My YouTube debut…. sort of

I recently graduated from the Vancouver Board of Trade‘s Leaders of Tomorrow program. The mentorship program allowed me to meet many professionals from Vancouver, get mentored by the legendary Dennis Pang, and learn from awesome professional development events. I wanted to give back, so I agreed to participate in the recap video.

The video is below, and you can see, I’m clearly not made for videos. Perhaps the camera man (who was great, by the way) just didn’t capture my best angles, or perhaps I just needed more sleep, but clearly this isn’t my best. Or perhaps I’m really just not made for the video, I don’t know. Oh, well. At least I delivered my parts — most of them after several (painful) takes. Yay for not making the bloopers!

In all seriousness though, huge props to everyone who make YouTube vids and who bravely appear on camera. I didn’t find it an easy task. Bonus point for everyone who edits videos. Y’all are amazing!

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September 2, 2011

September Vancouver events for the un- and underemployed

It’s a little hard to believe that September is here. In two months, it will Halloween and before you know it, the year is over!

Contrary to popular belief, September is actually an awesome month. Sure, it gets darker earlier and it starts to get cold, but at least things start to pick up in September! That’s a good thing if you’re looking for a gig!

So far, I’ve secured a part-time position for fall. I didn’t really envision having a part-time gig (full-time obviously would have been ideal), but I like the company and it’s a challenging and a fun role in PR and marketing, so I’m rolling with the punches here.

My main goal is to get a second part-time gig to supplement my earnings. I’m planning on checking out some job fairs and networking events. September has a lot of them coming up. Here’s the best ones I found:

Freelance Camp, September 10

If you’re underemployed like me, freelancing might be a good option to fill out your free time. Now on its second year, Freelance Camp is an unconference “for independent workers to connect, share knowledge, and become better freelancers”. Possible topics include time management, intellectual property, and setting up a consultancy.

More info: http://www.thenetworkhub.ca/freelancecamp/

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August 21, 2011

Answering the “What’s your salary expectation” question

The good news: Earlier this week, I got a phone interview. The bad news: I thought the interview was going well until I was asked the dreaded “What’s your salary expectation” question.

It’s not that I don’t want to talk money — I love money! — but I find it a little hard to talk about very early in the interview process.

Anyway, just like a normal person would, I turned to my tweeps after the interview for advice on how to handle the question in the future. Mistakes are awesome if you can learn from them, and this is one mistake I intend on learning from.

Anyone have tips on how to answer the "What's your salary expectation" question? I bombed this question earlier today... #help #jobhunt

August 17, 2011 8:56 pm via HootSuite ReplyRetweetFavorite

@kcclaveria

Kelvin (KC) Claveria

During the interview

The biggest advice I got was to expect the question. In this case, I made the assumption that it won’t be asked because it’s a first interview (and over the phone) — obviously, I was wrong!

Research is key. You’d want to have a good idea of what’s the acceptable range in your industry.

@kcclaveria lots of research ahead of time to find typical salary range for the position.

August 17, 2011 9:36 pm via Twitter for iPhone ReplyRetweetFavorite

@chelsetron

Chelsea Watt

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August 19, 2011

Looking for the job

“Life is not a sprint; it’s a marathon.“

Last Monday, I wrote what should be the final exam of my undergrad career. It’s a great feeling to be finally done! My university journey has been a roller coaster ride, and it’s great to see my sacrifices pay off.

When I came back to school two years ago, it was partly motivated by the potential to earn more after earning my degree. I also wanted to go back to school to find myself. (Getting laid off for the first time was a confusing time.) Mostly though, I wanted to finish my BBA because I wanted options. A Business degree is still valuable, I think, and I knew that it should help me do the things that I enjoy.

Needless to say, I’m ecstatic to re-enter the workforce. A few weeks ago, I blogged about my job search, but more recently I’ve realized that I’ve been approaching the process the wrong way. To quote Arik C. Hanson, I was looking for a job, not for the job. There’s a difference between the two, you see. One implies that I’d settle for any job, while the other suggests that I’ll only go for roles that matter to me. I didn’t get my BBA to just settle!

So, I re-evaluated my strategy and decided to take some extra time to find the right position. I’m not talking years, maybe just an extra month or two, or maybe even less than that. I am determined to find the perfect organization to work for.

I’ve set up some informational interviews in the past few weeks, and I’m meeting more people in the next few weeks. Partly this is also because I’m interested in meeting my tweeps in real life, something I haven’t been very good at before because of my busy schedule. But mostly I just want to learn more. Information is power, and I think that the chances of me getting the perfect job increases if I have more information.

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