Job Search

In Which I Fear I Was Wrong About HR

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So as you've managed to guess if you've . . . well read this blog or know me . . . I'm big on careers, job searches, etc.  I'm big on geeky careers and jobs.  It's not just making money and paying bills, I'm big on helping people find meaningful work in their lives.  Assisting people in finding their ideal, true careers, means a lot to me as it's about meaning in life.

However, as I help people, one truth seems to come up again and again – namely that recruiting and HR sucks so badly it has an event horizon.  If you didn't get that that's a black hole joke, you may be at the wrong blog, by the way.

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I Have a Job They Don’t: Invite Them

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So after a bit of a break, it's back to the "I have a job they don't" series, where we look at just what you, the employed, can do for those who don't have a job.

This week?  I want to encourage you to involve people in a project.

Your unemployed friends are quite likely to A) need to learn more skills, B) need to network, and C) feel depressed.  Involving them in a project is a way to address all of those issues at once.

Maintaining a blog?  Invite them to blog for you to hone their writing, get work out there, and meet your readers.

Running a con?  See if they want to help out, and give them a chance to use whatever relevant skills they have for big, public event.  In some cases it might be worth listing on a resume or a LinkedIn profile.

Run a newsletter?  Come on, your friend with the Tech Writing skills can help with formatting!

If you're any kind of geek, you're always juggling a few projects.  Inviting your job-seeking friends aboard gives them a lot of benefits.

Best of all, it helps you stay friends – which can be tough in times of economic stress.

– Steven Savage

I Have a Job, They Don’t: Research

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The "I Have a Job" Roundup.

You've got your unemployed friends and family and want to help.  One thing you know they've got to do is research -on jobs, on locations, on career options, on education.  You wish you could help them.

Ok, so go do it.

You're a geek, an otaku, a fan.  You live in a world of information and are probably insanely good at researching a few things if not a lot of things.  You probably have a terrifying amount of knowledge about some important subjects.

So, help those looking for work by assisting them with research.

I'm not saying do it all for them – though in some cases it may make sense that they "outsource" to you.  I'm saying help out where you're really good to help them get the information they need.  GO where you're most needed, and most critical.

Don't worry too much about doing their job for them.  In these tough times life's challenging enough as it is.

So go on and find out what technical skills they need, or use your freakish knowledge of demographics to find them an ideal city.  Go and apply your typing skills and ability to network among geeks to find out about good career options.

Go and apply those research skills.  As long as they're willing to listen, helping them out is an option.

– Steven Savage