Unemployed for 5 months, seeking work

[a000001]

I am a Graphic Designer seeking work for over 5 months in a small town. I live with mom and dad because I do not know anyone here. I am 32 years old and I have ADD and I am thinking of going on ritalin again. I do not know what type of work environment would be ideal for me as I have not been very good with production work in the past. I also am

Comments

[lanisatu]

Try an employment agency in addition to staffing agencies. I live in Canada, where we have some employment agencies that are government funded so they are free to use and will offer assistance with job searches. I am not sure if they have free ones in the US as well, but if you can't find one in your town, try a large city nearby. Also, go to your local chamber of commerce and ask if they can direct you to any employment or staffing agencies or if they know of anyone looking to fill a position appropriate for your skillset (bring your résumé).

As for other jobs that aren't in the field of graphic design, it really depends on your transferable skills. Customer service or sales may work for you. Also, a master's degree doesn't guarantee you a job. My experience is that it's more useful to have a master's if you intend to be a teacher, but otherwise your skills, portfolio, and experience are more important.

Something else you can look into are portfolio review sessions. Some larger agencies and schools will run this kind of thing, and it can be helpful to have your portfolio critiqued in that way. Perhaps part of the difficulty is that you need to tweak your portfolio? You could try revising what you include in your portfolio and tweaking your résumé to see if that generates better results.

Also, something you can do short term could be to start writing tutorials for sites that pay for them (e.g. the Tuts+ network).

[a000001]

Thanks for all the reponses. I have tried to start my own business for about five years now. I send out e-blasts every month, postcards, desk calendars, resumes, etc. I usually cannot save up any money to live on my own or invest in my future.

I have been in touch with my alumnis, high school friends and co-workers now. But they all moved on: got married, have kids, stable jobs, etc.

I am not unknown here. Over the past two years, I follow up with "stalkerishly" with everyone in my city. I think I should offer to volunteer at the larger organizations such as our museum, aquarium and festivals. I can at least stay current in the market.

I make maybe $300 a year if I am lucky! I live off unemployment most of the time. I have tried sales and I have been advised by my store manager to never work in sales again.

Otherwise, I sit at home and I study if I can. I am on lynda.com. What is the difference between Tuts+Premium and Lynda.com? How do I actually get a job as a teacher at Tuts? I ask because I would probably have to pick between the two as I cannot afford to spend another $20.

[a000001]

I will look into Adecco for a temp agency. We have a few here but I find the headhunters ignores me!

[lanisatu]

Tuts+ premium is just what they call their subscription service. You do not need to subscribe to read most of the tutorials, nor do you need to subscribe to write tutorials. The premium content includes extra tutorials and access to source files used in tutorials.

The info about writing tutorials is found through the "write for us" link on each of the individual sites. For example, the write for us link for the vector tutorials (Illustrator mostly, though they are always looking for InDesign and other vector tutorials too) is here: http://vector.tutsplus.com/about/write-a-tutorial/

Depending on the programs you feel most skilled with, you may want to write tutorials for different sites they manage. (click the down arrow next to the site name at the top to go from one site to another)

I did a tutorial on Vectortuts+ once, when they had a flat rate of $150 USD for written tutorials. Now they ask you to negotiate a price based on the complexity of the tutorial. You can also pitch the content to them before submitting a final tutorial, to make sure it's something they are interested in publishing.

You should also try to network with everyone you know. Get on LinkedIn and add everyone you know. Fill in as much detail as you can that would be relevant to the kind of job you would like. Then tell everyone you are looking for work, what you are looking for, and ask them to let you know if they come across an opportunity where you may be a good fit.

Have an elevator pitch that you use to introduce yourself to people. You never know where an opportunity can come from, so you need to tell everybody.

I also had good experience with getting noticed via Monster, so I do recommend creating an account there at least for the big job sites.

Also, don't put information about your personal life in your cover letter or résumé. They were hiring recently at my company, and there was an applicant who detailed their life story in their three page cover letter. They weren't considered for the position because they lived too far away, but nobody bothered reading their complete information because it was too personal and too long. If you think you may have made this mistake, take that information out because it will hurt your chances.

If you are not good at a strictly sales job, try a customer service or cashier position where you don't have to make a strong effort to sell. Those kinds of jobs exist in all kinds of places - including the museum, aquarium, and festivals you mentioned. You don't have to work for free to get in the door. You could start in customer service or as an office clerk and transition from there.