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.

Interesting article from FORTUNE

In times like these (crappy economy) you’ll find that there are tons of newspaper and magazine articles and books about how to find a job. That market is definitely booming. So is the EI office which is flooded with applications…

An interesting article I found was in FORTUNE magazine dated April 13, 2009. It’s titled “How to Find a Job”.

Key takeaways (Bissonette reference if you’re from Queen’s Commerce):

• Applying for a job that’s posted online is like buying a lottery ticket – Chances are your resume won’t be called back for an interview (I think I just heard that bubble burst)
• Get creative in your job search
• Network
• Don’t take a job if it’s not the right fit because when companies start hiring again you’ll have experience you didn’t want and not in the direction you wanted anyway

It was a very good article – pick it up if you can. In times like these, think about what your unique value proposition is. And sell it. Connect with people. Although applying online is a good start, the people that actually get those jobs are very slim. But I can say that I know a couple people have their dream job thanks to Workopolis (you know who you are). Just know it’s a terrible numbers game. I want to have a Workopolis success story but I also know it’s more likely that I’ll find a job by targetting what I want. The amount of research I have to do is ridiculous (the list gets longer everyday) but it’s the type of thing where I’ll have to sit my bottom down in a library and do my due diligence and research and connect and take risks.

You may need a cheerleader to help you along so maybe a friend to push you. Or I can be your cheerleader. I think I’m peppy enough. In fact, my former boss told me in my first round interview that she thought I was perky. And then she offered me a contract on the spot. I’ll be in your corner cheering for you!