Ed's Girl likes a little glimmer

Everyone can use a little glimmer in their lives. Perhaps my favorite is that of the jewelry in the Tiffany’s window. Who can resist the sparkling and shining of the diamonds and sapphires on the rich velvet? That is why they are best admired from outside the window, a la Holly Golightly—early in the morning with a cup of coffee and a croissant. As our huckleberry friend said, “nothing very bad could happen to you there.” I must agree, it does in fact “calm me down right away.”

While I certainly don’t expect any jewels of significant brilliance in the near future, yesterday a different kind of gem appeared in my voicemail—a glimmer of hope. Once again on my lunch hour, I hustled a safe few blocks from my office to check the voice message from an “unknown” missed caller. This time I was fairly sure I didn’t have any unconfirmed medical appointments on the horizon. And guess what? It was a real live HR representative from a magazine publisher following up on the EA application I had mailed to the company headquarters several weeks ago. Oh why hadn’t I paid more attention to my phone?

In any case, she wasn’t offering me an interview or job, but she did say that based on my resume, I was a good fit for the company, and while there are no EA positions available at that time, she would like to encourage me to check the website regularly to apply for any positions that become available in the future. She also said she would keep my resume on file for future openings.

I am not a heck of a lot closer to job than I was yesterday, but it was very exciting to get a fairly long message from anyone in the industry. It was much more encouraging than the form letters HR offices usually send out. I saved the message so I can use her name in the cover letters of any positions I do apply for. In any case, I now have proof that my applications are being received.

Keep an eye out for anything shiny!

Xo,
Ed’s Girl

More information please

It is a rare case when there is too little information about something these days, but even Google News couldn’t help nail down what the funky smell permeating Manhattan was yesterday. Yuck. However, if I wanted more details about K-Fed’s custody rights, I was all set.

Yesterday I ran out for lunch solo because most people were in meetings—and because there was an intriguing missed call from a Manhattan number I didn’t recognize. Alas, the call was my dentist confirming my appointment.

As I sat in the deli eating lunch and flipping through a magazine, a small group of girls sat down next to me. I swear I wasn’t intentionally listening to their conversation, but we were packed into the tiny dining area, so I couldn’t help catching a line now and then. In any case, I kept hearing the word media, making it very hard for me to tune them out. I managed to garner that each of the girls had recently started working at a trade publication. They had all left other jobs or internships, and they were looking to move to consumer publications in the future. Unfortunately, I didn’t have time to learn much more about where they worked or how they landed their gigs because I must have subconsciously started leaning over toward their table, and as my ear started getting dangerously close the roast beef sandwich of the girl next to me, I started receiving some dirty glances. I took the hint, finished my panini, and went back to the office.

In hindsight, I’m cursing myself for not introducing myself and explaining that I’m not crazy, and I wasn’t planning on taking a bite of her sandwich; on the contrary, I’m just a j-junkie dying to learn more about how people find their “ins.”

This shyness thing is not getting me any closer to a gig! Maybe they’ll be back there tomorrow.

In the meantime, I am going to read some Ed Success Stories for information and inspiration.

Keeping it moving

While the beginning of 2007 doesn’t feel much different from the end of 2006, I have a distinct sense of a clean slate. I’ve spent some time thinking about how I can improve the way I job search this year. But the tried and true method of networking, casting a broad net with applications and doggedly follow-up with every interviewer you meet appears to be the way people get jobs. One of my friends just got an amazing job after months and months of searching. The secret to his success was sending out tons of e-mails and talking to everyone he knew, so sometimes it just takes time. My new aim is to focus more on short-term goals. Rather than beginning with the end goal in mind, I want to focus on day-to-day goals, such as how many applications I need to send out each day and how many new connections I want to make every week. I have been pretty good about maintaining resolutions in other areas of my life—I finally turned my bathroom into the soothing, spa-like space I’d been envisioning for six months, so hopefully, I can makeover the career area of my life too.