4 Ways Not to Get a Job

Looks like an invasion of personal space

After a five- year hiatus, I have rejoined the job-search group.  If you are reading this post for tips on how to get a job, then I suggest you read another blog post. Since I have not yet been able to land my career job, I cannot tell you how to get one. However, as someone who has received a couple of rejection emails, I can certainly tell you what will cause you not to get a job.

No. 1  Putting All of Your Eggs in One Basket

The last thing you want to do is put your faith in one job. Even if you had an interview that you believe went  well, you should apply for other positions while you’re waiting to hear back from the employer. Most employers are not going to tell you at the end of the interview that they think you suck and they have no intention of hiring you. While you’re  in a dream land waiting for them to call you and offer you a position that is not going to happen, you’re missing out on other job opportunities.

No. 2  Hiding Your Resume

Do you see your resume?

You may be under the impression that posting your resume on Monster and CareerBuilder provides visibility to employers, but take a second and think about the other billions of people who also posted their resume on these sites. I’m not saying that CareerBuilder and Monster are not good sites to have your resume posted on. In fact,  I know people who have gotten jobs as a result of doing so. The point I’m trying to make is you should post your resume on a vast amount of career sites, specifically niche sites. For example, manhattanjobs.com is a career site for those seeking employment in Queens. (Did you catch that?)

No. 3  Staying Stuck in Your Ways

In case you aren’t aware of this, it’s the year 2010. You now have additional resources that you can use to search for jobs, one being social media. I’m sure you know how to search for jobs on LinkedIn, but do you know how to look for work on Twitter and Facebook? On Twitter, I follow @WriterJobsNY, which tweets  public relations and communications’ openings. On Facebook, companies like Earnst & Young use its Facebook page to inform its “fans” about upcoming recruiting events.

No. 4  Doubting Yourself

If you don’t believe in yourself, then who will? The process of finding a job in today’s market is more difficult than ever, but it is not impossible. I know of  a few people who looked for an entire year before finding a job. The key is to believe in yourself and to not give up. (That’s something I tell myself every day.)

I hope this post has been somewhat helpful and I wish you luck on your job search.  What’s one thing that you think prevented you or someone  from landing a job in the past?

Who’s The Real Bad Guy in Jamaica?

Friend or foe?

Did you know that 76 people in Jamaica were gunned down in the last week? Are you aware that 700 Jamaicans have been detained since the government’s attempt to arrest Christopher Coke started? You may know this information from following the news, but there is one piece of information that seems to remain unanswered: Who is the real threat in Jamaica? Is it Coke and his supporters or is it the government? I certainly do not have the answer to this question, but there seems to be some sort of  cover-up.

Michael "Dudus" Coke

I first heard of Jamaica being under a state of emergency last Monday. I had just gotten home from school, and wasn’t paying  much attention to the story until I heard the reporter say, “Some people look at him [Coke] as a Robin Hood.”  That statement struck me as odd because most neighborhoods don’t care for people who are the source of trouble in their neighborhood. I know Jamaica is different from the United States, but I thought to myself that there must be more to this story, and sure enough, there was.

According to a New York Times article, Jamaican politicians ally with drug lords for political reasons. Because these drug lords supply the people in their neighborhoods with the  food and resources that the government fails to provide, they have the influence over the people that Jamaican politicians need to win votes. The United States attempted to expedite Coke previously, but the Jamaican government refused to cooperate. What made the government suddenly change its mind? Why is it now ready  to turn Coke over and why is it so desperate to do so?

In a recent TimesOnline article, Coke stated that the government, particularly Prime Minister Bruce Golding, is trying to kill him in order to prevent  him from exposing Golding. Coke stated that if he is arrested by the Jamaican government, he will be killed just as  his father was. Coke is allegedly trying to seek political asylum overseas as a result.

Is the Jamaican government hiding information or is Coke trying to come up with a plan to flee? According to CNN.com, Jamaican residents told reporters that the government had been burning citizens. In a different news story, the residents of Tivoli Gardens tried to get journalists to investigate a cemetery, where they said the government forces secretly buried some of the people they had killed during the upheaval. The government denied both the claim of a cemetery and burning people.  Some Jamaican citizens stated that the people of Tivoli Gardens  began shooting at the cops first. With all of these stories, it’s hard to determine who’s responsible for all that’s happened. Who do you think is the real bad guy?

My Taxi Cab Confession

Yellow-Cab

Have you ever had trouble catching a cab in NYC at night?  Has a cab driver ever refused to take you to a certain neighborhood? A few Saturdays ago, I experienced my very own taxicab confession.

I had gone into the city that evening to attend a get-together at a friend’s place. I decided not to drive that night because I wanted to have a few drinks and enjoy myself. When it was time for me to leave, I asked a friend to come outside with me, so I could catch a cab. I had heard about the racial profiling issue with some cabs and I didn’t want to risk missing my train because of someone’s ignorance. My friend hailed the cab for me and as soon as I shut the door, the cab driver asked me why I had her flag the cab down instead of doing it myself. I told him my reason for doing so, and that’s when the confession began.

The driver told me that though he picks up all passengers, he was warned not to pick up black people. He was first told this by a police officer after an incident with a passenger. The cab driver had called the cops on a man who hopped out of his cab without paying. He said when the cops arrived, one cop told him this will happen every time he picks up a ‘N- word’ (that is the term the cop used).

Other cab drivers had also warned him not to pick up black people. I asked the driver if most of his bad experiences had been with black passengers, and I was happy to hear him say no. He said he has had equally bad experiences with all races and genders. In addition to discriminating against passengers, I had also heard that Manhattan cab drivers won’t take people to Brooklyn.  I decided to ask the driver about this, since he was being forthright with everything else.

He said that he takes passengers to Brooklyn because he lives in Brooklyn, but most Manhattan cab drivers will not take passengers any further than Downtown Brooklyn. He went on to say that cab drivers will also refuse service to certain parts of Harlem and the Bronx.

I didn’t get to chance to ask him any more questions because I had arrived at my destination. I thanked him for being honest and giving me insight. I feel that all people have the right to cab service, regardless of their race or destination. What’s your opinion?

Do You Go To The Cemetery?

Never really gone

Being that tomorrow is Mothers Day, I’m sure you know restaurants will be packed, movies will be sold out and traffic will be horrendous. There’s also another place that will hold a large crowd: the cemetery. Have you ever gotten upset at a relative or spouse for not going to a cemetery to visit someone close to you?  Why do you go or not go? I can’t give you an exact reason as to why I used to go to my father’s grave and sit alone for hours at a time, but I can tell you how I felt while I was there.

Rarely did I feel sad at my father’s grave.  Even though he wasn’t there in the physical,  I felt his presence spiritually.  I didn’t go to the cemetery all of the time; I would mainly go  whenever life got hectic, because I always  found peace and assurance there.  Now I’m a good distance from where he is buried, but I make sure to visit his grave when I am in town visiting my grandmother.

Aaliyah

Unlike me, my grandmother would go to my father’s grave every day. Sometimes she would go twice in one day.  After about a year of continuously going, she realized her obsessiveness with the cemetery was her way of mourning. What’s interesting is there are people who mourn over their loved one, but don’t go to the cemetery.

For example, my oldest sister wouldn’t go to our grandmother’s grave for years. My sister was very close to my grandmother, but I think going to the cemetery was too painful for her. Some people prefer to remember their loved one when he/she was alive and vibrant, not  in a casket.

There are those who believe that in order to pay respect to the dead, you have to go to the cemetery. Personally, I don’t think it’s disrespectful not to go to the cemetery.  People deal with death in different ways. I hope that all of those who lost their mom stay strong tomorrow.  I think our loved ones are always around us and watching over us. What do you think?

Is Being A (You Know What) The Only Way To Get Results?

Can't we all just get along?

When you have an issue or complaint that needs to be resolved, do you get a better, quicker solution if you are aggressive and somewhat rude; or if you are  polite and patient? I’m not talking about with someone you care about, but someone in the customer service industry that you have no personal ties to. I used to think that if you treat people with respect and kindness, they will treat you the same way; however, I’m beginning to think differently.

Two nights ago,  I brought my car to the dealership to get some repairs done. I knew they wouldn’t be able to work on it that night, but I figured they’d get to it first thing the following morning. I started to call them early the next morning to make sure they had started on my car, but I didn’t want to seem like a pain. Plus, I figured they would call me and let me know what was going on (boy was I wrong). The entire morning went by and I didn’t get a call.  I waited until the afternoon and decided to give them a call. Thinking that I would be told my car was ready to be picked up, I was surprised to hear that  they had just pulled my car in to look at it.  They ended up not finishing my car that day, which really put me in a tight spot. I don’t know where you live, but I live in a part of New Jersey where you will not be able to go anywhere without a car. You can’t even walk certain places because there are no sidewalks. I had to bum rides from random people just to get to and from work.

So today rolls around and again I did not call them first thing in the morning. I waited until around 10 a.m. for a phone call, but did not hear a peep from the dealership and that’s when I started to harass them. I called numerous times, I left voice messages and eventually spoke with a manager. About an hour after I got off the phone with the manager, I got a  call telling me my car was fixed.

Why did it take for me to act like that to get a solution? How do you get the results you want? Do you find that being kind suffices or do you have to be rude and aggressive?

My Second Chance

Around the time I started the graduate program at NYU, I was offered an opportunity to write online content for XXLmag.com on a part-time basis. I was put on a trial, along with a few other people, and was told that a decision would be made about who they wanted to hire in  30 days.

I will never forget the day my first article was published. I must have emailed, texted, called and Facebook messaged everyone I knew. (In case you’re wondering why I didn’t send any tweets, it’s because I didn’t have a Twitter account at the time.) I just knew they were going to hire me and when they didn’t, I thought my shot at writing online content was over; however, as you can see, I thought wrong.

Starting a blog  allowed me to have a second chance at writing for the masses (or for the few). What makes blogging better than writing for an online publication is I get to write what I want when I want.  Joining the blogosphere started out as a requirement for a graduate course, but it ended up being something that I enjoy doing and something I will continue to do after my class is over.

What I love most about blogging is I get to share my thoughts, feelings, and experiences with people. In particular, sharing  my experience on my birthday made me feel like I had been heard. I felt powerful in a sense because I was able to reach more people by blogging than calling  or emailing.

Blogging has also made me become more  confident about writing. I took chances and wasn’t sure about some of my posts, but  the comments I received really made me believe in my writing. I would be lying if I told you blogging  hasn’t been tough at times. The biggest challenge I  had with blogging is coming up with a topic to write about every week. This problem ended up working to my advantage because now my brain is programmed to look or listen out for things that would be interesting to write about. In fact, I have two topics I plan on writing about based on some things I encountered last weekend.

I looked at my posts from the beginning of the semester until now and I can see the improvement I have made. I only hope that I can continue to get better and come up with new and interesting topics to write about. The one thing I do know is  I will try hard.

Stop Telephoning Me

This is how most people use their phones

How many calls do you make on your cell phone per day? I’m talking about  real phone calls where you actually hear a ringer and then a voice on the other end.  How many cell phone commercials do you see emphasize great voice features or few dropped calls? Personally, I don’t think I’ve ever seen or heard of a commercial that emphasizes great voice features, but you know what I am getting at. Cell phones are no longer designed for calling people because people prefer not to be telephoned. You don’t believe me? Read about the new phones that are coming out.

Old School

I am not opposed to the way phones are designed and used now. Take a look at the picture on the left. If cell phones still looked like this, all men would have no choice but to carry murses.  I too prefer not to be telephoned,  but I have a good reason for it. In fact, I have a few good reasons.

Reason Number 1: People Don’t Get The Hint

Has someone ever called you while you were watching a movie, having dinner, doing homework, or just preoccupied? If so, when you told that person what you were doing, did  he/she  immediately get off of the phone? If your answer is yes, then you are pretty lucky, or perhaps I just give out my number to the wrong people.

Reason No. 2: People Do Not Know How To Get Off Of The Phone

There are people in this world who just love to talk on the phone; I am not one of them. Don’t get me wrong, I like to talk on the phone sometimes, but not all of the time. Have you ever had a hard time getting someone off of the phone? Have you had to say things like you’re about to go or you have to run, but they just keep on talking?  If not, I really must have given my number out to the wrong people.  There have been a few times where I had to say my phone was dying just so I could get off of the phone.

Reason No. 3: It’s Inconvenient

Imagine if everyone who wished you a happy birthday on your Facebook wall decided to call you instead. It would actually be an annoying birthday instead of a happy one, right?  What about the holidays? Isn’t texting a group of people at once so much less of a hassle than calling every friend or family member? You definitely have to still call the real important people (parents and grandparents), but you can get away with  texting, tweeting, emailing or messaging everyone else.

Even though I don’t telephone much or prefer to be telephoned, I recognize its importance and its value. There will always be some situations that require a human voice. Do you agree or do you think we can communicate just fine without calling?

What Happened To The 40/40 Club?

ESPN Room

Have you ever gone to an establishment and spent your hard-earned money only to be mistreated?  Have you ever waited on hold or on line for an excruciating amount of time and received attitude instead of customer service? In the past, if an issue couldn’t be resolved with a manager, people would write a letter and tell a few friends. Now we  have tools available that  allow us to share our experiences with the world, which is what I intend to do.

I was always told that someone’s 30th birthday is a momentous occasion.  It’s  supposed to be the birthday of all birthdays.  I turned 30  last Sunday, April 4th, and decided to celebrate my birthday at the “exclusive” 40/40 club.  I ordered one of the  birthday packages, which includes: reserved seating, front of the line passes, birthday cake, balloons and more.  What I thought was going to be a perfect night, almost turned out to be a complete disaster.

The Beginning

When I arrived at the club ,  I was told that my reservation was not on file. Luckily, I had saved the confirmation email  and showed the staff that I not only received a confirmation from 40/40, but my credit card had been charged. The staff made me and my guests wait outside in the cold while they tried to locate my order. After 40-minutes of waiting, they let us inside only to tell me that someone didn’t process my order. Because my order was not processed (but still  charged to my card), they did not have the seating or anything else that was supposed to be included with my birthday package.  We ended up in the ESPN Hall Of Fame Lounge sharing seats with several other parties.

The Middle

How the club used to look

After some of the other parties had left the room for the evening, everyone at my party was able to sit and relax a little. We ordered some food, drinks, listened to music and played pool.  It almost made up for everything that had happened in the beginning, except our waitress was extremely rude. Not only was she rude, she tried to get over on everyone. She charged an extra $3-$4 per drink on top of the bar price. We found this out by people going to the bar to order their drinks. Also, the waitress never came back with anyone’s change. She kept it as if it were her tip.

The End

The night definitely ended with a bang. A friend of mine was leaving the club and asked the bouncer who took his hat from him when he first arrived if he could get it for him. The bouncer showed my friend a pile of hats, but his hat was not there. The bouncer told him there was nothing he could do and that he had to leave the club. My friend asked to speak with a manager, but the staff completely ignored him. The situation ended up escalating to the point where the cops had to get involved.

That’s how my 30th birthday went. The good news is because of social media, my story can spread and maybe influence some kind  of change. Where did you experience really bad customer service and what action did you take?

Everyone Has A Story

There are more of them than you think

I will never forget my last year in high school. Not because of the  reasons most seniors share, but because I was raising  my four younger siblings during that time. When I was 17 years old, I left my mom’s house in Brooklyn and moved to Arizona with my father, so I could finish school. Unfortunately, my father was gunned down a few months after I arrived.

He  had a wife and they shared four children (ages 2, 5, 10 and 12 at the time), with whom I spent most of my time with. However, about a year after my father passed away, his wife went to jail. My grandmother lived in Arizona also, so my siblings and I stayed in her apartment for a while; but due to limited space, we had to find other arrangements. I ended up getting an  apartment  for us in the same complex as my grandmother. I paid the rent with the social security checks we collected from our father’s death, but that was not enough to cover all of the bills. Luckily, one of my teachers  knew about my situation and referred me to Youth On Their Own (YOTO).

Overcoming obstacles

YOTO is a non-profit organization located in Tucson, AZ. , that helps kids who  live on their own.  Its goal is to make sure kids graduate from high school, regardless of their situation. Each month, I received a check for myself and each of my siblings from YOTO to help with our expenses.  Don’t think the checks were simply handed to me every month. I had to submit a monthly progress report from school to YOTO, and if my grades were unsatisfactory, I wouldn’t receive any aid for that month.

In addition to aid, YOTO provides kids with other resources. We received clothes, household necessities and even a Christmas tree  during the holidays. A counselor/representative would also come to my school once a month just to see how I was coping with everything.

It’s been almost 11 years since I graduated from high school and it is good to see that YOTO is still helping youths. YOTO recently joined Facebook and its  page is full of photos of  volunteers who help them, and the organizations that donate to them. Its fan page is very engaging.  Some of the posts ask former youths to post what they have been doing since  graduation. I would like to thank YOTO for all of its help and I hope that now that they are utilizing social media, they can use it as a tool to expand and reach more youths.

What’s Your Facebook Sign?

I'm an Aries

You may not believe or follow astrology, but I know for a fact that you know what your zodiac sign is. Also, I know that at some point in your life someone has either read you your horoscope or told you what one of the astrology books said about all the people who were born in the same month as you. Am I right so far? Since I’m on a role, I bet no one has ever told you what your Facebook sign is, right? That’s because I just made the term up.

I have been on Facebook for some time now and I consider myself a well-rounded guy with a pretty diverse group of Facebook friends. Many of them are from different walks of life, but their interactions on Facebook  can be categorized  into five Facebook personality groups, which I call Facebook signs.

Facebook Sign No. 1

The first sign is called LOL.  These are the people who always make you laugh. They put up funny comments or they share links regarding serious topics and poke at it. Their  photos are funny and even their profile pictures are  hysterical . Their Facebook personalities are always humorous.

Facebook Sign No. 2

The second Facebook sign is called Aromatherapy. These are the people who treat Facebook like therapy. Their posts are usually about something that is going wrong in their life and they often turn to Facebook  for advice and guidance. Their Facebook personalities are mostly sad.

Facebook Sign No. 3

The third Facebook sign is called Hustle. These are the people who treat Facebook like a swap meet.  Their posts are always about something they are trying to sell to their Facebook friends. They rarely interact with others on Facebook, unless you show some interest in their product. Their Facebook personalities are pure business.

Facebook Sign No. 4

The fourth Facebook sign is called Preacher.  These are the people who want to uplift the Facebook community. They always post an update or comment that is positive. Their Facebook personalities are kind and genuine.

Facebook Sign No. 5

Last but not least, the fifth Facebook sign is called Paparazzi. These are the people who tell you their every move.  They also tell you what they are doing and how they are feeling  every  moment.

So, those are my Facebook signs. Can you think of any more I should add? I’m not sure what my Facebook sign is since I have a little bit of each Facebook personality, but what about you?  What’s your Facebook sign?