More to Come

No media outlet touched the atheist remark in the speech. Not surprising. Intelligent news analysis daily. Wait too see what the people say said the independent news sources...

The Barack Bubble

Running Route:

Courtesy of myfavoriterun.com

I am a runner. Last night, I ran by the Barack Bubble for the first time. Because of a fat man in a red suit and a ball someone dropped a couple of weeks back, I have not run much lately. My run toured much of the Inaugural grounds for the first time since preparation has been underway.

I made it through most of my regular route despite obstacles. Lafayette Square and the surrounding streets are overwhelmingly barricaded. From the White House grounds and down 15th St towards the Mall, there are bleachers on sidewalks bracing for the crowds. Police presence was strong even after hours. Behind the White House are two structures roughly three stories tall. The Barack Bubble faces outward from the rear of the White House toward the second structure. The sibling structure has three open stories and looks to be fertile soil for a media garden. I am thinking the Inaugural show will end here, at the White House, with a speech.

On the Barack Bubble, it's awesome. Think of the packaging you received your first action figure in as a child: cardboard box that wraps a clear fourth wall with a nice cardboard header and footer. This is what the Barack Bubble looks like except it is three stories tall. So far, the structure itself is white and does not have all the ornamentation an action figure box would. The Barack Bubble looks like it has a back door. When Barack is through with the media and the crowds, he'll be able to untie that annoying twine manufacturers lock action figures up with and walk into his new home. He'll be the first action figure to open his own box.

Should I Stay or Should I Go to Florida?

Ireland's Four Courts in Arlington, VA had about fifteen metal mugs hanging behind the bar. As it turns out, the bar offers patrons the option to have their name engraved on a mug that is kept behind the bar for when they visit. I would find out later that there are a lot more than 15 mugs back there, which took away a little bit from the novelty. When I first saw it, I had hoped the place made you drink to earn a mug. Instead, they charge seventy bucks.

It's worth getting out to NOVA for this place. They had a live act that was excellent. Sanford Markley covered pop songs and traditional Irish music with vocals and an acoustic guitar. He took requests on the fly. I yelled out Green Fields of France in between songs and he played it on the spot. For future reference, when the crowd doesn't know the lyrics that song can kill the mood. Markley mentioned that before playing the song. He played it anyways.

I was out there to meet a friend and the conversation ranged the entire spectrum as it does with a good friend. However, a topic of note was discussed: leaving or staying in DC for the Inauguration. I haven't attended one yet. I am in to seeing how this thing shakes out. If DC falls apart, I want to bear witness for your benefit reader. My buddy is a bum and will probably leave the city with his girlfriend.

If your leaving because you got a cool couple grand to let strangers rent your place, cheers to you. I'd crash on a friend's couch in the event that happened for me. There are a lot of places within driving distance preying upon the fear of locals that the barbarian hordes will tear apart the city, overwhelm the metro, steal their young, and cause general destruction and chaos.

Here are a couple of the deals:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/28392128/
http://www.snowshoemtn.com/deals/hot-deals/index.htm

It'll be a pain to commute. Our bars will be overwhelmed and open all hours. I am curious to see how that pans out. But why give up on one of the cool benefits of living in the DC area? You're daily routine will be interrupted. But you have the chance to participate in what the rest of the world has to watch on TV. I think it's a mistake to leave the city—Obama fan or not.

Waiting by the Phone

If you are curious as to who took all the good parts of the Wednesday Washington Post from the copy behind the bar at Commissary today, it was me. There was an article about a famous Obama portrait going in the National Portrait Gallery, the barbarian hordes descending on DC, and a 19 year old soldier dying in a vehicle rollover in Iraq on Christmas Eve. Over the course of my afternoon breakfast, about five people came in to submit applications and interview for employment at the restaurant. Over Irish coffee, a man and a women next to me discussed scouring USAJOBS.com for a new position. The articles, events, and conversations this afternoon seemed oddly intertwined.

I stayed for an extra cup of coffee and to re-read the article on Army Spec. Stephen G. Zapasnik. I have been to Arlington National Cemetery. The grounds affords views of the city that called the men and women buried there to service. I have seen a military funeral from afar. I have not attended one. I think in the new year that it is about time I made an effort to get out and see one to pay homage to the fallen.

Obama now has the ear of military families, the unemployed, and soon the largest crowd DC has ever seen. I feel more connected to the political climate than ever before as the change rhetoric speaks directly to my immediate future. An article in the Post the other day mentioned high unemployment among those with college degrees. This might be the first time politics and the course of our nation directly affects an intelligent crop of youth since the chain of events following 9/11 called young enlisted soldiers and officers to war.

Courtesy of MoveOn.org, that Obama portrait is plastered all over buildings, store fronts, traffic light poles, and other public venues in DC. In the mounting enthusiasm for the inauguration, I am looking forward to the rhetoric used in the upcoming weeks by the new administration as it speaks to a populous ready to listen: a generation ready to be called. From my perspective, its a great time to offer a vision setting a course for a great many years to come. Something tangible for the nation to strive for over the next ten to fifteen years. There is one caveat: when you speak to a down and out population brimming with a renewed hope, they tend to remember promises made rather vividly.

Blogging about Blogging Is Good Blogging

Having re-read my last two posts, I had to hide the noose, gun, and razor blades in my apartment. Yes, for the sake of this blog I keep all those items in my home. You have pretty thick skin if you’re still with me at this point. Cheers to you. I am still working on a title, concept, and so forth for this blog. I will probably look to write about goings on in my life and city: Washington, DC. Inauguration is imminent. Seems foolish not to write about what is going on right around me. The Obama Family is already living in my neighborhood. So we have two highly sober posts on looking for a job, politics, and I have to imagine I’ll write about exercising at some point as that is another passion of mine. First title thought: Economics, Politics, and Guns. Second title approach: Broke, Under Investigation, On the Run. I am starting to sound like a Warren Zevon song.

Twenty four hours have passed since that last paragraph, I arrived at dcvice.blogspot.com. There it is. My one follower now has a concept to chew on and an idea of what to expect. Glad I didn't lose you, reader, in the url switch. This came to me over noon breakfast at the Commissary. Yea, they serve breakfast all day during the week.

I'll cover current events. We'll sneak an overheard quote or two in here or there from DC bars, coffee houses, and the street. I'll offer input as I am able. Stay tuned.

Developing Job Leads

Devising a system for continually finding new job leads is fundamental to landing a new position. Internet research, personal contacts, professional contacts, and recruiters are the main avenues that I have pursued. Depending on your employment history, the size of your networks, and the industry that you are targeting, one of these avenues will probably figure more prominently in your search.

In the spreadsheet that I discussed in my last post, “Job Search: The Nuts and Bolts”, make sure to track the sources of your leads. Overtime, the sheet will help you to ascertain what source works best for you. Stay balanced and diverse. If all of your leads come from one source alone, it might be advisable to focus on a new source.

The majority of my job leads come from my university career services website. I would recommend pursuing this source first as it might also help you to discover services offered by the university for alumni. Jobs posted in this database target people with my educational background. In my experience, this database has postings for undergraduates and experienced alumni alike. Furthermore, employers that post on university websites might have a relationship with your alma mater based on previous hires. Thus far, I have met with a career counselor, gained access to the career services library on campus, attended on-line conferences, and spoken with alumni about their careers. The university services facilitated them all. These items have aided me in figuring out what my next career move will be. They are available for all alumni.

Make sure to alert your personal and professional networks to your search. In the event that you are unemployed, you can alert these people to a job search without advertising to all of them that you are out of work. You will find that people are receptive to helping in your search. Some friends might even work for companies that offer them a bonus for recommending a new hire which will invest them in getting you a job. At the very least, this should also produce a crop of people who can forward a job offering them come across your way.

While a contact might encourage you to research a company's website and any potential job openings, do not hesitate to pursue companies directly. Many companies post openings on their websites. In the event that you have a set list of companies for which you would like to work, scour their websites for openings. To find companies you might like to work for, research trade journals, websites, and magazines that can point you towards fun places to work, growing companies, and industry leaders.

I discovered LinkedIn.com shortly before beginning my search. This is a professional networking site that allows members to establish a user profile that amounts to an on-line resume. It also allows you to connect to friends and contacts as you would on Facebook. The site guides you to create a rounded profile by tracking progress on resume items, educational background, contacts, recommendations, and groups. This website also has a database of jobs. Membership at this website allows one to track what contacts are doing, industry trends, and alumni networks. It is a good resource for finding professional events. LinkedIn will also help for you to discover the professional accomplishments of people you had only known in a personal capacity. It will also get your information out on the web in the event that you are Google'd by a prospective employer.

Monster.com, CareerBuilder.com, and similar websites allow you to post your resume and actively search job postings. I know that my last employer looked for prospective employees based on such sources. Personally, I have received a fair amount of spam in my inbox after posting on these sites. Neither site has a good mechanism for uploading an existing resume. The format of my resume was skewed during upload by both platforms and required extensive editing for it to look presentable. Remember that your objective is to develop promising job leads. Spending a massive amount of time on formatting and some of the other peripheral functions of these sites can be a waste of time. LinkedIn, Monster, and CareerBuilder alike can distract from your main objective of finding jobs to apply to. Make sure you catch yourself and readjust if you find yourself spending hours on these sites developing profiles, contacts, and pursing the clusters of links and advertisements that appear on each page. Remember, your on the site to find jobs.

I have established relationships with multiple recruiters. In my experience, recruiters are good at finding a job based on your previous employment. I do not necessarily want a job similar to my last position and this course of action does not seem conducive to facilitating a career change. I have felt pigeonholed when dealing with recruiters and am not fully confident that they will ultimately produce a job lead that I would be excited about. Thus far, this avenue has not produced many promising leads for me.

These are the sources that I am using for leads. While I have looked through newspapers and other mediums, they have not been a major source in my search. That isn't to say that they might not prove useful. With the sources above, I have not had a shortage of jobs to apply to for some time now. I would suggest starting the search with at least one recruiter and establishing a profile on one of the job hunt websites—LinkedIn.com, Monster, CareerBuilder, or similar—as these should run independently of you in finding you a job lead while you pursue your own manual search.