Let's be honest here, my progeek kin (Progeekin?), the job search is a nightmare.  if you have your own business, the search for clients is probably somewhat saner, but I'm not ready to reach that conclusion because I'll probably get a good talking-to from people with their own businesses.

But anyway, it stands, the job search is crazy.  HR is ossified, overstressed, or both.  Recruiters slog through insanity for us, but need our help.  The resume and cover letter are a pain.  Job search sites are sometimes not helpful, and the more they experiment, the worse it gets.  The interview process is . . . well, you get the idea.

OK we know it's awful.  Part of what I post here is how to deal with the job search, along with my usual random complaints and charmingly witty observations.

But I just want to post a question here for us to think of - what are we doing to change this?

We're geeks, for Roddenberry's sake.  We built most of the technology we use to do the job search we complain about.  We know how to do things with Word Processors most people can't dream of.  We build web pages for fun.

So what are we doing to improve the job search for ourselves if not others?  How are we innovating?  What are we sharing?

My guess is there is a lot of innovation, but it's individual, it's in pockets, it's here and there.

My guess is we've got good ideas but we're afraid to try them as they may be too wild.

My guess is in some cases we're right that our ideas are crazy, but hey wouldn't you want to try them just once?

My guess is the economy is so bad we don't want to take chances.

But you know what?  it needs to change.  So why aren't we geeking the job search and improving it?

- Steven Savage

I've decided it's time I start documenting my latest fan-to-pro effort - my next book "Focused Fandom: Fanart, Fanartists, and Careers."  It's about the career value of cross-national linguistic software.

Wait, no it's about how fanart can lead to and enhance your career.  Sorry - it's been a long week.

Unlike our own Rob and his wife I don't have the energy for a day-by-day discussion, and the book isn't due to April anyway.  In fact, that's part of the story.

Originally the book was coming out in March.  I had it booked into my schedule, planned, structured, etc.  Heck I wrote the last book in 3 months, right?  I could do this in about 4 or so.

Well me, I'm a Project Manager.  I'm good at stringing out schedules.  I forgot that my life can be just like any other organized structure - it has parallel goals.  I had this all planned out - and interruptions started coming in.

Planning a move.  Changes at work.  Family visits.  Other events.  Changes in marketing plans.  It all slowly crept up on me, and I realized "this sucker is sliding into April."  Yeah, it's only sliding two weeks, but there's a few lessons for you current and future writers:

• Treat your life as a unified effort.  Be very careful about "siloing" your efforts.  Also if you're good at this big picture, remember you'll screw it up.
• Take it from the Project Manager - learn to pad your time estimates.  If you don't like the word pad, then provide a "buffer" of time.  I usually find 10-30% is good.
• Your prototype is not the pattern.  When I did "Focused Fandom: Cosplay, Costuming, and Careers" it was an experiment in "how efficiently can I do this"  it was not "can I keep doing this forever."  I'm still scaling.
• A change in schedule does not have to be huge to make a difference.  This is also why padding/buffer works.

So the book slides by about two weeks.  Not bad, and I caught it early.  Still a good reminder that your efforts require you to be good at planning no matter what.

Now excuse me  . . . I have to get back to writing.

- Steven Savage

If you were on a diet, and someone promised you a beverage that tasted just as good as what the people not on diets were drinking . . . would you believe them? Probably not. But if someone actually delivered on that promise, and then some, would you remember their brand next time you went to the grocery store? Oh, yes - because the company delivered exactly what you wanted.

There was a company that did this, and created a genuine cult soda. And believe it or not, there's a lesson in this fizzy tale that can help you on your job search.

Knowing there were plenty of others like him, he took some chocolate fudge to a chemist he knew and asked if he could duplicate the taste. The chemist responded by creating a diet chocolate fudge soda, which actually did taste like the real thing.

Sales of Canfield's Diet Chocolate Fudge Soda were modest for the first decade of its existence - until a syndicated columnist named Bob Greene happened to get hold of a can in 1984. This was a case of fortunate timing, as Coca-Cola had just launched one of the most brand-damaging fiascos in history - the so-called New Coke. Consumers were disillusioned with their old favorite and, quite literally, thirsty for the next big thing on the beverage horizon.

Greene, in his review of Canfield's, described it as tasting "like a calorie-free hot fudge sundae." Suddenly, demand for Canfield's exploded, setting off a brief spurt of chocomania - you can see just how far the madness went in this vintage People article. Bottlers were seeking franchise rights throughout the country - not bad for a brand originally sold in just four states - and the fizzy drink became a staple for waist-watchers during the decade of big hair.

Sales later went into decline as other flavored diet beverages appeared, and Canfield's became less common on store shelves - but its devotees never forgot it. As the Internet grew, bulletin boards for foodies and dieters began sporting questions from people looking to track down Canfield's in their area. Many of them spun nostalgic tales of enjoying the drink in their younger days - often with a scoop of vanilla flavored Light and Lively Ice Milk, another '80s diet staple.

The thing is, these people never forgot Canfield's - because it gave them exactly what they wanted, chocolate taste and no calories. They could just walk down to the corner conveniece store and grab any of 10 other diet drinks, but they chose to go the extra mile to get what they really wanted. Canfield's had become a true cult soda.

So how does this apply to your job search? Well, think about what Canfield's promised, and what it delivered. Their can told dieters they would be getting exactly what they wanted - and they followed through.

When you're writing your cover letter to go with your resume, study that job ad. Look at what the company wants in a candidate. Okay, you probably don't have every single thing on their laundry list of qualifications. It's rare that anybody does. But take the skills that you have, and figure out how to present them in a way that comes at least close.

If you don't know every single one of the programs they list, but know similar ones, tell them that - and then add that you're very good at picking up new things on the computer. If you don't have that master's degree that's "preferred," but you have more than a decade of practical, hands-on experience in a job similar to the one you're applying for, that's definitely something to tell them.

And the skills that you do have which match their qualifications? Sell, sell, sell them. You're giving them exactly what they want, dangling before them the promise of someone who can meet their needs, be a real contributor, bring something extraordinary to the company.

If you do that, they will remember you. Even if they don't pick you for the job they're recruiting for at the minute, they will keep you in mind when another, similar position comes along.

Just like the makers of an extraordinary diet soda, you can offer something that sounds irresistable, then deliver on it. And the resulting success will be sweet and tasty indeed. - Bonnie Walling