Today's assignment was to make lists. Did you do it or did you sink into a depressive slump and think, "maybe tomorrow..."
Get off your collective arses and follow me below the fold.
The day dawned cold again in Minnesota. WineRev, could you please bring back a couple of cans of that Florida warmth and pour it out over the Twin Cities when you return?
Today was my day to hit the depressive slump. Why bother getting out of bed? It's cold, -3 degrees this morning. It's dreary. Winter seems like it will never end. May as well hibernate..... NO!!! I made myself get up and at least do some reading. More on that later...
Who's working on their assignments with me? Today, we were supposed to make a list of skills. This can be anything from successfully balancing the checkbook each month to being able to paint without wearing more of it than you get on the wall. I'm not good at either, but there you go... They should be in no particular order, but jotted down as you think of them. Leave the list open ended, as you might think of things later in the day. Here is my list: (No laughing!)
*singing
*writing
*good with computers
*teaching/tutoring/homework club
*organization
*technical understanding
*voice overs
*love to learn
*love to read
*writing ad copy
*customer service
*tech support
*communication skills
*good at research
*mediation
*working with animals
*summarizing
*good cook
*making soap
*working with sound equipment
*advocating
*QA
*telephone hardware
*computer and networking hardware
See what I mean?! I don't have a skill set, I have a skill dump! Now what do I do with my list? I went to one of the websites where you can search for jobs, odesk.com it was, and looked at the categories. Looking through the different jobs, and comparing them to my list, I can get a general idea of what's available, and what I may want to do. I cam up with the following job types:
*Audio production
*voice talent
*technical writing
*website content writing
*blogging
*copywriting
*Internet researcher
*Email response processor
*online order processing
*other admin & support
*technical support
Now, some of these jobs I've done before and some of them I have not. For the jobs that I have experience in, I could pretty much just step into a position. On the other hand, if I want to be a freelancer and do multiple types of work, then I'm going to have to do some research.
There are dozens of websites devoted to finding freelance work. I would need to come up with a plan to scan the sites for new job postings so I don't spend all of my time looking at jobs rather than doing the jobs! So I would need to come up with a process. What would a typical day in the life of Laurie as a freelancer look like? How much am I willing to spend for access to the paid portion of many of these websites?
The next item of research that I need to do is to look at the jobs where I don't have experience, or my experience needs some updating. I used to be in broadcast radio, but that was 20 years ago. How could I get back into the field without spending a huge chunk of cash just to get started? I think I found an answer to that in volunteering. Associations for the blind are always looking for people to make books on tape. It's a good karma thing to do, and it gives me practical and new experience. I think it will also be good for that sagging self-esteem.
Basically, the next step of my job search strategy is to do research and lots of it.
*workflow processes for freelancing, including a list of job resources that can be checked every day.
*general research on new types of work
*research on materials and equipment for all types of work that I'm considering.
*come up with a strategy for experience-building
OK... who did their homework? Share your lists in the comments! Your homework for next time is research research research!!
Update: Links to my first unemployment diary, and Job search 1