A different approach to job hunting: building your network and free work

By in Personal Development

You’ve been rewarded throughout your entire life for showing up and playing or working hard. You got yourself involved during your school years and managed to get through it all with decent grades and only $50,000 in debt. You’re a new grad – eager and passionate and deserving of a well-paying, intellectually-stimulating job, right?

Welcome to the real world. It doesn’t take long to realize that you’re competing with more than just classmates born within the same calendar year. You won’t be rewarded for just showing up anymore and you’ll need to prove that you deserve that dream job – but how?

Build and use your network

The easiest way to find a great job is through your existing connections and network. Get the word out on what you are interested in and what your skill sets are. Blasting a hundred resumes to various employers may yield something but the odds of that job being something you are passionate about is slim to none.

A great way to build relationships in an industry is by offering free work.

Embrace the idea of Free Work

Many people can justify spending thousands and thousands of dollars on a degree but couldn’t fathom the idea of working for free for a few months to gain much needed experience and relationships.

Charlie Hoehn describes free work in his e-book as being different than an internship. In an internship, the employer usually feels they are doing the intern a favour and the intern is usually force fed mundane work and rarely given any real responsibility.

Free work is done strategically. You are able to research an industry and employer that you are genuinely interested in and propose a project that you will be passionate about.

Charlie mentioned the importance of removing all risk from the employer – not just financial. He recommends doing this by arranging a remote working environment. Not only are you working for free, but since you are not working at the office they will not have to worry about any overhead or training that would be involved.

—

There are jobs out there. If you are struggling to find a job you are passionate about start asking why. Reevaluate how you are approaching your search and spend your downtime more productively than watching reruns of Golden Girls all day.

Read full story · Comments { 2 }

The Beginning of my Minimalist Lifestyle: Starting with the 100 Things Challenge

By in Rants

I’ve never been one to throw things out – or to go without for that matter. I’ve always been surrounded by “stuff” growing up and although I’m in no means complaining about that, I have recently been admiring many people who live a much simpler life. People who are able to up and relocate without problem.

So to kick off my attempt at a (somewhat) minimalist lifestyle, I’ve decided to go ahead with the 100 Things Challenge by David Michael Bruno. This is a challenge to only keep 100 personal items.

Naturally, things that are used by the household aren’t included – such as furniture, TV, etc. Also, books are not counted, and you are able to combine some items – including socks and underwear. The idea is to live minimal, not to have to go a day with inside-out undies.

So, without further ado, my personal items:

1. Macbook, including gear such as mouse and charger.
2. External hard drive
3. Headset, with mic (really needs replacing)
4. Headset, no mic
5. Digital Camera, Canon
6. Cell phone, Blackberry
7. Wallet
8. Watch, although it’s broken right now. I remember the day it happened.
9. Sunglasses
10. Note book, black, for notes.
11. Note book, blue, for brainstorming
12. Backpack, books and laptop
13. Backpack, for the gym
14. Jackknife
15. Razor, Gillette Fusion Power
16. Electric razor kit
17. Shaving Cream
18. Deodorant
19. Toothbrush
20. Tweezers
21. Chap sticks (combining)
22. Flip Flops
23. Running Sneakers
24. Vibram 5-fingers KSO’s, I’m going to be upset when Winter comes and I have to take these off.
25. Black Casual Shoes (really needs replacing)
26. Black Dress Shoes (also really needs replacing)
27. Nike Casual Shoes
28. Coat, black.
29. Jacket, grey
30. Scarf, brown
31. Scarf, red
32. Winter hat
33. Winter gloves
34. Belt, black
35. Belt, brown
36. Swimming trunks, blue
37. Swimming trunks, red
38. Shorts, White
39. Shorts, light brown
40. Shorts, lighter brown
41. Shorts, dark brown
42. Shorts, darker brown
43. Shorts, sports
44. Shorts, sports
45. Shorts, sports
46. Jeans
47. Jeans
48. Jeans
49. Dress pants, black
50. Dress pants, tan
51. Pants, black
52. Pants, tan
53. Pants, Pajama, black and white (I remember when I used to have so many of these)
54. Hoodie, black.
55. Dress shirt, red
56. Dress shirt, blue
57. Dress shirt, black
58. Dress shirt, white
59. Dress shirt, striped
60. Button down shirt, black
61. Button down shirt, brown
62. Sports coat, linen, black
63. Sport coat, striped
64. Tie, purple
65. Tie, black and white
66. Polo, blue
67. Polo, red
68. Polo, brown
69. Polo, red
70. Tank, red
71. Tank, blue (why do I still have these?)
72. Long sleeve shirt, black & grey
73. Long sleeve shirt, blue
74. Long sleeve shirt, white
75. Long sleeve shirt, brown
76. Long sleeve shirt, black
77. Long sleeve shirt, grey
78. Long sleeve shirt, old, for around the house
79. Argyle sweater, black & red
80. Argyle sweater, white
81. Sweater, white
82. Sweater, Grey
83. Jersey, old NS jersey (can’t seem to part with it)
84. T-shirt, grey
85. T-shirt, black
86. T-shirt, black
87. T-shirt, black
88. T-shirt, red
89. T-shirt, green
90. T-shirt, red
91. Gym shirt, white
92. Gym shirt, white
93. Gym shirt, grey
94. Running shirt, black
95. Running shirt, black
96. Undershirts (combining)
97. Socks (combining)
98. Socks, dress (combining)
99. Underwear (combining)

I left a spot open just in case. I know this doesn’t leave a lot of room for gifts, etc. But I thought I’d start by keeping things this way until Christmas. So I can reassess then.

I must admit that this is much harder when living in a location that gets both plus 40 and minus 40 degrees. Having to balance for both seasons will be tricky, but as more sweaters are needed, I will replace some of the items I won’t be using.

Also, I’m not throwing anything out. I’m boxing it up and putting it in storage – which is down 6 flights of stairs so I likely won’t be inclined to go down and unpack it if I have the urge to play Mario Kart.

I will write a followup post on the pros and cons of my experience living like this at a later date.

For more on a minimalist lifestyle, check out Zen Habits.

Read full story · Comments { 3 }

Live happier: A different look at friendships and relationships.

By in Personal Development

I recently listened in to a call on the importance of building strategic business relationships versus general networking. The authors and entrepreneurs Keith Ferrazzi, Tim Ferriss, and Guy Kawasaki had an open conversation on how they were affected by having a close-knit group of strategic relationships and how to go about finding them.

Although this call was mainly focusing on the business-related applications of strategic relationships, it got me thinking about how people form relationships and friendships in general.

Everyone has many levels and layers of best friends, friends, associates, personal contacts, business contacts, etc. and whether or not we think about it, every time we meet a new person we form opinions about them and unconsciously place them in one of our layers and categories. People typically drift from level to level, and unfortunately we lose touch with many, but there are also many people that we should likely be keeping a little closer – but for whatever reason we don’t.

The thing that got me thinking is the amount of people that actually consider how they choose their friends and who they keep close and at a distance. Most people don’t put much thought into it, and it definitely has its effect. The people that are the closest to us have an enormous influence on our lives and it is important to understand that this influence can be both positive and negative. If you are struggling and finding yourself not as happy as you should be, try to surround yourself in people that have a positive influence on you. This may not always include your current circle of friends so it may mean you need to reach out to old friends, new acquaintances, etc.

Fortunately, I consider myself quite lucky in the sense that I have what I believe to be an excellent group of close friends on which I can rely. Unfortunately, it is impossible to be very close with a large number of people – which makes it even more important to make sure you are keeping the right people close to you. After some thought I have come up with some of the things I find extremely important in developing a close friendship and relationship.

Honesty.

It is important for someone to be able to tell you when you are out of line, or call you out on something that they disagree with. Praise from someone who is also willing to challenge you, is worth much more than If someone only ever agrees with you.

Respect.

I think this one goes without saying. Being brutally honest without being respectful can hurt. It is important that they show respect and are able to be critical, but constructive.

Dependability.

If you were in a crisis, whether personally, professionally, or emotionally and reached out to a friend to get together for a chat over dinner would they make time for you?

I’m not saying that it has to happen all the time, or that you even need to spend a lot of time together, but are they willing to make time for you when you need it? Or do they only ever seem to appear when it is convenient for them?

Motivating.

I’m sure you have experienced people that make you feel motivated or inspired when you are around them. For whatever reason, they have an aura that makes you want to strive to be the best. These are the people in particular that you want surrounding you, but are unfortunately harder to find.

—

Losing touch sucks. I’ll be the first to admit that I have lost touch with many great friends that I wish I could have kept closer. I know with a relocation coming up there will likely be more shifting of people from layer to layer which is I guess why I started to think of it. If you’re reading this and have lost touch please feel free to contact me or email me to say hi and let me know what you have been up to. I would love to catch up.

Thoughts and comments are always welcome and encouraged.

Read full story · Comments { 1 }