Not working certainly has a way of keeping one busy. I’ve found that getting out of the house and doing stuff really helps me focus and feel motivated, rather than sitting around, aimlessly surfing the Web or watching movies to pass the time.
Today I’ve accomplished quite a bit:
- Took the dogs to romp around at Ocean Beach on this beautiful, sunshiny day
- Updated the Word version of my resume (recently cleaned up and chopped down to two from four pages, thanks to pointers I learned in last week’s career workshop)
- Went to Kinko’s to finish updating my resume, print it and a cover letter, and fax to a potential employer in New York
- Reluctantly turned down contract work since the company that called wants local people (bad because turning down work — especially work that sounds interesting — is hard; good because it makes me feel like companies like what they see)
- Stopped by Yancy’s to inquire about having our going away party there and negotiate drink specials (success!)
- Visited my local Internet cafe (iwired cafe)…oh wait, I’m still here; this is my first time leveraging my Airport card outside the house; did I mention that wireless Internet access rules?
Yesterday I cold called a company in Saratoga Springs whose Web site Jen found. I talked to the CEO, but didn’t realize until after I got off the phone that he was the CEO. As I learned in my career workshop, the following are the top three most effective ways of getting a job (how employers hire):
- Networking
- Cold calls and drop ins
- Web or newspaper postings
Contrast this to how we tend to spend our time looking for jobs:
- Web or newspaper postings
- Cold calls and drop ins
- Networking
Later this week I have a call with another company in Saratoga Springs, which happens to be my best prospect and one I found through, you guessed it, networking.
