The following is a list of professional associations and related groups that should appeal to most Progeeks, Profans, Creative Class, and other Geekonomic types.
I've also listed what countries the different associations work in.
Resources
Forgotten Geek Job Resources
You know how you want a job? You know how you're a blatant geek? Guess what, as you sit there panicking over your employment, you've forgotten the unique resources that you have to help you find a job.
Yes, here are the geek job resources people forget.
Your Social Network: Honestly, have you told your fellow geeks, anime fans, et al you're out of work? Then go do it. You're probably got a lot of people you play games with, read fanfic with, or chat with. Go see if they can help.
Your Favorite Companies: Those publishing, gaming, and technology companies you're mad for? Come on, go to their sites and check out their career options. If you get an interview, think of all the knowledge you have from using their products. Ask yourself – whose products do I admire and use that I'd want to work for?
Your Industry Knowledge: Hand-in hand with your company knowledge, your blatant meekness means you know a lot about certain industries. Rack your brains and see if you know any trends that suggest potential ideas for employment.
The Internet: Yes, you probably know there are job search sites, but you're forgetting that the Internet has:
- Resources to research companies, from LinkedIn.com to Crunchbase.com.
- Ways to get news feeds on companies that you may want to work for – or in fact they may have RSS feeds or other ways to send you information.
- Do research on companies in detail.
- Random surfing for ideas.
Your Creativity: Come on, you're the person that created incredible fanart, ran a fan site, cosplayed something that couldn't normally exist in 3 dimensions, or wrote epic fanfic. Start dreaming up career ideas!
Go on, let's see some geek pride – and appreciate what you have for resources!
– Steven Savage
Job Research: Look for the Best Of
You have any trouble finding the right resources for your job and career?
If you're the average progeek, there's two situations:
- You haven't done enough research, and when you do you are overwhelmed with the books, websites, meetups, and other resources and have no idea to start.
- You have done the research long ago, and you're still painfully aware of just how much stuff there is out there you can use to find a job, research a career, etc.
One of the problems we progeeks face is, being information-oriented one way or another, being plugged in, is that we're swept away by a flood of options when we do career research. Sure, we're great at surfing the web, mining amazon, and finding local event boards, but we have no idea where to start.
We could go do everything, and read everything, but we just don't have the time.
We could be very selective, but we worry we'll miss something.
We have frankly, no idea where to even start