Aaron Crowe » resume

New website pages

admin — Tue, 15 Jun 2010 03:39:58 +0000

Today I’ve added two pages to this website. Read and enjoy:

Services

Resume

Radio resume

admin — Tue, 25 May 2010 04:27:23 +0000

Click here for audio resume

AaronCrowehttp://s3.amazonaws.com/fiverr.com/attachments/317355/AaronCrowe.mp3?1274479158

Copy and paste the above link into a browser window and listen. Or click the link above and then click on the MP3 file to listen.

I hired a radio announcer to give a 30-second read of my resume and talk about my continued search for work. Take a listen and let me know what you think.

It’s also part of my blogroll below.

Looking to interview unemployed

admin — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 05:50:10 +0000

How are you coping with being unemployed during the recession? How is your job search going? How do you juggle multiple part-time jobs while still looking for full-time work?

I’m looking to interview and take video of unemployed people for a series of stories on WalletPop.com, a personal finance Web site that I write and edit for. The interviews must be in person and should only take a few minutes. You can also give your elevator speech and I will link to your resume.

Resume of steel podcast

admin — Wed, 20 May 2009 17:50:26 +0000

Another week, another podcast for WalletPop on finding a job. Today the topic is improving your resume. Listen here or subscribe on iTunes.

Another part-time job

admin — Fri, 08 May 2009 04:29:43 +0000

Like many unemployed people, I’ve cobbled together a handful of part-time jobs and have various freelance projects in the works at any given time. It all equates to part-time pay without the benefits.

This week, I’ve added another part-time job — 10 hours a week — as an editor at AOL’s WalletPop.com Web site. I’ve been writing for the personal finance Web site since November 2008, and I’m thrilled to be editing again.

I’ll continue writing for the site, but editing online is a new skill that I’m glad to do.

Marketing me

admin — Mon, 05 Jan 2009 19:50:00 +0000

The marketing of Aaron Crowe looks to get a bit interesting this week as a guerrilla job search firm has offered to help me rework my resume. If I like the service, I’ll promote it here and tell my friends, family, etc. I was laid off more than six months ago and figure I might as well try something different. I’ll give it a try and report what’s happening here so other unemployed people can learn from it and apply it to their job search too.

I’m also busy today working on a spot.us story and a lengthy piece for WalletPop.

This tale was brought to you by
talesofanunemployeddad.blogspot.com

Simplify, simplify, simplify

admin — Fri, 02 Jan 2009 17:58:00 +0000

A comment was recently made by a WalletPop reader on my story about callbacks for job interviews. He didn’t gain anything from the story, which is fine, and he made a point that I think is worth remembering in the search for a job. The full letter is linked to the story, but this is part of what he wrote:

“I’ve also been unemployed for 6 months, and I’ve found the simplestatement “I’m here to work, what do you want me to do?”has hired more people than the most elaborate resume or most timely call back.”

I see the point and agree that too often job searchers can spend too much time on resumes and worrying about callbacks and other things out of their control that they can lose sight of the simple thing they’re trying to do: Get a job. Granted, it’s not easy in a recession, but there are jobs out there and it’s good advice to keep it simple and not worry about callbacks. I, like I expect most people, try to learn from my mistakes and want to find out better ways that I could have presented myself to get the job. While I still plan on using as many methods as I can to find a job, maybe it’s best to try them and then move on if they don’t work. Let them fall by the side of the road if they don’t work and see what else might work.

As Henry David Thoreau said: Simplify, simplify, simplify.

This tale was brought to you by
talesofanunemployeddad.blogspot.com

Finding a meaningful career

admin — Sun, 21 Dec 2008 03:45:00 +0000

One thing I was told again and again by friends and people I’d run into when discussing being laid off, at least in the early days of my layoff, was that things happen for a reason and that the best will come of this. I agree with fatalism to a certain point, but I also think we each make our own path based on the decisions we make. I was laid off almost six months ago (June 27, making the day after the day after Christmas a six-month anniversary I don’t want to celebrate) and while I can partially agree to the premise that all things happen for a reason, I’m still searching for the good behind losing my job. Maybe when I find one the clouds will clear and I’ll know where I stand in the universe.

But until then, I continue looking for full-time work. And one good thing I can pull from this search is that it gives me a chance to explore careers I probably wouldn’t have if I was still working at a newspaper. For example, as a newspaper reporter and editor, I could never take a stand on an issue, for fear that it would look like I had a bias on a story. I tried to keep my opinions to myself on politics and the like, and I didn’t appear at community events such as a fund-raiser for a local politician I supported, because I worked at a newspaper and was to remain objective. I didn’t mind because I loved my job so much.

Now I’m free to choose a career where I can have an opinion and if not actively advocate for a position, at least support it openly. For example, I want to work somewhere where I can not only make a difference, but can do work that will benefit the local community, if not the world. I want my writing, speaking and any other work I do in the job I’ll eventually find to help benefit that cause. One arena could be in the “green” field, such as solar power or other energy fields, as I strongly believe that America should be rid of its foreign oil habit and be a leader in ending global warming.

As in journalism, I’d like to work somewhere that benefits people and serves a greater good. I enjoy informing people and helping them learn things, and helping them solve their problems. It may sound like an oxymoron, but I’d like to work in government for those reasons. I think government can help people achieve their best and provide services to make their lives better.

That’s partly why I volunteered in the November election to help re-elect U.S. Congressman Jerry McNerney. He was a good candidate and someone with views that I could get behind. The writing and other work I did on that campaign gave me a lot of experience that I hope will lead to a job. It was a great learning experience that showed me I’m on the right path.

A few months ago someone from a career center at a community college reviewed my resume and was so impressed she said she couldn’t think of much to change or add to the resume, just a few tweaks. She was amazed by my experience and was confident I would find a good job soon. I was doing everything she could think of to find work, such as networking, getting informational interviews, adding to my job skills and polishing my resume. I was a bit down because I had sent out many resumes and had interviews without any success. She pointed out that everything I’m doing is like a gardener planting seeds, and that all of the contacts and other things I’ve done in the job search would lead to some flowers growing and that I would have my pick of jobs.

I’ve planted plenty of seeds, and plan to plant more. I just want to see some start growing.

(NOTE: I’ve added multiple paragraph marks between paragaphs, and they aren’t working. Any blogger experts, please advise.)

Podcast resume

admin — Sun, 16 Nov 2008 21:03:00 +0000

My job search now includes a podcast! I was at the CPC Job Connections weekly meeting on Saturday morning, where Ian Griffin of Executive Communications was giving a speech about how to do a podcast to aid in a job search. At the end he picked a name out of a hat to interview someone about their job skills, and my name was chosen.

Listen to the podcast here at his Web site. Or go to:
http://www.exec-comms.com/blog/2008/11/15/interview-arron-crowe-job-seeker-blogger/

It was a lot of fun and why I someday see this as a way to promote myself, it seems like it would be a lot more useful as a way to get out the word about a hobby or something you want to tell the world about. Maybe I’ll do some news or feature stories, AKA Studs Terkel, and put those on a podcast. While the learning curve doesn’t look to steep, it does look like it will take some time and a small investment for software, equipment and a server.

Resume help wanted, apply within

admin — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 04:07:00 +0000

There are plenty of places to go for help in writing a resume if you’re willing to pay. And there are probably fewer, but still good, people who will help review resumes for free. Today I went to one of the free ones, and I’m happy to say that other than a few tweaks, my resume seems in good shape. It’s a few posts below this one if you’re interested, and I plan to rewrite and move a few things around and will have another version posted by early next week.

Today I went to EastBay Works in Concord, where a kind person from Diablo Valley College in Pleasant Hill looked at my resume and gave me a few tips. We also discussed my job search, and I was glad to hear that I’m doing everything right in looking for full-time work. I’m doing everything she said she’d recommend to people hunting for jobs: I’m spending half of my time networking and the other half applying for jobs I find on craigslist, Indeed or other such Web sites; I’m going on informational interviews; I’ve joined a networking group; I’m volunteering, I’m looking for work I’m qualified for and tyring to move my job skills from one field to another, and I’m doing freelance work related to my field.

Since the top third of a resume is what gets looked at the most and quickest by an employer, she suggested that I move my excellent work experience up and take the “Skills” section and incorporate that into the accomplishments bulleted in my professional experience. I plan to make those changes and to try to spice up the look of the resume by early next week. After that, I’d like to try to find someone who hires for Web writing jobs and see what they think.