Winner, Winner....Chicken Dinner!

I love that line. John Bucigross from the 4-letter (ESPN) uses it all the time. Today, I'm borrowing it.

Finally, my short-term goal has been achieved. I got a full-time job. It's been 8 months since I last worked a 40-hour week, next week I will do it again.

Without a doubt, this was the hardest thing that I've ever had to do. I learned, learned a lot about both the job search and even more about myself.

((The WTLV-TV Rally Dogs, Circa 1992 (media league champs)//Courtesy: Jeff Imperial))

I've always been very goal oriented and that really was helpful. You have to be. The hardest thing for me was the networking. I've said it many times on this blog, job searching is a total different beast than it used to be.

One of the first things I did upon arriving in Cincinnati was to get involved with a couple of networking groups. Through them I met some people who introduced me to a few more people. Will they be long term friends, I don't know, but without them I could never have gotten my name out there like I was able to.

No, I didn't search the "New" textbook way. Though I did apply some of the things that I learned in and through those groups.

I went back to one of those groups this past Tuesday. Mostly to thank Pat Frew, the moderator/creator of the group who extended me an unbelievable amount of courtesy and help.
Pat spent some time in the TV business and is perhaps one of the most connected people in the greater Cincinnati area. I will never be able to thank him enough for his help.

I've always been one who is willing to help others. I always will. I want to know that people that I know don't go through what I did. I don't want them to take a demeaning job like I did for a period of time. I want everyone to find something that they are happy doing. I want, even if the national unemployment rate is hovering around 10%, for the people that I know, the people that I like to be happy. I want John Bucigross to look at them and be able to say "Winner, Winner...Chicken Dinner".

Enjoy your music clip. Cheap Trick doing "I want you to want me!"....

Saturation Bombing

Early on, when I started doing this, my focus was going to be concentrating on my search for a full-time job. As things progressed and I got less and less successful and some other things were going on in my life, I kind of got away from that. I'm not sitting here and saying that I am going to get back to the mission that I started, but today I'm going to go back to it...a little.

So...its now going on 6 months and counting since I had a full-time job. My last day at WGCL in Atlanta was September 8th. Since then it has been one interesting experience. I don't know if I want to use the word frustrated, though I have been and in some ways, I currently am; rather I would prefer saying...I am more anxious.

By now, I've mentioned ad nauseum about working part-time at the Panera Bread down the street. Yeah, it sucks. Yeah, it is...I'll say it...beneath me. But, I've gotta do something. I've realized this week, having been off for pretty much all of it, that you have to do something in order to interact with people on occasion or you will go crazy (at least I will).

My time this week has been spent pretty much on two things. One, my Sports blog site. I've been generating a ton of content and it has paid off a bit. Traffic is up and we've gotten some attention. The other, applying for jobs. Any jobs. Yeah, I've finally hit that point where I'm trying for just about anything. Dick's Sporting Goods, The Fresh Market, AT&T...anybody that will let me submit a resume'.

I still, believe it or not have a chance at a job here with WCPO, but the process has dragged out for over a month now. As much as I liked the people there and I like their shows, I'm not optimistic. The News Director has been very nice and responsive when I check in with him, but I'm not really confident. He's had too much time to wait out someone else he can hire. I also have a resume' in at WLWT where they are looking for an Assignment Editor. Yes, I am qualified enough to do that and they should have gotten my resume' etc. on Monday...no I haven't heard anything from them despite perhaps writing one of the best cover letters I've ever written. Heck, I even have a DVD and resume at the Fox station for a Promotion Producer/Photographer job. I haven't heard a peep from them either. TV wise, I am running into the "We can't pay you" wall. I had to explain to the folks at WCPO that "I don't need Atlanta money, I just need a full-time job for my sanity".

Honestly, what worries me is that though I've applied for 8 non-TV jobs this week and last, I haven't heard anything from any of them either. I'm very concerned because I'm not really sure where to turn next. Yes, I know that I was involved with the Networking group early on here and perhaps I need to revisit that.

The problem I think in some respects is me. I'm not a "Pushy", "Sell myself" kind of person and that seems to be hurting me. I'm not someone who wants to beg people to help. Is it pride? A little. Is it ego? No, I don't think so. I'm applying for all kinds of work. Is it lack of knowledge? Yeah, probably. I just am not very well equipped to deal with the "Modern" job search techniques. Can I skim the Internet and find potential opportunities? Sure, I'm actually pretty good at that. But...everything that I'm reading...and experiencing is telling me that while I might hit the "Needle in the Haystack" it isn't likely.

Is there a solution? I don't know. There has to be something...or someone willing to take a flyer on me. Really I am a good employee, I always have been. I'm somewhat of a perfectionist and anyone who has ever been around me will tell you whatever it is that I end up doing, I'll be good at. The reason they say is my OCD tendency to have to learn everything possible about whatever it is that I am doing. Surely that...if nothing else makes me someone who somebody wants to hire....right?

For you entertainment enjoy a classic Monty Python sketch on a job interview. Thanks You Tube:

The Truth isn't Always True...The Holiday Job Search

You know, really as much as people in the Job Search business think otherwise, there really isn't a whole lot that gets done between Thanksgiving and New Year's. Hell even if you have a job, nothing much gets done in that 6 week period. It's true. Think about it. Wherever you are or whatever you do, think for a minute. Does anyone start a long-term or business defining project in that time? No. Unless you are a retailer planning for a sale...you don't.

Me, I've gotten very little done since Thanksgiving. Part of that is because I started a part-time job and part of it is because there just isn't anything...job wise or really any otherwise that is interesting to sink my teeth into at the moment. I did get Step 1 of my Plan put in place...we have the Mac Computer with Final Cut 4 on it so I can start getting moving on the editing stuff. But I haven't done much writing for the book. I'm 6 chapters in...18 more to go by early February, I need to get to 10 by the end of the year.

((The KY mascot has the Holiday Spirit//Courtesy: Eric Hager))

Granted...and I don't want to sound like a Grinch; there should be more motivation to do things. The Job Networking groups say that "This is the best time to gain the advantage in Networking and in your search"...I don't buy that. How many businesses are "Seriously" looking to make a "Big" hire in mid-December? For that matter...how many people can say they've ever started a job in December. I actually did....many, many years ago. I accepted the job before Thanksgiving but didn't start until the week after.

Should you try to get stuff done during this period. Sure...you should. Will you get anything done around the holiday parties, the Christmas Shopping and the general festive short weeks? Probably not. Either way, enjoy the holiday, fine tune your plan and have a plan of attack...after the New Year starts.

Here is your Grinch fix...Thanks You Tube:

Holiday Motivation

We, I think have now reached the point of motivational struggling. What I mean by that is...what's next? It's been 10 weeks now and I have yet to truly find what I'm looking for (no U2 joke intended).

Yes, I am working, but it's part time and not exactly something that I want to do the rest of my life. I want to get back into the Video business, somehow, someway. I don't know how exactly to do it where I am now and I think that is the frustrating part.

((Me in the Video business/Circa 2004))

I guess the blessing in all of this is that there are some jobs out there, they may not be what you like or want, but there are jobs. I still sat here in front of the slowly disintegrating desktop computer looking at the usual sites, trying to see if there is something out there for me. Right now, there isn't.

What is it that you can do to stay motivated or fired up about trying to find something during the holidays? How do you continually plug away knowing that there isn't much out there and what you are looking for may be the proverbial "Needle in the Haystack"? It's a good question, a legitimate one, one that I really don't know if I have an answer to.

Sometime this afternoon, I will try and get in touch with the folks over at the ABC station here in Cincinnati. I had an interview with them about a week ago for a part-time producer job. I felt after talking to them that they would let me know one way or the other whether or not I got the gig, but I haven't heard anything from them...yet. It may be that last week was a short week with Thanksgiving, I don't know, but I guess I need to find out.

In the meantime, I still have the nice folks at the Panera Bread. I've worked there a little over a week now and it actually isn't so bad. People that come in there seem to be pretty pleasant overall and it's a good work environment with nice people. It's just difficult to think that I am doing that now. It really hit me this past weekend watching the Georgia/Georgia Tech Football game. Exactly one year previous to Saturday, I was there, on the field, working that game and it's very strange to think about where I am now. Granted, I like the city that we moved to. The people are nice and it is a "Much" slower pace than Atlanta which isn't so bad either.

So here we sit. Really, I would like to come up with something exciting, invigorating or motivating to make me and anyone else who stumbles across this energized in their job search, but I can't. All I can really say is be aware that this is going to happen. Be aware that you need to be aware of it. Keep plugging away and keep looking, the job or opportunity that you want "IS" out there. It may not be right in front of you, but it is there, you just have to keep searching...if you do that you eventually will get what you want.

In the meantime, enjoy the trailer for a Holiday Classic: National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation...we love the You Tube:

Slow Ride

I really don't know who it was that said that "Some days are better than others", maybe nobody did or maybe I'm reading too much into it. Either way, today is one of those days.

Right now, I am where I've been for the better part of the past 2 months; in the house, on the laptop, searching the vastness of the Internets for potential work opportunities. It's interesting though; I have one opportunity now, though it's part time...low wage work in a restaurant, but it's paying work and will get me out of the house and away from this routine. I have another potential opportunity, a job that I will be interviewing for on Friday. It's part-time as well, but between the two, I will be paid enough and working enough that I can change my approach.

Today, however is a "Slow" day. I'm doing the same thing...but Michelle is home after having a procedure done at the hospital and resting and I need to be here to take care of her. It still leaves me with part of the day to do what I've been doing. And I...to an extent have done it though I don't quite feel the same sense of urgency at the moment. Is that wrong? Should I be doing more? Should I be more aggressive? I don't really know.

Supposedly the Job Search is a marathon not a sprint and I guess in a way that is true. But remember a while back I mentioned "Having a Plan". Right now, part-time work fits my "Plan" very well. Will one of the jobs lead to Full-time work? Possibly, but that isn't a priority. For me...in MY situation; I needed to find work to get some money coming in. I needed to find some work to allow me to buy some things that I want to achieve my "Master Plan". If I am able to get out there a bit with these jobs however, I potentially open up even more potential paths for me to travel down. When it all gets boiled down; isn't that really what it's all about?

It's not "Slow Ride" but enjoy a little "Slow Hand"...Eric Clapton and a live version of one of the Greatest Rock and Roll songs of all time (it's a bit long): Thanks You Tube

Taking one for the Team

Brace yourselves, this may be a long, rambling, stream of consciousness story this afternoon. I feel the need at this point to talk about what; at least to me is the most important part of the job searching journey...having a master plan...and modifying or adjusting it as you go

Believe it or not, I figured out my plan fairly quickly. I had a pretty good idea of what I want and wanted to do, I'm still trying even now to figure out how to put it into action. For instance, I've mentioned before I want to stay in the video or video production field. I do, it's what I do well, I love being able to tell stories...not just writing them, but showing them. I'm good at it. I am very accomplished at it. I love doing it. Honestly, I wasn't sure when I left my last job if I wanted to stay in it, but a lot of thought and looking back at things told me that it was the place I worked that brought me down, not what I did.

((Photo: Me and the West Virginia Mountaineer Mascot at the 2005 Sugar Bowl...yeah...he didn't get out much))

My plan is simple. I want to have my own production company. I want to not only utilize the skills I've learned over the past 22 years as a Videographer/Editor and Producer, I want to expand them. I want to take courses in Web Design and graphic design. I want to be able to do everything.

Sacrifice...

Sometimes you have to take one for the team. Really, you do. I did something today that I never thought I would have to do. I went to a Panera Bread store near the house and took a job with them. That's right, 23 years after the last time I worked in a restaurant, I took a job working in a restaurant.

Why do that you ask? Several reasons: (1) Basically Michelle told me this weekend "Find something to do, even if it's part time, just get out of the house". (2) In order to get some new clothes and start purchasing equipment, I need to start bringing in my own money. We make enough for us to get by, but we have to be much more careful right now without me bringing anything in. Hopefully that will change. (3) The General Manager at Panera Bread couldn't have been nicer and more accommodating. He told me that I can "Work as much or as little as I wanted to" and that he understood that I was in transition. He said "If you find what you are looking for, all I ask is for some notice before you leave". Honestly, I told him that would be the least that I could do.

Is it scary to go back and work like that? Sure, but to get what I want, I'm going to have to make some sacrifices and you know what. I'm OK with that.

**BREAKING NEWS UPDATE***- As I was writing this, I received a call from the Assistant News Director at WCPO-TV the ABC station here. He would like me to come in on Friday to meet with him and his News Director. Maybe it's true that once the gate is open, everything comes at once.

Finish the Drill....

Mark Richt, one of my favorite people uses this line with his Georgia Bulldogs all of the time. "Finish the Drill". You have to finish what you start...or why start it? It's the same thing with your plan. You have to have one in order to succeed. Not just in life, but for your job search and anything else that you do. You may have to take a step or two back in order to make your plan work...but if you do...so what...do it! Keep your eye on the prize because in the end you'll be amazed at how happy you are and how proud you will be if you accomplish it.

((I apologize for the gigantic font. Blogspot is being a pain in the ass and won't let me re-adjust it to the size it should be))

Enjoy the A-Team because "I love it when a plan comes together". Thanks You Tube:

Learning How to Job Search

Imagine being my age: 44 and having to learn how to do something that you've never seriously had to do in an era where the way that you go about doing it changes pretty much daily. That's what I'm dealing with right now.

No, really, if any of you are former TV people, you know that you didn't have to do a "Traditional" or "Normal" job search. TV Jobs...at least up until recently weren't that hard to find...or get. If you knew of a market you wanted to work in you either made contact with someone there or you probably already knew someone there; when you heard they had a job opening, you sent a tape...if it was a good tape, you'd probably get the job.

I've had 6 of them in TV. Jobs that is. Each time, I didn't have to work very hard to get them. Probably the longest was when I was looking to leave Jacksonville, Florida in late 1994. It took a few tapes and about 2 months. But after starting in November, I got a call the 1st week in January from someone who wanted to hire me because he liked my videotape.

I'm finding out now, after moving to a town where I basically don't know anyone, that for most other jobs and even now TV, it doesn't work like that anymore. It's all about networking. Meeting people and meeting people who know people. And then meeting people who know people who know people.

The 1st lesson that I've learned: Join a Networking Group. I got lucky. When my wife Michelle got her transfer here to Cincinnati, they assigned a local company or "Concierge" service to help with the transition. One of the people in the company took an interest in my plight (Moving here without a job) and got me introduced to a couple of people...who introduced me to a couple of people and so on and so forth.

I joined 2 Groups after meeting with these people and though I haven't found a job yet, I now know where to look and who to get in touch with. (more on that in another posting)

Enjoy Dr. Fever: