Broadway's Dark Tonight

This past weekend I made my first trip to the great Midwest.  After we rushed to get to our plane with less than an hour to spare to get to our gate, we were greeted by pleasant people.  Growing up in the Northeast, you take for granted when someone is nice to you, and sometimes even look at them with suspicion.  However, the good midwest folks don't feel that way and they are generally nice people with big hearts.

Our trip was to serve two purposes, one to get me to my first professional football game, and two to see where my significant other grew up.  When we checked into the Detroit Marriott at the Renaissance Center we were excited by the location and they put us on the 70th floor.  This is the highest standing hotel in the Western Hemisphere and the home of the GM Headquarters. Our view was amazing, and we unpacked and headed to Greektown.  We enjoyed a meal at the Parthenon, and then hit up the casino where we donated a few dollars to them.

Our entertainment began when we returned to the room and got a full detail of our neighbor's sex life.  It was mildly entertaining for a few minutes.  However, they were fighting until 4 am or later.  They woke up around 10 am (we knew this due to the paper thin walls) and their pleasant loud conversation continued.  They left for someplace and then we went back to sleep.  We slept in till 1 pm, and got up and changed rooms.  We went off to explore the Detroit metro area by car, where I got to see the various places that my significant other had lived.  We even looked at houses which there were plenty.

I think what struck me the most, was that we didn't see many people until Sunday afternoon for the Detroit Lions game.  I was told that the city of Detroit went from one that was 2 million to now only 800,000.  The previous economy was factories, where the good people of Detroit would build American cars for the nation.  The manufacturing economy is gone, and now we're a service economy.  Many buildings sit empty, and the street "broadway" is dark.  It was sad, and what they need, is what most of the country needs... JOBS.  It was sad to see, but underneath the sadness their remains hope.

It's my hope that Detroit, and other cities like it rebound, when our legislators quit their fighting and actually start doing something.  They need to create tax incentives for businesses to set up shop in places like Detroit to make it worth their while.  I am for Obama's job plan, because I want our country to be successful.

A year later.. some reflection

So it's been nearly a year in my current position and I have to say it's been quite the learning experience. The technology business that serves the non-profit professional is an interesting and challenging one. We provide our technology to the non-profits to help them generate non-dues revenue through their online career centers. Now this could be through an employer posting a position or even a job seeker asking for a resume critique.

Overall, online job postings are up year over year. However, it's not back to the glory days when employers were having difficulties finding candidates for their positions. Instead the job seeker market is flooded and it can be a challenge to sort through the best and most qualified candidates. That's where I come into play, I provide our clients with marketing support to boost their non-dues revenue. In addition to this, I am responsible for writing a weekly e-newsletter and all other corporate communications.

We're hoping that we're in the throws of the recovery on a personal and professional level. It's good for all of us if the employers are hiring and boosting the economy.

The Great Working Man's Hero???

Steven Slater, Flight Attendant for Jet Blue did what many people have wanted to do. He pulled the escape hatch and went down the emergency slide. While many people are touting him as a working man's hero, I have to disagree.

Here is why I don't think Steven Slater is a hero:

1. Everyone has a bad day, whether your an employee or a customer. If you're in the buisness of customer service you should have the customer in mind first.
2. Yes you were assulted, but people who work in daycare, educational and healthcare system experience much worse.
3. Instead of bringing any concerns up to management, he ran away.

So this gent is now overwhelmed by media attention.... Do you know what I say? Why don't you run away Mr. Slater?

One Year Anniversary

Tomorrow marks the one year anniversary of my unemployment. I am very lucky to be one of the one's who is now employed. I can't help but reflect on the things that I have learned from the experience of being unemployed and losing my longtime pet Spike.

1) Even the most dependable things can be unpredictible.

I never imagined that I would have to put my dog down in September. I got to spend three great months with him while I wasn't working. I am greatful for having him in my life, and I am better for it.

2) Always trust your gut instinct

I suspected that I was going to be laid off for more than a month. It was because of this paranoia, which turned out to be true that I saved and saved my money. I was in a much better position than those that didn't expect it and I was able to collect unemployment to help stem the tide while I searched for a job.

3) A job search is a full time job.

I spent my days of being unemployed soley focused on achieving the goal of finding a job that I would like. I am happy with the results of my many hours of searching for a position. I did this by spending time on Indeed.com, Career Builder, WashingtonPost.com and ASAE. In addition to this, I worked my network contacts via email, LinkedIn, and Facebook.

4) Unemployment can be funemployment.

If it's brief and you have an awesome support system. Without the support and love of my family and friends I feel I would not be where I am today. I was able to do things that I hadn't been able to in a long time, go to the pool, workout, hike, enjoy long lunches with friends, visit my family for a week. All of these are good things, and helped me throughout the stress of being unemployed.

5) Love can happen even in the most unexpected circumstances.

I am approaching my one year anniversary of unemployment, as well as, the one with my current partner. I never expected to meet someone while being unemployed. I also never expected this person to stick around when they found out about my situation. This person is very special and wonderful in so many ways and I can't thank the higher powers enough for alligning our paths. Today we share a beautiful, full, rich life that is plentiful in laughs and love. I couldn't ask for a greater guy!

This concludes the reflection on the year in review. Hope you enjoyed it!

Things that I have learned from watching Soap Operas

You can fake your own death

I can't tell you how many characters on the ABC Network that have died, only to be resurrected.

You can kidnap babies

This is something that nearly all soaps do. You think it's simple like boy and girl meet, fall in love and then comes baby. However, it's most definitely not that simple. Boy and girl meet, fall in love. Girl and/or boy cheat on one another and then the plot thickens and baby gets kidnapped. Then...

It may be a girl or it may be a boy

Once the baby is kidnapped, they have to hide it in plain sight. As if the mother of a child won't recognize their own kid. I guess it could happen in real life, but it's really hard for me to suspend my disbelief.

You can get married, divorced, remarried, divorced, married to another over and over again

Last week on One Life to Live Vicki and Nora got married again for like the 100th time each, I swear!

Soap operas are very much escapism

In the era of the gloom and doom of the economy, I guess its always nice to watch something that makes you feel as though your life just isn't that bad.

That's it for now. :)

Job Search Etiquette

Recently, I have had the pleasure of catching up with my friends with the unemployment status. I have a few friends that have been laid off or their positions were eliminated and we were discussing the Job Search Etiquette. As a job searcher, there are a few things that you want to do to maintain your professionalism and ensure that your own personal brand is not damaged. With the job market being what it is the employers are in a position of power. This position is something that they were not accustomed to until the recession hit us all in a major way. That is the one with the upper hand.

As a non-profit professional, I have had many different roles. One of the audiences that I worked with was the Human Resource professionals at an association for electric cooperatives. I would write content for the conferences based on "Succession Management" which is under the premise that there is going to a be a shortage of talent in the workforce. However, right now the opposite is true, especially in the Greater Washington DC Metro Area. The geographic location will determine where you fall in the unemployment rate, and from what I am hearing in the news it is significantly lower than the national average. On top of this, DC is known for it's over-educated professionals. Yes, it's official, we love to learn.

So the employers are in power and as a result, the job searcher is very frustrated. Why? It's hard to get your resume noticed in the pile of 20 - 400 applicants depending on the position. Nonetheless, is this a direct result of job searchers "spraying and praying" their resumes or employers desire to leave the job open and pool as many candidates.

Let's just say that your application does take notice of your resume and asks you for an interview. This is fantastic news, you're on your way to the road of employment again. This interview can last anywhere from 30 minutes up to a full day. That's right and even after you spend all this time with an employer do you know what the kicker is? They may not even contact you to let you know the status of the position. You are then caught in what I like to call "Job Purgatory." This is someplace between interviews and securing your job. You may even be so motivated or inclined to follow up with the employers yourself, but guess what? The majority of the time they won't even bother to respond to your inquiries. Where is the employer job follow up etiquette gone? And why won't these places let me know whether they would like to hire me? And so I will continue to wait... till Job Purgatory ENDS!

Hoping for a job miracle...

Officially, I have been on the job hunt since June 2, 2009. However, I saw the writing on the wall and had applied for some positions prior to that. Once I lost my job, I obviously opened up the floodgates to sending out the resume. It's been a frustrating, humbling, long and involved process.

I have been on 4 in person interviews, and have had 4 phone interviews. What do I have to show for this? A shrinking bank account. I am trying to remain positive about one of my 4 in person interviews as I believe it would be a fantastic opportunity and a great career path. I have a friend who works there, which along with my qualifications is how I landed the interview there. She was on vacation when I went for my interview. We caught up yesterday and I told her I thought it went well but that the hiring manager was going through some more interviews.

I think the hardest and most difficult part about job hunting while unemployed is the waiting game. Unfortunately, the employers have the power. They are the ones who can take their sweet time returning your phone calls, your emails and a lot of them don't even follow up. I mean what happened to human decency? I have sent an email and left a voice mail for an organization that I spent 6 hours of my life with. I will never get those 6 hours back, nor will I probably get this job. It's unfortunate because here's the deal: people are not going to go "off" on you if you tell them that you're not wanting to hire them. The job market is tough and it would be nice to know what it is that you're competing against or why you didn't make the cut.

Tales of the Unemployed

This week marks my third week since my position being eliminated. It's been a rocky week, but I have tried to stay busy by applying to jobs, holding phone interviews and seeking some part-time freelance work. I have yet to be successful in landing any freelance or permanent positions so if you know of anyone looking for a Marketing Rockstar please contact me! (that was a subtle and shameless hint).

This weekend I am volunteering to work at a local event that I think everyone should check out! It's called Brew Fest and it's hosts many local and non local breweries. I went to the Fall version of this festival a few years ago and discovered the glory that is Chocolate Cake Donut Beer. I had never really been a dark/stout beer fan but a few sips of this was enough to convert me! So when I received the email asking for volunteers I sent out a message to all my crew. I was successful in recruiting a willing participant. We'll head down there to take tickets. If you're there you should stop by and say hi!

I am incredibly grateful for the support of my friends, colleagues and family. Sometimes it's hard to distinguish who is who. To all my fellow unemployed peeps: We will get a good job! We will!

Free Webinar's and the Interview Scene

The social networking site Linked in has a section for events. I was poking around on the site last week when I noticed one of my former co-workers was attending a webinar on web content management. I signed up as well, and figured it wouldn't hurt to continue to learn more about talking the talk of web content management. It was put on by SiteWorks who began the event announcing that they think the economy is recovering because both they and their clients are hiring. They urged those of us looking for new opportunities to check out their site to explore their open positions. I have to say that the webinar was informative and interesting but really was a large commercial for their services.

If you're looking for work check them out. I wish you the best in your quest to land that great job. My new mantra is: I am going to get a great job! Embrace it!