Tag Archives: Work Life

Quote in US News

Posted on by Ryan K.

I was quoted in a U.S. News article, “How to Launch Your Career In a Lousy Economy“

Other job seekers are using less conventional means to get attention and find the best job—and wage—possible. Kellett has blogged about his job search on his personal website, and he considers that blog part of his résumé. He even links to it in his cover letter. “If an employer looked at it, they would get an interesting and unique perspective from there,” he says.

For Kellett, attitude is just as important as his résumé. He has decided not to dwell on the bad luck of having to enter the workforce in a downtime for the economy. When he first started looking for a job, “I wasn’t particularly worried, which was troubling to some of my friends,” says Kellett. ” ‘Why aren’t you freaking out about the job market?’ they said. I really couldn’t tell them why. It helps to have a positive attitude.”

Liberalart.us

Posted on by Ryan K.

I would say the majority of people I know are looking for work, have just recently just started working, or are about to be looking for work. But that’s not why I started my new employment blog: liberalart.us. I started it for the liberal artists (not democratic painters) and named it as such.

What does a liberal arts degree really mean? Where does it get you? What skills do you have? I have seen some of my smartest and most talented friends struggle immensely post-graduation and this blog is for them. And it’s not to help them as if this were charity or an advice line. It’s to give voice to them.

I’m saying that the 20-something recession-grad is a story worth telling. The successes. The failures. The pressures. I’m living it, so why try to mask it in Career Service pamphlets and cryptic facebook statuses. The blog, thanks to my partner Sarah, has a bit more of a snarky tone than I’m used to. But employers take note, I know how to adapt to styled writing. I write it that way to have some appeal and light-heartedness to what can be a tough process for my colleagues/classmates.

Let me know what you think. I want the blog to be fresh. There’s a risk of failure, but you know what, I haven’t been failing enough recently. That means I’m getting too comfortable, not pushing myself.

Who’s Your Captain Awesome?

Posted on by Ryan K.

Part of my work is thinking about structural ways to support students who start creative and innovative projects. Here’s a great example: The Awesome Foundation.

I joke you not. They literally have one criteria for giving grants: be awesome. 10 minute application. $1000 at stake, once per month.

But what IS awesome? From the Foundation: “Awesome creations are novel and non-obvious, evoking surprise and delight. Invariably, something about them perfectly reflects the essence of the medium, moment, or method of creation. Awesomeness challenges and inspires.”

from TBD

Goals

Posted on by Ryan K.
  • Eat Local, if possible: As easy as it is to save a few bucks by eating in the dining hall post-graduation, I’m not researching food security for naught. If anything, books like Omnivore’s Dilemma prove to me that I at least should try eating a bit more sustainably. Luckily, it’s somewhat easy to eat with a conscience in Middlebury due to the Middlebury Natural Foods Co-op and hopefully the return of the farmer’s market come Spring. If I can’t do it here in Middlebury, I probably can’t do it elsewhere. I would hesitate to say that I’m going to kick off a Bill McKibben-esque challenge to ONLY eat local (for a year) but I want to make an attempt.
  • Cook: Connected with the above goal, I need to be able to consistently cook my own meals with enough variety that I can eat “in” for an indefinite amount of time. Nothing against eating out, but this is a useful skill that I must develop beyond sandwiches and spaghetti.
  • Investing/Money Management: It’s a little scary when you’re mother says to you, “You’ve graduated, I’m handing over all the accounts for you manage now.” My economics courses at Middlebury were not investing focused at all. So, my goal in the next few months is do my research. Any good books, tutorials, etc?
  • Blog Every Day: In 2006, on this very blog, I wrote: “Blogging is something that sharpens my writing skills. It’s a daily renewal of writing, as a skill and that is important to me.” Still is true.
  • Find an adventure for post-May, preferably without a resume: So, Seth Godin talks about showing people that you deserve to be hired. I’m not even really talking about getting a job via guanxi but rather having my work speak for itself. I’ve been using this website as a portfolio for the past half year or so. It’s far richer and better than my actual resume.

Are there any other goals I should be considering?

Update: I’m adding a goal.

  • Read like a champion: If there’s anything that I pick up from the blogs I read is that the smartest people read a ton. I currently don’t and I blame it on Middlebury for making me “read” so much useless stuff in my time as an undergrad. Consistency of reading longer work (not just web news articles) is important to really understand issues and do research.

A Four Month Future

Posted on by Ryan K.

I get this a lot now: “Haven’t you graduated?”

Yes, I have. Thank you. It’s a compliment, really. I cherish my liberal arts degree, but I am still here in good ol’ Middlebury, VT. For the next four months through May, I will be working for Middlebury College in a hodgepodge of roles. My office is in the Old Stone Mill where I work with the Project on Innovation and Creativity in the Liberal Arts. Whew, that’s a long title. I also am doing research on food security (think Omnivore’s Dilemma and Fast Food Nation). Last, I work on “projects in President’s Office.”

I’m still job searching, but now with a longer time horizon even if I’m not contributing to the US unemployment rate. It’s not often that one can legitimately blog about the job search while being employed, so I’ll cherish the opportunity to do it right. In fact, I hope to open up more about the challenges that face my fellow mid-year graduates and myself. Hopefully, I’ll even have some job opportunities to share.

To give you an idea of how my fellow grads are doing, here’s a quick sprinkling of what some of my friends (minus names) are up to right now:

  • Flying around the country doing Ph.D. program interviews
  • Working for the National Institute of Health (NIH) processing grants
  • In Israel learning Hebrew and volunteering
  • Preparing to begin two years worth of work in Africa for the Peace Corps
  • Working at a bike shop while preparing for an Ironman