A Little Whine and a Tip

It's been a quite a discouraging day of applying for the perfect job. For starters, it's at my alma matar, which I love, with people I know, in a department I completely embodied as an undergrad. I spent 4 hours perfecting my application, resume, and cover letter, only to recieve a message at the end of all of it saying "Thank you for you interest in this position. Based upon your response to the supplementary application questionnaire, you do not meet the minimum qualifications for this position. Please do not let this discourage you from applying for other positions that interest you."

Translation: Sorry, on the question where it asked if you have a master's or are enrolled in a master's program, you clicked 'no'. So nope, we're not even gonna look at your application.

Let's just say, a great amount of patience is the reason I still have a computer to post this blog update on. It was almost out the window.

At any rate, that's not what today's post is about. No friends, instead I am here with a fUN-employment tip! That's right, a fun thing to keep you busy when you aren't banging your head against the wall of jobs that you can't get!

So here it is: In So-Cal there are a million aspiring photographers, because there are so many pretty people and things to take pictures of. Chances are, you're pals with one of these friendly photogs. Enter fUN-employment tip- Trade your photographer friend a free meal (or other legal service) in exchange for having them do your pictures. It's fun, you get dressed up, you pick a cool location, they get food and experience, and it's free!

Also, if you live in the LA/or Hollywierd scene like some of us RamenDiary gals, they're asking you to send a headshot with almost all of your resumes these days. While I personally think it's bizarre to submit a full body shot of myself to be able to sell vacuum cleaners, or make a venti chai latte, you're one step ahead of the game if you've already got some great professional pictures on hand.

Best of all, if they're really good, or you're really good-looking, maybe one of you gets famous!

Word to the wise though, be careful how much creative direction your artsy photographer friend gets with the pics. I recently vetoed a request to do a shoot wearing fishnets. Remember, pictures say a thousand words. And usually, pictures of you in fishnets don't say the words "I'm responsible, smart and hardworking, so hire me."

~JR