[JessFinds] Marie is right. Things ARE looking up!

Tonight I was able to pop that bottle of champagne that has been sitting in my fridge, chilling, waiting for good news.

Tonight, my darling hubby was offered a fantastic job opportunity. In an amazing community. With a beautiful home. And a top-rated, rock-star school district. And it was a generous offer. Plus, it is in a culturally rich area (!!!) with real job possibilities for me. I am dazzled and a little frazzled! Pinch me.


(That sounds like bragging above, and it kinda is. I am just blown away by how something this awesome could land in our laps.)

Part of me wants to yell "neener-neener-neeener" to the stinkers that yanked the rug out from under us. That part of me is 4 years old. But the other part of me is so overwhelmed with thankfulness. Positivity is what got us to this new place. I blocked out a lot of negative influences, focused on my family and kept my chin up. I just knew that we would land on our feet. It is what we do. We are a good family with a lot of love, we laugh a lot and we have each other's backs. It feels like sunshine. 


The fact that my dear man was snapped up with such excitement, so quickly, speaks for itself.  I am beyond thrilled. There were happy dances, victory dances and more than a few hugs, high-fives and fist-bumps in our home tonight.

I cannot thank my friends (and some new blog-mama friends too!) enough for their incredible support. We had to make some very tough decisions. But this has gone from devastating to an inconvenience to hopeful to celebratory.

So tonight - we celebrate!

(MarieFinds) Things are looking up

Employment is good. And did end up securing a job. I'm lucky. I work in internet / digital marketing. A still growing industry, even in tough times. I start the new gig on Monday. This is a big sigh of relief.

On other fronts, this layoff has finally caused me to investigate the career change I have been considering for the last 5-6 years. I still haven't made up my mind about that, but I have at least taken the first couple steps to make it happen in case I decide to follow that path. And that first step is College Algebra. Sigh. I have to test into the class, and then classes will start in January. Even if I decide to stick with what I have been doing, a little algebra never hurt anyone, right?

This update is brought to you by my shiny new laptop ... the beauty of landing a job quickly is that my vacation buy out got to be used for something fun, rather than the mortgage.

[JessFinds] Saturday Zen

Hubby is back home and all is right in the world.

We have been together for 14 years (!!!) and I always feel like my world is off balance when we are apart. I don't know if that is a sign of a strong marriage or co-dependance, but I just know that we work pretty well as a team. Which is good. Because we will need to be like a team of oxen in the next few weeks. I think all the bad will be balanced out by some really good news. Soon.

Hey - Speaking of good news ... rumor has it that my co-blogstress Marie has landed a job. She did not think you guys were worth announcing it to. So, lets throw some blog hate over to Marie.  Lots of middle fingers and hissing. Congratulations sweetie! You are one of the most focused, determined women I have ever met and you are an inspiration to the rest of us lazy slackers. You were unemployed for what? Ten minutes? XOXO.

Back to me.

I have so much stuff that needs to be weeded out before we move and it would be great if someone could line up a robbery. Put that ad out on Craigslist that I need a burglar who disassembles and steals cheap IKEA furniture and kid toys. No home invasions. I don't want to have to go all Chuck Norris to defend my Bjorkinorkinbillyblat bookshelves.

www.yelp.com 

What ROCKS this Saturday? The Internet does. Specifically Yelp.com. We live in an area where you can post a question to a targeted audience and get instant gratification in tons of quality expert answers. For example:  "I am interested in neighborhood A and neighborhood B. What can you tell me about them? Which would you choose and why" I think I easily got 30 responses from people who live in those areas within 24 hours. It is so incredibly helpful! I would not use Yelp to, say,  diagnose a medical condition, but learning about local resources = awesome.

(MarieFinds) Of Upheaval and Big Change

As most of my friends can attest, I'm not much for change. I find jobs and stay in them. I have a routine. My kids have routines. I like my life that way, thankyouverymuch.

I've been pink slipped. Fired. Laid off. Let go. Terminated. "thankyouverymuchforyourtimeandeffoert." "Itsnotyouitsus." Gah. Like most industries, in mine, client loss = job loss. The math makes sense. It really isn't personal. Except the consequences are personal. They are actually being great about it. 30 days notice. 2 weeks severance. They owe me 8 days of vacation pay. All in all, I get over 7 weeks of pay while I job hunt and wrap up clients. And then there is unemployment.

Before that, hopefully there is a job. Because blogging and momming doesn't pay the bills. Especially not the frequency with which I post.

I fret. And then I say we will be OK. And then I fret. And then the Lawyer says we will be OK. And then I kiss my kids. And wonder how many days a week I can keep Squirrel in her Mandarin pre-school. And then I say we will be OK.

[JessFinds] Generic Example of HIRE ME

JESS FINDS
555-555-5555 • jessfinds@fakeemail.com
123 Main Street, Anytown, WI 55555

COMMUNICATIONS PROFESSIONAL with over ten years of mid & senior level experience in new media, publishing, advertising & project management.

________________________________________

“She took over leadership of Unidentified Religious Institution's communications. She has terrific vision, drive, and energy. Jessica launched our weekly email newsletter, completed our transition to a quarterly magazine, and led the effort toward a new website. She faced a challenging set of stakeholders, and still got the job done -- collaboratively, even! I highly recommend Jessica.”
- former supervisor
________________________________________

RELATED SKILLS

Project / Account Management: Strong background in new & print media, successful supervision of multiple client relationships & campaigns. Ability to work under deadline, collaboratively & independently.

Content Production: Created cohesive branding themes for internal & external print & online materials. Produced website & newsletter content. Formed sales training materials, client proposals & edited materials produced by others.

Web Content Management Systems (CMS): Have maintained, cleaned & contributed web content through a proprietary CMS.

Writing: Independent syndicate & freelance writer for a number of publications & services. (8 years). Experience writing press releases. Editor of & contributor to a print magazine.

Basics: Excellent computer (PC & Mac) skills & ability to quickly learn new software as needed. Type 70+ wpm.

EDUCATION

Bachelor of Arts – 1997
Normal State University

WORK EXPERIENCE

Not-For-Profit
Communications Officer / Editor / Project Manager
(3/2006 – 02/2009) That Religious Institution
• Editor of 32-40 page quarterly magazine w/ circulation of 11,000.
• Created & maintained new communication channels (email newsletter, blog & utilization of social media for community-building).
• Project manager for creation of new website, overseeing content, design & business relationship with design team. Finished product: www.fakewebsite.org
• Management of media relations (Local Paper, News 10).
• Basic photography using a Panasonic Lumix DNC-FZ7 Digital Camera.

Not-For-Profit
Finance & Administration Assistant/ Content Production
(12/2002 – 09/2004) The NFP with the Long Name
• Management of front office, benefit administration & payroll database.
• Created organizational processes & information tracking systems.
• Assisted with conference planning & legislative presentations.
• Edited & produced materials for in-house & external use.

Corporate / New Media
Executive Sales Manager, Online Advertising Division
(08/2001 – 04/2002) That Place with the Awful Swedish Boss
• Built a new revenue division based on online advertising sales.
• Worked with Fortune 500’s in the auto industry
• Collaborated with advertising agencies to develop targeted media campaigns.

Corporate / New Media
Business Development Manager / Advertising Sales Executive
(7/1999 to 03/2001) The Dot.coms that Dot.Bombed
• Developed comprehensive online advertising campaigns with large corporations & advertising agencies.
• Secured over 2.3 million dollars in new advertising revenue.
• Chosen as “Team Leader” to supervise new employee training & peer leadership.
• Development of sales training materials.

Corporate / Print Media
Advertising Account Manager
(12/1997 to 07/1999) That Company that owns Monster.com
• Management of twelve large national corporate clients. Accounts included leading banking institutions, premier health care facilities & international industrial corporations.
• Responsible for all client service, ad proposals, creative development, demographics & market research.

References Upon Request.

So - if you know of someone who is just looking to hire me but does not know it yet -- let me know! I am happy to forward my resume on to any who request. The real one. With the not so made up "internet" information.