I interviewed Kate Conant who presented at our last class from the Employment Resource Center.
After I covered my background and what I was looking for as the ideal job she gave me some excellent input.
The major point that Kate made is that I need to start networking in the areas in which I want to end up finding a job. She gave me several contacts to make in the head hunter and employment services community to begin making myself known to those organizations as the jobs I am looking for are certainly out there they do not come available very often and the majority of them are never posted anywhere. if you're known at the time they become available then you have a chance of getting them but if the approach is to search listing of jobs it’s very unlikely to land one given the nature of the jobs.
Kate also suggested that I pay placement specialists that only deal with C level positions and gave me several references for people like that.
I realize that I need to create a portfolio of not just the ideas I have but also a portfolio of the projects over the years that illustrate my strengths. If I can create this portfolio using much if not all of what I have learned here then it should be a powerful and quick way for potential employers to evaluate me rendering very quick decisions if they are interested in pursuing me. I would like those portfolio items to not only tell a story but prove by the way I developed them that I also have very strong skills in the Web and Video arena.
I’m including an image of an IBM 407 accounting machine I programmed in 1966. It wasn’t quite a full blown computer. It had a card reader and a printer built in and it was programmed using wire on punchboard similar to an old fashioned telephone operator panel for connecting long distance calls.
Kate was probably a great choice to interview when it comes to networking. I am sure you still have some great networking contacts from the past that will help after school also. A great portfolio is also a real big key in this industry.
ReplyDeleteI agree a portfolio will be the most important thing to get your jobs. I love that you also have such an interesting histroy with technology like that IBM machine.
ReplyDeleteI hate networking. I know it's terrible to say that, but what happened to the good old days when you could search for the job you wanted, present your qualifications, and just get hired? This is probably two long stretches of unemployment talking, but then, I guess that's why I'm going back to school in the first place.
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