Tesar-Reynes

With 2010 around the corner, I thought it was a good time to draft resolutions for the New Year. Judging by how I did in 2009, more due diligence will have to be played on my part. Of the 10 resolutions I set in December of 2008, less than half of them were accomplished.

I took a beach vacation to Santa Barbara (which is gorgeous by the way), figured out Twitter, and built a network on LinkedIn. I did a halfway decent job of keeping a work schedule and working out at the gym. But I failed …

I’m happy to reports some good news. Last week I signed an offer letter for a Social Media Specialist position with a local BtoB firm. A strange sense of accomplishment and duty came over me while I read the letter. My mind kept wandering to thoughts of the next few years of my career.

I pictured the office I’d be working at and what it would feel like to walk through its doors in the morning. I could see myself saying hello to new co-workers as I made my way towards my desk. I imagined logging into my computer, checking emails, and corresponding with account executives and other contacts.

I could see myself knocking on our president’s door. My head would gesture towards her with a friendly nod as she talked busily on the phone …

If you’re unemployed like me, you might find yourself wondering what the next step in your career should be. I sure am.

Sometimes, it helps to get your thoughts down on paper. Tony and I are huge advocates of journal writing, especially the type of writing where you just write with no purpose. Interesting thoughts come out when you let your subconscious mind roam freely.

The other night, I made a huge pot of coffee and started writing. My journal entry started with a simple question – Who Am I?

I wrote about how two years ago, I had one role. I was a student. That responsibility came with a simple goal: Get A’s in all my classes. I did well, scoring a decent GPA. I hit the books during the …

Yesterday at the grocery store, I accidentally bumped my cart into a 50-year old looking lady in the checkout line. Rudely, she pushed my cart back into my midsection. A sharp pain ran through my waist as the lady shot a look back at me saying, “How dare you!”

I apologized, then looked down at my cart to survey my purchase. Eggs, steak, salmon, chicken, bread. “Hope it all adds up to $40,” I thought.

An angry voice appeared out of nowhere in my head. “Well, if this stupid baby-boomer in front of me hadn’t screwed up the economy, maybe I’d have the grocery budget to afford some milk!”

I laughed to myself and chalked up my rage to frustrations I share with this years graduating class. On Sunday, the front page of the …

It’s a strange time for college graduates. Those who just finished school should be ecstatic that step of their lives is over. Instead, I run into former classmates and hear two reoccurring themes. One, they can’t find work. Two, it’s beginning to affect their self-esteem.

If you’re one of these people, then you may find yourself shooting for an internship rather than an account executive position. My six-month internship with Carolyn Grisko & Associates, for example, just ended last week.

Unfortunately, the timing was not right for me to translate that internship into a full-time position. Others are luckier. A good associate of mine has interned at Ketchum for a year and will soon be hired on. There’s still hope for those of you seeking …

The social media director at my internship e-mailed these two e-books to the office last week.

• About Face by The Advanced Guard
• How to Use Facebook for Business by Hubspot

I have to say, they are two of the best basic, yet comprehensive, guides on Facebook for businesses I’ve seen. You can link to Jason Baer’s post for a detailed analysis, but if you have an hour, give them a read.

Here are some numbers on Facebook you can’t ignore.

• Over 275 million users worldwide (60 million in the U.S.)
• 1.2 billion monthly visits
• 3.5 billion minutes are spent on Facebook a day
• 4 million people become fans of …

If you saw my last post, you read about my suggestion to hire a social media manager. Along with that thinking, your social media manager’s first step will likely be to draft a corporate social media policy.

I’ve tweeted this post on corporate social media policies about four times the last month. In it, you’ll find excellent examples of the policies corporations big and small, from computer firms to marketing firms, have written for their workforce.

Most top managers harbor reservations about social media because their scared of losing control of message. I don’t blame them. How can a corporation as big as IBM expect to keep all their employees on message point?

A social media policy will help keep your workforce in check. In fact, rather …

Face it. If your brand doesn’t have a social media presence, you are behind the curve.

In the last three weeks, I’ve been to 3 social media Webinars from Cision, one interview for a position in new media for Valerie Denney Communications, and a 4 hour social media mini-retreat at my internship with Carolyn Grisko & Associates.

Everyone wants a piece of social media! The good news for you is that it’s still early enough in the game to jump in a get a handle on it all.

Cision innovates with their approach. For one, they don’t have a Twitter account, instead listing their employees Twitter handles and inviting you to connect with them. I advise you …

In this down economy, Millennials have three advantages over the rest of the workforce:

Millennials are eager to start working. To them, a $30,000 a year job is just as good as a $40,000. They just want work. Doing what makes them happy is far more important, at this point, than the pay they are reimbursed.

The only bills a fresh out of college professional has are rent, cell phone, and maybe debt through credit cards and student loans. Add to this the likelihood of a Millennial having roommates, and you get bills divided between 2-3 people. My roommates and I split groceries and cooking duties, further minimizing expenses.

Another intern at the strategic communications firm I work …

With my internship ending in June, the next few weeks will present a unique challenge: a job search in the worst job market since the Great Depression.

My roommate, a film student who also buses at the Cheesecake Factory, remarked yesterday how happy he is just to have a job. “8 percent of this country is unemployed,” he said. “That’s basically 10 percent. That’s a lot of people. I have no room to complain.”

He’s right. For me, this is the first time I’ll face a job search in adulthood, meaning rent and bills loom on the horizon. I consider this a true test of valor. Either I emerge from this hunt triumphant or will have to face the pride-swallowing alternative – a call to mom and dad for some …