2010 In Review

2010 was a year that saw some big things happen for yours truly, let's review shall we?

I met film director, and my birthday buddy, Spike Lee.

I had the privilege of working as an intern at KUER for RadioWest with Doug Fabrizio. It was truly an enlightening experience and I learned a great deal from everyone at KUER, especially RadioWest's producer, Elaine Clark. (P.S. That's how I got to meet Spike Lee)

My wife surprised me with tickets to see one of my all-time idols- Paul McCartney. He was in The Beatles.

We took a trip to Napa Valley with friends. It was a great trip and I learned a lot of wine factoids. For example, did you know that wine is made from grapes?

After almost a year of not having full-time employment, I got a job. A real big boy job.

I ate a really good dill pickle.

The dog and I built a fort.

I taught little kid P.E. for a brief period in the Spring. I discovered that my skills at corralling first graders still need developing.

We took our annual trip to the Utah State Fair. I ate a bunch of fried stuff on a stick and rode the Tilt-A-Whirl.

Mary Anne and I celebrated our fourth anniversary.

That about does it. Let's hope that 2011 has as much awesomeness in it as 2010 did.

Don't Let a Job Define You

I rescued this from my other blog. 

It's hard not to let what you do for work define you as a person. When you meet someone new, you immediately ask them, "What do you do?" Since I have been unemployed I have had difficulty answering that question, and usually I'll say something like "nothing, right now." This is total crap, however, because even though I am out of work, I do plenty. In fact, I might be doing more things now than when I had a job, so I need to rethink how I define myself.

In our society it is hard not to fall into the trap of jobs defining us as people. We think of ourselves as lawyer, teacher, waiter, administrative assistant, etc. We don't often think of ourselves as writer, volunteer, gardener, or even parent. Jobs are what we spend much of our time doing, but rarely do they really completely define us in every facet of life. It is pretty obvious when we stop to think about it, that we are so much more than our workplace selves. I am still the same guy now that I was a year ago when I had a job, but now I think of myself differently. I was the same me when I was a waiter in college that I was as a teacher.

Try to avoid the trap of using a job to be your source of definition and self worth. If all you are is the job, go out and find something else to engage in. Unemployment offers a unique time to really examine who you are, and what you value about yourself. I'm trying to change my answer to "What do you do?" from "Nothing, right now" to something like "A lot, actually." Because, after all, that's the truth.

Job Hunting Tips

I rescued this from my other blog, and thought it might be helpful. Here now are some job hunting tips from someone who has done a lot of that in the last year.

Don't be too picky. This economy is so tight that you can't be unwilling to do certain jobs. With that said, don't apply for jobs that you wouldn't be happy doing.

Craigslist is a nice place to start looking for jobs, but some of their posts are suspect. Be wary of jobs that don't list the company name.

Monster.com is not that great of a place to find jobs. Every job I get sent to me is in New York, and while I don't dislike New York, I might like a job closer to where I live now.

Try to find some places/companies/organizations that you might like to work for, and check back on their websites periodically to see if any jobs have been posted. I have several that I frequent, and some have yielded interviews. It's only a matter of time before one yields a job.

Tell everyone you know that you are looking for a job. I have been told that "it's not what you know, it's who you know" and I now agree with that statement. Most of my best leads have come via friends who have had me on their radar.

In the same vein of the last tip, make sure to use any advantages that you have. If someone offers to make a call or send an email on your behalf- let them. It can't hurt.

That's all for now, but I have more pearls of wisdom for later.