The real exclusivity of New York City?

Unless I'm already from New York, do I have any chance at working in the city/becoming BFF with Bethany Frankel in my spare time?

So, as promised, I finally got started on some applications while I've been home for break. I've probably applied to about six positions total - not nearly as many as I planned on, but here's why:

After much networking on my ever-trustworthy LinkedIn, I've been able to talk to several people about various positions I plan to apply for, as well as the companies themselves. Ideally, I try to contact University of Michigan alumni, and they have all been unexpectedly nice. If I can't find an alumnus at that particular company, I try to get in touch with those who are members of LinkedIn groups I belong to, or who are also connected to a connection of mine.

Anyway, after receiving a wonderful response back from a UM alumnus, filled with lots of advice, one recommendation stuck out to me, because I had already heard it a few times before. This woman told me that, if I plan to apply to jobs in New York City (which I definitely do), I better have a New York address written on my resume. Otherwise, out-of-state resumes will be ignored 99% of the time, no matter how qualified the applicant.

Now, as you know, I hail from Boston, so if need be, I could honestly hop on a BoltBus at the drop of a hat to get to NYC for an interview or to start a job. My grandparents also have an apartment in Queens that I could crash at while I search for apartments - although that is definitely a last resort. So, while I'm home in Boston at least, this alumnus' warning isn't too much of an issue for me. In these tough times, I can honestly understand why companies don't want to waste their time (or money) on applicants who would need to relocate. There are probably thousands of equally qualified candidates right there in New York.

The real question is: for these New York City jobs that I apply to, does it make sense for me to list my grandparent's New York address on my resume? This would show that relocating would not be a problem for me. While this alumnus told me that another option could be stating in my cover letter that I could relocate immediately or come out for an interview at my own expense, that doesn't sound nearly as marketable as advertising locality, right? What do you guys think?

The calm before the (application) storm

Just wanted to wish everyone (all maybe-five of you who read this blog) a happy holidays out there. It's good to be home, and to finally have a break from all the school work that has really gotten in the way of my job search. My new years resolution? To finally get crackin' on this process. Yeah, I've applied for a few things here and there, mostly because those positions had early deadlines. But many place I'm interested in haven't even started hiring yet, and maybe won't until even later.

This next semester will be a little bit easier in terms of workload and schedule, so hopefully I'll be able to make some progress. At least for now, I'm going to relax, sit back, and watch lots of Jersey Shore. Once I've had some R&R over the weekend, I plan to get to work, and of course, post any news.

The job market today: sour, but also sweet

Related to what I said yesterday about getting your friends and family involved in the job search resource hunt, my friend Ali pointed me to this link this morning, subject field: "thought you might find this interesting :)".

The page consists of a review for the recently-released documentary, Lemonade, detailing the paths of several individuals recently let go from their jobs in the advertising industry. Specifically, Phil Johnson highlights how the advertising community rallied around the project, celebrating the creative abilities of those involved (or not, anymore), in their industry. While I'm not directly involved in the advertising world, I think that this movie could still be pretty damn inspiring, conveying that we have the potential to lead successful lives within more than one career. Our jobs can't define us, because if we lose these jobs, we would have nothing left; Lemonade illustrates this. There's other stuff out there that matters, regardless of career path. Tonight, that stuff consists of Chinese food and dancing.

As the movie is playing in Cambridge, I'd definitely like to see it when I return home for December break. Oh, and by the way, everyone should check out the blog that Ali contributes to, which covers all sorts of sports from a female perspective!

One reason why my mom rocks

A little while back, a major player in the online journalism industry gave a talk at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, where I'm from. Though I would have loved to, I obviously couldn't attend since I'm out here in all-of-a-sudden-its-so-cold-I-need-to-wear-a-ski-mask-where-you-can-only-see-my-eyes Michigan. I was very impressed that my mom was actually the one to tell me about this appearance, given that I try my hardest to keep up on happenings within the field, or at my beloved MFA. My mom wasn't just going to hear this lady wax philosophically on the importance of optimized content, or the value of her readers, however. Oh, no. She planned to go with a copy of my resume and directly hand it to the speaker. I'll state the obvious when I say that my mom is pretty ballsy.

Anyway, after sitting through the talk with my father, learning all about future directions of online publications and whatnot, my mom followed through with her plan. And guess what? Miss Thing of web journalism told her that she'd actually call me! I guess in addition to founding my latest addiction, this woman is actually nice.

Do I expect anything out of this interaction? Absolutely not. I know that the speaker probably has 5,017 better things to do than reach out to little ol' me. And she's such a bigwig that I would never be able to directly reach her. I did apply to a few positions through their database that I actually think I'm pretty qualified for, if I do say so myself. But that's not the point here, kiddos. What I'm getting at is that you're all probably just as lucky as I am when it comes to your loved ones - they genuinely want to see you happy. Get them on board! Tell them what you're interested in! I guarantee that you'll see at least a few positive results you can take and run with.