August 2009
47 posts
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INBOX 405: HOW TO KEEP YOUR HEAD UP WHEN YOUR...
(Ed. Note) The Inbox 405 is our chance to hear from you. It’s your chance to do the writing and we do the reading! Join our previous and current discussions here.
So you’ve been unemployed for months and fortunately had a fellow unemployed buddy to confide in and commiserate with. You’ve joked about who is going to get a job first, how your life will change when you get a job, or...
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SUNDAY BLOG BRUNCH: RECESSIONWIRE.
(Ed.Note) Welcome to our journey into the world of recession blogs! The 405 Club wants to get personal via 10 questions with our favorite fellow bloggers who are documenting the recession and unemployment firsthand.
This week’s blogging brunch companions are Laura and Sara of Recession Wire.
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1. When were you laid off? Or are you employed?
We were both laid off from Condé Nast...
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SATURDAY FUNNY PAGES.
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8 GOLDEN RULES TO GETTING A JOB IN A BAD ECONOMY.
Summary: Show me someone who hasn’t fantasized getting in the car and leaving it all behind and I’ll show you someone who doesn’t drive. The banks are a mess, credit is awful, the U.S auto industry is a mess, unemployment is climbing still, we’re all out of money, gas prices are on the rise again … oh yeah … and according to the G-8 Summit our planet is melting!
Many people mistakenly assume if a...
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WatchPROJECT 405 PICNIC: SUCCESS!
A huge thanks to all who came out to the picnic yesterday in Central Park. Here’s a quick peak into the action via Flipcam.
Things to note:
Incredible munchies from Uptown Comfort
Press, including Asa Aarons from New York 1 (airs Monday)
T-shirts from Ning
Gerrit from RezRedo.com
Briana from Unemployed Brooklyn
And all of the beautiful 405ers!
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JOB LOSS OUTREACH.
For those of you out there who have suffered deeply from the loss of your job and for those among us who particularly feel helpless and hopeless, it is important to acknowledge your loss, in order to work through it, and get on with living a satisfying life, despite the job loss.
At first you might feel denial and shock. “This can’t be happening to me,” you might think. Then the numbness...
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WHAT ARE THE UNEMPLOYED SAYING ON TUMBLR?
tinadawp:
Tweet if your unemployed! Let everyone know. Any one of us could be next!
junglejustine:
Being unemployed has removed the extreme importance of money from my life. I kind of like it though. Money isn’t everything. It’s a lot but it’s not everything. I’m okay leaving the house sometimes without my debit card and a few bucks. I think I’ve gotten some control on my shopping problem this...
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PRESS REQUEST: NEW YORK MAGAZINE.
It’s your time to shine.
New York Magazine reached out to the club today in effort to collect stories from New Yorkers who lost their job during the recession. Apparently we’re a goldmine for that sort of thing!
They are casting a wide net — inviting New York City residents from all walks of life to share their (frustrating, inspiring, exasperating, or surprising) experiences...
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ARE YOU THERE GOD? IT'S ME, JOBLESS.
Ed. note: Welcome to the latest installment of “Janet Raiffa’s Recessionals,” a column by a laid-off recruiting manager in New York. Prior columns are collected [here]. You can reach Janet Raiffa via LinkedIn, leaving a comment here, or emailing 405club@gmail.com.
Dear God, please let me get some type of job this week. I don’t even mean a job with health benefits, business cards, a subsidized...
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REMINDER: CLAIM YOUR WEEKLY UNEMPLOYMENT BENEFITS...
It’s Sunday, so don’t forget to claim your weekly unemployment benefits from the NY Department of Labor Site.
Got questions about benefits? Perhaps our tips section can help.
You can also join some of our discussions about benefits in the forum here.
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SUNDAY BLOG BRUNCH: UNEMPLOYED BROOKLYN.
(Ed.Note) Welcome to our journey into the world of recession blogs! The 405 Club wants to get personal via 10 questions with our favorite fellow bloggers who are documenting the recession and unemployment firsthand.
This week’s blogging brunch companion is Briana of Unemployed Brooklyn.
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Before we chat about the blog, what will you be having for brunch? It’s on us, since this...
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SATURDAY FUNNY PAGES.
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LIVING WITH THE RECESSION: PART 5 OF 5.
Ed. note: Welcome to the fifth and final installment of the five part series, Living With the Recession by author and executive consultant Granville Toogood, who also happens to be my uncle as well. For more information on Granville, visit his website [here].
The good news just keeps rolling in with the bad times.
A friend fired from his job at a financial services company has finally found...
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UNEMPLOYMENT ON THE RISE AGAIN.
The Unemployment Insurance Weekly Claims Report has been released. We continue our move in the wrong direction. New claims rose to 576,000, which was above the Bloomberg consensus range of 545K to 559K. From the report:
In the week ending Aug. 15, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 576,000, an increase of 15,000 from the previous week’s revised figure of 561,000. The...
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SHOCKINGLY EASY RESUME BUILDER TOOLS.
Part 1
Resumes: we all hate them, but they’re the key to even landing the job interview. You want it to be clean, concise, eye-catching, and most importantly, accessible. You can build them in Word, but then formatting changes based on the computer. PDFs are better because they render better, but creating them is often a painful process.
JobSpice, a new startup funded by YCombinator, seeks to...
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10 RESUME RED FLAGS.
Resumes are defensive. The purpose is to get you an interview rather than being discarded within a 30 second scan. HR people are looking for red flags to cull through the applicants as efficiently and as quickly as possible. There are many different priorities in Human Resource Departments. In researching and talking to HR personnel, they often contradict each other in what will get a...
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BUMMER! WEATHER GODS PROVE TO NOT BE ANY MORE...
Looks like both The Weather Gods and The Job Gods are in cahoots as The National Weather Service is calling for showers at 1pm tomorrow forcing our hand to postpone the Project 405 Picnic to the following Wednesday, August 26th from 1-4pm. Hope to see you there! Look for a few balloons to mark our territory.
Please adjust your RSVP accordingly! ...
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UNEMPLOYED? GET A JOB NOW BEFORE IT'S TOO LATE.
As we find ourselves entering the second half of 2009 I have been trying to guage the economy from a current perspective. 2008 was easily the worst year I have ever seen for our people. We have seen gas prices above $5.00 per gallon in some areas and we have witnessed the demise of major financial institutions, and american auto makers. I have felt the effects as a small business owner myself...
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OCCUPATIONAL RESOURCES: PART III.
Last week, I wrote about the Occupational Outlook Handbook a handy reference guide in career exploration. The week before, I explained ONET online, another career exploration/information tool. This week, I describe the attributes of NY Career Zone for exploring careers for career change and oneself in how he/she relates to chosen fields in a professional capacity.
New York State offers a...
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REMINDER: CLAIM YOUR WEEKLY UNEMPLOYMENT BENEFITS...
Somewhere in between watching Tiger win the PGA Championship and walking around town on this beautiful day don’t forget to claim your weekly unemployment benefits from the NY Department of Labor Site.
Got questions about benefits? Perhaps our tips section can help.
You can also join some of our discussions about benefits in the forum here.
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SUNDAY BLOG BRUNCH: THE JOB TREKKER.
(Ed.Note) Welcome to our journey into the world of recession blogs! The 405 Club wants to get personal via 10 questions with our favorite fellow bloggers who are documenting the recession and unemployment firsthand.
This week’s blogging brunch companion is Dan of The Job Trekker.
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First off, thank you for joining us for Sunday Blog Brunch - what will you be having for brunch?...
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SATURDAY FUNNY PAGES.
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LIVING WITH THE RECESSION: PART 4 OF 5.
Ed. note: Welcome to the fourth installment of the five part series, Living With the Recession by author and executive consultant Granville Toogood, who also happens to be my uncle as well. For more information on Granville, visit his website [here].
Bargains everywhere
Everybody seems to agree the recession won’t end until consumers – people like you and me – fire up our confidence and start...
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UNEMPLOYMENT TICKS UP.
The Unemployment Insurance Weekly Claims Report has been released. We are moving in the wrong direction again. New claims rose to 558,000, which was above the Bloomberg consensus range of 535K to 550K. From the report:
In the week ending Aug. 8, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 558,000, an increase of 4,000 from the previous week’s revised figure of 554,000. The...
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INBOX 405: WHAT IS YOUR DAILY ROUTINE?
This is tough to admit, but I just “celebrated” my 8 month canniversary aka downsizing this week. If you would have told me 8 months ago that I’d still be unemployed 8 months from then I’d say you’re crazy. But here I am, on my 8th month and still on the hunt. Things have picked up considerably, but the grind continues. I guess the heart of the recession may not...
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10 KILLER JOB INTERVIEW QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS.
Behind every interview question there is a concern or another question. Your job is to process the question thinking about what the interviewer’s concern might be. In other words, why is the interviewer asking you this question?
If you’ve written your resume well, you’re already off to a head start because you should have already thought about a lot of these interview questions and answers in...
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OCCUPATIONAL RESOURCES: PART 2.
Last week in “Occupational Resources Part 1,” I described ONET online, a sophisticated, interactive career research and assessment tool in aiding individuals seeking to transfer their skills into parallel fields of work or contemplating a career change.
Another resource is the Occupational Outlook Handbook 2008-2009 updated periodically and accessible on www.bls.gov.
The...
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FRIDAY IS THE BEST DAY TO BE UNEMPLOYED.
Ed. note: Welcome to the latest installment of “Janet Raiffa’s Recessionals,” a column by a laid-off recruiting manager in New York. Prior columns are collected [here]. You can reach Janet Raiffa via LinkedIn, leaving a comment here, or emailing 405club@gmail.com.
After having had months to study every aspect of unemployment, I have come to the profound conclusion that Friday is the best day to...
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SHE FOUND “UPTOWN COMFORT” IN CATERING.
Courtney Adams, an alumna of The 405 Club, got laid off from her job at Sony Music in December 2008. Her fiancé, Christopher Merritt, lost his job as an event director, planning conferences for the pharmaceutical industry, that same month. They had just moved into a new apartment. They started the new year off without a job and with no substantial savings. While it was initially shocking,...
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SUNDAY BRUNCH ORDER: FILE YOUR UNEMPLOYMENT CLAIM.
Go out, enjoy your brunch. Just don’t forget it’s that time of the week again to claim your unemployment benefits [click here for the NY Department of Labor site]. For more information on unemployment benefits and eligibility check out our 405er Tips on our FAQ Wiki [here].
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SUNDAY BLOG BRUNCH: PINK SLIPS ARE THE NEW BLACK.
(Ed.Note) Welcome to our journey into the world of recession blogs! The 405 Club wants to get personal via 10 questions with our favorite fellow bloggers who are documenting the recession and unemployment firsthand.
This week’s blogging brunch companion is Ann of Pink Slips Are The New Black.
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1. When were you laid off? Or are you employed?
My job let me go in August. 2. What did you...
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SATURDAY FUNNY PAGES.
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LIVING WITH THE RECESSION: PART 3 OF 5.
Ed. note: Welcome to the third installment of the five part series, Living With the Recession by author and executive consultant Granville Toogood, who also happens to be my uncle as well. For more information on Granville, visit his website [here].
The Silver Lining
Last summer,Bob and Vicky were on the verge of divorce. But now they’re actually talking about saving for a second honeymoon.
For...
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A GOOD UNEMPLOYMENT REPORT.
The Unemployment Insurance Weekly Claims Report has been released. New claims fell to 550,000, which was at the low end of the Bloomberg consensus range of 550K to 600K. From the report:
In the week ending Aug. 1, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 550,000, a decrease of 38,000 from the previous week’s revised figure of 588,000. The 4-week moving average was 555,250, a...
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INBOX 405: HOW MANY JOBS DO YOU APPLY TO PER DAY?
(Ed. Note) The Inbox 405 is our chance to hear from you. It’s your chance to do the writing and we do the reading! Join our previous and current discussions here.
I’ve read a number of articles stressing the importance of standing out in today’s perfect storm of resumes and cover letters, as if this was never an issue prior to the recession. Has the accessibility and ease of...
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I HAVE ABANDONED MY JOB SEARCH IN FAVOR OF PIZZA.
Ed. note: Welcome to the latest installment of “Janet Raiffa’s Recessionals,” a column by a laid-off recruiting manager in New York. Prior columns are collected [here]. You can reach Janet Raiffa via LinkedIn, leaving a comment here, or emailing 405club@gmail.com.
I have just cancelled my membership to TheLadders.com, Inc., a company offering an online job search destination and content for...
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OCCUPATIONAL RESOURCES: PART 1.
As a career coach, people come to me from time to time, asking what career is ‘safe’ today or what field of work is secure, pays the bills and doesn’t downsize. If I had a dime for every person who asks me that, I’d be rich. I do tell them that all fields and job titles are subject to layoffs—from attorneys to accountants, marketing researchers to paralegals, medical personnel to fashion...
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ASK HR: TWO PAGE RESUME?
Dear HR,
I am an experienced Executive Assistant and Sales Support. Both positions required skills in a lot of areas, therefore my resume for the last 10 ten years is two-pages. Is that a major fault?
Sincerely,
Ten Year Professional
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Dear Ten Year Professional, I am not sure where the adage came from that a resume must be one page because everyone’s experience level is different and...
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SUNDAY FUNDAY: CLAIM YOUR BENEFITS TODAY.
It’s that time of the week again to claim your unemployment benefits [click here for the NY Department of Labor site].
For more information on unemployment benefits and eligibility check out our 405er Tips on our FAQ Wiki [here].
Unemployment Benefits Running Low; If you have a moment today take a look at the NY Times front page article “Prolonged Aid to Unemployed Is Running...
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SUNDAY BLOG BRUNCH: YOUR UNEMPLOYED DAUGHTER.
(Ed.Note) Welcome to the newest feature on The 405 Club… A look into the world of recession blogs! The 405 Club wants to get personal via 10 questions with our favorite fellow bloggers who are documenting the recession and unemployment firsthand.
This week’s blogging brunch companion is Jen Doll of Your Unemployed Daughter.
————- Intro Question: First off, thank you for...
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SATURDAY FUNNY PAGES.