English grad has found a job in Atlanta - update Jan. 1

[RangerWickett]

Kaplan has enough tutors in the local Atlanta area, and I could only get a job with them if I had a car to drive about 30 miles outside of the city. I live in Decatur, right near my Alma Mater, Emory University.

If Steve Jackson is in Austin, TX, I might end up going there in a year or so, but I've got a lease on an apartment here that keeps me here until next August.

I am certainly not spending 8 hours a day job-searching, unfortunately, but I do try to spend a good 5 or 6 doing some sort of work, D&D or otherwise. Just my luck that a Farscape marathon would come on just now, though. I'll just have to hope that with employment will come enough money to buy the DVDs. *grin*

I apply for at least 3 or 4 jobs a day, of various levels. There are a lot of government jobs I see, but I was putting off applying because they requested basically a paper explaining why I think I'm good enough.

Anyway, I'm going to get to work. Damned Fable.

 

[fanboy2000]

Speaking of government jobs, try the Transportation Security Agency at www.tsa.gov and the post office. The post office also has seasonal jobs that are fairly painless to get because of the Christmas rush.

 

[BryonD]

Have you tried getting some help with your resume?

I don't mean any offense. But I think you have focused on some of the wrong things.

For example, I have no idea what you want to do. I understand that you are willing to do pretty much anything at this point. But a resume that comes across as "I'll do anything" is not good sales.

Also, the phone sales line focuses on the mundane tasks. You got through Emory and we know what selling is like, so you don't need to tell us that you can do those things. But we would like to hear how great you were at dealing with the public and interfacing with customers.

Your strongest lines are writing skills and editing experience. But you undercut them both by focusing on games and comics. Specific references to things like that make you sound less well rounded and imply that your focus is strongly in that area, therefore you may be less skilled in more pratical areas.

You are good at technical writing and editing? Great. Stop there.

Reading your resume made me think that you can type and write and put books on a shelf and you are simply waiting for your dream fiction writing job to come along. I know you can do a lot more than that because I have seen some of your work. But this piece of paper does not tell me that at all.

Sorry if this sounds harsh. I'm honestly trying to help.

Anyway, I live like 5 miles from you and work for an engineering/consulting firm in Roswell. I really don't know if we are looking for non-technical entry level right now, but it is possible. Feel free to e-mail me if you want to discuss. my username AT mindspring dot com

 

[RangerWickett]

Byron, thanks for the critique.

Part of the problem is that I'm trying to hit a lot of different venues, some of which are not what I'd really like to be doing. I'm afraid of getting multiple resumes confused, but yes, I probably ought to have one for actual 'career path' jobs and one for "Look at me, I'm a warm body" jobs.

Thanks for the offer of looking into a position, but if my geography sense is right, Roswell's too far for me to get a job right now. I have no car. Again, though, thanks.

 

[Felon]

Sounds like we live near each other, Ryan. I live off of Clairmont Rd. in Decatur myself. Of course, with neither of us having vehicles, "close" is a pretty subjective term. Then again, if you're near Emory, then you're at least near a MARTA route.

Near Emory, there's that intersection at North Decatur and Clairmont with tons of stores. Have you made the rounds there--and back again? As said before, one inquiry generally doesn't cut it.

If you can get to Decatur station, then there's all of Decatur Square to go job-hunting, and heck from there you're only about an 10-minute train ride to Peachtree Center and Five Points. For a carless joe, that's not too bad at all.

Like I said, I feel your pain. I've had friends who probably could've landed me a good IT job, but it would have to be out in the Gwinnet County area, which is a no-go. Really sucks.

 

[RangerWickett]

Things are looking fairly good for a library position. It's at the same library I worked during college, and the man who vacated the position was a good friend. He actually told me I should apply for his job when he left.

I might have been spending a bit too much time lately writing, and not enough job hunting, but it does feel good to finish a large chunk of writing work. This is what I love, after all.

By the way, I live in the Williamsburg apartment complex, tucked in the corner of Clairmont and N. Druid Hills, behind the Golden Buddha.

 

[MrFilthyIke]

Sounds like we live near each other, Ryan. I live off of Clairmont Rd. in Decatur myself. Of course, with neither of us having vehicles, "close" is a pretty subjective term. Then again, if you're near Emory, then you're at least near a MARTA route.

Felon,

I've got some questions about that area, email me at:

mrfilthyike AT gmail DOT com

Thanks!

 

[Peskara]

Work for White Wolf?

White Wolf may still be looking to fill a few positions in-house, and if you can write, we're almost always looking for freelance writers and sometimes freelance editors, though freelance doesn't pay much. Also I know that MARTA bus lines run pretty close to the offices. If you want to try it out, contact me offline. I'm in the production department, but I can get contact info for editing and development for you or forward your resumé.

shadowlord@white-wolf.com

 

[neg]

Once you are settled

Once you are settled Ryan and have time to look for a job that really suits your skills, you might give the larger publishing industry a try.

I can't speak to what kind of publishing market you might have in your area, but you are on the east coast and that is a start.

Here is a list of websites I have bookmarked for when I need to do a job hunt in my industry:

http://www.publishersmarketplace.com/jobs/

http://www.publishersweekly.com/index.asp?layout=channel&channel=industryResources

http://www.bookjobs.com/index.php

I apologize if the first two links trip you up with subscriptions, but they shouldn't. The third link is for entry level positions and is geared for young graduates entering the publishing field for the first time.

I can confidently say that you can always find a marketing job in publishing.

Good luck, and let me know if you have any questions I can help with.

-neg

 

[MrFilthyIke]

Any luck with your job hunt RW?