Week Three - July 13-17

DUE July 14: Assignment 2

Tuesday, July 14

• Resume basics
• Cover letter basics
• Targeting basics

EVENT - Seattle Lunch 2.0 @ Curious Office & H-Farm Ventures at Curious Office, July 16, 11:30am - 1:00pm, Curious Office 911 Western Ave #420 Seattle, Washington 98104. Free. Networking opportunity.

READING - Job Searching:

• Web Work 101: Jumping Into Your Web Business
• Getting the Most From a Temp Agency
• Layoffs are increasing demand for tech freelancers
• A New Take on Job Hunt 101
• The Employable Web Designer

ASSIGNMENT 3: Due Tuesday, July 21

Develop a current resume and cover letter, and upload a PDF containing both to the Google Apps WEB205 blog (page Resume) by the end of class on Tuesday, July 21. 50 points.

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Thursday, July 16

• Guest Speaker: Dan Williams is unable to come today due to a client meeting - sorry! He will reschedule.
• Reading discussions
• Know your market

FYI:

• TechCareers Articles on Resumes
• TechCareers Articles on Cover Letters

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This Week's Discussions

THURSDAY

Discussion: articles

• Web Work 101: Jumping Into Your Web Business
  • Does this article make sense even when you business is looking for web work?
• Getting the Most From a Temp Agency
  • What do you think about agencies needing to explore personality as well as skills/education?
• Layoffs are increasing demand for tech freelancers
  • How do you feel when reading that freelancing/contracting is increasing and that employers are cutting perm work?
• A New Take on Job Hunt 101
  • Can you focus on benefits, not features - successes, not just skills?
• The Employable Web Designer
  • Let's really discuss this - I hear stuff in class about your concerns about being really marketable when school ends. What did this article tell you?
  • What did you think about the need to grow in and emphasize communication in all forms?
  • How do you feel about needing to have overview-level information in areas tangentally related to your new skills?

Random Question: Does not participating or having an opinion here in this class make you practiced in really standing out when you apply for work?

Targeting basics

• For an agency - can be more generic with full info - 2 pager
• For a company board - fill in the blanks and/or upload PDF/Doc
• For a job board - same as company board
• For a job application - fill out by hand but have resume handy

Freelance mindset

• You are a professional when you work in the field, not based on the type of job - it's what you think
• Combo jobs - more than one at a time, mult part-time
• Contract to hire - 1-3 month+
• Long term contract with benefits - like Microsoft
• Get agency help - starter contracts, fill-in, project bits
• Flexible workplaces

Resumes and recruiters - what they say: see emails

Know your market

• web development
• web design
• glassdoor.com
• salary.com
• Free trade publications - eWeek, Website Magazine, InformationWeek, Creativity

Other market information:

• The AIGA Standard Terms and Conditions for Designer/Client Relationships
• AIGA salary full survey

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TUESDAY

Resume basics

• Key elements - contact info, summary/objective, skills list, project list, education, experience, keywords
• Style - active, action words, benefits not features
• Number of pages - 1 or 2?
• Chronological, Functional, Combination, Targeted
  • Chronological: Focuses on experience and dates first. Many employers like but not so good if you have gaps.
  • Functional: Focuses on skills that demonstrate your qualifications rather than your chronological work history. Best if you have gaps, prefer project work, etc.
  • Combination: Combines skills under a chrono format.
  • Targeted:
• Examples: LJ short, LJ long, Sinkula
• Resume blasting - never spend money. Do a little legwork of your own, and pick 3-4 key job boards (more later)
• Design Tips (lower half of page)
• Fine Tuning
• Getting it read

Cover letter basics

• Identifer
• Intro
• Call to action
• Contact Information
• LJs example, Sinkula example
• Important components
• What happens

Format basics

• Print - as needed, fresh good paper for an interview
• PDF - 1 page and 2 page version, and/or 1 or 2 generic variations for web site
• Online - using a job board service like Indeed.com

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