How to Find More than Just a Paycheque

For me, writing is more than just a paycheque; it’s an outlet for thoughts, ideas and discussion. It’s also a wonderful way to meet people with an interesting story, or learn about a new business.

Through my work I’ve discoveredAltCareer.com, a job search website that I helped to launch last month. AltCareer believes work is about more than just a paycheque too, and their job postings highlight positions available at small to medium-sized companies that offer employees perks and benefits that will boost their job satisfaction and personal happiness. Sign up for their job board if you’re looking for a career that can complement your lifestyle.

Giving Students and New Grads a Voice

You know I’m all about networking, seminars and interning to help you make the way towards your dream job, so it’s no surprise I would be all on board when I heard the country’s leading online career resource spot, TalentEgg.ca, was launching an awareness campaign to fight Gen-Y under-employment.

The platform is called Student Voice, and it’s mission is to give students the opportunity to voice their school-to-work transition concerns, experiences and wishes to Canadian employers. Each day students and new grads will be sharing their career-related stories, and so far almost two-dozen young professional have contributed.

And of course I was one of them. You can check out my story about something that is near and dear to me: unpaid internships. Read: Attract and Retain the Best Talent by Offering Paid Internships.

If you are a student or new grad with a positive career experience story or wish the job hunting process was a bit different for young professionals, I would encourage you to submit your story to this great campaign. We all need to work together to voice our opinions if we want things to get better for our generation!

Writer’s Mad Libs Series

Mad Libs (from ad lib, a spontaneous improvisation) is a phrasal template word game where one player prompts another for a list of words to substitute for blanks in a story. The game is especially popular with American children and is frequently played as a party game or pastime.

I’ve been looking for some new ways to have fun and incorporate contributors to my blog, and I finally decided on something really cool!

I came across this Fashion Blogger Mad Libs Series on The Fashionist and thought it would be a great concept to apply to writers. So in the next little while I will be posting my own version of the every popular Mad Libs which have been filled out by writers and bloggers whom I admire and think you could learn a lot from. I hope this series will inspire and entertain you. And of course, if you know someone who would be perfect for this series (maybe you?) please be in touch!

Guest Post for The Happy Freelancer

A little while ago I was asked by my Twitter friend and fellow PWAC member, Heidi Turner, to write a guest post for her wonderful writing blog. The Happy Freelancer shares many great personal stories as well as career advice for freelance writers. I was honoured to be asked to contribute to this wonderful online resource along with many other freelance writers whom I admire.

Check out the many inspiring posts as well as my guest post about my experiences as an intern in All Work and No Pay: Surviving Unpaid Internships.

Should you work for Free?

Keeping up with all this intern talk, I found something else I’d like to share for all my past, present and future intern amigos.

My friend @laurenonizzle found this flow chart created by designer Jessica Hische.

You start in the middle and answer some YES and NO questions to find out if that unpaid internship/job is worth all your time and effort.

You will probably find this chart humorous and quite frankly very truthful, but I have to say it was a little quick to judge. While there are mixed views about working for free (tough competition, exploitative, necessary for success, slave labour) in these times I don’t really see a way you can’t get to where you want to go without one (or two, or three…).

Never mind the networking and hands-on experience, but internships give you a sneak peak into the word of whatever career you have your heart set on. And what better way to find out if it is really the right thing for you than having the chance to do a “trial run” per se for a few months. You may love it and know for certain that there is nothing else better for you, or you may find it was not how you imagined and go back to the drawing board for another shot at a career path that you will love and excel at.

Internships can be draining, emotional, intimidating, frustrating, exciting, and rewarding all at once. You have to believe in what you love to do enough to be willing to work for free (hopefully only for a little while anyway). You have to be smiling and helpful and eager to do whatever is thrown your way, even when you know you are above the task and you feel like yelling, “WHY WON’T YOU HIRE ME ALREADY?”

There's more to being an intern than coffee runs.

But in the end it is all about what you make of the opportunity. Be smart enough to pick an organization with a track record for good internship experiences, and talk with anyone and everyone you know about their experiences and words of wisdom. Don’t be shy. Ask the stupid questions. Get there early and bring a pen and a notebook. Always ask if there is anything more you can do. And don’t forget those thank you notes when it’s all over.

Be the best you can be.

You may be still waiting for your internship(s) to pay off (I know I am), but it will happen. One day. And when it does, I hope you remember to be nice to YOUR interns.

2010 Photo Diary

Uploading the last of my 2010 pictures onto iPhoto today, I couldn’t help but browse through all my albums from the last year. The groups of photos sparked so many good times, so many happy memories, and new experiences that made it a year to remember. So I decided it would be fun to put together a little photo diary of my year in review. Here is to a wonderful year and to the start of another great one.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

 

New Year, New Motivation

Spend less, save more. Eat better, drink less. Be nicer, stop worrying.

Resolution-speak is in full force this time of year, and soon you may find yourself falling victim to the cliché of grandiose claims that won’t make it to Martin Luther King Day.

I’ll have to admit in years past I haven’t given much thought to New Year’s Resolutions, or at least I haven’t made any that I had full intentions of sticking to. But I do think the idea of sitting down with yourself for a moment to be serious about how you can live your best life (al la Oprah) for the next 12 months is a pretty good idea.

2010 was a year full of ups and downs for me both professionally and personally, but I’m ready to dispose of my negativity and scepticism and keep the fresh momentum going. I am ready to get out there; I have people to meet, jobs to apply for, stories to write and more to learn.

After what has been the biggest decade of my life milestone-wise, (three graduations, living on my own, adventures abroad and invaluable experiences as an intern) I’m excited to see what the next few years have in store.

So with the shiny clean slate of the New Year just around the corner I propose we resolve to make a personal vision of how we’d like to see ourselves in the next year. Mine includes lots of writing, lots of good food and fun, and working with smart and creative people who have a lot of wisdom to pass my way. Whatever yours looks like, keep it attainable, keep it real, keep it going every day.

Wether your goals for 2011 includes seeing your name printed on a masthead or not, I wish you a wonderful start to the New Year! I look forward to bringing you new stories and experiences in the coming weeks.

Cheers!

Funny Business

Okay so I’m really not good at making jokes in real life or in writing, but I know someone who is.

Here name is Claire Stollery, and she’s a recent Drama grad turned stand-up comedian. Claire has only been cracking jokes for a few months and she’s already performed in front of audiences in New York City, Toronto and Los Angeles.

Check out my Q&A story with the funny girl on TalentEgg.ca

Interning 101

I saw this on my friend Nicole Wray‘s Blog a little while ago and thought it would be nice to share with all those I know who are interns right now or will be interns in the near future.

We could all use some reminders now and again to get where we want to be.

The Intern Diaries: Volume IV

As I mentioned earlier, I will soon become an intern for the fourth time.

I’ll have to admit, I hoped I was done with this stage of my career but I’m still looking forward to another great learning opportunity, and a possible gateway to the working world. Unlike my pervious intern gigs, this one won’t be strictly editorial. I’ll be spending part of my time in the fashion closet sorting clothing and accessories, calling PR companies and designers and getting organized for fashion shoots, and the other half contributing to the fashion blog (It may sound glamorous, but I assure you it will be hard work). I’m super excited to get to experience the daily happenings at one of the country’s leading fashion magazines and I’m sure I will be meeting many talented people in the magazine industry along the way.

Stay tune for more additions to the Intern Diaries in the coming weeks for updates.

But before this all goes down, I’m off to the city that never sleeps for my own little adventure. I’ll tell you all about it when I return, and don’t worry I won’t keep you guessing about the exact magazine I’ll be interning at for much longer.