Unsure – or Overwhelmed?

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If you feel overwhelmed in your job search, pause for a moment and ask yourself this:

Are you overwhelmed with effort – or overwhelmed because you aren't sure what to do next?

I encounter this a lot – people are unsure of what to do next, so try everything, or randomly meander from task to task.  They never get anything done (or get comparatively little done), yet are completely exhausted.  Even if they don't spend endless hours on their careers, the lack of success and the attempt to do EVERYTHING overwhelms them.  They may even try less as they feel so overwhelmed.

So when you feel overwhelmed, take some time out and ask if you have definite measurable goals and directions – or are you trying to do everything at once without a plan.  The answer may be surprising.

I myself am guilty of this, and find that regularly reviewing what I really want to do and achieve helps – I have less chance of getting lost trying to do everything.  Even if I overload myself I at least know what my original intent was before I overdid it.

– Steven Savage

The Advantage of Household Technology

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One of my biggest advantages in my career was the fact that I got a home computer early in life.

That meant I could use job search sites back when they were just evolving, or send faxes over the modem.  It meant I could train myself on software and in coding whenever I wanted.  it let me build resumes and skills.

Now, years later (fifteen or sixteen to be precise), the home computer is nearly omnipresent, but one fact hasn't changed: the technology in your household can be a career advantage.

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News of the Day 6/25/2009

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Career:
How showing a plan gets you a job – An interesting idea I've seen in several variants – show a potential employer how you'll get things done measurably.

Economics/Freakonomics/Geekonomics:
Initial jobless claims up, continuing claims down – And a good look at where we are econimically. Rough summary – not too hot, probably better than we were.

Anime and Manga:
It appears Diamond has cancelled some manga and anime orders, though other distributors carry them. Not sure if this is significant yet.

News:
It appears a group of media companies and philanthropic organizations may be teaming up to create an investigative news network – Here's one to watch because A) it's a new media story, B) this could be a seismic shift in news gathering policies and approaches, and C) this could set the model for other similar transitions.

Social Media:
A member of Generation Y discusses NOT using Twitter and Gen Y stereotypes – A few things to think of, even for this Gen Xer.

CEO's tend not to use social media – Remember this when you have to sell a social media plan to a client or company – and this could make social media use an edge for CEOs. More importantly, it may indicate disengagement between CEOs and people, and damage company image – just having a blog can be a boon to public engagement. People are expecting more and more company engagement (perhaps you can provide it . . .)

Video:
Hulu and TV.com net higher ad rates than networks – There's a variety of reasons for this, of course, but you can be sure this is being watched carefully by various companies. Career-wise, this is more important to marketers and ad people right now, but in the medium term it could mean even more enthusiasm for online video and all its permutations – good and bad. I'm still positive on online video, just a tad concerned about all the bizarre things that will be tried on the way to useability.

Youtube adds a movie trailers page – Which seems obvious, but fun – and I bet they get some ad money for this. People making AMVs are probably thrilled with this as it's footage at their fingertips that's not going to get pulled. Good example of strategy, let's see how they evolve (and if anyone else takes the hint – if you work in video services, this may be a good example)

A bit more of a look at TV Everywhere – And not encouraging. Too little, too limited, too late is my take. They may be able to sell it to people, but as people are increasingly aware of options and less enchanted with cable companies, it could backfire. Career note – I don't consider cable companies the best employment options right now.

Video Games:
EA makes marketing deal with Dr. Pepper – This is basic code unlocks. Seems kind of cheesy, but you see a lot of cross-promotionals more and more. EA is keeping up the momentum at least. I'm more and more positive they'll be turning things around in 6-12 months.

Sony is considering non-games on the PSP – We've talked here how the DS could do more – why not the PSP? It probably wouldn't hurt at any rate – I know people who have put useful things on their PSP like video resumes.

And as we close out, here's an insanely cute-ified gundam

– Steven Savage