Dear Friends,

Dear Friends,

I got a job.

I will post the specifics tomorrow.

Sincerely,
Me

Employer Idiots

Some people do not understand how to be employers.

Good employers give you plenty of time to be prepared. They do not call you and ask you to come in immediately. Especially employers that are looking for a freelancer like me.

I was asked if I could go to a fair in my area today. Uhhhh. Why didn't you ask me yesterday so that I could be prepared.

I was asked if I could go right away. Granted, this is for someone that hasn't given me a cent, nor offered me a cent. Which means I'm not all that inclined to drop everything and obey.
Now, I realize that sometimes you have to put in your due. But, it is never up to the employee to begin talks about money. It is always up to the employer to at least begin the conversation.

It can be simple, something like, "what are you expecting financially from this gig."

It can be something intense like "I'm giving you $50 for every story."

It should never be nothing. When you don't get paid, that's called volunteer work. That's great to put on a resume if you're I don't know, 16 years old.

People are not looking to volunteer if they are not over the age of 65. Baby boomers can be volunteers. New college graduates, well, not so much.

Honestly, I cannot wait to be on the other side of the hiring table. I'm going to make it a great experience for the candidate. I'm going to want them all to want to work for me. That way, I can actually hire someone who's excited.

Well, either that or I can send them to Central America to do some work at a church or dormitory.

At least then they can put it on their college application.

But people need money right now. Offering to not pay isn't going to give you a good employee. It'll give you one that resents you.

(How about that game! Thanks Google images!)

The Gun In The Guitar Case

I think I have a job lead.

It all really comes from networking. I read somewhere yesterday in a forum or something that 90% of jobs are never posted. People network and hear about them and steal them. From me.

If an employer is posting a job, that means that:

-The employer is desperate (Desperado=desperation?)
-The employer is looking for someone with a specific set of skills
-The employer probably doesn't want to hire you

Now, while the last one is probably untrue, it does have some realism. I originally told myself that I did not want to go into journalism. I might go into it now. If I have an opportunity.

I realize that I'm probably not going to be making a huge salary. I realize that it will likely be a slightly temporary job. I don't want to be making such low money my whole life. But hey, at least I didn't hurt myself because of a raccoon.

I mean, hey my little money that I have in the stock market isn't going to help me out. It'll likely be toast tomorrow. Although that's an exaggeration. This image is from celent.com.
I don't need a lot of money. Just enough to live, still have a little fun and live. I am a fairly frugal person. I don't eat out hardly ever. There are things you can do to save money.

Of course, there are things that you can do to make money. Like get a job.

And I'm trying.

So go out and network. The more people that are in the know that you are searching for a job, the better your chances. Chances will happen. There's going to be a lot of baby boomers retiring in the next decade.

So go out and make some half-century-aged friends.

The List From The Job Expo

I went to a job expo today in the downtown convention center of the city where I reside.

It was quite an experience. To lay it straight on you, it was a terrible expo. It was clearly not directed at people of my education level, even though I only have a simplistic Bachelors of Arts.

I saw some things that were completely absurd. So, I will share with you what I saw. In a list. Believe me, you'll want to read this list. I guarantee that you will laugh (or snicker softly) at least once.

Now, before I get to the things I saw, I'd like to explain the flier for this job expo. It had a couple of key job-related info boxes. Key points said:
-Jobs ranging from entry-level to professional
-Dress professionally
-Bring copies of your resume

Now, a couple of the entry-level to professional businesses:
-Girl Scouts (Yes, those cookie people)
-Arby's (Yes the fast food "restaurant")
-Chukchansi Gold Resort and Casino (Gambling, nice)
-U-Haul (I wonder what professional jobs they have...)
-JC Penny (Seasonal jobs, not management or salespeople)
-Holiday Inn (Housekeeper)
-Foot Locker (Take "steps" to build my professional career?)
-Vons, Bed Bath and Beyond, Old Navy, Anchor Blue and Party DJ Party (Whatever the heck that is)
-Finally, my personal favorite, AM PM (Yes, the convenience store)

All they had is minimum-wage jobs and sales positions. They really had no jobs for educated people. I don't mean to be mean. But come on. Are there really people out there looking for a minimum-wage job at AM PM?

Well, here you go. Here's a list of the wonderful things that I saw at the Expo. Remember the directions about dress and resumes.

-Mohawk
-Canadian suit (Yes, complete jeans covering every inch of the person)
-Camo pants (I saw multiple of these. No one wearing them were in the army.)
-T-Shirts
-Plaid Shirts
-Guy walking around playing music from his phone
-So many polo shirts without any buttons done
-Skater shoes
-Beanies
-Hella cool gangster gaits (the way they walk)
-People stealing candy from the displays
-People stealing keychains. From the Police display.
-Guys and girls trying to pull off the color purple
-People carrying nothing (no resumes, no pens, nothing)
-Black undershirts (with white collared shirt on top)
-Baggy pants. On suit pants. With a suit.
-Crowding around the Economic Development Department booth. Not only was it the first booth, people seemed to think that they would just give you a job if you stood there long enough.
-Sandals
-Sandals with socks
-Shirt, tie, pants, professional shoes and a backwards hat
-Oakland As' jersey
-San Diego Padres jersey
-No Raiders jerseys
-Raiders tattoos (on sleeveless shirts, notice anything about the spelling in that picture from the link?)
-Woman with mullet (in a wheelchair with a dog)
-Babies (like no more than 2 weeks)
-Children
-Gold chains on the outside of tie

And, my personal favorite:
-Middle-aged Asian man with a hat that said BLACK MEN SCORE

After walking around the booths a few times, checking out the "companies," I literally went and stood off on the side and documented what I witnessed for about eight minutes.

The Expo was a joke. I stayed for an hour and a half.

I shouldn't have wasted money on that. (For parking)
The lesson is this. If you are looking for a professional job, do so at job fairs on your college campus, not at ones put on by the cities. They are ridiculous.

But, you see a lot of interesting things, that's for sure.

I Call War

Tomorrow's a big day. Well, for me.

I'm expecting a call about a job and I have a job fair.
There are two schools of thought that I can think of.

First, you can make a little bit of progress every day. Attrition, so to speak. Finding a job is war. On a side note, I hate comparisons to anything having to do with war. Pro Athletes play games. Children's games. For money. Courage is for war. Not for athletes. Or job blogs, really.

The other school of thought is to make flurries of progress in short amounts of time. That's what I do. Kind of. Mine is sort of a hybrid. Little productive battles win the war. That means I have minutes every day of extreme productivity. That's what I would do.

Prepare for these moments and then strike. Make phone calls, send e-mails and search with all the tools you know.

I have a system. I wake up, do a round of searching. Then I send out e-mails and make phone calls as needed. Then I spend some time thinking about what I'm going to have for lunch. After lunch-dreaming I focus some more. Many companies do not post jobs right in the morning.

Job posters are lazy too. They post them around 10 a.m. to 11 a.m. Right before lunch. By this time I've been thinking about lunch way too much so I'm forced to eat. Then I focus a little more. Then I write this blog. Then this blog inspires me to search some more.

Rant: I really do not like state jobs. They take way too long to apply for and there are deadlines that are usually month(s) away. That's dumb. If a good candidate comes along (like me) then hire them.

Usually every day I try something new. Sometimes it works. Many times it doesn't. But hey, that's ok.

I've got time.

But it's running out. I've got a big day tomorrow.

Prod > Productivity

Some days are more productive than others.

Like today, when I almost made $2 in the stock market. Nice.

What do you do when you feel like you're just wasting the day away, not doing anything productive? I'll tell you what you do. You plan out other days. Like tomorrow. Right now, I have a lot going on for this Thursday. (Yes, I know tomorrow is Wednesday.)

I have a career expo and I'm expecting a phone call back from a civil engineering firm on the same day.
Yesterday I made a couple of phone calls, one to a local yellow pages publisher. They were not nice. I'm not really sure why people are such jerks for no apparent reason. I literally called this one place five times and was told that the person I was trying to reach was unavailable.

I finally got fed up with that and asked when she would be available. Then the receptionist blew up. Maybe because I said she specifically always said the person was busy every time I called. Eh, that's ok. Guess I won't be getting a job there.

Ideas for "wasted" days:
-Find businesses on manta.com
-Search for other career expos
-Print out resumes
-Take speed typing tests
-Clean your room
-Send out a couple e-mails
-Apply to a couple other jobs that you find
-Follow up on a job or two
-Set goals for employment on a calendar you can see from your computer

Some of those things I did. Some I need to do. Not only does this blog inform you about job help, it also helps to focus me.

It only takes one opportunity to get a job. But it takes a heck of a lot of attrition to really find a real opportunity.

Don't be afraid to say no. I did.

Carrer LB

Well, oil went down under $100 a barrel today.

Unfortunately, Wall Street decided to continue to screw me. But, if you're in with the stocks, you know that it is a slow process. It's not an instant moneymaker. It's a gamble. Also, if you're more of a real estate person, know that traditionally, the stock market and real estate have given the same returns for investments.

However, the job search is looking slightly up. With my Internet sleuthing, I have uncovered that there is to be a Career and Education Expo in my city this week. That's good. That is something you should search for.

When I first saw the Expo, it stated that it was for workers over 18 who have limited education. But, after some digging, I uncovered a flier/news release that said that it is actually a career expo for entry-level to professional.

Right up my alley.

Expos are another resource that every job-seeker should examine and participate in. I personally have never been to one. But, after this one, I hopefully won't have to attend another one.

I'm a bit reluctant to put all my eggs in the Expo basket. I get the feeling that some employers just go there to look good. We'll see though. I've never been.

Searching on a city website is a great place to find out about career expos. Also, college career services websites are great places to look. Many college grads, I would think, would only look at their university, not specifically the city they live in.

Opportunities are out there. Kind of.



The thing that you should never do is jump at the first opportunity that comes your way. I didn't. And look at me now. I'm happily unemployed. And I'm...wait. Uh, don't jump at every opportunity that comes your way, if you can afford it.

You don't want to miss out on a sweet job.

You don't want to be miserable. Having a job is good.

Having a job you don't hate is even better.