So Sad About Us

Ah, gentle readers, you must forgive your MatchGirl's absence on the interweb of late. There has ben a tragedy and my trusty little iBook is out of juice. While he sits at Tek Serve, waiting to be repaired, I am left without a way to post to you.

Currently, I'm sitting in the Greenpoint branch of the Brooklyn Public Library, frantically trying to get things done in 30 minute snippets. I think we can all agree that this is not the best way to be prodctive! Between responding to e-mails and job hunting, trying to start schoolwork and trying to update my blogs so you, my faithful readers, won't think I forgot you, time is ticking down fast fast fast!

It's impossible to get done much of what I need to using the computers in the public library.  They have such strict restrictions on what you can and cannot do with them.  And, while I should go to FIT and get some things done, where there are fast Macs (yay!!!!!) and limited restrictions on what you can do with websites and no time limits, I can't remember my new password and the paper it's written on is somewhere not on me.  Alas.

Thus is the life of a computer-less girl in the computer age!

Walking into Tek Serve on Saturday afternoon with my sad little iBook, I was simply praying that they could fix it.  I had an idea what was wrong with it - despite its age, it still runs pretty well - but I am definitely no expert.  While the gentleman said that it was something they could fix, and he was not condescnding or weird or anything about it, he also told me that my little friend was 4 years old and the motherboards were really only slated to last for 3ish.  *sigh*  I know.  What I wouldn't give to have the cash for a sleek new computer!  A MacBook Pro - all trim and fast with long battery life!  It's a girl's dream!  Not having a job for a year, however, it's simply not in the cards.

Certainly, the first thing I will do once I am gainfully employed (after I buy my dear friend T a case of her favorite potabl - as a giant thanks for keeping me fed and liquored this whole year) is buy myself a brand, spankin' new Mac!  For now, I wait.

I only have a few more minutes left on the library computer, dear ones, so I must sign off.  Keep your fingers crossed for my little iBook to be back with me by the end of the week and more tales of unemployment to follow.

I Need A Job

Ah, gentle readers, your MatchGirl is in quite a quandry.

My unemployment will run out sometime this Spring (it looks like April, but these things are so confusing, and, as unemployment continues to grow, who knows if they will add another extension - it is an election year, after all!).  When it does, I will have been out of the 9-5 grind for a year and a half.  A long time.

That's not to say that I haven't been working.  No.  In this past (over a) year, your MatchGirl has been working her little bum off.  I have been networking.  I have been sending out resumes.  I have revamped my resume and I have written hundreds of cover letters.  I have started two blogs - both of which have gotten quite a bit of (positive) attention from the media (local and international).  I have organized meet-ups for other unemployed people, so that they can come together and relax and share a drink with people in their same boat.  I have become a co-founder of Work It Brooklyn (taking that networking idea to the next level).  Yet, I am still unemployed.

I have been thinking a lot about what I want to do for employment and, though I truly need a job (and soon), I still look at postings with a critical eye.  Sure, my main want for employment is to work for Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia (and idea cemented after spending a day working with her team), but they're not hiring.  So I am looking for a job.  And, while I don't want just any job, I am open to ideas.  I am open to suggestions.  I am open to someone sharing my LinkedIn page with someone they know somewhere, because I am just not sure how to turn the other things I have been doing into something that can sustain me financially. 

Who out there is looking to hire a smart, talented and hard-working woman?  A creative girl with a great sense of organization and personal style?  Someone who gives her all to everything she does?

Cos, seriously, I need a job.

More Fun with Craigslist

MATURE, EXPERIENCED Admin Asst. (williamsburg)
Date: 2010-02-02, 12:42AM EST

We are a small importer/manufacturer located in the warehouse district of Williamsburg. You will be working in a small office in a dusty warehouse. you will be working hard and will be asked to perform many duties and have alot [sic] of responsibilities. If you cannot deal with this read no further. if you are a loyal, hardworking, COMPETENT, and honest person we are looking for YOU!

OK. So they are looking for someone to work their asses off in a small, dirty place. Awesome.

And, this person while not needing a ton of experience, needs to have gotten (at least part of) a college education and have worked in an office. They need to be skilled and computer savvy (or, as they type, saavy). They need to have an outstanding personality and they need to shine.

Requirements:
- 2 years work experience in an office
-Minimum 2 years college
-able to answer calls (take orders, customer service)
-able to interact with customers (have a great personality)
-verifiable references
-skilled in Microsoft Office
-computer saavy
-Mature individual

A Plus:
-knowledge of Quickbooks
-bilingual (chinese) (MAJOR PLUS as we need an individual that can communicate with overseas suppliers and our overseas warehouse..almost guarantees you the job providing you meet all the requirements)
-graphic design
-skilled in Photoshop
-any computer networking skills

Oh yeah, and while you're at it, please be fluent in Chinese, and know graphic design, including Photoshop, and be able to help the company with their computer network.

Duties:
-answer phones: (take phone orders, customer service)
-input orders into Quickbooks
-shipping (ups, fedex, usps)
-bookkeeping
-keep office running efficiently and organized
-inventory control
-mailings
-warehouse work (no heavy lifting)
-product packaging
-read and answer emails

We are small and not able to offer the perks that a big company can. However, we are a fast growing business in a niche industry. The more valuable you prove yourself to be to the company the more you will make. This is a great opportunity for a talented and loyal worker.

You will be offered minimum wage (off the books) during the training/probationary period of 1 month. Afterwards, you will be offered $12-15 per hour to start.

And, at the end of the day, for a month, at least, they will pay you $7/hour (granted under the table, but who can survive on $7/hr) and then, if you've worked your ass off, they will pay you $12-$15 (so, obviously, you're commuting to Williamsburg from somewhere, cos who can afford to live there on that salary?). No perks. No benefits. Probably no paid sick days. I'm sure no vacation days. Definitely no health insurance.

Awesome.

Glad to see that someone who is invaluable is only worth $12-$15 an hour. It's good to know.

Girl On The Phone

Gentle readers, this topic keeps coming up - in conversation, in e-mails, in comments on Twitter and the blog - it's all about waiting and, more importantly, etiquette.  Whether it's a job you've interviewed for or a person you've gone on a date with, there is just a certain way to do things.

I realize that I just posted about this topic, but, in the few days since that post, I can't even count the amount of conversations that have occurred around the topic.

If you say you are going to call, call.
If you ask for a phone number, call.
If you have no plans on calling, don't ask for a phone number that you're not going to use.

Perhaps this is more of a dating post than an unemployment post, but it is what it is.   The same rules apply - it's simply common courtesy.

While walking with a friend this weekend, talking about boys, the topic of the no-call arose.  More to the point, the topic of asking for the phone number you're not planning on using.  She said that, and I am paraphrasing, she would much rather a guy didn't bother to ask for the number (after a meeting, a make-out, a hook-up) if they are not planning on using it.  If they just part ways with no way of contacting you, then that's that.  There are no expectations.  But when they ask for a number, tell you they are going to call, the game changes.  It's a different world, and everything is up in the air.

I brought up an episode of Friends during this conversation - which has come up in every conversation about the no-call - "The One With The Dollhouse".  In this episode, and bear with me, Chandler goes on a date with Rachel's boss.  He finds her dull, but, at the end of the date, he says "So, I'll call you."  And, of course, he doesn't.

An excerpt:

Rachel: Come on, this isn’t funny. She thinks it’s my fault that you haven’t called her. You have to call her!
Chandler: Look, you can’t call somebody after this long just to say, ‘In case you didn’t notice, I don’t like you!’
Rachel: Well then you’re going to have to take her out again.
Chandler: Nooo!! She’s really dull! And she gets this gross mascara goop thing in the corner of her eye!
Rachel: I don’t care! I don’t care! You are going to have to take her out again and end it, and end it in way that she knows it’s actually ended. And, I don’t care how hard it is for you, do not tell her that you will call her again!

I'm not saying that people are sitting and waiting for the phone to ring.  And I'm definitely not saying that every person who gives out their number and doesn't get a phone call is freaking out that their phone is not ringing.  But it's just impolite.

As for your MatchGirl, in keeping with her New Year's resolution of no expectations, she's given out her number to those who've not called and, while, it'd be lovely to hear from them... It's too much energy to be upset that they've not phoned.

To relate this to the job hunt, hiring managers, please, if you have someone in for an interview, if you have someone in for a series of interviews, at least have the courtesy to phone (or, hell, e-mail) them and let them know that you've gone in a different direction.  It's not that hard.  It's simply common courtesy.

The Waiting Game

Ah, gentle readers. Your MatchGirl is not a fan of waiting.  That is not to say that I cannot be a patient girl, but when I want something to happen, I want it to happen.  I believe in doing what I can to make things happen and I believe in trying to figure out how to make things happen when I'm  not sure.

To be honest, when it comes to an income, I am very much in the position where I am trying to figure out how to make things happen - as I'm not really sure what my next step ought to be.  And full-time employment, job interviews, even, seem to elude me.

This is a post about waiting. 
This is yet another post about how looking for a job and the dating world are so very much the same game.

In both, you need to show interest.  But just enough.  Too much interest and you may seem a little creepy or obsessive.  Too little interest and you will not be taken seriously.

In both job seeking and dating, you need to show up the first time ready to make the best impression.  The right shoes.  The right outfit.  Hair coiffed exactly right.  You need to have fresh breath and the right accessories on hand, be it resumes or condoms, prepared for anything.

You need to spend a lot of time looking.  And I mean a lot.  Whether you are trolling the job sites on line or obsessively e-mailing employers you'd just like to work for, it's not so different than paging through the dating sites or keeping an eye to Missed Connections (just in case that cute boy in the jeans and sneakers with ironic glasses noticed you, too).  Putting together your LinkedIn profile is pretty much the same as filling out your page on Nerve.com.  Either way, it's upon you to sell yourself in a very short amount of space - to make people want to e-mail you.

In my humble experience, however, dear ones, the biggest similarity is the waiting.  And the waiting.  And the waiting.

You go on an interview.  You send your Thank You e-mails and/or letters.  And then you wait.  Perhaps you phone them or e-mail them again.  But mostly, you wait - either for rejection or confirmation.  You just hope that they ask you in again.

You are introduced to a gentleman (or lady) by mutual friends.  You chat.  You have a drink.  Perhaps you share some food.  You feel like you'd like to get to know this person better.  They ask for your number/e-mail/card, so you feel like they'd like to know you better as well.  And then you wait.  And you wait.  And that's just the way things go.

Your MatchGirl is not good at this kind of waiting.  She likes to have a plan - to have action - to know what is going to happen next.  I feel the same disappointment when I don't hear back from a prospective employer regarding my interviews (I understand that not every applicant will receive acknowledgment of their submission, but after one or two interviews a courtesy e-mail or call is only appropriate!) as when that cute guy that asked for my number/e-mail/card doesn't call.  The worst part of it?  Knowing there is nothing I can do about it.


Image from some kid's project on the 70s and 80s

Beauty School Dropout

Ah, gentle readers, your MatchGirl knows that these are tough times. Money is tight and a thrifty gal needs to pinch her pennies. But does that mean that a thrifty gal can't still look her prettiest?

No. It most certainly does not.

Your MatchGirl sent a questionnaire out to some of her gal pals - from makeup artists to beauty PR mavens to simply cool gals - to ask them to name their favorite drugstore beauty products.

Here's what the ladies had to say:

For your skin care fix, Jeannine of Beauty Sweetspot swears by Neutrogena Healthy Skin Anti-Wrinkle Anti-Blemish Moisturizer ($12.99 at drugstore.com) while makeup artist Alice recommends Desert Essence Thoroughly Clean Face Wash to keep her complexion smooth and clear.  My dear friend Kora says "Aveeno Anti-Blemish Foaming Face Wash! Smells awesome and retails for like 6 bucks."  As a great, and multi-purpose (remove eye makeup, heal tattoos), deep body moisturizer, Pam and Kora both go nuts for Aquaphor.  Seriously nuts - your MatchGirl's inbox was a back and forth of how much they both loved it and all its purposes!


For brilliant color at home, LA based makeup artist Konnie says that Clairol Natural Instincts "always gives me great semi-permanent color results without the stink" And to keep your 'do doing what it's supposed to, Nancy recommends Citre-Shine Anti-Frizz Serum, for $6.99.

For a scent on a budget, Nancy recommends going old school and letting Calgon take you away, with its Body Mist.  Her favorite fragrance?  Hawaiian Ginger.  Yum.


As for your MatchGirl, gentle ones, I have been a girl on a budget for a very long time and I have a long list of drugstore favorites.  For washing my face, I am a big fan of alternating Cetaphil non-foaming cleanser and St. Ives Apricot Scrub.  For spot treating blemishes, you can't go wrong with Burt's Bees Herbal Blemish Stick (and I love the licorice-y scent).  I moisturize just like my mom and my nana before her with Oil of Olay.  And you can never go wrong with my number one makeup must have - Maybelline mascara.


What are some of your favorite beauty secrets on the cheap?


For your pretty pout, Vickie swears by L'oreal Colour Juice Sheer Juicy Lip, for about $8 a tube, while Pam suggests you keep them moisturized with Nivea's Lip Care line.

Haiti Fundraiser - TOMORROW

Gentle readers, it's times like this that your MatchGirl is reminded that things could be a lot worse.  Sure, I don't have a job or a boyfriend.  Sure there is a little mouse that, even with a kitten in the apartment, won't seem to go away.  But, you know what?  I have an apartment.  My friends and family are all OK.  I know where they are and that they are doing OK.  Right now, a lot of people can't say that.

As a response to the devastation in Haiti last week (and with this mornings 6.1 aftershock making it all the more imperative) a group of Brooklyn designers and artists and DJs, include dear friend of Unemployed Brooklyn, Bob Bland of Brooklyn Royalty, have come together to raise money to send to Haiti. The benefit is tomorrow evening, Thursday, January 21st from 7PM to midnight.

Details, from the website:

✦Save Haiti Benefit/Silent Auction✦

Thursday, January 21st, 2010

7pm-12am

@ Night Owl
170 North 4th Street
Brooklyn, NY 11211

✦Optional Open Bar of Well & Beer All Night with $30 donation✦

✦HOSTED BY✦

☞MONICA SHARP

☞THE GIRLS OF FINDERZKEEPERZ

✦ WITH DJs ✦

☞DANCES WITH WHITE GIRLS

☞COBRA KRAMES

☞DIRTY FINGER

☞FULL TIME FUN

☞ARQ

☞K!O

✦SPONSORs & PHOTOGRAPHERs✦

☞THE CULTURE OF ME

☞LILLY FRANCES

☞NALBAND


Silent Auction of local Brooklyn Designs, Art & Fashion
All proceeds will be distributed equally to benefit Haitian Relief Efforts in the following organizations:

UNICEF (http://www.unicef.org)
American Red Cross (http://www.redcross.org)
Doctors Without Borders (http://doctorswithoutborders.org)

Clothing, Food & Water Donations also accepted on behalf of:
Food for the Poor (http://www.foodforthepoor.org)
Fashion Delivers (http://www.fashiondelivers.org)

For more details, to volunteer or give donations email: bobblanddesign [at] gmail.com

You can read my posting on Greenpointers and you can see all the details on the Brooklyn Royalty website.