Farewell Followers

  So this is my final blog post, my grand exit.  Writing the Career Niche over the past few months has been eye opening and stimulating.  Before I started this blog I was unaware of the powerful under-utilized tools Web 2.0 has to offer, rss feeds, social bookmarking sites, customizable widgets, content aggregators, and interest specific blogs and vlogs.  Blogging has been a more educational journey than I had anticipated and will forever change the way I approach the internet.

What I like most about blogging though, is the freedom it entails.  Aside from the academic and economic writing I did in a few posts, I was able to write casually and openly- my favorite style of articulation.  Writing the posts the comprise Blogorama in that casual style was the most fun I have ever had writing.

I hope you learned a thing or two about how you are going to pursue your personal career, or just about the current state of the "job economy," from the career niche.  In economic terms- I hope you were able to extract some value and utility out of my posts.

Thanks for reading the Career Niche and best wishes,

-Bail Out

Hell Yes America

Finally the rate of job cuts has slowed down and things could be looking up? Thats right, the ADP estimated that the worst of job cuts is over during this recession as there were less job cuts reported in April than in the previous months of 2009. Some are even drawing optimistic projections from this report via the ADP.

“We’re seeing a very clear bottoming pattern,” said John Herrmann, chief economist at Herrmann Forecasting in Summit, New Jersey. “This holds out the possibility that the fiscal stimulus, along with consumers resuming more normal spending patters, will lift the economy into positive growth in the second half.”

Overly optimistic? no one knows. In this day and age economic forecasting is nearly impossible; With the rise in globalization and the high amount of currency trade coupled with tangible good trade there are too many factors to truly get a predictive read on the economy. Things are far more complicated for economic forecasters than they were in the first 2/3rds of the 20th century when there was a finite number of factors to consider and weigh. This is truly evident in our inability to project the recession we are currently in and avoid it. Nontheless, we can only hope for the best and pray Mr. Herrman is correct.

Make Money Blogging?

I was catching up on some of the blogs I read when I came across this post on jobmonkey, estimating that 1% of Americans are making money via blogs! 1% of Americans= 20 million people and that is a lot of blogging.

It's no secret that print media is a dieing industry and that there has been a strong shift toward blogging in the past few years. The Los Angeles Times for example cut its "Los Angeles" section recently because it can't afford to support it anymore. Nonetheless, 20 million people making money on there blogs is staggeringly large figure considering that revenue streams are not always easy to come by with websites that don't sell a tangible product.

There are doubters who think that figure won't grow despite a dieing print industry. Professional blogger Penelope Trunk for example wrote this post titled "Reality Check: you are not going to make money from your blog."


I also recommend checking out this interview with Professional Blogger James Walker on his career path. James has been blogging since 1999.

Enjoy!

Killa Application

1. As I perused the internet in search of a summer job, I came across mindopia.com. Mindopia was first launched in 2008 by Michael Davis who was previously an agent at CAA and a movie producer. Mindopia is essentially a search engine and career database with a social networking component aimed at connecting employers and prospective employees.

For those in the hunt for a job mindopia.com is a valuable tool that can be used to explore and gain insight into new careers. The site offers a number of different forms of media detailing various aspects of the careers it caters to, ranging from Salary Estimators to Podcasts containing advice from industry moguls. Since the site's network is linked to top firms in many industries it also provides an accurate way to gauge opportunity and discover new possibilities within a specific field. As a final benefit to prospective employees, the site offers personal profile pages which enable users to upload their resumes and cover letters to their profile and bookmark their favorite parts of the site.

For employers, Mindopia.com is a convenient place to post job listings, information about their company, and to check out competitors. The site also makes it easy for employers to sift through the resumes of potential job candidates.

Mindopia.com offers a great amount of utility to both the employer and the job seeker by facilitating dialog between the two. The site is a great a way to seriously pursue a job or casually find out about a specific industry. It truly is a tool that is useful to everyone.

2. In my previous post I introduced Mindopia.com, a new and innovative career-search website with a search engine and a social networking component. I have been exploring the site a lot recently, and although I have not found a job, which would be the most powerful way to extract value from the site, I have learned a lot about all the careers listed on the site through the Podcast interviews and other media options.

For example, I recently did some investigating into what it takes to be a sports executive in the NFL, a boyhood fantasy of mine that hasn't died. I thoroughly enjoyed watching all of the Chris Henry interviews, check this one out. (interview)

So if you are struggling to find a job right now during this recession, or if you are like me and want to satisfy your curiosity about the actual meaning behind fancy job titles and the career paths "successful" people have taken, you should use Mindopia.com. It will provide you with general information about a plethora of career options and help you learn more detailed information about areas that really peak your interest.

3.In the last two posts I raved about mindopia.com; since then though I have discovered a few weaknesses and flaws that you should be aware of, especially since I couldn't find any other reviews of the site.

The biggest problem with Mindopia is that it only provides a selection of generic careers to choose from. If you want to go into real estate or you want to be a lawyer the site can offer you a great place to start your search. If you want to go into a relatively new field or are pursuing a very specific career the site might not have you covered. For example, there is no mention of green jobs on Mindopia.com which is unfortunate because the green job market is the fastest growing job market in this country right now.

As another example, I am interested in Micro-finance(small scale lending in poorer countries to individuals who want to start their own companies--I like to think of it as humanitarian investing- you are giving someone a chance to be self-sufficient and your risk is no more than a thousand dollars at a time) which is also a quickly growing field. Once again, mindopia had nothing to offer in that field.

I have also come across some functionality problems on a couple of the pages. In an attempt to find out more about mindopia I tried to send them an email via the "Contact Us" page. I typed out a paragraph of questions only to find that the email field box was not working and I couldn't enter my address. I thought it was a problem with by browser or my computer, but sure enough, it's a flaw on the page. They also didn't list any other contact information on the page, so many of my questions are still unanswered.

I also struggled with the personal profile page. Like the email field on the "Contact Us" page, a few of the fields on the "Edit Your Profile" page didn't work when I tried to click on them. I also had alot of trouble finding a profile picture to upload that adhered to the dimensions "104x25."

4. Here's my Prezi presentation on Mindopia

Limitations

In the last two posts I raved about mindopia.com; since then though I have discovered a few weaknesses and flaws that you should be aware of. Especially since there are no reviews of the site other than

The biggest problem with Mindopia is that there is a limited selection of generic careers to choose from. If you want to go into real estate or you want to be the Lawyer the site has something to offer. If you want to go into a relatively new field or are pursuing a very specific career the site might not have you covered. For example, there is no mention of green jobs on Mindopia.com which is unfortunate because the green job market is fastest job market in this country right now.

I am interested in Micro-finance(small scale lending in poorer countrys to individuals who want to start there own companys, I like to think of it as humanitarian investing- you are giving some one a chance to be self sufficient and your risk is no more than a thousand dollars at a time) which is also a quickly growing field and mindopia had nothing to offer in that field.

I have also come across some functionality problems on a couple of the pages.

In an attempt to find out more about mindopia I tried to send them an email via the contact us page. I typed out a paragraph of questions only to find that the email field box was not working and I couldn't not enter my address. I thought it was a problem with by browser or my computer but sure enough its a flaw on the page. They also didn't list any other contact information on the page so many of my questions are still unanswered.

I also struggled with the personal profile page. Like the email field on the contact us page, a few of the fields on the edit your profile page don't work when you try and click on them. I also had trouble finding a profile picture to upload that adheres to dimensions "104x25."

Mindopia for you.

In my previous post I introduced Mindopia.com, a new and innovative website with a search engine component and a social networking component both dealing with careers and jobs. I have been using the site a lot recently as means of exploration. I have not found a job, which would be the most powerful way to extract value from the site. However, I have learned alot about all the careers listed on the site via the interviews and other media.

I recently did some investigating into what it takes to be a sports executive in the NFL, a boyhood fantasy of mine that hasn't died. I thoroughly enjoyed watching all of the Chris Henry inteviews, check this one out. (interview)

So if you are struggling to find a job right now during this recession, Or if you are like me and want to satisfy your curiosity about what job titles actually mean and the career paths "successful" people have taken, you should use Mindopia.com because it can help your search.

Blogorama 2.0 portfolio

1: This blog is about jobs that have made people rich in terms of happiness and satisfaction with their lives. The Career Niche, discusses intriguing characters and their careers in a time where the job market is drastically changing. Every day white collar and blue-collar jobs disappear. American men and women are being laid off left and right. To often Americans think about jobs in socio-economic terms, basically what are the financial implications of having a certain job. This line of thinking is not an effective one any more given the current state of the American economy, and more importantly the world’s economy.

The financial and economic success we experienced from about 1998 to 2003 fooled the country into thinking it was possible for us all to get really rich. It could be fifty years before we experience another period like that, or it might never happen again due to regulation in financial markets. Americans are still stuck in the “get rich” mindset characterized by those five years, and if perspectives fail to change many Americans will spend their lives reaching for something that no longer exists.

Yet there are still many people who have found their niche in the work world, ranging from artists to shop workers. These people have found jobs that suit their needs and wants in a deeper way than having a big salary. The people we explore via this blog are satisfied with their work and enjoy their jobs because of the lifestyles they cater to. In this blog we will define the parameters for a "good" job. We will define and explore many different lifestyles that different jobs cater to. We will explore the different ways one can think about and pursue their own career.

I am a 20 year old Economics major and Business minor at the university of Southern California. Like many college students, I have no Idea what I want to do when I graduate. I don’t know if I want to work or go back to school, and if I were to work, I don’t know what exactly I would do. I have been exposed to the arts through my parents, my father was a music video director, my mother a producer, and my stepfather is a novelist. Through previous work experience I have also been exposed to the corporate world. There has always been a battle in my head pulling me both ways. For most of my life I have always thought I would have to make a choice between one or the other when I enter the work force. I am starting realize that things are not so black and white. Through this blog I hope to continue this battle in my head. I will consider careers both corporate and art oriented and the lifestyles they foster. I hope you enjoy.

2: jobmonkey.com is in my opinion the best career and job market oriented site out there, it is organized well and has something to offer everyone, the CEO and the highschooler looking for his first summer job. On Jobmonkey internet users can find out about interesting summer jobs and all sorts of careers around the world. A component of the site is its blog, which is a random digression of job market related information. For example the most recent blog post, posted 8:17 pm on January 26, 2009, revealed that America’s job market lost 71,400 jobs yesterday primarily due to Caterpillar and Pfizer.

The Author of the Blog is Mara Strom; and despite my browsing, I was unable to find information about Mara and her relation to the field. Mara posts frequently, sometimes she takes a couple days off, but in general she posts daily.

January 8th, 2009 at 10:45 pm, Mara posted “Work at home? Beware of Scammers!” I found this post to be pretty interesting in light of the work-at-home ads that seem to pop up all over the Internet. Mara describes a study CNN did that revealed an astonishing ratio of 54 scam ads to 1 genuine ad. Some of these scam ads manage to convince internet users to pay a fee via credit card to get more information about their stay at home job. They pay the fee and because they didn’t read the fine print somewhere on the page they get nothing in return.

Another one of Mara’s posts I find interesting is from September 23rd, 2008 at 12:52 am, its called “Monday Markets: Green Collar Jobs.” This post discussed the emerging need for green-collar jobs and workers. The post defines green-collar workers as blue-collar workers who somehow help other people or the environment via their work without polluting. In her post Mara quotes Carl Pope, the executive director of the sierra club (one of the countries oldest grassroots environmental organizations), who said

“A green job has to do something useful for people, and it has to be helpful to, or at least not damaging to, the environment.”

Mara also discusses a 2007 study by the American Solar Energy Society that cites interesting statistics. According to the study,

“renewable energy and energy efficient industries currently account for 8.5 million jobs in the United States. With federal policy to support green industries, that number could grow to as many as 40 million jobs, which is equivalent to 1 out of 4 workers, by 2030.”

Mara’s blog is very academic, she supports everything she says with factual information and she often quotes specific statistics. Her post vary, some are longer then others and some are more thorough then others; on average Mara’s post are about three quarters of a page long. Jobmonkey.com is a website and a blog for everyone and anyone looking for a job. The site gives detailed information about how to pursue currently available jobs and the blog keeps its readers current with changing job markets. I really like the way Mara writes and the structure of her blog; those two things will definitely influence my blog. Unlike jobmonkey.com, my blog is concerned with actual careers and the types of lifestyles those careers foster; whereas Mara’s blog is concerned changing job markets and what job opportunities are out there due to the change.

Although our blogs serve different purposes and set out to accomplish different goals Jobmonkey.com is a great blog to draw inspiration from. I'm a big fan of it and recommend the posts to everyone.

3: Voice, in terms of writing that is, can be loud or quiet. A writer can be obnoxious, opinionated and loud, or a writer can write in a very academic way and be quiet. Either way, it's an important identity to establish. For me its really complex, and frankly my voice needs to hit the weights so that it doesn’t get bullied or pushed around anymore. Or maybe I need to go to writer’s voice therapy or something along those lines. From the time I was in the 4th grade and learned the 5 paragraph essay format, Intro-supporting body-supporting body- supporting body- conclusion, I have been conditioned to write academically.

The problem is that in school they teach you to write as if the reader is your enemy. He is trying to tear apart your argument, scrutinize you for unsupported ideas, question all your claims, and put you in your place for poor grammar. Naturally one loses his voice to an extent in a scary setting like this. He starts to write more conservatively, and over time gets less and less risqué from content to grammar.

I guess this is a good thing if you are writing a research paper, or a case study, or something similar that requires a straightforward no bullshit style. In terms of writing a personal blog it’s a bad thing though. It’s hard going back and forth between voices, and sometimes my own voice gets lost in my academic voice without me fully realizing it.

I have been trying to emulate Kyle Hackett’s voice(I wrote about him in a previous post because he has found his career niche) . Its not that I want to write like him, use the same words or copy his style. I just want to emulate the freedom, the subconscious unfiltered train of thought that he lays on paper. Which by the way, flows out in his own voice with out effort or significant modification (as it should, for Kyle and everyone).

Kyle uses short sentences. Often sentences that technically and grammatically shouldn’t stand alone as complete sentences. I like it though because he writes as if he talking, which creates a personal tone and rhythm to his blog. It’s insightful and blunt, short winded but still illustrative. I like it because its easier to listen to or read then most writing I come across. It’s so informal that its like being part of a conversation as opposed to listening to a lecture. I feel like he doesn’t second guess his stuff that much, it comes off that way at least.

Kyle’s voice changes from post to post but not significantly. Its depends on what he is writing about.

This post is short and simple, nonetheless it is demonstrative of Kyle's voice. The post is Kyle's take on the evolution of American Apparel advertising which has gotten more and more provocative over the years. Finally in their newest add campaign, American Apparel has crossed the line into nudity. For kyle this was a great disappointment. (click here for the full add)

"I can remember when I was little, trying to see how far I could bend a stick before it broke. It was exciting pushing that limit (yeah, I grew up in Maine), but as soon as the stick broke there was a feeling of disappointment. American Apparel just broke the stick."

The thing that I admire most about Kyle's writing is his ability to express exactly what he wants to while retaining simplicity. Bending the stick and breaking is the perfect metaphor for the history of American Apparel adds. Its simple but it conveys the exact meaning he wants it to.

Relevant enough, in another post Kyle does what I’m doing now. He writes about someone else’s writing voice in their blog and why he likes it. He writes about Jake Davis’s blog, Jake being a pop-culture fashion blogger like Kyle. After reading a few of Jake's posts myself, I too have become a fan. Ironically, he writes like Kyle in many ways; partially beause they share similar insight into their field and partially because of pure coincidence. Both Kyle and Jake have strong voices though, and those voices make their blogs what they are just as much as the subjects they blog about.

Here is Kyle on Jakes blog:

“I’ve mentioned in the past I’ve become a fan of Jake Davis’s blog, and his latest post is a good example why. Jake is either a man of few words, using a quote or song lyric to make sum up the idea behind a post, or an eloquent editorialist, writing posts pertaining to the times and trends. Exploring how we’ve gotten to a certain point and what the impact will be. These posts are always well thought out, relevant, and strike a chord with his readers.

Blogs run the gamut. Some people like to opine idly about whatever shit they think is cool that day, this is where I fall. Others prefer to write nothing at all. And then others put some thought and time it to what they have to say, Jake is one of these guys."

I'm excited to continue writing and blogging with these two guys in mind. I admire their styles and through observing their blogs I have become more aware of my own voice and how it can grow.