Time For A Change...

One thing about the workforce today that has become quite bothersome to me is the fact that everything is sooo what’s the word… no longer interpersonal.

I remember some years ago you could walk into an office talk to the secretary or even the employer that was hiring IF you were lucky. They would give you an application, you would fill it out on the spot or bring it back and they would be able to associate your application with your face. Some cases you were offered a job within a few days if you made a good first impression which is EVERYTHING.

Now the process is completely different and I wonder was the change for the better?

Present day would go something like this…I would more than likely be greeted by a secretary but there will be no applications available to fill out, instead I would get this spill “Yes, we have positions available and what you should do is go to our website www.wedontcaretoknowyou.com look at open positions and apply and if we are interested we will call you mmmm… how about Never!  Of course I may have embellished a bit on the website and such but you get my drift.

After visiting a bunch of company websites, going through creating profiles upon profiles, clicking the submit button and waiting.. I can’t help but wonder is my application being added to the heap of dusty unviewed resumes and applications?

 Then that evil little monster on my shoulder whispers “your resume is lost in the chaos, its voice is gone and the opportunity to see your face in an interview is slim to none.”

It’s a good thing that I’m not one to give up =) I figure what God has for me is for ME! It’s human nature to get disappointed or at times be inpatient but the more I learn patience the more confident I feel that when the time is right all this waiting will be WORTH it ALL

Can we talk?

The question is can we talk? (no, I'm not talking about Tevin Campbell's Hit "Can we talk?" lol 

 Would you introduce me to your people? Would you have your people call my people so they could in turn call me? You must be thinking…would she stop with the questions already? Ok, ok, ok =) just making a point that if there is anything that I have learned in the real world it’s not what you know it’s WHO you know and quite frankly I need to know more people.

 That is exactly why I created this blog to connect with others that may share the same struggle of job searching (let’s face it, I’m not the ONLY one in this predicament but at times it sure feels that way).

President Obama even acknowledges that the world has changed in The State of the Union speech last night. He addressed that one of the main issues is providing jobs for the American people. Knowing that I'm not in this boat alone provides me with some comfort but at the same time a sense of urgency to make myself stand out in the crowd.

The one thing that keeps me going is having faith that God will provide, things will improve and landing a job will be the ending result.

 I’m here to network, network, and network! So, aren’t you interested in getting to know me? So, if you know somebody that knows somebody that is willing to give this talented individual a chance…then what are you waiting for?…LETS TALK  

Don’t forget to share my blog on your blogs, Facebook, twitter, MySpace or just spread the word even if it’s by word of mouth.

Hope you have a great day and for all those job seekers out there …happy job searching!

Insecurely confident: Job search frustrations

First of all I want to thank you for stopping by and checking out my very first blog entry! Welcome. Basically, I wanted to speak on my job search frustrations and how I feel somewhat stuck in a never ending labyrinth that just leads to dead-end upon dead-end, more frustration and my certain urges to eat something sweet. It could always be worse… right? I imagine trying to complete the labyrinth while being harassed by David Bowie who played the Goblin King in the movie Labyrinth (he totally freaked me out), his hideous wardrobe, and his goblins and let’s not forget the singing. Oh the horror, what normal person could function and stay focused under those circumstances?

Focus. Now back to the topic at hand. Some of you may be wondering why I titled it insecurely confident, well let me explain.

Since I was a little girl I was encouraged by my parents to excel in my studies and to go to college because with an education the sky is the limit. Does that saying ring a bell to any of you? I’m sure I’m not the only one that’s heard it but I did exactly that and  I listened to my parents, was on the A-B honor roll, got a full ride academic/soccer scholarship and off to college I went. Four years passed, I’m standing in my cap and gown with degree in hand and super excited I’m ready to take the world by storm. At that very moment if you were to ask me if I felt insecure I’d say Absolutely not if ask if I were confident, well yes indeed… this degree was going to give me the upper hand, I’m of value and I’m going to get my DREAM job A.S.A.P.

Man oh man I was soooooo naïve of the real world and once I got a taste of REALITY I quickly realized everything isn’t smooth sailing. I started to work but it was nothing in relation to my field of study but I had independence and felt like an adult. One thing I wasn’t too excited about was this thing called BILLS and another doozie ….drum roll please… and RENT…ugh who invented these monsters anyway?

Back to the journey of finding me… the days turned to weeks and weeks to months and months to years and so on and so on and I realized one thing. I’m not happy. I promised myself I would not be an individual working a job just to get the bills paid. I want to actually obtain a job that doesn’t feel like work, ultimately land my dream job (media or fashion related). Then one day I made a career change and started a new job and just months into adjusting to my new environment disaster hit and I like many other people around the world was LAID OFF due to pay cuts. Who would’ve thought this would happen, I’ve never been laid off before…what do I do? I start to diligently job search daily, making accounts for careerbuilder.com, monster.com, employFlorida.com and the list goes on. Typing in keys words such as news stations, media, on-air talent, search for the next VJ (hey why not), journalism, production assistant anything that I figured that would get my foot in the door. I even tried internships but even with that I was at a disadvantage. I’m a college graduate. Do you know how many times I got sick of seeing this “must be currently enrolled in an accredited university, receive college credit in exchange for hours worked and blah  blah blah?” Am I not worthy of getting the opportunity to obtain more knowledge in areas that I’m opened to gaining more experience? I am opened to internships and I’m opened to starting somewhere other than the top. I’m willing to put in the hard work and progressively climb upward until I feel I’ve reached a place where I can say I feel accomplished. It doesn’t stop there because I’m always striving to be better and learning is one thing I’d never retire from. There is always room to learn.

This is where insecurity sinks in when I apply job after job after job, when I feel confident that this one is THE ONE and no calls or I get those cute little cards back from the local stations saying we have received your application and it’s under review and then what…..absolutely nothing. If once you don’t succeed, dust yourself off and try again. Hence, the title insecurely confident because I am human and doubts will enter one’s mind when things take longer than we expect. The beauty of it all is that I know who I am and IF given the chance, picking me as the top candidate will not be a decision to regret. Am I perfect? By all means no, but I can tell you this, I’m passionate, hardworking, creative and most of all a team player.

Job searching is frustrating because I feel that some employers are not looking at the fact that my degree should counts for SOMETHING. I feel like those contestants that audition on American Idol…employers look at me I have the golden ticket, send me to Hollywood!

 I also feel that my lack of experience to them by not having 5-10yrs experience under my belt employers may view me as a liability. Or in some cases I feel they don’t have the time or money to go toward training an individual that may be in my shoes. Life is about taking risk…so why not see me as a risk worth taking?  I may not have the experience but I did study mass communications and all the components it takes to air a successful television/radio show, photography and produce a great paper to be published for four years.  I’m full of creative ideas and just for the record even the candidates that possess the desired years of experience are not all knowing and they too are exposed to new things. That’s just some food for thought.

Whew….glad I got that off my chest it’s time for a break so I’m just going to sit here and refrain from eating something sweet. Instead I’ll opt to daydream of all the endless possibilities as I drift away and hear the every so encouraging words of my parents resound in my ears and say “never stop dreaming, keep your eyes on the prize and lastly the sky is the limit!”

Thanks for paying attention and the journey goes on….next stop according to my GPS as that all so familiar voice states “recalculating make a U-turn"and get ready to do it all over again…job searching here I come!!!