things they warned u should do #513,667: do show up at college job fairs even if you already have a full-time gig. you'll stand out like an aged cousin calling you to come down from the fruit tree, but you'll deprive yourself of prospects if you don't.

don't you wish you just had that ability when you were starting out the rat race - to see the future? i went to a communications job fair at my old school last thursday, just to check it out and to finally meet and leave my resume with the magazines and radio stations i said i would contact last year.

it was a chilly thursday, so i wore my specialty: winter gear. black skirt, tall boots, a collared shirt that was characteristically tight in the middle but long on the arms, spilling an inch past my lucky blue sweater, and blue urban outfitters skirty trench coat. i made the other kids in the elevator squirm with their gray and black all over the place.

so i fixed my stare into the steel elevator doors - they can't be scared of shortie me. i exited first and shed my coat because i already felt awkward with my messenger bag.

the fair was unbelievably successful. i was so pleased! :-D i came relatively early but brought only five resumes, so i ran out. prospects were bleak last year, but they were better this year.

what a difference a year makes. nothing much has changed, actually, just that i travelled more last year and started blogging more regularly. i also started writing real stuff, and was given more responsibilities in the office. i must be insane to be looking for an extra job, i thought, on top of everything i already do, but who am i kidding - i need moolah.

tomorrow i have to make one of my first callbacks, as well as write thank you notes to everyone whose emails i could get a hold of. i was really glad i just went to the job fair - it gave me a chance to look at my portfolio. most of my clips were new this year, allowing me to provide another fat one. i don't think i stood out like someone's mama, but it sure felt like it. i learned it is always a good idea to never miss a professional opportunity, however unlikely for prospects it could be.

the best part is that i learned to relax - in a job fair setting, everyone is nervous about everyone else in that kind of environment already. if you try too hard, it shows, at least, it shows on me. and it just comes across funny. ahahahaha. especially on me.

there was this WLS (ABC channel 7 radio) recruiter who was constantly rearranging piles of handout paper on their desk, that when i approached his open, interested face, he chatted but immediately referred me to a woman, who seemed just as jittery. they were great! offered me a ton of info where else to look. which made me wonder whether to be discouraged because i don't think they realize that when someone appraches their desk, they're hoping to work for them, not a nameless entity. which is a really bad thing to blog about because the nameless entity is actually a reliable, insiders-only-know-about-them type gig, and might actually let me do what i told them i wanted to do, that is, write. (and be paid for it, i mean. when i go back to gradschool, the time when essentially i start from scratch once again, then i can consider working for them for free.)

"those (writing) jobs are really hard to come by," the lady said, "i mean, no one leaves those jobs. they open up when someone dies -"

and well, yanno. they told me to look somewhere else, which is a lot from the overworked upper crust - contacts are just as great as a job offer. i don't want someone dying just so i could seize the chance to work there. i'll try what they said, but i'll try again next year.  ¶ 4/04/2005 03:11:00 AM