After a long list of applications, a few weeks in Portland, and some interesting job prospects, I thought I’d reflect a little bit:
It seems as though the economy is picking up slightly, but many people who are looking for employment are overqualified for the jobs available, or not qualified for the large number of high-end corporate jobs. (There’s aton of ads for senior executive, company VP, etc.) I interviewed for a web content editor position, and asked about my competition in getting the job. The answer was that candidates ranged from college students all the way up to previous business owners and people with 25+ years experience at a similar job. Not very promising, eh? BUT, this company did specify that they are leaning toward younger employees with new, fresh ideas.
I have been looking at many different career websites (craigslist, indeed.com, monster, simplyhired, jobdango, careerbuilder… the list goes on) and most jobs that I end up being interested in are very specialized. Lots of product description writing– how exciting. But a promising trend is the large number of startup websites looking for help. Trapit is one site generator website that “traps” content based on an interest you have- somewhat like Stumbleupon, but different. Worth checking out.
Besides that, there are some strrrrr-rrrange postings on craigslist. It seems as though many reality TV shows are filmed here: if I look for media jobs in the category for “tv/film/video” all I find is casting calls for (many, many) adult films, or, even weirder, ads looking for people with certain characteristics: “my strange addiction,” “secretly pregnant,” “I have a secret online identity,” and “I don’t get along with my inlaws.” So, at least I have a backup option.
(kidding!!) My best backup option is writing about drinking beer. That’s what all the other struggling journalists do out here.
settling UP 