Social Networking and Marketing

The speaker for today's job club was someone who does marketing and advertising. She talked about the pros and cons of social media and how you can use it to market yourself. There is little privacy with social media and employers use social networking like Facebook to investigate applicants. If you have your address listed, people can use google maps to see where you live. Bottom line is be careful what you post on networking sites. You can use it to your advantage by posting photos that give a positive image of yourself to employers. The representative suggested that you highlight where you come from with a photo. For example, those in the Pacific Northwest should have a photo with a tree in it, be dressed in casual attire and have a dog. A black lab or golden retriever is preferable. She even said borrow someone's dog if necessary.

It seems to me there is a lot of game playing in looking for a job. I want to present myself in a genuine and honest manner.

I had a chance to show her my portfolio and business card to get feedback. She gave me some tips to improve my business card. She said the design should focus people's attention to the upper left corner first. She said her eyes were drawn to the saying I have which is in the bottom right.













She was impressed with my portfolio. One of her favorite pictures was the one I took of my cat through a glass door. Several people have favorably commented on this one.

Job Club

I attended two more job clubs at Worksource in Tacoma. There were three employers at one and they explained what their business was and what they were looking for in applicants. ACS, UPS and Worksource were there. The ACS representative explained the old school of thought at his company about hiring "over qualified" people. They used to think that they'd lose money on people who had a lot of experience because they would pay to train these people who would leave in a couple of months for a better job. The representative was one of the employees who changed the company's mind. ACS likes to promote from within the company but if you don't have the "over qualified" people, there won't be anyone from within to promote. They also discussed the pros and cons of hiring young people and the advantages of hiring older people. Younger people may have a lot of enthusiasm but may not have good customer service skills. Older people are used to work schedules, deadlines and dealing with customers.

The second job club had a representative from Goodwill Industries who explained all the resources that Goodwill provides to job seekers including in depth resume writing, interviewing, hands on training for retail and other industries. I have enrolled in Job bait which helps you market yourself in a concise and targeted manner.  Several people said that this workshop could help me in the graphic design field.

After next Monday I will know and post what I experienced.

Portfolio

I revised my portfolio and reprinted the pictures using my printer and better paper. The image below was added as a cover.

Job Club II

Last Thursday I attended another Job Club at Worksource in Tacoma. The topic was how we deal with the daily stresses of life as well as the stress of being unemployed and looking for work. The speaker didn't show up so we didn't have a presentation but a couple of other Worksource personnel filled in. I think we had a good discussion. One woman almost dominated the conversation but she made me think of what I learned in the Human Relations in the Workplace class I took at Pierce. The workplace is made up of different personality types and they all have something to offer from their perspective and how they think. I could see she is the type who focuses on concrete ideas. She keeps herself going by identifying what she needs and the resources available that she can use and makes lists. I could see her asset as organizing resources for teams or organizations. She would be good at reporting on progress for projects, assessing resources needed and laying out timelines.


The basic ideas that came out of Thursday's discussion about how we deal with stress was that one has to keep a positive attitude and think about what one can do in spite of adversity and obstacles one runs into. The Worksource personnel talked about how a downturn places stress on those laid off as well as those left behind. Those left behind have to work twice or three times as hard because they are doing the work of more people.


The Worksource personnel pointed out how the Worksource office is made of different organizations that don't share the same database and don't necessarily talk to each other. However, there are workshops and orientations that help people navigate the resources available. They also talked about how budget constraints means fewer personnel to provide the same services. The legislature is threatening to cut some services and almost completely wiped out the Dislocated Workers Program otherwise known as WIA. We all talked about how we can't get good jobs without education and the country can't compete globally without an educated workforce. One person pointed out that employers are having a tough time finding well trained, experienced workers.


I'm one of those that was able to go to school thanks to the Dislocated Workers Program. I think it's really short sighted to cut education and assistance that helps people find jobs or improve their skills to get a good job.


Before I left, I had the opportunity to show my portfolio to more people and handed out my business card.

Contracts

It seemed to me that in dealing with clients, the sticking points were contracts and pricing. Then I read a tip on the AIGA site which basically advised presenting a contract with confidence. If you seem unsure the client will pick that up and become wary of the contract. I realized I was expecting the client to hesitate on the contract so of course I've been running into problems.

I am now taking what I see on the AIGA site, GAG and other resources on the web to write my own contract. Terms that I will not compromise on are "agree" and "agreement". The rest can be negotiated as appropriate for the assignment. The plan is to have one boiler plate document that can be customized for each client and assignment.

There are several boiler plate contracts in the Graphic Artist's Guild Handbook but if my eyes are glazing over when I read them then how can I explain the sections to the clients?  So I'm creating a document that can be better understood by me and the client.

The other tip I got from the AIGA site was to present a contract in a professional manner. Have a folder and use nice paper not cheap copy paper.

Life is an Adventure

I have three contracts to write. Finished one yesterday for a business card design and logo and was scheduled to meet the client this Friday at a restaurant. He also has a possible job offer for me. The client didn't show because he wasn't feeling well. We are rescheduled for next Friday to go over the contract. I suggested a teleconference to discuss the job offer and figure if I get the job then doing the business card and logo would just be part of my job working for him.

All was not lost. I had a nice meal and then went to a wine tasting where I showed off my portfolio and handed out my business card as well as getting a free massage and makeover. Fun was had by me.