From the Mailbag (sorta)

My last post about what to do when you're not job hunting generated the following question:

What kind of things are you doing in your job search?

What a mighty fine question Jennifer. I mean, I suppose that is what I am here for. The answer, however, is far from universal. Everyone's process is different.

As far as I am concerned, the No. 1 priority for any job hunter should be fostering your network. As soon as you make the decision to come to New York send a personal Email to every person you know in the city. Nothing bugging them, just a simple, "Hey, I haven't seen you in forever, but I am moving to the city. We should grab drinks or coffee. Let me know when you are free." Start with your closest friends and move on down the list to looser acquaintances. But if you haven't kept in touch with somebody at all, they will most likely see right through your seemingly-friendly intentions.

More likely than not, your network is going to be the key factor in landing your first job, but that doesn't mean things can't happen another way. It's just less likely to pan out. That said, the next step I would suggest would be trying to schedule informational interviews with HR people at all the big publishing companies (Time, Hearst, Conde Nast, Meredith, Rodale, Bonnier, etc....). This gets your resume into people's hands, and employers start to become aware that you are available. Plus, there is less pressure when the interview is simply about getting to know you rather than seeing if you will fit at one particular place.

Lastly, work the Web sites. Ed has its Whisper Jobs, Mediabistro has a lot of listings (good and bad), and journalismjobs.com tends to have some smaller gigs that might slip through the cracks of those other sites. This is a necessary step, but don't let it discourage you. A lot of the work I put into blindly applying places was met with, literally, no response, but as was the case with my apartment, you never know what can happen. So this certainly shouldn't be ignored.

More than anything, it's important to remember that conventional wisdom is conventional for a reason -- but that doesn't mean there can't be exceptions to the rule. Yes, it's very hard to land a job in New York when you're not in New York. Yes, randomly Emailing or calling editors is generally a futile and fruitless effort. Yes, it's usually not "what you know, it's who you know." But that being said, I also know a Sophomore from my alma mater that took a trip to New York, randomly dialed up an editor from a travel magazine, met them for lunch, and scored himself a summer internship. And some advice givers would have told him not to even try that approach...

So take my advice for what it is -- advice, a reflection of my own personal experiences. And from those experience, mostly I have found that a positive attitude and an ability to stay relaxed and content are two of the greatest tools to helping you land a first job. I hope this helps, and I'll try to think up some more Friday Fun for everybody tomorrow.

Good luck, Jennifer! And thanks for reading.

The Sunny Side of the Street

To every Yin there is a Yang. With every cloud, a silver lining. And to every chicken, a nugget.

So it is for being jobless: There is no money, but there is loads and loads of time. To some this can be a source of madness, but just ask anybody with a job and they'll tell you -- these days of nothingness should not be taken lightly.

It's easy to stress and tell yourself every day should be spent furiously clicking through every job listing, Craigslist ad, and freelance opportunity. And yes, those are all very important things to do. But there comes a point where enough is enough. Think of the rational all your friends (or you) used to travel to Europe after graduation: "I'll never have an opportunity like this again."

Well the same goes for you Jobby McWantsone!

Just last week I took one of my free days and decided to visit the Met. I had never been there before and payment is optional (or that's the rumor anyway), so it seemed like the perfect adventure. It turned out I was able to get in without paying -- though I still don't know if that was allowed or not? -- and it ended up being a really inspiring experience. It was wild to view some of the pieces from a writer's perspective; trying to analyze how you could incorporate those same visual elements that make the piece work into a written medium.

OK, maybe a bit too deep for ya, but the point is there is all sorts of great trouble to get into around this city. And once you get a job, your options instantly become 1,294 times less available to you. Exactly. I did the math.

So don't get over zealous and forget your purpose -- finding a job -- but when you are all Emailed out, don't be afraid to be a tourist for a day. And if you are still bored, just listen to me already and figure out a way to watch King of Kong!!

What's Up with Ed??

So I did a little digging for those of you wondering about the status of Ed's main site (which has been down for about a week now). Apparently the service provider has temporarily pulled the plug for God-knows what list of reasons possibly pertaining to "over use" or some mumbo jumbo. Basically, yes, it's the man trying to keep Ed down.

But worry not. Ed's crack staff is working diligently to try and get things back up and running. He even got a note from his mommy saying he could participate in all school activities.

Hope is to have things back up soon. But in the meantime, you can just hang out here. Fire's burning hot and you know I've got marshmallows. A friend should be here with some grahams and Hershey bars soon, and I heard Billy brought his guitar for some sing alongs....

Oops!

Ed is currently unavailable. You didn't think he worked a Spring Break into his contract?

I will try to get an answer to what is going wrong with the site and I'll get back to you when I hear anything. Until Ed returns, may I reccomend The King of Kong. It's a fabulous/hilarious/tragic/downright-nerdy documentary about the world's greatest Donkey Kong players. (Netflix subscribers: I was able to play it right on my computer)