Picking it back up...

When we last left off, our fair protagonistic hero was taking a few months off from this whole blog thing in order to find full-time, gainful employment in the marketing/advertising/PR fields conducive to the fact that dropping over a hundred G's on college tuition seemed like a good idea at the time. I got some inspiration from a good friend named Kristopher to get a second-wind with this whole blog thing.

I have decided that I would like to become a marketing copywriter. I had a short temp-job in that field at an IT company in Edison that I got through my friend Mike's father. It was good experience. They presented the concept to me about what they wanted to market and I would put it in words, creating and editing content for the website presentation materials. I got a good recommendation but the temp period ended, so where's the next meal coming from???

I've had a few interviews, and I guess I'm not really good at them (must be due in large part to the fact that I average an interview once every six months, so I get rusty). I am still "Fear and Loathing After College." I just hit the 19-month plateau (on 12/18/09) since I graduated from Quinnipiac. No job yet.

But it's a new year -- 2010. A new decade at that. So with this change brings a renewed sense of optimism. But how optimistic can I actually be? Will I go a full two years (three years...five years...ten years...) since graduating college, theoretically increasing my chances at finding gainful employment? Should I dig myself deeper into a financial hole by investing in grad school as the noose of debt tightens more and more every day? All these questions have kept me up at night, the vast majority of nights as time drifts away on my 20s, the hourglass of my very youth is running out while I'm still unemployed and living at my parents' house.

Optimism is my only choice. But as my mind numbs daily on these countless job search engines, it's very easy to lose sight of the big picture. How many resumes do I need to amend? How many different cover letters do I need to draft until I reach my goal, and will I reach it? This story has had the same ending for a while now but I must carry on. Until next time, be good.

Don't Call it a Comeback YET - First Impressions on the Job Search

Hi everybody, I have went away for a while, I apologize. I have dedicated my entire life these past few months from the beginning to the end of the hiatus to get that job. You know, those many futile attempts I've made with the goal to make something of myself like I've always dreamed of--and have always been "qualified" for--but the almighty powers that be have decided that I would serve this world better by sitting in front of my computer diluting the playing field among the many other hopeful candidates as the hiring managers decide on the boss's daughter's Fave Five.

You can pull a Facebook version of a James Bond/CIA photo-interrogation on me all you want, but it won't compare to that of her "sluts" and her "besties" on a Saturday night (especially around Halloween,) sorry, Your Majesty. But go ahead and do what you usually do, because God forbid! It's your chance to root out the degenerates like myself, because it's such a liability to give the likes of me and the other neglected candidates that elusive chance to prove what we're capable of.

I came across this article and it caught my attention. Great! 10 preventative ways to avoid rubbing the "right" people the "wrong" way. How exactly, can you please the polytheistic interview panel in order to become the professional ass-kisser they've always wanted to hire, simply because all the power is theirs in this down economy???

Disclaimer: This post was written back in September, and is published now.

Quinnipiac Graduation 2008: Reflections One Year Later

"Congratulations to the Quinnipiac University Class of 2008!"


That's what we heard a year ago today, and that was just about the same thing said to this year's graduating class yesterday (Congrats to the '09-ers that I know - but I can't wish you luck in your job searches until I get one myself being out a full year).

May 18th of xxx8 has traditionally been a good day for me. I hit my first Little League home run over the fence on May 18, 1998 (I still have my home run balls from that season marked up in pen!) and I graduated college 10 years later to the day (I probably beat Super Mario Bros. for the first time on May 18, 1988 and I'm buying a shit-ton of Powerball and Mega Millions tickets on May 18, 2018).

I'm sure most of my fellow classmates from that graduating class find it hard to believe that it has been a whole year since that day. In the 365 days following that fateful day, many of you have embarked on the next stage of your lives, hitting the ground running on your exciting new career paths, settling into your postgraduate apartments without looking back.

Well take a second to look back. Remember that day there were people sprawled out on the quad in front of the library as far as the eye could see? Our families, friends and faculty gathered en masse to witness the commencement of us fine, deserving young men and women, a symbolic coronation of academic achievement transitioning us from campus party-animals to esteemed and eligible candidates of the prospective proletariat.

We had just had the last of "the best times of our lives" while all still together as a class, and it was great a senior week, culminating one hell of a four-year period. I remember just being with everyone was awesome, and when Hodgdon, Oakey and me snuck off campus at 4 or 5 in the morning to climb Sleeping Giant across the street, we all talked about how much we'd miss this place looking with a breathtaking view descending upon the layout of the campus. So many great times were had there on the weekends (and weekdays with couches outside of Village during the spring of junior year with hundreds of solo cups). Never a dull moment.

Life moves pretty fast, if you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it. -Matthew Broderick, aka Ferris Bueller

The McGangBang

Ok, this is going to be a short post, but one that I feel is necessary to bring up. My brother is 17 and is a junior in high school. We were talking about a possible trip to McDonalds and he said he wanted a "McGangBang." Out of breath from laughter at what I had just heard, I asked him what it was. He said it was a double cheeseburger and a McChicken Sandwich, with the chicken taken from that and put in the middle of the two all-beef patties.... What will they think of next???

The Two Weeks That Did Not Suck, Part II

So we were up and at 'em early the next morning because it's about 15-16 hours from Virginia Beach, Virginia to Pensacola, Florida, give or take. We had breakfast and were on the road by about 9:30 in the morning for a good planned stretch of driving on the Eisenhower Interstate Highway System (I like Ike!)

We took U.S. Highway 58 west passing by Norfolk and a lot of the other Hampton Roads cities in the area. It's a nice harbor complete with shipyards and a Naval Base... reminds me of old industrial America. A little further down the road is a city called Suffolk. We hit a lot of traffic there (never a good sign in the early-goings of a long haul) but we were stopped long enough to see a police car that had pulled over another car. Moving passed it we saw a cop on the ground struggling with a guy with long hair, trying to cuff him, and another officer running toward the scene. It was a scene straight out of the TV show "COPS" (and this was a Monday morning just after 10 a.m., mind you....drugs???) Moving along we saw two more police cruisers rushing toward the action.

The next few hours were inconsequential. Rural Virginia toward I-95, which turns into one of the most boring drives through the Carolinas. The original plan was to take 95 to 10 in Jacksonville. I kind of wanted to head further west because I've done the 95 drive down there on several occasions and wanted to try something new. After passing South of the Border (fireworks, hotels, amusement park, food...random. They must do well because they were in business back when my family and I drove to Disneyworld back in 1998) we got off the highway and grabbed a bite to eat and decided to head west on I-20 toward Columbia. I-95 in NC/SC is billboards and truck stops, 20 is more scenic with hills.

We bypassed Atlanta at around 7 p.m. that night and the Braves were playing against the Cardinals there at Turner Field. The game was on the radio but you get each station for only around two hours or so as you cover more and more ground. I kind of had rekindled thoughts of my classic fantasy to make a road trip around the country, stopping at every Major League ballpark, and sort of wanted to see the game, but it made absolutely no sense money/timewise.

We ended up that night staying at the Travelodge in Opelika, Alabama, across the Chattahoochie River and into the Central Time Zone (kinda near Auburn University.... Bo Jackson, anyone??) The next morning, both of us wearing Yankees caps, we discovered it was Confederate Memorial Day in Alabama, so people were naturally giving us strange looks, the people in the hotel started talking about Jair Jurrjens and the Braves. We made a stop for breakfast in Montgomery, the capital, before trekking the rest of the way south towards Pensacola... a good 21-22 hours from Clinton, New Jersey. This blog will continue in Part III.

The Two Weeks That Did Not Suck, Part I

kris oakey: Update your blog so i have something to read

I took a two-week sanity break from this job search to go on that road trip down south with my uncle Don... it finally took place! Back by popular demand, I will use this blog post to talk about it.

So I left the Northeast on Sunday, April 26th kind of hungover after a night of drinkin' with my friend Aversa and others. Now I never enjoy driving any considerable amount of distance when I'm hungover because I feel as if I'm autopiloting in an inattentive daze of simply existing.

This drive, however, wasn't that bad because the adrenaline of excitement kept me pumped throughout the entire 325-mile, six-hour trip to my uncle's house in Virginia Beach. I encountered a few hairy parts of the drive in and around Philadelphia. The tire of the minivan in the left lane in front of me blew out on 95 and the driver had to amble over the close left shoulder. I narrowly escaped. Then, by the airport, I passed a cop which I discovered way too late to make a valid attempt at slowing. I was probably going 80, slowed down to about 75 in the 55-MPH zone in which I was cruising. I dodged a major fine when he didn't pull out to pursue me. Gotta love city cops--too busy with homocides, robberies and gangs (real crimes) to dwell on the misdemeanors that small-town cops get off to prosecuting to the fullest extent of the law.

So I went down the Delmarva Peninsula going through Delaware, Maryland, and [that strange eastern part of] Virginia [which probably should still be considered Maryland] (hence the name of the peninsula with the three states). I stopped at a McDonalds in Maryland to get a Big Mac meal with a Coke and resumed the trip after that. Not long after that, Don called and told me he was going to start the grill with burgers and hot dogs (I jumped the damn gun as usual). While on the phone with him, I crossed into Virginia and the sign on the side of the road read, "Welcome to the South" and was decorated with a couple Confederate flags (still had my Yankees cap on!)

I was making pretty good timing but I had another problem. My 2004 Chrysler Sebring's engine shut off at a stop light about halfway between the Virgina border and the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel, and the oil light came on. I had no problem starting the engine again but it shut off again closer to the bridge after that. I was getting worried because this whole structure is over 17 miles long (much longer than the Verrazano, George Washington and Tappan-Zee bridges and both the Holland and Lincoln tunnels combined). I really hoped my car wouldn't die on me on the bridge, or worse, in one of the tunnels.


Fortunately, the next time the engine shut off was at an intersection passed the bridge in Va. Beach, and it started right up again (I should really take this issue up with Chrysler...oh, wait). I got to my uncle's house and relaxed with him and his girlfriend and had some BBQ and unwound with a couple of beers. What a trip getting down there, and it wasn't even halfway over....

There's Hope[lessness] on the Horizon...

The chances for legitimate job prospects are waning in this career quest.


I feel I have tried every viable tactic to make the most out of my resume as humanly possible. These tactics range from tweaking the wording to make it sound more appealing on a professional level, to adjusting the font size and style to make it more aesthetically pleasing, to using various different formats supplied by some of my friends who are lucky enough to have full-time employment.

More than eleven months have come and gone since I graduated from Quinnipiac last May, and if you were to ask me then where I would be now in April 2009, I would have, without a shadow of a doubt told you that I'd have a job by now, somewhere, somehow. At that point, I predicted approximately six months of post-college unemployment. Sadly, it wasn't the case, and the fact remains the same.

The undergraduate commencement ceremony at my alma mater will be held on Sunday, May 17th this year. A new class of seniors will have graduated, basked in the sunshine spotlight or prestige and accomplishment as a new hope dawns upon a fresh generation of aspiring job-seekers, brimming with confidence and ready for companies to snatch them up like hotcakes.

What does this mean for the still unemployed members of the previous class?

This means that we are now longer in vogue on the job market. We are as useful as the permanently wounded/disabled Civil War veterans returning home after Robert E. Lee signed the document of concession at Appomattox. We are as washed up as Kenny Powers from HBO's Eastbound & Down.


This is because the Career Catch-22 once again rears its ugly head. How can you gain the experience without being able to get the job, and how can you get the job without the experience? It's a double-edged sword.

What makes matters worse is the fact that companies are going to hire the young blood of this class because, despite the thousands of jobs I estimate that I applied to over the course of this past year (and that's a fairly accurate estimation). Companies are going to look at people like me and see somebody whose lazy and unmotivated, a complacent slacker who had a year to get his act together, but just coasted. However far from the truth that is, the jobs will go to this younger group of applicants.

So what's next? I honestly don't know. I've thought about grad school, I've thought about the military. The military has officer-training programs for college grads that offer graduate school programs, so that is definitely a possibility. I will talk to my uncle Don, the recently-retired Lt. Colonel from the USMC during our road trip to his house in Pensacola, Florida (we're actually going this time!). I will also take this opportunity to get away from all these useless job search engines and to clear my head in hopes to return fresh and rejuvenated. In the words of Kenny Powers, "Northeast, You're Fuckin' Out!!!"

The New York Mets' Identity Crisis

Hey Mets, 1955 called, it said you're NOT the Brooklyn Dodgers.

Ahhh yes, 1955, the destination year to which Marty McFly traveled back in time in Doc Brown's Delorean time machine. In baseball, New York simply was the town. The Yankees, led by Manager Casey Stengel, won four straight World Championships to start off the decade (five dating back to '49). The New York Giants won it all in '54, and the Dodgers in '55. 1956 belonged to Mickey Mantle and the Yankees again (Mantle won the league's Triple Crown Award, and Don Larsen pitched the only perfect game in World Series history en route to revenge on the Dodgers in seven games the year after Dem Bums' only date with destiny). The Yanks would also win it all in 1958.

Also in 1958, sadness ravaged the baseball community in New York when the hearts of millions of Dodgers and Giants fans crumbled like the concrete of Ebbet's Field and the Polo Grounds when it met the wrecking ball. Gone would be the nightly street arguments of who was the best center fielder: Mickey, Willie (Mays), or The Duke (Snyder). The Dodgers and Giants both packed up and headed west for Los Angeles and San Francisco, respectively.


The National League fans of New York, however, got a bittersweet consolation prize in 1962 when the expansion Mets became a team (and subsequently lost 120 games that season), but many still had feelings of outrage over the departure of Dodgers and Giants four years prior. The Miracle Mets would bounce back by the end of the decade, winning the World Series in 1969, and again in 1986.

Flash forward to 2009. The Mets left Shea Stadium about 45 years after it opened to head to their brand new Citi Field digs nearby. It features relics to the Brooklyn Dodgers, including the Jackie Robinson rotunda, and an exterior modeled after that of the old Ebbet's Field, and a large #42 for Robinson in the stadium as well. Jackie was an all-time great, a hall-of-famer, a pioneer, and he became integral part of the Civil Rights Movement when he broke the color-barrier in 1947 with the Dodgers. A great American in all respects.


Citi Field created an instant memory in its first homestand when new-Met Gary Sheffield hit his 500th home run- a typical Sheffieldian bullet shot hit close to the left field foul pole. New ballpark, state-of-the-art amenities, new memories already, can't go wrong, right??? So far from the truth. There are obstructed seats that the fans complain about, and faulty plumbing that the players complain about.

Aside from that, a new controversy has arisen, concerning Sheffield's uncle, one-time Met great Dwight Gooden. According to Yahoo.com, Gooden was on hand for the Opening Day festivities when a worker asked him to sign a wall outside of a bar (called Ebbet's Club) in the stadium. Happy to be back, Gooden obliged and signed it: "Dwight Gooden 84 R.O.Y. 85 Cy Young, 86 W.S. Champs" in reference to his 1984 Rookie of the Year Award, his '85 Cy Young Award, and the '86 World Series victory over the Red Sox.


Mets' brass reacted to this with outrage. This is what Jay Horowitz, Mets' VP of Media Relations told the New York Post:

"It's a brand-new building, no one is supposed to write on the wall. It's going to be erased."

Doc Gooden had his fair share of problems in the past. He was too busy sucking up lines of cocaine like a Hoover vacuum to attend the '86 championship parade in New York's "Canyon of Heroes." This hero would go on to fall deep into the grandest of canyons of addiction and run-ins with the law. This incensed Mets fans. A decade later they were further incensed when he returned to the Big Apple after a couple seasons in Cleveland to throw a no-hitter for the cross-town Bronx Bombers in 1996, contributing to the Yankees' return to the promised land that year to start their eventual dynasty.


This made Doc reluctant to return to Shea during its final game last September. He worked up the courage to come back to the inaugural game this year to a good reception from the fans (even Bill Buckner got a nice reception from the Fenway faithful last year for their home opener, after two World Championships, though); who says you can't go home again?

WFAN's Mike Francesa said it right when he suggested that the Mets should protect it by screwing a piece of plexiglass in front of it. Another complaint about the new ballpark is the fact that there are a shortage of Mets' memories throughout.

It's time to wake up and smell the coffee, Mets. Your franchise is NOT the Brooklyn Dodgers, and your new stadium is NOT Ebbet's Field. It's time to embrace your own history, from Casey Stengel to Tom Seaver, to Darryl Strawberry and Gary Carter to Mike Piazza, and onto David Wright. Be proud of your history, don't try to be another team. The Los Angeles Dodgers are going to feel like they are playing a home game when they come to NY, and Joe Torre grew up in Brooklyn in that era. Jackie Robinson deserves every ounce of respect he earned, but he did NOT play for the Mets- EVER!!! And he probably wouldn't even have agreed to play for the Mets anyway because he got traded to the Giants after his last season with Brooklyn and retired without playing a single game for them. And the Mets play in Queens, NOT Brooklyn. The blind front office of the Mets should take one long look in the mirror and realize who they really are.

Reflections of the First Series at the new Yankee Stadium...

This park is a launching pad. Wang better shape up or ship out. Empty seats????


The new "Yankee Stadium" (and I'm mixed about it having that name) opened up this past weekend with a four-game series with the Cleveland Indians, which they split two games a piece. This new $1.5 billion state-of-the-art baseball haven combines relics to the old Yankee Stadium before it was renovated in the mid-70s with brand new amenities. Such throwbacks include the exterior of the stadium replicating the old ballpark, and the frieze facade that encircles the park from just beyond the foulpoles to behind home plate. It also has about a half a million square feet, a booming sound system, and highest resolution scoreboard monitor in the world.

It also shows the ugly side of baseball, the side disguised in wealth and royalty. All that glitters is not gold because the camera panned in on many empty seats-even unoccupied box seats near the infield and home plate. The Steinbrenners hiked up the prices of the new comfortable-looking seats (and you were able to see a ton of them due to the lack of a sellout crowd) in the stadium excessively to the point where former season's ticket holders simply could not afford to keep their seats. George Steinbrenner always knew how to draw a crowd, except in the late 80s and early 90s when the team sucked and was the doormat in the A.L. East. Perhaps his sons Hank and Hal, and also team president Randy Levine should take a supply-and-demand lesson from the old man.


According to Wikipedia (I am a Rhodes Scholar when it comes to Wikipedia), the new stadium has a seating capacity of 52,325 including standing room (down from 56,866 in the post-renovation era version of The House That Ruth Built). The Yanks' attendances, respectively, during the opening series is as follows: 48,271 (not even within 4,000 on the inaugural game), 45,101 for the first Yankee win there, 45,167 during Wang's implosion, and 43,068 during the Sunday afternoon series finale matinee game. They failed to break the standard 50,000 mark they would break all the time at the old building (and to think they'd break 70,000 on occasion before they renovated that one). During the championship years, they'd average 56-57 thousand spectators on their feet as fans in attendance would feel the stadium shake.

Aside from that, Chien-Ming Wang's performances thus far have been awful. During his first three starts, he is 0-3, with an ERA of 34.50. He has given up 23 hits, surrendered 23 earned runs, and has struck out a meager two batters while walking six. He has also failed to go beyond the fourth inning this season and hasn't even made it passed the second in his last two starts. This is a guy who was their ace pitcher the last few years, leading the American League in total wins in 2006-07 with 38 total victories (19 each season). He has demonstrated an inability to get hitters out, as evidenced by the 14-run frame the Indians put up in their half on the second inning on Saturday's game. This is an issue they need to address soon, as his next scheduled start is this Friday at Fenway. Ron Guidry retired before his time... can he come back???

The new stadium is also a launching pad for home runs. The Yankees and Indians combined for an astonishing 20 home runs, setting the record for the opening series of a new ballpark (and A-Rod isn't even back yet!). Baseballs are scientifically proven to fly further and carry longer during the hot days of summer, but this is April. There are many theories that people have been talking about concerning the jacked up home run totals of this weekend and the two exhibition games against the Cubs. The most notable theory is the wind tunnels created by the opening of the upper deck to allow for winds off the Harlem River to affect ball trajectory. It might not be the case when the old stadium is torn down, but it's certainly exciting to watch because it lets the Yankees live up to their Bronx Bombers nickname even moreso. Much to pitchers' dismay, this stadium is getting the same offensive reaction as Coors' Field (the rare mile-high air) and the Ballpark in Arlington (hot and steamy 100+ degree Texas days on a regular basis).

The job search has become my full-time job, unpaid of course

Every day symbolizes new beginnings. The sun comes up and says good morning, we say "Goodnight Moon" to the lunar body in outer space, and the world rotates on its axis like a goddam tilt-a-whirl, spinning around like the scratched CD that my job search has become.

Over the course of the year, I've easily applied to well over 1,000 jobs and have gotten 4 interviews (1 from the illegitimate ASL Marketing Group door-to-door scam). I currently work at my dad's retail flag store in Clinton, N.J., called Flying High, Inc. This store sells flags (obviously), kites, globes, telescopes, authentic model ships, mailboxes, ties, nautical art, etc. It's kind of like a glorified internship, and when I get paychecks, it feels more like I'm getting professional allowance from my parents, complete with tax rape from the government.

With my dad's time occupied mostly with Flying High Transit (the limo division of the company), I'm usually the one in charge of managing the retail aspect (with one other employee). Being an integral part of a small business for years, since I was a teenager in my case, is a great teacher in career preparation. It's the perfect jump-off to a professional job, one would think. It encompasses sales, marketing, advertising, public relations, accounting (through QuickBooks software), market research, and a strong emphasis on customer service, which is the gasoline in any business engine. Customer service plays a key role in marketing, especially in a small business when you just need your name to be out there.

When I'm not doing that, I am applying to jobs, lots of them. These past six or seven months (when I really put the job search in full-gear) have been absolute hell. It's impossible to save up any substantial amount of money because working for my dad is only on occasion and doesn't pay that well (there is only so much you can do with a nautical shop in inland Clinton). I just wish there was some way I could convey the description of this part-time job role and how critical it is to place the utmost importance on succeeding and being ethical to keep a small business above water.

The days that I don't work are filled with the arduous, anxiety-fueled obligation to put forth 100% effort to end this unemployed status quo once and for all. There are only so many ways I can "sell myself" to the machines with pulses that evaluate resumes, the people who assume the role of God (or the Terminator) on Judgement Day. I am currently on the sixth or seventh different/updated version of my resume (who's counting?)


Another point is the fact that the job market is far from good and the economy is right there with it. However, despite this fact, the majority of my friends from college have full-time jobs at this point, which is light years beyond the point of my comprehension of reasoning. What don't I have to make a good employee? Has this society become so bullshit-obsessed that liars get the best jobs? I'm starting to believe that it's the case. I ask my friends "how did you land your job in this economy?" Their answers are always the same... "I got lucky." (Although I'm fully appreciative of the tips and advice they offer). Luck has never been a friend of mine, so that is something I neither can utilize nor count on.

People have asked for my resume (middle-aged successful adults). This used to generate so much promise, optimism and enthusiasm. This too is just another repetitive theme in this first year out of college for me. I send the resume in a timely fashion, usually with a cover letter or a nice note thanking them. I also offer to submit supplemental information including a list of references and samples of my work as needed. But, like a phantom, these people almost always disappear, even after I send follow-up e-mails. I could have forgone these last four years of college and saved a TON of money. Hell, I could've even dropped out of high school and probably would have been much further than I am now. Opportunity never knocks, it just tantalizes.


I'm done with being broke, thanks for being there while I vent. Now I have a different form of "venting" I need to do thinking about this damn job hunt.

Opening Day

There is an old axiom that says "Life begins on Opening Day." It is a feeling of restored rejuvenation that brings on a season of possibilities to any team.

The Yankees played their first game of the regular season two days ago against the Baltimore Orioles at Camden Yards. However, they're going to have their second attempt at an "Opening Day" since the majority of the players were clearly either drunk or recovering from the night before, which, unless you're Babe Ruth or Mickey Mantle, you can't pull it off and expect to win ballgames.

The Bronx Bombers signed three big-name players during the offseason. High-profile pitchers C.C. Sabathia and A.J. Burnett, and premier first baseman Mark Teixeira. Of the two that played in the season's first game, (Sabathia and Teixeira) none of whom proved to be a factor.

Derek Jeter on the other hand, shined brightly, going 3-for-5 with three singles. Other performances of note included a home run apiece for Jorge Posada and Hideki Matsui, and a pinch-hit double from new acquisition Nick Swisher, whose antics were charged up with excitement, a good sight to see because that lights a fire under the ass of any complacent ball club late in the game.

This is the second part of this Yankee blog. The Yankees lost again to Baltimore last night by a score of 7-5. Apparently they don't really know that the games now count. The captain, however, has pulled his weight by contributing his first home run of the young regular season.

A.J. Burnett makes his Yankee debut this afternoon (4/9) and hopefully stops the bleeding and turns this ship around en route to a successful World Championship-bound year.

Fast Food Sales Tactics

Do fast food workers get commission now???

The last few times I indulged in greasy burgers and fries, the drive-thru speakers have tried to up-sell me. I was at the new Branchburg, N.J. Wendy's last Friday to get a large #2 with fries and a Coke, and the lady tried to double my Classic Double order. I felt like I was in a Doublemint Gum commercial.

If that's not bad enough, I was at the Clinton McDonald's earlier today to order my usual large Big Mac meal with a Coke, and the guy on the drive-thru mic tried to sell me a cappuccino. When I told him "no thanks" he asked if I wanted anything else. NO!! I just want to pay you, get my food, and get the hell out; and if I wanted a cappuccino, I'd go across the street to Dunkin Donuts or take a drive downtown to a local coffee shop.

I know the recent surge in population of the obese community has proved profitable to this industry, but give me a break! I go to fast food places to eat what I want, when I want, and how I want it... NOT to go shopping with similar-minded salesmen as door-to-door Willy Lomans or shady people that work at used-car lots.

On a side note, our flag store sold a custom flag to the Burger King in Raritan, so I dropped it off one Sunday morning after a limo-run to Newark Airport. The manager was pretty grateful, and hooked me up with a free breakfast of whatever I wanted, so kudos to him and that fine ethically-sound establishment.

Agony drags on, Vacation plans cease....

My uncle Don recently retired from the U.S. Marine Corps after a 20-year career beginning in 1989. During this lengthy tenure, he has traveled the globe, enduring numerous tours of duty to Iraq, Somalia, Rwanda, Afghanistan, Iraq again, and many other places. Even more recently, he's been pretty busy planning the next stage of his life. Semper Fi, Lieutenant Colonel!

He lives in Virginia Beach and is currently in the process of selling his house in Pensacola, which requires a lot of preparation, dealing with realtors, and packing up what's left in the house to move it up to his other place.

He offered the chance for my older brother and myself (my younger brother is still in high school) to go down to Pensacola with him this week to help him with the house... and hang out by his pool, beach it, hit up the bars and otherwise enjoy ourselves while helping to alleviate his moving process. Seeing how my older brother works full-time, I seemed like a perfectly good candidate for this "spring break," so I jumped at the chance.


So he and I worked it out, I was going to go to his place in VA Beach yesterday, and we were going to drive down to Pensacola to make an adventure out of it starting today. I was all poised and ready to go when, on Friday, a woman from this company I applied to a couple weeks ago called me for a phone interview. I thought the interview went pretty well, and she informed me of a position that just opened up and, sure enough, I was interested. I still am. She then told me that she would deliver my resume to human resources for consideration. Do you notice a common theme here??? I thought I might be able to bypass this stage of the application process with this phone interview and jump straight into where I excel: the face-to-face, I-get-to-meet-you you-get-to-meet-me formal first introduction; without the nameless I'm-not-a-real-person I'm-just-words-on-paper resume as an e-mail attachment.

I had no choice but to call Uncle Don and tell him that I was forced to deep-6 the Florida trip with him in order to sit around and watch the phone like Billie Joe Armstrong of Green Day in the song Longview, forgoing a much-needed trip to the Sunshine State's Gulf Coast in order to get away from this job hunt for a week and clear my head.


Great timing!!!

On the subject of 90s music, this whole job application process has me feeling an awful lot like the naked baby on cover of Nirvana's famous album Nevermind... unremittingly swimming to get that out-of-reach dollar bill on the end of the fishing line.


So this being Tuesday, at the time of the culmination of the second day of the work week, both my phone and e-mail have failed to beckon the call of the interview. And to think I could be on a beach right now....

The job hunt has become my Master of Puppets.....

I have taken severe issue with the whole job application process. I am calling on you, my friends who have graduated to bigger and better things for assistance. The same bigger and better things that seem to elude me, being just out of my reach.

Sure, I can rest on my laurels and blame the economy for my lack of fruitful employment at a position conducive to the fact that I busted ass during the last four years in the hallowed halls of academia to earn a degree, while acquiring "related experience" at the same time.

Sure, there are two sides to every coin. I can also blame myself for not doing enough. Maybe I should have joined every single on-campus club available, from the college Republicans AND Democrats, to the business leaders and the gay/straight alliance. Would that have made my resume more marketable? Is that what they want???

Today, I will make a conscientious attempt to apply to over 50 jobs. I already applied to around 10 jobs from the KAPLAN test-preparation company in the last 12 hours before bed. This is a company I found on the many job search engines to which I am a member.

The object of the day is to apply to as many of these jobs as possible. The pathetic nature of the beast is the fact that I truly believe this won't generate any interviews. They won't see the real me behind the e-mail application they will skip over in attempt to find as many attention-grabbing resume buzz-words as possible. I don't foresee, in the near future, this coming to a blissful conclusion. I'm trapped in this perpetual maze that subjects me to going around in complete circles, unable to break free. This whole job hunt has truly become my master of puppets.

Come crawling faster
Obey your Master
Your life burns faster
Obey your Master, Master

Master of puppets I'm pulling your strings
Twisting your mind and smashing your dreams
Blinded by me, you cant see a thing
Just call my name, `cause Ill hear you scream
Master, Master
Just call my name, `cause Ill hear you scream
Master, Master

Technology has brought upon many changes in the job hunt. No longer do you scan the classified ads in newspapers to see all the potential job matches that suit your expertise. No snail-mail letter mailing anymore, sending your resume, cover letter and samples of your work. The higher the technology capabilities, the lower the attention span for information consumption. They now have e-mails to work with. Meaning that, if they don't find words that turn them on like the robots they are, they simply delete the e-mail, forgoing the attachments of the samples of your work that truly define who you are as a worker and your potential. Pathetic, isn't it?


To further illustrate my point, I applied to Wegman's, the grocery store where my brother has worked for several years. He applied via an application on paper that used to be available in the store. Now, they exclusively accept applications online. So that's how I applied about two months ago, with no response. So you're starting to not have a choice with your method of application. I have a college degree, my brother does not, but he's a hard worker and he had the opportunity to meet the people who are in charge of hiring upon the submission of his application, so they liked what they saw. Resumes are getting more and more clout that they don't solely deserve in this new age of media consumption.

I don't know what to think anymore, is it just the hard luck that seems to follow me around? Or am I simply unqualified to be employed anywhere??? I turn it over to you, my friends who've graduated college with me. The job market is awful, but a lot of you have gotten jobs. Did you know somebody where you applied beforehand? Did you juice up your resumes like Jose Canseco did with his baseball career resume? Or were you just lucky? I make this an open forum, so any help/advice you can impart would be just excellent. Also, any questions/comments are welcome too. I thank you in advance for your help.

Hell is worth all that, natural habitat
Just a rhyme without a reason
Neverending maze, drift on numbered days
Now your life is out of season

If I don't get a job (a.k.a. more real-world experience) soon, then my resume will be out of season, then what's next? Burger flipper at McDonald's or school janitor???

(Music/Lyrics by Hetfield, Ulrich, Hammett, and Burton)

Complaints and Grievances: The New Facebook Layout

Social networking sites have become all the rage over the course of this decade. For many, it gives us the opportunity to keep in touch with old friends and long-estranged family members in ways never previously available. For some, it gives a unique capability to stalk and creep on every girl you've ever wanted to get with, for example.

One of the more popular social networking sites is Facebook. Started in 2004 by then-Harvard student Mark Zuckerberg, it has developed into the widely-used and super successful corporation that it is today.

Facebook has underwent several facelifts over the course of the past five years. What started out as a simplistic, collegiate and less-creepy alternative to MySpace is starting to look like it's trying to emulate its rival. This brings up a new theme in my blog to join the ranks of HR people and less-than-honest prospective employers who hide information about door-to-door Willy Loman-style sales, called 'Complaints and Grievances'--inspired by the late comedic legend George Carlin's 2001 HBO stand-up special of the same name ("And I'm gettin' really sick of guys named Todd. It's just a goofy fuckin' name.") I digress.


Facebook used to offer users only the most basic information (birthday, hometown, major, interests, photos, etc.) However, as a result of its massive expansion, many changes ensued. Changes including extending the membership to high school kids, middle school kids, and to round that out, middle-aged people and ANYBODY with an e-mail address. The advent of the "News Feed" occurred a few years ago. This convenient tool allowed others to peer in on your the daily occurrences in your life based on the changes that you make to your profile.

It just underwent another change in it's layout which pretty much exclusively focuses on the news feed updates. Great, updates that combine your friends, family, and people that you can barely even remember. Like I give a damn if Johnny Varsity that I haven't seen since high school is currently taking a shit at the moment. Facebook, MySpace, and Twitter are all moving in the direction of being carbon copies of each other.


The level of creepiness and stalking that is a by-product of this new level of MyTwitSpacebook's info accessibility is reaching new high levels. How far is too far? And where is Chris Hanson when you need him? ("Nice to see ya, have a seat.")

*IMPORTANT* Resume Tips (Trust Me); and the Ever-Present Job Hunt Continues...

My father was...a drinker. And a fiend. And one night he goes off crazier than usual..... I'm only kidding. My father owns a limo company called Flying High Transit, based in Clinton, N.J. He drives clients to and from the airport and into the city as well. Being caught in a stigma of constantly needing cash to pay bills and student loans off due to my current unemployed status, I occasionally help him out by driving people when he is occupied.

On Friday evening, I drove this nice older couple back from Newark Airport. They have daughters in their thirties, one of whom works for an insurance rating company in a nearby town. I dropped off the couple at their house, and they asked me for my e-mail address to give to their daughter for consideration for an employment opportunity (You never know.... It's called networking). That really pumped me up, a chance for a career, finally? I was pleasantly surprised to get an e-mail in a timely fashion the very next morning from their daughter, asking me to send my resume to both her personal and work e-mail addresses and she would then forward it to Human Resources.

Ahhhhh, the good old HR Department, the resume graveyard itself in any company. I felt my spirits sink along with my chances of actually getting an interview, having my resume in the caring hands of a department of people who don't know me personally, and do not know my strengths and assets in a team and professional environment.

HR departments are like automated answering machines for a company that you would like to get in touch with and possibly even start a relationship with. Let's just say that the company is a girl that you want to ask out for dinner. The girl is usually busy and is NEVER home so you must deal with her answering machine. You have to make a good impression on the answering machine to spark the interest of the girl, so it's all about presentation, aka the resume. So you have to do work now, in order to "DO WORK!!!" later.

On Saturday I was in Connecticut with my family for my grandfather's 85th birthday (Happy Birthday, Pop!!) I started reading this article about a guide to getting a career in the jobs section of Reader's Digest, written by Cathie Gandel and Hilary Sterne, (Yes I said it, Reader's Digest, don't judge!) This article was loaded with a plethora of good information about getting a job, being in between jobs, and advice from career coaches.

My primary focus was on the part of the article pertaining to resumes.

HR people like a "powered up resume," so instead of saying "I worked," say "I collaborated" or "I led," for instance.

Here is a list of some more power verbs that will boost your resume's value, and HR people will fall head-over-heels in love with it based on the words they read, assuming they took their adderall that morning and will give resumes/people the attention they deserve:

-accelerated
-accomplished
-collaborated
-constructed
-created
-designed
-developed
-devised
-drafted
-established
-expanded
-formulated
-generated
-implemented
-improved
-initiated
-launched
-managed
-negotiated
-operated
-presented
-produced
-streamlined
-supervised
-tracked
-wrote

The article also features good advice from resume professionals: Paul Mathews, Peter Weddle, Anita Attridge, Michael Worthington, and Cheryl Lynch Simpson.

Resumes are all about the past, job posts are all about the future. Think about how your qualifications can match up well with what the employer is looking for on a professional level. Don't use any font under 11-point on your resume (remember the "HR-ADD Factor"), and send it as part of the e-mail and NOT as an attachment, (thanks for the information that could've been BROUGHT TO MY ATTENTION YESTERDAY!!!! Or 10 months ago). Read the job description and use the same words, so if the ad specifies 'instructor' don't write down 'trainer' on your resume. Also, don't use buzz-words (team member, problem solver, or self-motivated). Instead, specifically describe your accomplishments (not duties) by quantifying your experience.


It's like a football game. It's a game that pits you, as the prospective employee, vs. the HR department, aka 'the opposition' as I like to refer to them as. You must illustrate and implement plays that baffle or dazzle the opposition in order to get by them, head to the end-zone (the initial interview) to score, and ultimately win the game (get the job offer).

Get a life you bum!!! Trust me, I'm trying....

After high school I've held a lot of different jobs. I was a janitor, a gas station attendant, a security guard, and a plummer. Lately I've been working construction, it's not a bad racket. I'm a pretty good shot with the nail gun. But one day, my boss Mr. Larson, got in the way. He got a couple lucky punches in but I still feel I won the fight.

-Adam Sandler, Happy Gilmore

Every day, the career catch-22 affects more and more people. Recent graduates are out of college, out of a job, out of money, and out of luck. It's a time of high unemployment and workers of all levels of experience are losing their jobs by the thousands with every lay off.

It is a common reassurance that bleak economic times are the perfect opportunities to find a silver lining in the dark cloud of recession by reinventing yourself, getting more acclimated to both the present and future economic climates.

The stock market crash of 1929 and the subsequent Great Depression of the 30s combined for the worst economic atrocity our nation has ever faced, yet there were a fortunate and financially savvy few who realized great opportunities in the crisis and reaped the rewards of wealth. But the question remains the same. How?


To add to my confusion, many of my friends that I graduated with have gotten jobs. Some have been laid off. Others decided their first "real job" wasn't for them, and ended up leaving as a result. So the workforce is hiring, but after many attempts, I still have yet to see it for myself (even though that sketchy door-to-door marketing gig was technically mine for the taking).

However, the greatest mystery of all is the fact that people are starting careers in fields totally unrelated to their majors. For instance I have a friend who majored in communications who got a job in finance, and another friend who majored in journalism (like me) and got a job in business sales/management/marketing. I can't catch a break anywhere.

The career catch-22 is the fact that companies who view you as somebody who is unqualified or one who lacks relevant experience will avoid you like the plague. However, you cannot gain the elusive relevant experience if these prospective employers do not give you a chance to prove yourself, while helping their company grow at the same time.

Reiterating what our good friend Happy Gilmore said in my own words: During and after high school, I busted ass as a service clerk at ShopRite, I worked at a video store, a Dunkin Donuts, I worked as a painter, did landscaping, I packaged and shipped flagpoles for a distributor, and I was a barback for a nightclub in New Haven, Conn. which turned into a custodial position after hours. The hardest job I've ever had to do? Use muriatic acid and disinfectant to scrub the walls and ceiling clean in a two-car garage covered in mold, by myself.

Unfortunately none of this "real-world" experience is "related" experience to any professional career, so I must leave it off my resume. This brings me to my next dilemma, the resume. When you look up resume tips on Google, the experts almost always tell you to refrain from lying. But at the same time, they almost always tell you to not shy away from highlighting and accentuating what's on your resume, obviously.


But what happens when highlighting your accomplishments meets the gray area between truth and deceit? You won't find a reputable resume expert who recommends that you lie or stretch the truth when writing your resume. In a perfect world, it doesn't happen. But let's face it, this is reality.

According to this Resume Tricks article, you only have 30 seconds to grab the attention of the resume-analyzing automatons who work in HR. So is a little fabrication or a flat out lie the best way to get noticed and thus, increase your chances on getting an interview? More people do it than you may think, and many of the people who do it, get away with it.

Were you ever beaten out of a job because a competitor padded his résumé? Let’s go to the stats: In a poll of 150 hiring executives at large companies, the execs estimated that nearly 30 percent of all job candidates fudge on their résumés. It’s actually worse than that, says Patricia Gillette, a San Francisco lawyer who has investigated hundreds of résumés while defending companies against former employees. "Probably 90 percent of the time, people lie on their résumé," she says. “We figure that means 60 percent of the job force lies and gets away with it.”

These stats are enough to drive certain people to falsify a resume, and I've spoken to recruiters that have said that many prospective employers look exclusively at resumes (so much for a dazzling cover letter, eh?) when considering applicants for employment.

I have, what I feel, a good resume. But for some reason, my resume doesn't generate interview offers. (Is it the job search engines?) I like to think that I'm the Scott Brosius in a sea full of A-Rod hotshots fresh out of college. I'm sure some other overlooked job applicants feel similar to that. In a society obsessed with stats, some prospective employers only look at what they see at face value...regardless of whether or not the applicant has lied or cheated. The people who almost always get the jobs are either the better B.S. artists or the ones who are better at selling themselves, both of which are, depending on what the job descriptions entail, mostly irrelevant to the everyday duties of the job (unless it's sales). I'd like to believe in the notion that there's still some integrity in this country, but I strain to accept it..... Are companies hiring actual people these days?? Or are they just simply hiring resumes???


What's more important, stats on paper that can be skewed, or intangible performance that generates success??? Just ask the 1996-2000 Yankees compared to the team in recent years.

Back on the job hunt

After my brief hiatus from this endless job search, I'm back on the old dusty trail plugging away and grinding. I came across this job search site called AfterCollege. Their motto on their homepage is as follows: Entry-level jobs and internships for students of nursing, engineering, business, and all disciplines.

My ideal place to end this near ten-month expedition to seek the Holy Grail of finally being able to pay off my bills and student loans, right???

Wrong! Nothing can ever be that easy.

On the site, I clicked the New Jersey portion of the list of jobs so I can still live with my parents and save some money, and in-turn massively elevate my eligible bachelor status. I was sifting through the job-ops, and I came across a few paradoxes. For instance, I found an ad for "Project Controls Manager" based in Paramus. Sounds like a great title for an eager twenty-something that wants to gain valuable experience, work hard, and achieve financial independence. Except, check out the qualifications they're looking for:

Job Requirements:

The ideal candidate must have a minimum 15 years of experience in the development and execution of cost and schedule control systems. Must have supervisory experience and a BS in Engineering. PE license preferred. Candidate must possess EPC project controls experience.

How many recent graduates do you know that have 15 years of experience in ANYTHING? And why the hell does this job take up space on a site geared towards entry-level careers and internships???

And if one unreachable career isn't enough, that job is more attainable than this ad for a Project Manager:

Established engineering firm is looking for a Project Manager with a minimum 18 years relevant project related engineering and construction experience. This position will be responsible for the full performance of every phase of a large project or group of smaller projects.

18 years??? Really? REALLY??

This Paramus-based company is the same firm that posted the ad for the previous job, a company called The Assurance Group. I don't know what their employees are smoking posting jobs that require A TON of experience on a job search engine like this.

Or maybe it's just me. Maybe the entry-level jobs for students "after college" that they're referring to means entry-level after the job-seekers get their Ph.D's. After college??? More like WAY after college.

The Greatness that is Yuengling

I need to just pause for a moment and put my perpetual quest for a legitimate entry-level career on hold to talk about the greatest beer company out there. It's called D.G. Yuengling & Son, Inc. This brewery, located in Pottsville, Pa., started in 1829 (the same year President John Quincy Adams left office and Andrew Jackson was sworn in) and is the oldest operating brewing company in the United States, talk about consistency!

When you want to talk about a true American lager, the sheer mention of Yuengling's Traditional Lager is enough to whet anybody's palate. That also comes in light. Other choices they offer include: Premium and Premium Light Beer (a pilsner), Original Black & Tan (another great one), Dark-Brewed Porter, and Lord Chesterfield Ale. My two personal favorites are the Traditional Lager and the Black & Tan.



Primarily distributed in the East and concentrated in Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Delaware, it extends north and east into New York and all the way down the east coast to Florida, where they've opened another brewery. It is also popular westward into Ohio, Tennessee, and Alabama. To ensure consumers of a truly American taste, they use corn from Minnesota and hops from Washington. Despite the great taste of a fine beer, Yuengling is remarkably inexpensive (some places charge around $17.50 or less for a case....about halfway between expensive import beers and Mickey Mantle's Nati Light).

There is a nearby region of the country which is conspicuously absent from their distribution map. New England. My friends from CT and Mass. used to love when I would bring a case or two back to school after being in NJ for the weekend. This is both an outrage and a travesty. Pennsylvania is not too far away from Connecticut, and it's not much further to ship to other parts of New England. There are many people that would love for this to happen. In fact, there is even a Facebook group, called Bring Yuengling to New England with approximately 7,400 members in only a few months of existence. More and more support for this movement is being garnered every day and hopefully the time comes in the not too distant future when they too get to experience the taste of a great American classic.



Join the movement, Yuengling needs to be sold in New England. It's the taste they've been thirsting for.

Disappointment and Door-to-Door Marketing

I knew I had to make some epic moves and do some serious work like Rob & Big to start a career, so I jumped on the job search engine bandwagon. The massive paydays from both my graduation party and birthday were quickly dwindling, whittling down to a pittance of their initial sum. The first one I chose to try was monster.com. After continually striking out with this site, I decided on going to craigslist, because you didn't have to spend time registering with the site, you could just view the jobs directly by category, and simply apply from there. I cited the KISS method: Keep It Simple, Stupid.

I decided against the journalism route this time, and instead, decided to reinvent myself by diversifying my talents. Print journalism is a stagnant industry, and no longer are the daily papers the #1 source of media consumption in the United States. Traditional newspapers are constantly laying off workers in today's terrible economy, and some of these daily publications are even going out of business. I wish I opened my friggin eyes four years ago and changed my major.

I've always been interested in sales and marketing. I perused craigslist and found many opportunities for employment. I ended up responding to many, but, as the job search goes, got very few responses. One company in particular, stood out. They said you could "be your own manager." They promised sky's-the-limit pay and they gave a list of reputable clients they "work with," one being my favorite baseball team, the NEW YORK YANKEES!!! That caught my attention like a pretty girl at a construction site.

Enter ASL Marketing Group.

I arranged to meet with them for an interview at their Branford, Conn. office, (about 20 minutes away from my alma-mater Quinnipiac, so I scheduled it on a Friday to make a weekend out of it, having had traveled two and-a-half hours from New Jersey). As you can see from the link, a modern-looking commercial high rise office is pictured on their website. To my surprise, the actual office was actually located in the rear of an industrial building off the Post Rd., nothing like the picture. That should have triggered a red flag right then and there.

I entered the building and found out that I was, in fact, at the right place. I interviewed with the guy who owns the business. After a few brief questions, he told me several times that he was very impressed with my resume and my responses to his questions, blowing smoke up my ass, and that he wanted to schedule a second interview. The initial interview lasted about 10-15 minutes, which is really short for an interview and should have triggered another warning sign, but then again, I was still an interview noob.

I scheduled the second "interview" two weeks later on a Friday (and another weekend at Quinnipiac). It was this time when he arranged for me to go out in the field with his "associate." He drove me and another employee to Milford, which was about a 20-minute car ride away. Shortly thereafter, I found out what I was in store for. 9-10 hours of pounding the pavement knocking on doors trying to push home improvement projects on unsuspecting residents trying to otherwise mind their own business.

The company's acronym, ASL, stands for "Actions Speak Louder," meaning "actions speak louder than words." What that simply translates to is that fact that their "actions" include their "workers" going door-to-door to market for the home improvement contractor company that they share the building with. I know that if I wanted work done on my house, I'll go with a contractor that I know and trust, or do it myself with the Home Depot or Lowes. Either that or get Tim "The Tool Man" Taylor and Al Borland to get the job done and take care of business.



On this particular trip, we canvassed a local neighborhood, knocking on doors of approximately 100 residences beginning at around noon. It was only a short time after Halloween and most of the decorations were still up, and the neighbors at first glance might have thought we were dazed and confused trick-or-treaters trying to score some last minute candy, unfortunately it was NOT the case. It took a couple of hours and only few people answered, seeing that it was a workday.

After a tiring trek around a few blocks, we stopped for lunch at a McDonalds, and I was thinking of ways to escape (to my chagrin, as I said, my car was back in Branford...a 20-minute car ride away, so I had to suck it up). After lunch, it was back to the same block for a second journey around the Milford Tour of Embarrassment, and after that, a third.

As the day wore on, more and more people came back from work/school. The guy I was with was unrelenting and would not take NO for an answer, pressuring otherwise uninterested people to sign up for home improvement services. Some of the residents were naturally hostile and told us to leave and even threatened to call the police on several instances. It was seriously shaping out to be the job interview from hell.

The day finally ended, and no one was more ecstatic than me. We finally drove back to Branford and I had the actual second interview with the same person who interviewed me two weeks earlier. It was a terrible experience, but hey, you have to look at the positives, I got some great exercise and now I know what the hell to avoid on job search sites from companies that don't tell you that their illegitimate business practices entail door-to-door marketing and pyramid scams... Thanks, but no thanks, ASL Marketing Group.


Here are a few things YOU can do to avoid these scams:

1) Take caution when searching "sales" or "marketing" on ANY job search engine.
2) AVOID ALL CAPITAL LETTERS of employment ads from companies promising pay to the moon and back.
3) "A sports-minded company for sports-minded people" IS a red-flag.
4) First interviews aren't meant to be easy. If it seems like a breeze, then something's fishy about the company.
5) RESEARCH the company before you agree to an interview. Go to their website and look up blogs or discussion boards pertaining to the company. First-hand experiences and advice from other people is usually the best method of research.

Just to reiterate/repeat a part of yesterday's blog post in order to build up the trials and tribulations of this willing, eager and able prospective job-seeker:

After I graduated last May, I wasn’t too worried about the real world. I just had the four best years of my life in college and made a lot of good friends, and they were one hell of a cast of characters, but that’s a different story all in and of itself. I digress. So I had my diploma (major: journalism; minor: business management), and was ready to take on the real world. I decided to take the summer off from any serious job hunting, as I still occasionally worked for my dad. So I was going to put the job search on hold until I turned 23 in early September.

In August, my grandparents came across a classified ad in their newspaper for a writer/reporter for their hometown Darien News-Review in Connecticut. They immediately informed me of the ad, so I applied and got a response shortly thereafter to schedule an interview.

So I went one-for-one on seeking a job interview and actually getting one, (a process I took for granted at the time, as I thought it wouldn't be a challenging task to repeat...BIG MISTAKE!!!) So I met the woman who administered the interview, and we were going back and forth about my experience and the details of the job itself. Not a huge load of hours, but my spirits sank when she told me that the starting salary would be $21,000 per year (with benefits also). She must of sensed the wind coming out of my sails as my passion took a turn for the worse.

I don't know how much you know about Darien, CT, but my grandfather has lived there his entire life (he's pushing 85), and my mother grew up there. It has changed A LOT since then. It used to be your average, middle class Connecticut shore town, but as the 20th century progressed, the success of New York's business world spilled over into the town. It is now a very attractive town to the wealthy, luring corporate CEOs and other high salary/high profile people. It has a population of roughly 20,000, and a per capita income of over $75,000. Here I would be, living with my grandparents in an expensive town. Trying to start a career and save money would be a near impossible task, and suffice it to say, I did not get the job, but it was a great learning experience. I would start my serious job-searching when I turned 23 the month after this newspaper experience. So much for living the lifestyle of Allen Covert in Grandma's Boy.

Fear and Loathing After College Intro Blog

Hello, greetings and salutations! How are you doing this fine evening? Good, Great, Grand! Now that I got that out of the way, this is the very first thread in what I hope to be many in this experimental blog that I have decided to call “Fear and Loathing After College.”

Who am I? My name is Chris Allen, and I am originally from Fairfield, Connecticut, later Clinton, New Jersey. I have always told people that I am from both places, and that I proudly “double-rep” to get the best of both worlds. Don’t get discouraged by those seemingly inconsequential details, but I can go on now that I’ve said those brief introductory details.

I am currently 23 years old, and I recently graduated from Quinnipiac University in May 2008—well somewhat recently, seeing now that it’s March 2009. I graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Journalism (the “pen”is mightier, Trebek), as well as a minor in Business Management.

After I graduated last May, I wasn’t too worried about the real world. I just had the four best years of my life in college and made a lot of good friends, and they were one hell of a cast of characters, but that’s a different story all in and of itself. I digress. So I had my diploma, and was ready to take on the real world. I decided to take the summer off from any serious job hunting, as I still occasionally worked for my dad. So I going to put the job search on hold until I turned 23 in early September. The next six months are going to have to wait until tomorrow, as it is now almost midnight.

It was short, but I wanted to get my first blogger post done before bed. I will be back tomorrow to write a longer one stating my goals, objectives, and other things to do with the blog. Bear with me, as this is a learning experience, a jump-off point to hopefully bigger and greater things.