I met Lauren Rae Orsini pretty much by random – she'd commented on my profiling of Anime USA on Twitter, and I looked her up. Imagine my pleasure in discovering that this woman is pure progeek, from her work in writing to blogging at Otaku Journalist and Japanator, and her convention work.
I asked her for an interview, and before I could do anything else, she essentially interviewed herself for me! This woman can't stop writing, so here's her pure insights into how she went from unemployed graduate to employed, while building her skills along the way with high-power geekdom.
Best of all? Lauren's going to be doing a series of columns for us starting in a few weeks on unemployment and the job search.
So sit back and listen to the lady, she knows what she's talking about!
Lauren speaks . . .
I got my masters in journalism this August, and started looking for a job. In the meantime, I got a part time job at my local gym which gave me a reason to work out every day. (Sure, it was menial work for someone with her MA but this is a recession and it was something!) This in turn gave me energy to do something other than lie in bed all day.
Aside from work, I blogged at Otaku Journalist and Japanator and volunteered as Marketing Director for Anime USA. I did freelance work for a journalism conference called the Online News Association, the Investigative Reporting Workshop and a few other places for web and design work, mostly. (I also got to attend the conference, meet the Mashable staff, and get my picture taken with Drew Curtis from Fark!) I attended journalism events and lectures for the networking opportunities (and even presented a lecture myself at my alma mater about using WordPress).
However, I had only gotten around ten interviews that entire time. And I didn't get even ONE of those jobs! So I decided I was sick of waiting around and wanted to take the matter into my own hands. So on November 1, I started NaNoJobMo (get it?) at http://nanojobmo.tumblr.com. I applied for one job every day for 30 days. At the end, I had gotten 7 interviews all lined up for the first week of December!
But since life is weird, I canceled each and every one of them. Because the next day, while I was at a particularly tedious shift at the gym, I got a phone call from a guy claiming to be from a talent agency. I thought it was a joke and told him to email me. Now I know it wasn't a scam, because I'm now a contractor from that agency working as an interactive designer for Pew, a nonprofit in DC. As an added bonus, I'm making more than I would have at any of the jobs that turned me down!
Some people will say I just got lucky. However, how did the agency find me? They found my NaNoJobMo Tumblr! And how did someone like me, who is SO bad at interviews, get this job? They read my blog! The person who is now my boss was impressed that I blogged in some of my free time about infographics and design, and really liked my passion for the subject. Sure, anime is a greater passion for me, but where did my design portfolio even come from? I did a bunch of graphics for the Anime USA prospectus and for Kotaku, and right now I'm visualizing fellow anime blogger Charles' of Beneath The Tangles anime and religion survey.
So this is really a story of how being passionate about my interests has lead to success. Now the next big challenge in my life is learning how to balance my blog with my career. Because I do want to make my blog my living one day. So before I started work, I made a 7 step business plan for my blog. Now, whenever I'm not at work, whether it be at home, my lunch break, or while commuting, I try to work on parts of that plan.
My advice to every unemployed person is to do something like NaNoJobMo. It's harder than you think to apply for a job EVERY day, but it gets easier when it becomes a routine. It also raised awareness of my search and by the midpoint of the project, people were sending me suggestions for job applications almost every day! Since I love making infographics, here's the visualization of how successful the project was: http://otakujournalist.com/2010/12/a-visual-look-at-my-latest-adventure/. They don't have to make infographics – that's my passion, not theirs.
When you're jobless, it can be hard to find a reason to get up in the morning. There's a lot of self worth issues to work through as well. So routine is essential. Try to fill up that time you have on your hands. If you've always wanted to start a blog but always had an excuse, now is the time! It's also a great time to learn a new skill — I learned PHP and how to design a font face while I was unemployed, things I'd wanted to do for ages. Trick yourself into thinking you have a limited amount of time and that unemployment is temporary — I know it doesn't feel like it, but it is!
Thanks Lauren! Be sure to check out her two sites:
www.LaurenRaeOrsini.com
www.OtakuJournalist.com