This is going to be a productive weekend. I can feel it.
I’m leaving work early today to attend the AIGA/HOW Promotional Show and Expo. Hopefully I will meet some interesting people who can either help me in planning my department or potential talent to become part of my staff! Afterwards I will hopefully have enough time to go to the House of Blues in Anaheim to see my friend Sarah perform in her band.
This weekend I’m hoping to let me interior design aspirations take a back seat and instead, update my online portfolio. I’m about to make a purchase of 5 or so books on Business and Graphic Design on Amazon and I hope to go to Borders this weekend to do some more research.
So another “boring” weekend for any other typical 22 year old female. I can’t help that I don’t like talking to sleazy weirdo boys with only one thing on their mind!
Speaking of boys…I miss Mike…Come back to California! Maggie and I are starved for your attention.
One last note–Can I just say how amazingly blessed I am to work for the company that I work for? Thank you.
I am absolutely astounded. Our economy is falling apart around us, employees are being laid off left and right, but somehow we are begging for qualified candidates. We are desperate to hire a good SEO Account Director or SEO Copywriter and we can’t find anything.
What I really don’t understand is–if you are so desperate to find a job that you are applying to jobs you have absolutely no qualifications for, on the slight whim that a company is willing to take a chance on you and train you in what they need–wouldn’t you be sure your resume is absolutely flawless, well-written, and descriptive?
One of the resumes I received was of a woman whose resume reflects primarily desktop publishing experience. We are looking for an account director. Big difference. There was no objective. I had no idea what she wanted to do for our company, so I wrote back:
“Your resume doesn’t have an objective statement, but it shows a lot of desktop publishing work. What position are you applying for at our company?”
She writes back (and this is absolutely ALL she writes back):
“Oh, I didn’t know there was more than one position…”
Another had an obvious mass email greeting: “I feel I have the experience and skills you are looking for in the position you advertised and feel I would be an asset to UPrinting.com.” She didn’t even change the company name! Another said “Attainted certificate in Web Programming.” “Attainted?” Come on! Better yet, this same guy gave a three sentence long cover letter in his email, with the content of the third sentence being: “I am ideal for this position and am seeking $30/hr.” No way in hell we are paying you $30 an hour to spew nonsensical words such as “attainted” and make us look like asses in front of our major, A-List clients.
It’s a golden gem to find a company that is HIRING instead of FIRING during these times! Please, please, PLEASE pay attention to the things you say/type! Your resume is your first impression, don’t make it be your last as well. Don’t know how to write a resume? Yeah, not many people do. It’s as easy as a search on Google.
My Tips:
1. Spelling, Punctuation and Grammar: Yeah, remember those things you learned K-7? Well surprise, there’s a reason why it was attempted to drill it into your head for eight years. If you’ve got any SPG errors, you sure better hope you’ve got skills that are worthy, otherwise, you’re out. If I’m on the fence about you and you’ve got SPG errors: Sorry, buddy.
2. Length: Your resume should be one page long. Not including references. Don’t tell me about the paper route you had when you were 12. I really don’t care. Unless I suddenly find myself working for the LA Times. Only include positions held relevant to the one you’re trying to obtain. Keep your resume to the point, describe what you did/currently are doing for the company using action words.
3. Education: If you have a degree state what kind and where you got it from. That’s all.
4. Dates: Only listing years that you worked at a company means nothing to me. Saying “XYZ Company, Account Director, 4 years” gives me nothing. 2005-2008 is a little better, but come on. Months please! I need to know how long you’ve been unemployed or if you’re currently working with another company. This helps.
5. Objective Statement: How am I supposed to know what your goal is if you don’t have an objective statement? Are you applying for the Account Director position or the Janitorial position?
That is all for now. Happy Job Hunting…
…into my new apartment that is! I’ve gotten everything out of my house in Newport Beach and have gotten mostly everything unpacked. Next is to decorate and paint. I want to paint the living room and do an accent wall in my bedroom. After watching shows on HGTV and TLC, as well as looking at blogs on interior decorating (Elements of Style, Decor8, Design*Sponge) I’m not really sure what direction I want to go in. I really like this duvet cover. The best thing to do would probably be to find a new duvet, then plan the bedroom colors around it.
I’ve gotten really into Yelp recently. It’s a great tool when you move to a different area. I really like reading the restaurant reviews and seeing what’s the most popular dish and what to stay away from. What I haven’t found yet, is a good place for cheap produce in Koreatown/Hollywood/Mid-Wilshire. Any suggestions? Fruits and veggies loaded with pesticides are A-OK with me, I can’t afford organic.
Since gas prices are at their all-time most ridiculous levels, I’ve decided to photographically log the increase via the local Shell station about two blocks away. Since June 1 I have watched the price rise 11 cents overnight, then another 21 cents shortly after that. I thought I was just in an expensive area to purchase gas, but it’s the same price in Newport Beach and only about 10 cents less in Orange. It’s currently $4.66 in LA.
I’ve been trying to ride my bike around town. I’ll also be taking the bus to work. It’s an 11 mile drive, about an hour in LA traffic, and according to the Metro website, taking the bus will save me $5.42 each way in gas. Probably more now, those figures were most likely calculated when gas was $3.XX/gallon. Thursday evening Maggie and I took a bike ride a few blocks down to Yogurberry. As you can see from my Yelp review it wasn’t that great, but it was a nice little ride downtown. It also put into perspective how amazingly close The Wiltern is, and how seeing shows there will be great since I won’t have to deal with parking.
Tomorrow I start my new position at Infuse Creative. I’ve been their office manager for about 2.5 years now. For the next month I’ll be training to become an Account Director, working jointly with another Project Manager on two high-level, confidential accounts. I’m excited! Once I finally get completely settled in here and I’m comfortable in my new position at Infuse, I’ll be doing freelance work during my free time.
Ooh I also start my statistics class tomorrow. It’s the last class I need to fulfill my BFA.
