30 Jul

Posted at 00:00h in Linkedin, Networking Tips
Like a majority of you, I have an image I would like to maintain to the outside world. A positive image of course.I've always wanted to write, but I never could really write the way I wanted to write because I was afraid my job would read my blog. So the moment I had the chance to start writing without the fear of my job being affected by it, I jumped at the chance.The first two posts I wrote were about my interview failures (Part 1, Part II). It's amazing how many times I have failed, and some of them were straight up embarrassing. After I wrote those posts, it became this therapy for me where I can just write about almost anything.

08 Jul

Posted at 00:41h in Relationship Building
Have you ever been on a mission to ruin someone else's day, just because they were happy? Don't lie, we all have done it one time in or lives. And when it works, it makes you happy. Well, you are happy until they get happy again, then you are back at square one.We all have had that moment where someone you know got promoted, or got a new and better job or a higher test score than you did. 9 times out of 10, you're happy for that person. But, sometimes something good happens to someone who you don't think deserves it.You're happy to their face, but deep down you want to jump off a bridge. If you have ever sent a text message that says "congrats" and it doesn't actually match what you are saying out loud that usually means you don't think the person deserves it.There are 2 ways to handle this situation:
  • (Most Common) - Be happy to their face, then immediately talk behind their back. 
  • (Least Common) - Actually be happy for the person. Shocker, I know.
Here are two rules I use every day to live a better life and be happy for other people:

05 Jun

Posted at 17:26h in Career Inspiration, Job Tips, Networking Tips, Relationship Building
The one thing I noticed as I went through my career is how my views have changed about leaders and people in power, specifically in the corporate world. The higher they were up the corporate chain, the more frightened I was to speak with them and the quieter I was around them.Every email that I wrote was written with fear, and I had other people take a look at it before I sent it. They are extremely busy people, and I didn't want to bother them. I respected them and their work, and obviously I wanted to impress them. Many times my communication with these executives failed, because I was unable to have an honest conversation with them.

26 May

Posted at 11:49h in Career Inspiration, Interviewing, Networking Tips, Quitting Your Job, Relationship Building, Resumes and Cover Letters, Salary Negotiation
The National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) projects 1,791,000 students at the bachelor's degree level will graduate as the college Class of 2013.Let me write it for you in long form just in case you missed that number. There are ONE MILLION, SEVEN HUNDRED AND NINETY ONE THOUSAND people graduating from College in 2013 in the U.S.That's a shit ton of competition. So you start looking for a job, except there is one problem: Looking for a job sucks.

08 Feb

Posted at 08:26h in Networking Tips, Relationship Building
Imagine this common conversation at a networking / business event:
Mike: So John, what do you do?John: I just moved here from New York, and I'm looking for a full-time job as a Graphics Designer. I've always loved Chicago and I'm glad I made the move.Mike: Oh, great. Welcome to Chicago! Where are you staying?John: At my buddy's out west. He's a good friend of mine from College. I'm staying there until I get situated.
A fairly simple and straight forward conversation, right? It is, but there are two problems with this conversation:
  1. You admitted to being unemployed.
  2. You admitted that the only reason you are at this event is because you are looking for a full-time job. This is why you are selfish.