be eliminated from the resume stack. Your resume and cover letter are your sales pitch. Write them as such, (but truthfully!) and you'll have a better chance. Use testimonials, an attention-grabbing intro. This is your personal public relations campaign, and the biggest one you'll ever produce.
But your resume isn't your only weapon, according to Perry and Levinson. Use LinkedIn and ZoomInfo to your advantage. Keep a blog and develop an online portfolio. Use social networking for good (quit playing Farmville! -- okay, I added that). Reading about all this made me reassess my current strategy. I'm doing some, but not all of what Levinson and Perry suggest. I hadn't considered "warm calling" potential employers, or working with recruiters (I thought they were supposed to find me, right?). It can't hurt, I figure.

Conclusion: I want to read 3.0, since my quibble about passe information in 2.0 will be resolved, I think. I think Perry and Levinson give great advice and trigger ideas in 2.0, even if at times it's overwhelming. If you've been following my blog for a while, you've seen how long it took me to review it. This book won't become a doorstop, that's for sure.

Purple Squirrel

2011-05-08T23:35:00.002-04:00

"You're in a market that is searching for the purple squirrel candidate, which is hard, but I believe you're someone's purple squirrel." A wonderful friend said this in the midst of a frenzied Google Chat discussion (she has three kids -- that's more than a full-time job).
I love it. Mostly because most days, I feel like a purple squirrel. I have enough work experience to make me dangerous, but not enough in any one place to look proficient in my field. A little funky, but mostly just weird. But I've learned so much.

Speaking of learning, I'm in the last week of my internship. I'm finishing up news releases, trying to get last-minute coverage for my client and preparing to pass the baton to the next intern. I've gotten a great taste of working in public relations and observing all the kinds of people involved. If I'm a purple squirrel, the internship's given me a bit of a Mohawk to make this rodent a little funkier.
The chairman of my university's journalism department said that getting an internship was nearly a guarantee of landing a job. I'm about to put his claim to the test.

Broken Promises

2011-03-28T23:19:00.001-04:00

I know, I know, I promised to have the second part of Guerrilla Marketing for Job Hunters 2.0 reviewed by now. But I have a really fantastic excuse. I've been representing these people and these guys, and I've been swamped. I've found that crafting material to pitch to a reporter is much different than being a reporter. I even brought my AP Stylebook to work one day because I thought it'd make my desk more homey. I tried to get my boss to invest in a crackly, ancient police scanner to complete the ambiance, but no dice.
Don't fret: the next part of the Guerrilla Marketing review shall be completed soon. Another teaser: I'm also working on the first draft for my SEPTA narrative. Just in time for all the fare changes! But unlike SEPTA, I'll actually deliver on my promises before the decade is out.

Job-hunting in your native habitat

2011-02-23T18:32:00.000-05:00

If Guerrilla Marketing for Job Hunters 2.0 wants you to practice stealthy cover letter maneuvers and ninja-like resume writing, I'd rather wear a pith helmet, ready to exclaim "Crikey" like a certain Australian naturalist when first observing a dream job -- then go after it. I'm calling it my plot, prepare, pick strategy.

I didn't dress up like David Livingstone, but I did use safari-like tactics when I targeted my internship. First, I researched prospective companies in my area that fit my interests and career path. I followed them on Twitter. I read their blogs. I've created Google news alerts for them so I can track their industry activity. In short, I've stalked them like a cheetah stalks an unsuspecting antelope on the Serengeti, except I'm a lot nicer and less likely to feed on your carcass.
So how did I finally net my internship? The company tweeted about a summer internship opportunity. I mentioned the tweet in my cover letter, didn't disguise the fact that I wasn't a college student, and they seemed to respect my bluntness and acumen for Twitter. As I mentioned in a previous post, I opened my cover letter with a (true) story and set it up to explain why I should be the firm's newest intern. I also prayed a lot about it. After the interview, the firm asked me to start sooner than the summer -- immediately.

I'm using the plot, prepare, pick strategy from now on. It's given me way more options to choose from, and a chance to work at a job I love.

Our Unemployed Brethren

2011-02-20T21:01:00.000-05:00

Here's a great profile from the ranks of the unemployed. I find it fascinating that the video was posted in 2006, before the worst of the U.S. economic crisis. But the real question is, did this guy trade in his AT-AT Walker under the Cash for Clunkers program?

Review: Guerrilla Marketing, Part I

2011-02-12T03:32:00.001-05:00

I've enjoyed reading Guerrilla Marketing for Job Hunters 2.0. The authors divide their massive job-hunting treasure map/survival guide/pep rally into four parts. Each section is packed with advice, cajoling and "Guerrilla Intelligence" sub-sections that detail self-marketing strategies. Levinson and Perry's contention is that the job market is so competitive that ordinary job-hunting strategies are defunct. Therefore, guerrilla tactics -- effective marketing principles and tech savvy -- are de rigeur. The book, published in 2009, reflects the U.S. economic climate and pessimism of the time.

Unfortunately, at least for Part I, the publishing date also showcases some passe technologies and applications. For example, Alta Vista is listed as a top news search engine. This may be still be true, but they didn't even appear in this article. (To be fair, the article counts both news search engines and individual news outlets as "news sites.") Personally, I hadn't been on the Alta Vista site since 2003. The authors also stress using Google apps, which by now many people have synthesized into their technological consciousness. Storing your resumes on Docs may be slightly different, but using Gmail for professional correspondence is standard procedure.

But Part I of Guerrilla Marketing does have some enlightening material. It proposes using "resume lingerie," that is, adding attention-grabbing (but truthful!) details to your resume. It encourages featuring company logos in place of ho-hum job headings, detailing specific achievements (e.g., increased sales $234,000 in a year by developing and managing 19 accounts), and crafting a personal brand. For those of us who've sat through Marketing 101, it's not shocking news, but the manner in which it's applied is refreshing.

The first part of the book inspired me to re-write my cover letter with the wisdom of my old journalism professor in mind: tell a story. A small anecdote about the names of my childhood pets (strange, but relevant to my career path) in the introduction paragraph grabbed the attention of a public relations firm. I got an interview and was offered an internship.

In conclusion, I think Guerrilla Marketing's Part I offers some great tools for re-thinking your job-searching approach, in spite of some dated apps. I'm excited to dig into Part II, which gets into more specific "guerrilla weaponry"; tackling resume and cover letter writing.

I'm becoming convinced that I may need to be a guerrilla in my job search. Minus the camouflage.