I have landed.

I have announced this via LinkedIn and Twitter in the last few days but now it’s time to make a “formal” announcement on my blog. I have landed.

I will be the marketing manager for Extreme Brandz which is a private Canadian franchise company. I will be managing one of their brands/restaurant franchise and am very excited about the opportunity. The people are good, the challenge is great, and the opportunity to use my marketing/project management/social media skills is amazing. I’m very happy and excited.

Looking back on the last few months, I have learned a great deal about the job search, myself, and the amazing people in Toronto. The process was at best an exciting opportunity and at worst, frustrating when it felt like my efforts weren’t paying off. I kept a regular schedule and got up at 6.30 am to exercise and start my day. During the day, I worked on applications, called/e-mailed people for informationals, met people, attended networking sessions, practiced interviewing etc. There wasn’t a day that went by that I didn’t think about getting out of this unemployment phase. It became a mental challenge. How do you keep yourself motivated and positive? Answer: you just have to believe that things will work out and you have to keep trying. Staying positive was the key to it all. The scariest part about the process was not knowing where my next opportunity would be coming from so I frantically tried to do everything and pursue every lead. I avoided writing cover letters/resumes for positions that I found on Workopolis. I knew my chances there were much more slim if I pursued that route. So I talked to people in the marketing industry. I had a target list of people. Told them my story and my interests and passions. I asked them what their path was and what advice they could offer me. It was about developing relationships with people who cared enough to meet with me and cared enough to want to see me succeed. I’m going to be sending personal notes to the people I have met. It just may take some time since I met with over 30 people for coffee and also kept in touch with loads of people from the past. Every single person I met in the last little while has helped me on my journey whether it was recommending a company or giving me a nudge of encouragement. For that, I thank you as I am very grateful for it.

I sought mentors (formal and informal ones). I volunteered with the Heart and Stroke and Toronto Community Foundation. I scored an internship with Summerhill Group, a leading environmental management consulting company and did online work for them. I learned some Mandarin. I entered into a blog-off contest with the Community Marketing Blog which now I’m a strategic partner for. I joined Toastmasters. I attended seminars and webinars on marketing/social media. I joined the Queen’s Alumni Association Toronto branch. The list goes on. These are things that I *wanted* to do. There’s much less structure when you’re unemployed and I wanted more structure. I still wanted to contribute to society. I was working harder unemployed then employed (HA! ) because the job process consumed me. I was never “off”. I didn’t want the recession to be my excuse for not being employed. If it means I work that much harder then so be it. This journey taught me great life lessons. Some of which I share in the blog, some of which I don’t. If you would like to learn more, I am happy to connect. You can reach me via this blog by submitting a comment, sending me a tweet or e-mailing me at jenmy.huynh@gmail.com.

Thank you for reading this and joining me on this journey. I am about to end one adventure and about to start another.

Take It or Leave It: Free Advice

I love how social media has enabled me to connect with people from around the world. When I had this idea for this blog back in April I decided to see what else was out there. I’m pretty sure I googled “recent grad job blog” or something like that. I came across a recent Boston graduate looking to go into advertising. We’ve been conversing about the job search in the last few months. We’ve never met yet I feel like we are leading parallel lives. This is her blog: Confessions of  Recent College Graduate. Great person and candidate. Advertising people in the states: You want her on YOUR side.

Anyway, here is her recent post: A Slightly Better Economy.

She talks about her recent experiences in the job search, the positive signs of the economy, and submitting resumes to “Whom It May Concern”.

I commented on her blog and here it is as I’m sure not everyone will click on her blog (though you should because it’s a great post). This is what I’ve been thinking about in the last little while.

“Lauren,

I think you’re right. There is much more movement in the economy which is good to hear. For folks in marketing and advertising, it’s a tough industry as many companies/agencies have let their employees go. That being said, I know that the hardest part for companies is retaining good people.

I went to a networking event which had 200+ people there. It was interesting and I’ve found that my interests have changed slightly (erm…maybe dramatically) from two years ago or even a year ago. Maybe it’s because I have had a bit of corporate experience and I’m much better at reading between the lines. Anyway, I was speaking to some other recent grads and they all asked me what site I used to look for postings. I personally haven’t looked at postings in a while but threw out a couple sites (Eluta, Workopolis etc.). I suggested that they target companies they want to work for. They all seemed to brush my advice off. Bad call as your chance of targeting a letter to someone and doing an informational interview with him/her at the company is much higher than sending a resume via online posting. 500 seems quite small. I’ve heard of 7,000 applications for one online posting within a couple days.

My advice to you: target the agencies you want to work for (research, see if you have connections with this company/person, meet with them for coffee, keep in touch) and you’ll be in a better position. Network, volunteer, and invest time in what would make you a better marketer/account exec. Make this job search not just a job search but an investment into your future. You’ll thank yourself later.

Jenmy”

Recap of Refresh Events

Last night I was an Ignite presenter at Refresh Events. It was a great inspiring event. I saw some familiar faces that I’ve seen from previous events in the Toronto area. I also met some new people in the interactive community. Every time I go to an event, I realize how small the world is. I met a couple Queen’s grads doing amazing things such as My City Lives and met someone about to change the Canadian education system whose sister is about to go into Queen’s Commerce in the fall (small world indeed).

There were two memorable moments:

• Watching people speak impromptu about various subjects such as finding your passion, going from an employee to an entrepreneur and there was a great communication story (I like fish story)
• Jonathan Dunn spoke about mobile marketing and it was a great speech. As he spoke, I would turn around every now and then and see people on their smartphones tweeting about what was said (Twitter tag: #RefreshEvents)

Earlier in the day, I met with a great person who is also between opportunities. We shared tips and advice. He worked in the financial field for years in a business development role. He had the decision to get back into another similar role or to travel the world. He took a huge risk and travelled the world. He actually made it to the event (he had another appointment that evening) and spoke as a impromptu speaker. I was completely inspired by his speech. In fact, I was blown away by all the speeches. I will upload the link for the podcast when it’s up and ready.

Here is my presentation slidedeck of “Finding Opportunities.” Did I mention that I had exactly 15 seconds per slide? It was automated and it was very tricky because the timing had to be perfect. It was a great challenge though. Would love to get your thoughts about the evening if you were there or what you think of the slidedeck.

Finding Opportunities Presentation

I am pleased to announce that I will be an Ignite speaker at a Refresh Event in Toronto next Monday evening.

Refresh Events encourages collaborative partnerships, fosters education at all skill levels and creates networking opportunities within the Toronto interactive community. I went to their event last month and was inspired. I hope to do the same during my speech.

Here are the details for the event:

Refresh Events: Stay Fresh 10
July 20, 2009
7 pm – 10 pm (I will be presenting around 7.30 pm)
215 Spadina, Suite 120 (Centre for Social Innovation)

My presentation is titled “Finding Opportunities” and it’s about the different online projects I’m working on and how I found them. I’ll be speaking for three minutes and I think there is a Q&A period afterwards as well. I will be uploading my slide deck on to SlideShare, my LinkedIn profile and this blog after next Monday.

Hope to see you there.

P.S. What do you think of the title of the presentation? Pretty catchy eh?

The importance of mentorship

I have been very lucky in the respect of having found some amazing mentors in my life. Some of them have been set up formally in which they know I call them my mentor and some informally.  These informal relationships have been set up through informational interviews I’ve had in the past. In mentors, I look for their outlook in life and values. I have kept in touch with these people and I send them update e-mails as to how I’m doing. I think it’s important to have these types of relationships. Why learn lessons the hard way? That being said, mentors won’t be there to teach you everything. You will have to learn some lessons on your own. I’m sure I’ll write more about mentorship later on but this is just an introduction to the idea.

For companies interested in implementing a mentorship program in their workplace and for students interested in being a part of one: The National Mentoring Program is a great resource to check out.

Informational interviews: Time lag

Based on previous posts, I’m sure that you know that I’m a big fan of informational interviews. I’ve been doing them for the last couple of years (never to early or late to start!) and have found them very useful in defining my own career and for networking purposes. I have even met a few mentors along the way, some of whom may not know that I look up to them in a mentor way (This will be another post…I highly support mentorship programs/relationships and think more people should have them).

Somebody recently asked me what my job strategy has been. I was honest and I shared my process and I’ll share it on my blog. It’s networking, applying for jobs, and getting involved in your community. It’s not a secret and in fact, there are hundreds of articles on how to find a job (more likely well into the hundreds of thousands) which all suggest the same thing. What I find is that it’s much easier than done. You just need to motivate yourself to do this. I wake up (almost) every morning at 6.30 am and am excited with what the day has in store. Life is what you make it. I’m making it to be amazing.

The question my friend asked was: “What I find the issue with informational interviews is that there’s a time-lag. Sometimes it could be weeks until I see the person. How do you deal with that?”

My answer: “There’s always going to be a time-lag because people are busy. It’s important to follow up. For example, it took me one year for me to set something up with someone due to scheduling conflicts. I was persistent and kept e-mailing him. He gave me great advice in the end. Sometimes people don’t respond at all and you can’t take that personally. The worst thing that can happen is that people don’t respond. If that’s the worst then it’s really not that bad. This is when it becomes a numbers game. You need to continue sending out targeted introduction e-mails and hope that you get a response. Arrange to meet them at their convenience. “

What do you think about the time lag in informational interviews? Anyone have any experiences to share?

Small world

Someone once said to me “Be a sponge and learn as much as you can and work on building lots of relationships. The marketing world is small.”

What he said is completely true. Not just the marketing world but the world in general. That’s why it’s so important to be consistent with how you present yourself. Your reputation is everything. It’s so humorous to me when I meet someone and I can name someone we have in common. It just reminds me just how small the world is.

We Are The New Radicals: Update

I mentioned in my April 13, 2009 post that I read the book “We Are the New Radicals” by Julia Moulden. After I read her book I felt extremely inspired and sent her an e-mail. We arranged for an informational interview and I met up with her Monday to talk about her book, my career, and combining social technology with social change.

It was an amazing 45 minutes. I was inspired and in awe the entire time. She said “you get it, you get what the book is about.” After I left the cafe I was practically floating off the ground. It was an amazing conversation and I’m still in shock. She signed my book too.

As an added bonus, I spotted Margaret Atwood at the cafe at the same time. I thought it was pretty cool.

“Which Bucket Do You Fit Into?”

Last night I went to my first Wired Wednesday event. It was a part of Net Change Week which is a week designed to break down the barriers between digital professionals and social change makers. This is of interest to me considering my previous experience in the non-profit experience and my current exploration of social media. Some amazing things are happening right now and it’s amazing to meet people who are a part of it.

At the event, I met some very interesting people including people in marketing/advertising/PR, entrepreneurs and venture capitalists. I spoke to a particular person for some time and we discussed different topics in the area of social media. I mentioned my previous non-profit experience, my marketing experience with UPS and how I currently blog. He said to me “Wait a minute, which bucket do you fit into? I’m trying to figure out where to slot you in my mind.”

I laughed a little. I guess I’m in a bunch of buckets. It’s like I have 20 legs and I have a foot in each bucket. The issue becomes a lack of focus. I can’t be everything to all people but at the same time why can’t I have these different interests? Why do I have to pick?

I had an informational interview a couple days ago and it was amazing. We discussed personal branding, the advertising industry, and the importance of putting yourself first. She emphasized the importance of focus. She said to fill in the following:

“Jenmy loves life. Professionally she….”

I’m still trying to find which bucket I belong in.

How to apply for a job – target or spam?

What’s the best way to find your next opportunity? Is it to check those job search sites and apply like crazy or send targeted e-mails/make phone calls with companies that you want to work for?

One hand, why not respond to ads that are posted? They are looking for people so why not?

On the other hand, why waste your time with something you don’t want?

It’s my belief that that you should keep things focused and focus on what you want. If you don’t know what you want? Then do informational interviews with that you’re interested in. It’s the best way to figure out what’s best for you. Two quotes that I’ve heard before come to mind while I write this:

“If I were to hire someone, I would ask my network and see if they know of anyone. You always want someone referred to you.”

“You can’t be all things to all people so focus on your target market and what their needs and wants are and position yourself appropriately.”

You’re a brand so focus on what your unique proposition is and target yourself to the companies in a specific way. A great book that I’ve read that really focuses on career and targeting yourself is Career Distinction. It’s a very good read if you’re interested in how to sell yourself and make yourself distinct. The job market is tough (always is but especially now) but I’m optimistic and I truly believe that there is something for everyone. It may take some time and effort but there’s something out there. I rather spend this time and focus on what I really want in my life than be at some job that I’m not excited about or happy at.