Surfing (F)un-employment

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 patriar...

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.

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 m...

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 Belitt...

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 philo...

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.

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 t ravel 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 host...

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 ...

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...

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 (...

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...

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?

"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 ...

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.

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...

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?

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, ...