I continue to be overwhelmed by social networking. I was finally getting used to updating my facebook status once in a while and learning how to have conversations on twitter, and search engine giant GOOGLE decides to go and launch a new one.
Google Buzz. What does it have that facebook and twitter don't? I don't know yet. Will it really be able to poach loyal social networkers? Hard to say. But what i do know is that if this is where social networking lies in 2010, by 2020 i think everyone is going to have a wall of cameras taping every corner of the world that they can choose to turn on and off at any certain time. We'll just cut out the whole middle man/internet thing and just sit in our houses all day and wait for things to happen then everyone can just start talking at once. Or something.
Last night I went to google "Olympics" to check when the opening ceremony was going to start, and I was startled when not only did my google page MOVE like a twitter feed, but I had gotten no further than "o-l-y" and "Olympic death 2010 video" came up. Poor Nodar Kumaritashvili had just died, and I'm sure it came up because it was recent news and an unfortunate start to the Olympic games, but I want to know who video tapes an event like that and instead of rushing to help rushes to post it on their youtube and twitter for the world to see. Don't get me wrong, I think social networking is great, to a degree. But how far is too far?
I'm not quite sure when all these sites got so huge, but everyone just seems to go with it, myself included. Hell, even the Superbowl ads seem to be directed to social media users. Is it bad that i log on to twitter to get the most up-to-date current event stories? Perhaps. Is it unncessary for people to post what they ate for breakfast on facebook? Well yes, i think so. I mean I ate toast today too, but i don't feel the need to shout it from the rooftops. And i'm sure it's not going to enlighten anyone or spread any kind of (useful) awareness. But who am i to say.
Ah well, don't forget to share this article on your twitter, facebook, bebo, friendster, digg, blogmarks, friendfeed, fark, newsvine, stumbleupon, linkedin, squidoo, and myspace (if people still have those.) If you feel so inclined, add it to your bookmarks, subscribe to the RSS feed, or trying Buzzing about it. Let me know how it goes
Saturday, February 13, 2010
Thursday, February 11, 2010
I haven't given up on you, Blog
You know in the movies when someone gets a letter in their mailbox from their dream college, then runs into the house into their room, jumps onto their bed and anxiously rips it open? That's me when my Communication Arts comes in. Okay maybe not quite that dramatic, but close. Anyways, this month i was happy to receive the Advertising Annual packed full of articles written just for me.
An article by Ernie Scheneck wistfully called The Six Inches in Front of Your Face caught my eye first.
"This is a killer time to be in this business. And I don't mean that in a good way. A lot of really talented people are on the streets. In the coffee shops. In bookstores and libraries. Networking. Making calls. Scraping by. Cashing in their 401(k)s. Laying awake at night. Wondering when the nightmare is going to end.
"Maybe you're one of those people. Maybe it's with mixed emotions that you're looking through the pages of this year's Advertising Annual. All that great work. All that heaviness in your heart."
Now I can't relate exactly, because I'm not a lifer in the Ad industry that's been layed off and has to fight to get my life back. But i can understand.
Another one reads:
"During the recent economic downturn, designers fresh out of school, as well as experienced designers without jobs, have had to look for avenues outside of design to support themselves. The overall economy is improving, but it has not generated jobs Even jobs for hosts and servers in restaurants are difficult to find."
Now that one hits close to home.
Being out of work is scary. I try to stay lighthearted about it, knowing i don't really have it ALL that bad, and that my parents would rather send me some money to get by then see me be evicted, but it's still scary. I'm pretty sure I had more money in the bank before I was born than I do now, and at times when not even Coffee Bean is hiring It's tough to see the light at the end of the tunnel.
It's surprising to me how fast the days go, being unemployed. The last few days have especially flown because I've finally been making progress on my website. I don't know exactly how my 'breakthrough' came about but I'm beyond happy it came when it did.
When i first got out to California in November I was determined to finally make a website. I thought being away from the distractions of my comfortable home and friends would give me what I needed to get myself in gear. In my head I envisioned a fancy flash site complete with fade-ins and fade-outs and words that flip upside down when you click on them. Armed with my my huge Adobe Flash CS3 Linda Tutorial book and trusty YouTube "how to make a flash site" videos in my bookmarks, I boldly set out to build my website. I must have designed and organized and built and reorganized and redesigned and began and deleted and began again a thousand times, as days turned into weeks and frustration turned into stress which turned into me contemplating a field where you don't need a website to apply for a job.
All the while, mind you, my savings account is continuing to dwindle. Finally, one day I stumbled upon carbonmade, a host portfolio sight that saved my sanity. I could upload my work to this site, then as I applied to jobs I would just explain that my real site was in the works, and you can view my work here for now. That would buy me some time, and I could keep applying for jobs. So that worked out for me, for a while, but flash wasn't coming any easier. Friends and family were still asking me, "soo, have you found a job yet?". My answer was still "well, not exactly..".
A couple small freelance gigs here and there, but not enough to pay rent. (Or shop anywhere besides the 99 Cent store, for that matter.)
At some point I had the "epiphany" that I'll need to get creative. That, due to the economy, I'd have to take some time off the hunt for the perfect graphic design job and head back into the restaurant industry. With the unconditional support of my all-too-forgiving parents I went back to "school" to earn a Bartending degree, to no avail (yet). When i saw serving jobs were suddenly not easy to get, college degree or not, I went back to "school" again, online, to learn how to build a website. I thought, if only I could get a website up, then i could make business cards with my URL, THEN i could start networking and getting my name out because I would actually have a website. THEN i could actually start applying for jobs, instead of hunting online day in and day out and sheepishly sending my host portfolio website because I couldn't build one on my own. I thought, if i have a website up I can start walking into doors of ad agencies and design firms and dropping off a resume in person, beaming because it had MY url on it - www.MYNAME.com - and surely if i could create a website, i'm deserving of a position.
So maybe it's not that easy. But i will say, with the help of my online course and the discovery of a more advanced hosting website that allows custom HTML and CSS, I'm definately making progress, and I haven't been this excited in a long time.
Now at this point you may be thinking: "You majored in Graphic Design and it took you this long to build a website?". But let me have my moment. Years, even months from now, I'm going to look back and laugh at myself, and probably at the website that currently lies at my domain name, but right now I'm beyond proud of my little accomplishment. It's a mere step towards what I want to accomplish, but it's a step I took and figured out all on my own (and with a little help of online forums). And to quote back to Scheneck's article, "Inches, friends, Inches."
So with that said, check me out at www.kaititucker.com. And if you hear of any openings for a bartending position, let me know.
An article by Ernie Scheneck wistfully called The Six Inches in Front of Your Face caught my eye first.
"This is a killer time to be in this business. And I don't mean that in a good way. A lot of really talented people are on the streets. In the coffee shops. In bookstores and libraries. Networking. Making calls. Scraping by. Cashing in their 401(k)s. Laying awake at night. Wondering when the nightmare is going to end.
"Maybe you're one of those people. Maybe it's with mixed emotions that you're looking through the pages of this year's Advertising Annual. All that great work. All that heaviness in your heart."
Now I can't relate exactly, because I'm not a lifer in the Ad industry that's been layed off and has to fight to get my life back. But i can understand.
Another one reads:
"During the recent economic downturn, designers fresh out of school, as well as experienced designers without jobs, have had to look for avenues outside of design to support themselves. The overall economy is improving, but it has not generated jobs Even jobs for hosts and servers in restaurants are difficult to find."
Now that one hits close to home.
Being out of work is scary. I try to stay lighthearted about it, knowing i don't really have it ALL that bad, and that my parents would rather send me some money to get by then see me be evicted, but it's still scary. I'm pretty sure I had more money in the bank before I was born than I do now, and at times when not even Coffee Bean is hiring It's tough to see the light at the end of the tunnel.
It's surprising to me how fast the days go, being unemployed. The last few days have especially flown because I've finally been making progress on my website. I don't know exactly how my 'breakthrough' came about but I'm beyond happy it came when it did.
When i first got out to California in November I was determined to finally make a website. I thought being away from the distractions of my comfortable home and friends would give me what I needed to get myself in gear. In my head I envisioned a fancy flash site complete with fade-ins and fade-outs and words that flip upside down when you click on them. Armed with my my huge Adobe Flash CS3 Linda Tutorial book and trusty YouTube "how to make a flash site" videos in my bookmarks, I boldly set out to build my website. I must have designed and organized and built and reorganized and redesigned and began and deleted and began again a thousand times, as days turned into weeks and frustration turned into stress which turned into me contemplating a field where you don't need a website to apply for a job.
All the while, mind you, my savings account is continuing to dwindle. Finally, one day I stumbled upon carbonmade, a host portfolio sight that saved my sanity. I could upload my work to this site, then as I applied to jobs I would just explain that my real site was in the works, and you can view my work here for now. That would buy me some time, and I could keep applying for jobs. So that worked out for me, for a while, but flash wasn't coming any easier. Friends and family were still asking me, "soo, have you found a job yet?". My answer was still "well, not exactly..".
A couple small freelance gigs here and there, but not enough to pay rent. (Or shop anywhere besides the 99 Cent store, for that matter.)
At some point I had the "epiphany" that I'll need to get creative. That, due to the economy, I'd have to take some time off the hunt for the perfect graphic design job and head back into the restaurant industry. With the unconditional support of my all-too-forgiving parents I went back to "school" to earn a Bartending degree, to no avail (yet). When i saw serving jobs were suddenly not easy to get, college degree or not, I went back to "school" again, online, to learn how to build a website. I thought, if only I could get a website up, then i could make business cards with my URL, THEN i could start networking and getting my name out because I would actually have a website. THEN i could actually start applying for jobs, instead of hunting online day in and day out and sheepishly sending my host portfolio website because I couldn't build one on my own. I thought, if i have a website up I can start walking into doors of ad agencies and design firms and dropping off a resume in person, beaming because it had MY url on it - www.MYNAME.com - and surely if i could create a website, i'm deserving of a position.
So maybe it's not that easy. But i will say, with the help of my online course and the discovery of a more advanced hosting website that allows custom HTML and CSS, I'm definately making progress, and I haven't been this excited in a long time.
Now at this point you may be thinking: "You majored in Graphic Design and it took you this long to build a website?". But let me have my moment. Years, even months from now, I'm going to look back and laugh at myself, and probably at the website that currently lies at my domain name, but right now I'm beyond proud of my little accomplishment. It's a mere step towards what I want to accomplish, but it's a step I took and figured out all on my own (and with a little help of online forums). And to quote back to Scheneck's article, "Inches, friends, Inches."
So with that said, check me out at www.kaititucker.com. And if you hear of any openings for a bartending position, let me know.
Saturday, January 23, 2010
Back to school...
Well, officially 2 lessons, 8 chapters, 3 assignments and 2 quizzes behind on my online course - Intro to CSS and XHTML. No one told me online classes were so intense! It didn't help that our internet was down for the day the first assignment came out, but i wasn't overly concerned - figured i would catch up. strike 1. And when i tried to logon the next day there was a "proxy error", so i called but the office was closed until the next day. strike 2. So i had to download firefox and finally gained access to it friday, but decided to give myself friday night off.. strike 3. It was fun to discover the lesson this morning, my printer hasn't stopped in probably an hour. Page 34 and counting... i hope i have enough ink.
Seems like the instructor is thorough, which will be a good thing once i can get caught up. I think i'm going to go buy a binder and fun colorful organizing stuff and pretend like i'm in school again, and also disconnect my internet/all distractions for a while this afternoon... Figures the day the sun FINALLY decides to show itself again over LA, I have school again.
On a completely different note i found a few favorite website - http://clientsfromhell.tumblr.com/. Hilarious, if you are also a design nerd.
But seriously, disconnecting my internet.. now.
Seems like the instructor is thorough, which will be a good thing once i can get caught up. I think i'm going to go buy a binder and fun colorful organizing stuff and pretend like i'm in school again, and also disconnect my internet/all distractions for a while this afternoon... Figures the day the sun FINALLY decides to show itself again over LA, I have school again.
On a completely different note i found a few favorite website - http://clientsfromhell.tumblr.com/. Hilarious, if you are also a design nerd.
But seriously, disconnecting my internet.. now.
Thursday, January 21, 2010
Rain Rain Go Away
Well, the day is finally here. The final day of my 21-day vegan escapade, one of my more attainable New Years Resolutions. I have to say it has been interesting and a huge eye opener, but i don't think i'm ready to go fully vegan at this stage of my life, and I am glad it's over.
Among other Resolutions were Finish website and master flash. Still working on that one..
Get print portfolio together. Also still in the works. Enroll in a class - DONE! Well, an online class. That still counts right? Now just a matter of staying on top of it. Pursue information interviews. That will come after the website and print portfolio. Take more photos. Hmm, could be doing better. and finally, Get back in touch. Being on the opposite coast and 3 hours behind of all my friends and family make it tough, but i could be further away, so it shouldn't be that hard.
On the bright side, it's still January, and 3 three weeks into the New year seems like a good time to re-read, flect and re-motivate myself to pursue those goals. I remember writing them out on January 1st, a sunny 80 degree New Years Day, sitting on the patio of coffee bean. It's now January 21st and the rain has been nonstop for the last 3 days with flash flood warnings throughout LA, internet has been down and landlords won't leave their houses to show apartments. No one will answer phone calls, and if they do they are usually driving and can't talk on the phone and drive in the rain at the same time. I've been waiting for a package but am convinced even FedEx doesn't go out in the rain here. On top of that have been searching for job leads and working on business cards but torrential downpours don't seem like the best time to go around dropping off self-promo packages and asking for interviews.
On another note, I've decided in my down time with no internet that I'm going to start rediscovering my creative side. I spend so much time staring at my mac screen i'm pretty sure i'm losing my eyesight (no, seriously), and I always see photos and posters and all kinds of design blogs and sites that give me so much inspiration, why not act on it ? I guess this if there is any time to do the kind of work i want to do it's now, before I am settled into a job. So, be on the lookout:)
As worded by American painter John Singer Sargent, "Sketch Everything, and keep your curiosity fresh."
Lots of stuff on the to-do list for the new future, but hey, that's what keeps life interesting.
Among other Resolutions were Finish website and master flash. Still working on that one..
Get print portfolio together. Also still in the works. Enroll in a class - DONE! Well, an online class. That still counts right? Now just a matter of staying on top of it. Pursue information interviews. That will come after the website and print portfolio. Take more photos. Hmm, could be doing better. and finally, Get back in touch. Being on the opposite coast and 3 hours behind of all my friends and family make it tough, but i could be further away, so it shouldn't be that hard.
On the bright side, it's still January, and 3 three weeks into the New year seems like a good time to re-read, flect and re-motivate myself to pursue those goals. I remember writing them out on January 1st, a sunny 80 degree New Years Day, sitting on the patio of coffee bean. It's now January 21st and the rain has been nonstop for the last 3 days with flash flood warnings throughout LA, internet has been down and landlords won't leave their houses to show apartments. No one will answer phone calls, and if they do they are usually driving and can't talk on the phone and drive in the rain at the same time. I've been waiting for a package but am convinced even FedEx doesn't go out in the rain here. On top of that have been searching for job leads and working on business cards but torrential downpours don't seem like the best time to go around dropping off self-promo packages and asking for interviews.
On another note, I've decided in my down time with no internet that I'm going to start rediscovering my creative side. I spend so much time staring at my mac screen i'm pretty sure i'm losing my eyesight (no, seriously), and I always see photos and posters and all kinds of design blogs and sites that give me so much inspiration, why not act on it ? I guess this if there is any time to do the kind of work i want to do it's now, before I am settled into a job. So, be on the lookout:)
As worded by American painter John Singer Sargent, "Sketch Everything, and keep your curiosity fresh."
Lots of stuff on the to-do list for the new future, but hey, that's what keeps life interesting.
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
THINGS TO-DO
So it's been a few days, I'm not very good at this blog thing. Though in my defense it's been a fairly hectic few days, and it seems the more I do the longer my to-do list gets - Is that normal? Well on Monday my to-do list read as follows:
- Mail thank-you cards
- Work on business card design
- Finish Bartending resume/Schedule placement meeting
- Call landlord to fix heat
- Individualize design resumes
- Grocery shopping
- Work on print portfolio (find a printer)
- Register for class
- West side rentals/Email Landlords
Like you needed to know that, but my point is It's now wednesday, and i've mailed my thank you cards and gotten the heat fixed. Well okay, i've finished my bartending resume and plugged away on my business cards and print portfolio, but every time i sit down to be productive I get overwhelmed with ideas and new insight into what I have to do to get myself where I want to be and I end up going to bed mentally exhausted feeling like i've barely made a dent. Of course two nights ago I went into a benadryl induced stupor around 8pm, and last night I went out to dinner (i consider it a necessary part of experiencing LA). And today I've been cleaning the apartment to show it to someone who wants to move in for the 1st, and subsequently apartment HUNTING myself so I'm not forced to the streets and sigh, here i am. But that's beside the point.
So everyone's on facebook. After graduating I decided, while not quite ready to get rid of my facebook (how did people communicate before facebook again?), that I should focus on updating and developing my Linked In which seems a bit more mature that facebook, if you will. I joined the BU Alumni Group, along with Ad Club, Commnication Arts, and Students and Recent Grads, which in turn began flooding my inbox with posts and updates I would originally delete without second thought. One day, sitting on the patio of coffee bean contemplating changing my major, becoming a bum or moving to a more widely employed country, I decided to click on one of the emails and actually read it. The Recent Grad blog pretty much gave me a new lease on life at the moment (See previous post).
So, based on reading from forums and other blogs about recent college grads standing out and making their way in the big world, i decided to start my own blog. I've never been completely closed off to the idea, but also never really saw myself as a "blogger" either. Though, especially for my major of graphic design with a focus in advertising and communications, I do consider it a necessary piece of networking and getting my name out. Now i'll actually get to the point.
The thing is, I'll write out a list of goals I want to accomplish for that day/week/whatever, and I'll go online and check out the newest posts of the day, which will lead me to the blog's website where I find myself clicking around and soon I'm watching videos of how to answer tough questions in an interview. Then i'll catch myself, bookmark the good stuff and move on. Next i'll log on to Twitter, and see that someone has posted a link that they updated their website so of course I will check it out. Then that person has links off their website to other people's websites and I start clicking around and wishing that creating my own website was even slightly easier than rocket science. That gets me thinking that I should start looking for tutorials and youtube videos on how to create a site, in flash, which is what I want to do, but then how do you code it to show my work in a slideshow? So then i have to look up codes, which I think i find. So i go through all my work and take screenshots and organize them into a folder. But wait, how do you enter them into the right frame in flash? And how to you make it so you can click a thumbnail to preview the entire piece? Or do I have to do that in dreamweaver? Can they be combined?
At this point I begin feeling defeated and I'm thinking, "God, I really wish they taught us this in school." Then, lightbulb. - " That's an idea. I should look in to classes". So then I start an online search of reasonably priced short term Continuing Education programs in the LA area. While i'm reading the descriptions and comparing prices I get a call from the landlord who asks if we can be out by the 1st, which leads me back to the online apartment search.
A little while later I remember a post I had read about how impersonal things have become with the massive growth of the internet, and the lightbulb that had gone off (on?) when i read it about applying to jobs I really want in person. So i delve into my hard drive to find all my favorite work from semesters past to lay it out in InDesign and print off as a book to bring for a leave behind. (Oh, yeah, THIS was on my to-do list). I start doing that but then I figure I really should individualize all my cover letters and resumes first, but what design to put on them? I should use the one off my business cards so everything correlates. Wait, I still have to work on my business cards (This was on my to-do list TOO). So i'll do that first. But what URL should I put on them if I don't have my site up yet ? (My work is being hosted on carbonmade). That reminds me, I have to figure out how to build my website. And in the meantime, I should really update my photos of Flickr.
Now i'm a little stressed and it's probably getting late, I look back at my to-do list and realize though I've read it, and i've THOUGHT about everything. i FELT like i was working all day, what have I actually done?
All this social networking and internet traffic is certainly overwhelming. I need some human interaction - God i have not checked facebook all day.
Do you see where I'm going with this?
- Mail thank-you cards
- Work on business card design
- Finish Bartending resume/Schedule placement meeting
- Call landlord to fix heat
- Individualize design resumes
- Grocery shopping
- Work on print portfolio (find a printer)
- Register for class
- West side rentals/Email Landlords
Like you needed to know that, but my point is It's now wednesday, and i've mailed my thank you cards and gotten the heat fixed. Well okay, i've finished my bartending resume and plugged away on my business cards and print portfolio, but every time i sit down to be productive I get overwhelmed with ideas and new insight into what I have to do to get myself where I want to be and I end up going to bed mentally exhausted feeling like i've barely made a dent. Of course two nights ago I went into a benadryl induced stupor around 8pm, and last night I went out to dinner (i consider it a necessary part of experiencing LA). And today I've been cleaning the apartment to show it to someone who wants to move in for the 1st, and subsequently apartment HUNTING myself so I'm not forced to the streets and sigh, here i am. But that's beside the point.
So everyone's on facebook. After graduating I decided, while not quite ready to get rid of my facebook (how did people communicate before facebook again?), that I should focus on updating and developing my Linked In which seems a bit more mature that facebook, if you will. I joined the BU Alumni Group, along with Ad Club, Commnication Arts, and Students and Recent Grads, which in turn began flooding my inbox with posts and updates I would originally delete without second thought. One day, sitting on the patio of coffee bean contemplating changing my major, becoming a bum or moving to a more widely employed country, I decided to click on one of the emails and actually read it. The Recent Grad blog pretty much gave me a new lease on life at the moment (See previous post).
So, based on reading from forums and other blogs about recent college grads standing out and making their way in the big world, i decided to start my own blog. I've never been completely closed off to the idea, but also never really saw myself as a "blogger" either. Though, especially for my major of graphic design with a focus in advertising and communications, I do consider it a necessary piece of networking and getting my name out. Now i'll actually get to the point.
The thing is, I'll write out a list of goals I want to accomplish for that day/week/whatever, and I'll go online and check out the newest posts of the day, which will lead me to the blog's website where I find myself clicking around and soon I'm watching videos of how to answer tough questions in an interview. Then i'll catch myself, bookmark the good stuff and move on. Next i'll log on to Twitter, and see that someone has posted a link that they updated their website so of course I will check it out. Then that person has links off their website to other people's websites and I start clicking around and wishing that creating my own website was even slightly easier than rocket science. That gets me thinking that I should start looking for tutorials and youtube videos on how to create a site, in flash, which is what I want to do, but then how do you code it to show my work in a slideshow? So then i have to look up codes, which I think i find. So i go through all my work and take screenshots and organize them into a folder. But wait, how do you enter them into the right frame in flash? And how to you make it so you can click a thumbnail to preview the entire piece? Or do I have to do that in dreamweaver? Can they be combined?
At this point I begin feeling defeated and I'm thinking, "God, I really wish they taught us this in school." Then, lightbulb. - " That's an idea. I should look in to classes". So then I start an online search of reasonably priced short term Continuing Education programs in the LA area. While i'm reading the descriptions and comparing prices I get a call from the landlord who asks if we can be out by the 1st, which leads me back to the online apartment search.
A little while later I remember a post I had read about how impersonal things have become with the massive growth of the internet, and the lightbulb that had gone off (on?) when i read it about applying to jobs I really want in person. So i delve into my hard drive to find all my favorite work from semesters past to lay it out in InDesign and print off as a book to bring for a leave behind. (Oh, yeah, THIS was on my to-do list). I start doing that but then I figure I really should individualize all my cover letters and resumes first, but what design to put on them? I should use the one off my business cards so everything correlates. Wait, I still have to work on my business cards (This was on my to-do list TOO). So i'll do that first. But what URL should I put on them if I don't have my site up yet ? (My work is being hosted on carbonmade). That reminds me, I have to figure out how to build my website. And in the meantime, I should really update my photos of Flickr.
Now i'm a little stressed and it's probably getting late, I look back at my to-do list and realize though I've read it, and i've THOUGHT about everything. i FELT like i was working all day, what have I actually done?
All this social networking and internet traffic is certainly overwhelming. I need some human interaction - God i have not checked facebook all day.
Do you see where I'm going with this?
Saturday, January 9, 2010
We're having a heat wave
Kudos, LA, for being the only part of the nation NOT currently in a deep freeze.
It's days like today, when i watch the news and see frozen iquanas falling out of trees in Florida and school busses covered in ice in Nebrasksa, that give me a gleam of hope. Sure i may be struggling daily while facing the full time job search as a recent college grad with no connections in a major city, but at least i'm warm while doing it.
On sort of the same note, had to give notice to our landlord today, it was a sad moment. Sunny Santa Monica, you were fun while it lasted, and you will truly be missed - but it's time to realize i simply don't have the budget for you. And don't think we won't visit.
Aaand, the apartment hunt begins again..
Friday, January 8, 2010
New grad life, and the ubiquitous job hunt
i found my new favorite blog. well, the blog that is currently the most useful for me: http://newgradlife.com
I'M NOT ALONE! good to know. it offers some really helpful information about the online vs offline job search. also about resumes, and how to best handle interview questions, etc. (granted you are offered the interviews first)
Well it definitely sheds some light on the whole job hunt situation - a sparkle of hope, if you will. Also a little frustrating to discover that i've been wasting a LOT of time going about the hunt all 'wrong', but it does give me a new outlook, and i'll chalk it up to experience, right?
Somehow managed to spend the last 2 full months of my life on and off job hunting, thinking i was doing everything possible. I've spent hours upon hours online joining all the job boards I can get my hands (err my mouse ? ) on, and then days going through the overwhelming clutter that is my inbox. I've even been stalking craigslist, yes craigslist, and then spending even MORE hours upon hours tailoring resumes, writing cover letters, and composing emails - all to no avail. I have to admit, it's a bit discouraging. Then i read this:
"5 Reasons Your Job Hunting Isn't Going Well, #5: You are not as productive as you think you are" Ah HA. Apparently, job hunting IS a full time job. I think i knew that all along... but i needed a vacation.
Among the other reasons for an online job hunt to not go well are not making it personal, and looking where everyone else is looking. Ahh the rapid growth and subsequent dependency on the internet, both a blessing and a curse.
BUT, there is hope. Another article on the blog: "10 Uncommon Job Hunt Tactics That Work", include trying snail mail (what IS that?) , being nice (hmm..), anddd - WRITE A BLOG! yes, i am on the right track.
There's also an example of a guy who work at a deli and wrapped his resume in all the sandwiches - he ended up getting 5 interviews and 4 offers in one week. I'll have to be creative..
Well next step for me is getting all my stuff in sync - clean up the facebook, add the job hunt app, work on the networking, update the linked in, tweet more, then link my twitter to my blog to my linked in to my site back to my facebook, etc. Then produce an actual, physical portfolio, crunch my resume to one page, and move on to the snail mail tactic.
So Goodbye for now, online job boards and generic email addresses, i've got to get back to work ;)
I'M NOT ALONE! good to know. it offers some really helpful information about the online vs offline job search. also about resumes, and how to best handle interview questions, etc. (granted you are offered the interviews first)
Well it definitely sheds some light on the whole job hunt situation - a sparkle of hope, if you will. Also a little frustrating to discover that i've been wasting a LOT of time going about the hunt all 'wrong', but it does give me a new outlook, and i'll chalk it up to experience, right?
Somehow managed to spend the last 2 full months of my life on and off job hunting, thinking i was doing everything possible. I've spent hours upon hours online joining all the job boards I can get my hands (err my mouse ? ) on, and then days going through the overwhelming clutter that is my inbox. I've even been stalking craigslist, yes craigslist, and then spending even MORE hours upon hours tailoring resumes, writing cover letters, and composing emails - all to no avail. I have to admit, it's a bit discouraging. Then i read this:
"5 Reasons Your Job Hunting Isn't Going Well, #5: You are not as productive as you think you are" Ah HA. Apparently, job hunting IS a full time job. I think i knew that all along... but i needed a vacation.
Among the other reasons for an online job hunt to not go well are not making it personal, and looking where everyone else is looking. Ahh the rapid growth and subsequent dependency on the internet, both a blessing and a curse.
BUT, there is hope. Another article on the blog: "10 Uncommon Job Hunt Tactics That Work", include trying snail mail (what IS that?) , being nice (hmm..), anddd - WRITE A BLOG! yes, i am on the right track.
There's also an example of a guy who work at a deli and wrapped his resume in all the sandwiches - he ended up getting 5 interviews and 4 offers in one week. I'll have to be creative..
Well next step for me is getting all my stuff in sync - clean up the facebook, add the job hunt app, work on the networking, update the linked in, tweet more, then link my twitter to my blog to my linked in to my site back to my facebook, etc. Then produce an actual, physical portfolio, crunch my resume to one page, and move on to the snail mail tactic.
So Goodbye for now, online job boards and generic email addresses, i've got to get back to work ;)
Thursday, January 7, 2010
Let's try this again..
i've never really considered myself a 'blogger'. i mean, i have enough social networking sites to follow and to be quite honest i really can't fit anymore bookmarks into my toolbar. twitter, facebook, flickr, picassa, monster, linked in, gmail, shutterfly, yahoo, and other people's blogs, etc- how much is too much too much?? besides, anyone can do blog about anything, and i've never had anything interesting enough to share with the world that i couldn't just follow on other people's blogs. right?
so, with the exception of the blog we HAD to start for a web design class, and the blog our senior graphic design class began as a self-sufficient networking opportunity and organized rebellion to the senior Graphic Design curriculum, and the group blog a few friends started as an effort to keep in touch with the goings on in each other's lives, i've never actually given blogging a REAL shot.
BUT, new city, new year - seems like a good time to re-direct my focus. also seems like a good way to network and follow other artists, always a refreshing source of ideas and inspiration. that said, i think it's time to delete the myspace, clean up the facebook (sigh), and bookmark the linked in. here goes nothing
so, with the exception of the blog we HAD to start for a web design class, and the blog our senior graphic design class began as a self-sufficient networking opportunity and organized rebellion to the senior Graphic Design curriculum, and the group blog a few friends started as an effort to keep in touch with the goings on in each other's lives, i've never actually given blogging a REAL shot.
BUT, new city, new year - seems like a good time to re-direct my focus. also seems like a good way to network and follow other artists, always a refreshing source of ideas and inspiration. that said, i think it's time to delete the myspace, clean up the facebook (sigh), and bookmark the linked in. here goes nothing
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