How’s That Screenplay Coming Along?

At least one of you reading this, I will endeavor to say, is an unemployed writer working on the first thirty (if you’ve been really productive) pages of your future award winning screenplay. If you’re at home, across from you, on the desk, or dining room table (wherever your workspace is) is your cell phone bill… not paying itself.

You’ve maybe just barely paid off your rent for the month and it’s left you without much more than money for 79 cent tacos from one of those fast food establishments you’ve been relying on for survival.

You and I both know that reality has set in and it’s time to face the facts:

YOU NEED A JOB!

Not only do you need a job, but you need Employment Crossing to find you that job. After all, you’re a writer. You want to make that B.A. in Enlgish or Journalism proud. You’re passionate about the written word and you won’t compromise yourself working behind the counter of the local coffee shop.

“No, sir. You cannot get half-caf. And no, sir. You cannot get a scone with that.”

Listen to me. Jump onto Employment Crossing and find that job that allows you to use your talents, your skill set, and take one step toward that ultimate goal of being a professional writer.

Don’t waste time, my friend. Get started today. You’re phone bill is begging you.

Tags: Careers, crossing, Employment, Jobs, screenplays, writers, writing

Home Sweet Cubicle

Like many employees you’ll spend a great deal of time in your “home away from home”, also known as your office cubicle. If you’re like me staring at a gray wall for months or years on end can become boring. Make your cubicle a relaxing and pleasant corner of your work world instead of a drab space you can barely stand to be in. So what if you didn’t get that swank corner office with bay windows? You have three fabric walls and an imagination, go wild (sort of)!

It is very important that you understand your company’s standards before undertaking any redecorating. Check out your coworkers and managers spaces. Ask your supervisor if you’re unsure of any rules as to how you can decorate your cubicle. Once you’ve gotten the go ahead decide how you want to decorate your space. Perhaps you’ll want to hang personal photos, awards, paintings, a calendar or some other image. When I worked at an insurance agency I brought in Fine Art postcards I collected from European museums I visited and tacked them to my cubicle walls. During hectic afternoons I loved taking a few seconds out to glance at my postcards. I would caution you not to hang or post images of a lascivious, lewd or intimate nature.

Are those overhead fluorescent lights hurting your eyes? Perhaps you could find a desk lamp to make your day a little brighter. Larger retailers carry basic desk lamps in store and online. Check out Target if you’re looking for a cheap, colorful and funky choice. If you’re really adventurous go to a Salvation Army, Goodwill or other type of thrift/antique shop.

Some companies allow employees to listen to small radios, MP3 players or portable CD players. Check into your company’s policies. Burn some CD’s of your favorite band or turn that AM dial to your favorite radio pundit…

Do you have a green thumb? Bring in small plants to decorate your cubicle, make it your garden away from home. Bamboo and cacti are ideal office plants, both require only a limited amount of water and attention.

Finally, keeping your space somewhat tidy and clean will make your work day more orderly and relaxed. Try doing a few minutes of organizing before you leave every day. Yes its a drag after sitting in front of that computer for 8 hours, but you’ll be thankful tomorrow.

Tags: Cubicle, Decoration, Employment

Let It Begin In 2010

Attention world: Let it begin in 2010!

Let what begin? Your career, your attitude, and the rest of your life. Put it in your head that this is your year. Allow yourself to succeed beyond your wildest dreams and reach heights yet unseen. How are you going to do this? Remember this phrase: It’s all in your head!

Your outlook on life will determine the quality of your mood, the company you keep, and most definitely your career. If you’re unemployed: change it! You might say to yourself, “But there are no jobs!”

THAT IS NOT TRUE!

Check out sites like Hound and Employment Crossing today. Don’t wait. The longer you allow yourself to go unemployed, the more problems you are likely to have.

There is no need to fear, log on and find a job that suits your expectations. If you are currently in a  job you can’t stand, cross over to a job you love with Employment Crossing.

You can have the life you want. Let it begin, in 2010!

Tags: 2010, Employment, get a job, hound, hunting, Job Search, Jobs, motivation, unemployment

Be Aggressive

Whether you’re in a high pressure sales position or do administrative work at a small start-up, there is one piece of advice that will apply everywhere: Be aggressive.

Now I don’t want you to start barking at your boss or co-workers, nor do I want you to cut-off every driver on the road, I simply want you to take control of your job.

When you go into work, get going! The best thing you can do is to have a list ready for you to work from. Start checking off the list right away. Your number one goal is to get things done before they HAVE to be done. Be on top of your tasks and you will see results.

Being aggressive also means finding things to do. Keep track of ideas you have to make your position more efficient and productive. Then, when you finish all of your tasks early, start implementing those ideas. Essentially, it all boils down to good ole fashioned hard work, but perhaps it will help you to think of it this way.

You want to make your way through tasks throughout everyday. Think of work like Tetris. You have to have a steady flow of completed lines to save room for all of the stuff piling on top. People around you will notice your hard work, guaranteed. You’ll be more likely to get promotions and raises because you will be seen as more dependable.
If you don’t have a job, then this methodology should apply to your job search. Sign up for sites like Employment Crossing. They have aggressive techniques of finding open positions all around the country. A month with them is sure to lead you toward some great work opportunities.

So get cracking!

Tags: aggresive, Employment, employment crossing, Job Search, job tips, work habits

Want Some Advice? Learn to Type

The one skill you need that will serve you well in almost any job on the planet?

Typing.

It doesn’t matter if you dig holes or design clothes, fight for your country or manufacture widgets. After speaking, typing is the main way people communicate — and with the growth of the Internet, those two methods may switch places in importance.

Many professionals assume they don’t have to know how to type (or for that matter, how to operate a computer). They assume that because they’re an expert in law, or medicine, or engineering, or marketing, that they can stick to those skills and let the peons do the typing (or use the computer).

Not true. No matter your profession, if you can’t use a PC or Mac, then you’re not qualified. Every profession on the planet requires computer skills today, even if it’s just to use email. Even the Amish are using computers now (no joke).

And if you can’t type, then you’re just slowing yourself down, and putting yourself at the mercy of your subordinates who can type.

I have to make an admission here — I’m a professional writer, and I can’t type. At least, I can’t type correctly. I use three fingers on my right hand and one on my left. Yet, I still type 52 words a minute.

I was once hired to teach typing to adult students! I passed the typing test with my 52 wpm score. So for a year, I taught typing. I never learned typing, but my students did, and that’s what counts. Right?

I sometimes wonder how fast I would be if I learned to type correctly. Maybe it’s time I found out.

Tags: Employment, job advice, job skills, typing

Worried About Job Prospects? Obama’s Speech Gives Hope

Most Americans a very worried right now about their economic and career prospects.

Yesterday, President Barack Obama spoke to a joint session of Congress, but also spoke to the American people, to help allay those fears.

Some excerpts:

I have come here tonight not only to address the distinguished men and women in this great chamber, but to speak frankly and directly to the men and women who sent us here.

I know that for many Americans watching right now, the state of our economy is a concern that rises above all others, and rightly so. If you haven’t been personally affected by this recession, you probably know someone who has: a friend, a neighbor, a member of your family.

… It’s the worry you wake up with and the source of sleepless nights. It’s the job you thought you’d retire from but now have lost, the business you built your dreams upon that’s now hanging by a thread, the college acceptance letter your child had to put back in the envelope.

The impact of this recession is real, and it is everywhere.

But while our economy may be weakened and our confidence shaken, though we are living through difficult and uncertain times, tonight I want every American to know this: We will rebuild, we will recover, and the United States of America will emerge stronger than before…

Now is the time to act boldly and wisely, to not only revive this economy, but to build a new foundation for lasting prosperity.

Now is the time to jump-start job creation, re-start lending, and invest in areas like energy, health care, and education that will grow our economy, even as we make hard choices to bring our deficit down. That is what my economic agenda is designed to do…

And tonight I am grateful that this Congress delivered and pleased to say that the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act is now law.

Over the next two years, this plan will save or create 3.5 million jobs. More than 90 percent of these jobs will be in the private sector, jobs rebuilding our roads and bridges, constructing wind turbines and solar panels, laying broadband and expanding mass transit…

Because of this plan, 95 percent of working households in America will receive a tax cut, a tax cut that you will see in your paychecks beginning on April 1.

Because of this plan, families who are struggling to pay tuition costs will receive a $2,500 tax credit for all four years of college.

And Americans who have lost their jobs in this recession will be able to receive extended unemployment benefits and continued health care coverage to help them weather this storm…

You should also know that the money you’ve deposited in banks across the country is safe, your insurance is secure. You can rely on the continued operation of our financial system; that’s not the source of concern…

First, we are creating a new lending fund that represents the largest effort ever to help provide auto loans, college loans, and small-business loans to the consumers and entrepreneurs who keep this economy running…

Second, we have launched a housing plan that will help responsible families facing the threat of foreclosure lower their monthly payments and refinance their mortgages…

Third, we will act with the full force of the federal government to ensure that the major banks that Americans depend on have enough confidence and enough money to lend even in more difficult times..

We are a nation that has seen promise amid peril and claimed opportunity from ordeal. Now we must be that nation again…

So tonight I ask every American to commit to at least one year or more of higher education or career training. This can be a community college or a four-year school, vocational training or an apprenticeship. But whatever the training may be, every American will need to get more than a high school diploma.

And dropping out of high school is no longer an option. It’s not just quitting on yourself; it’s quitting on your country. And this country needs and values the talents of every American.

Thank you. God bless you. And may God bless the United States of America. Thank you.

Tags: Barack Obama, Congress, education, Employment, hope, speech, stimulus package, stimulus plan

Weight of Words

If you’re reading this blog, you are dancing on the front lines of Newbie New(ish) Media. Yep, anyone with a bad recipe for banana nut bread or saccharine pics of their kids at Halloween now have (relatively) free access to the cyber airwaves and the denizens who troll them. Never has there been so much said about so little to so many.

So when in this cacophony of clutter real messages need to leak through, who the hell can find them? Given the propensity of our A.D.D. addled populace to jagged off kilter on REAL issues requiring REAL focus, can we expect any sort of reaction to the relevant anyway?

United States President Barack Obama had an editorial published in the New York Times today. He’s pitching his stimulus plan and because he’s President, and presumably a good writer (or capable of hiring them), he gets an Epic Win in a top rag. But will it trickle down to anyone really? There’s likely to be more buzz about the fact that he did it than on the actual content. How many voters/economic sufferers/citizens/malcontents will read about that he wrote it rather than actually read it? What’s wrong with this picture?

Here’s part of it: The value in being published is diminished because anyone can now be published. Three minutes with Blogger.com and you’re Gutenberg. Your voice isn’t earned, it’s become part of a scream that no more warrants mass attention than assembly instructions for an Ikea coffee table. We’re all drowning in it and ironically, this blog is contributing to it. Or is it? Hmmmmm.

Are you someone with something to say? Are you going to be that voice out of the crowd that draws crowds? We don’t know that, but we do know this: If this is the sort of thing you’re on fire about, make a career out of it. Slick and cynical? Try AdvertisingCrossing.com. Positively pernicious? Try PRCrossing.com (Nah, we’re just kidding). Broadband bent? How about TelecomCrossing.com? See? Some people have important things to say. You just have to know where to look.

Tags: Barack, Barack Obama, clutter, Employment, employment crossing, employmentcrossing.com, noise, obama

The Perfect Storm?

Wednesday, President Obama made an ominous statement warning that the current recession has the potential to rise to the level of a catastrophe if certain measures are not put into effect immediately. He has postulated that if Congress fails to act swiftly in passing his economic plan, the recession will be both exacerbated and made more lengthy.

Obama’s statements were made in response to the continued debate over amendments to the stimulus package being discussed in the Senate. The debate is expected to last through the end of the week, with a potential vote coming as early as Friday.

While Obama claims that he wants Republican ideas incorporated into the final version of the stimulus plan, he also continues to contend that tax cuts alone are not enough.  Rather, in his view, we cannot afford to ignore fundamental challenges like energy independence and the cost of health care.

Obama says his plan will create or save up to 4 million jobs. However, a preliminary analysis by the Congressional Budget Office shows that the jobs created by the plan currently under debate in the Senate, would cost taxpayers between $100,000 and $300, 000 each. The cost for each job, when not under the proposed economic stimulus plan is around $100, 000.  There is a potential for three times the cost to taxpayers for each job created.

According to many Republicans the problem is not that there is disagreement over whether there should be a stimulus plan or not. Instead they assert that there is complete agreement on the need for one. Consequently, the debate has been focused around the size  and cost of the stimulus package. Much of the $550 billion in spending is divided among these areas: $142 billion for education, $111 billion for health care, $90 billion for infrastructure, $72 billion for aid and benefits, $54 billion for energy, $16 billion for science and technology, and $13 billion for housing.

Whether or not a pared down version or a the bigger version that Obama is pushing for is eventually passed, the economy should receive a boost.  Whatever version ultimately passes, jobs will be created.  So why not find those jobs using EmploymentCrossing. Make sure not forget about our free trial.

Tags: debate, Democrat, economy, Employment, Jobs, obama, partisan, Republican, Senate, stimulus plan, The Perfect Storm, vote

Will Your Past Come Back to Haunt You?

Tags: Daschle, Employment, Jobs, nomination, obama, resignation, taxes, Unpaid taxes

Waiting to Exhale–What Will Become of Obama’s Stimulus Package?

President Obama’s stimulus plan has cleared it’s first hurdle, with it’s passage in the House.  However, it was nowhere near a bipartisan victory.  The victory in the House is primarily attributable to a Democratic majority. And what’s more is that eleven Democrats actually voted against the $819 billion package.

Tags: bipartisan, Capitol Hill, Congress, Democrats, economic future, economy, Employment, House, Jobs, obama, Republicans, Senate, stimulus plan, taking control