Author: Portfolio Creative

Not long ago Kristen posted about Highly Abused Resume Phrases.  Well I have one more to add – Utilize.  Recently I have received many resumes with this word in the Objective Statement.  Be creative! Switch it up with Develop, Employ, Hone, or Maximize.  Or hey, you can be even more bold and not even have an objective statement.  Let the rest of your resume do the talking.  This is a subject in debate.  Some employers claim they don’t even read objective statements, while some say if a resume doesn’t have an objective statement the applicant must not know what he or she wants.  To read more about the debate, check out QuintCareers.com.

Fuse Factory is offering two great workshops in March:

• 3/7  Interaction Design Portfolio Review with Phong Nguyen from Resource Interactive
• 3/14  From Print to Web with Katawi Cato, design skills needed to make the transition

$15 per workshop, at Junctionview Studios, 889 Williams Ave., 43212

On Tuesday, March 3, 2009 AdFed Columbus will be holding its First Bowl-A-Rama at the Athletic Club of Columbus from 5:30 p.m. – 9:00 p.m., sponsored in part by Millcraft Paper and CityScene Magazine. There will be free food, sweet prizes and a cash bar – not to mention all the bowling you can cram into 3 ½ hours. It’s happy hour – AdFed style.
The cost is only $10 per person (members and non-members), and only $5 for members who bring non-member friends. Sweet deal, huh? So dust off your two-tone shirt and start practicing your strike dance. It’s time to bowl. RSVP to kkaiserafc@sbcglobal.net by March 2

A couple of people asked me this recently. The Real You Incorporated blog said it best…pick yourself up, dust yourself off and move forward. Answer the question honestly when an interviewer asks and don’t dwell on it. Believe me, you’re not the first person to be laid off and you won’t be the last. Just practice your answer until you can state the facts with no animosity or bitterness in your voice or on your face. Then you’re ready to address it in an interview.

We hit our 100th post a few back. It’s not that many but this all seemed pretty daunting when we started the blog, so is worth celebrating nonetheless. Seth Godin just hit 3,000 so here’s to bigger goals.

This is a great article about the philosophy some companies are taking towards their employees, basically “where else are you going to go, I know you need this job and you’re replaceable”.

Attention employers: this is not a retention strategy. Yes, it may work in the short-term as people who are nervous will hold onto a job with both hands right now. But when they get a new opportunity, how seriously will they consider it? That is completely proportional to how they’ve been treated lately. If your treat your employees well it will return to you many times over. Even if you have to lay them off, if you do it fairly and with respect they’ll respect you as well. However, if your current retention strategy is “you’ve got nothing else” soon enough your employees will turn the tables on you. How do I know? Because your people are contacting me, even in this economy.

Communication Arts is open for entries to their annual illustration competition. Any Illustration first printed or produced within the last twelve months prior to the deadline is eligible. Selected by a nationally representative jury of distinguished designers, art directors and illustrators, the winning entries will be distributed worldwide in the Communication Arts Illustration Annual and on commarts.com, assuring important exposure to the creators of this outstanding work. As a service to art directors, designers and art buyers, a comprehensive index will carry contact information of the illustrators represented. Deadline is March 6, 2009.

From columbusING blog:

Barrio is a new restaurant opening in Downtown Columbus. The restaurant is looking for an artist or group of artists to design and paint a mural for its vacant wall. Barrio is located at 185 N. High Street on the Northwest corner of Spring and High. The vacant wall is extremely visible from High Street. It stands approx. 112’ wide and 56’ high on the South side of the building facing Elevator Brewery. The competition is open to all artists that reside in Columbus, Ohio. Barrio will provide the winning design with supplies to paint the mural along with a house account to Barrio’s restaurant and bar. Application details are on the columbusING blog, deadline is March 20th, 2009.

The Columbus Dispatch is running Help Wanted, an eight-day series on finding work. Topics include dealing with a lay-off, job hunting, resumes, self-employment, interviews, retraining, researching companies, and retirement jobs. First installment is available online, and it looks like each day’s articles will be posted as they run. Today’s article had solid guidance and resources, definitely check it out.

We opened up the Comments, not requiring a password, to make it easier on our readers. In one day the spambots hit us with 150 spam comments. Sorry guys, but you’ll have to create a username to comment again. Unless you want to hunt the people down that create those things and hang them by their toes…