The newest development: it's starting to all come together. I'm taking on more and more responsibility at work. I'm driving design. I hooked up my friend Alex from Florida with a job at my company, as the sales/distribution/marketing guy. I've hired two interns who will flesh out the side projects Joel (my boss) and I have talked -- yet done nothing -- about. As Alex learns distribution on a large scale, he can apply it simultaneously to our side projects on a side scale.
It's happening, and it's happening now.
Tuesday, June 12
Thursday, June 7
Lofts... and not the dorm room variety
I've been thinking about getting my own loft for a while. You know, a large gutted commercial space that has just gotten redone and I'm free to build however many rooms as I please. They're generally really long and rectangular spaces that have windows on the short walls facing the street and the alleyway.
My roommate Erik has found one for us to move into. 1500 sq feet of wide open space, hardwood floors, and 15 ft ceilings, for $4200/month. Its in the lower lower east side and the neighborhood is a mix of hipsters, chinese, and latinos. If you build 5 rooms in there and you're looking at $820/month rent... but the best is when you get a random or two in there, charge them the market rate of $1200/month, and you're sitting pretty at less than $800/month in downtown Manhattan.
Is this gonna work out? Who knows.. it's fun to think about.
My roommate Erik has found one for us to move into. 1500 sq feet of wide open space, hardwood floors, and 15 ft ceilings, for $4200/month. Its in the lower lower east side and the neighborhood is a mix of hipsters, chinese, and latinos. If you build 5 rooms in there and you're looking at $820/month rent... but the best is when you get a random or two in there, charge them the market rate of $1200/month, and you're sitting pretty at less than $800/month in downtown Manhattan.
Is this gonna work out? Who knows.. it's fun to think about.
Tuesday, June 5
Hilarity
Sunday, I'm out at a coffee shop with my roommate Erik and my friend Sarah. We're sitting next to a large window which face the corner of E 6th St and 2nd Ave. Three kids walk by, no older than ten. One was medium sized, one was tall and fat, and the third was a little pint sized kid with glasses. They're giggling, laughing, and we're laughing because they're giggling and laughing, and the next thing you know, Mr. Pint Size stops short of crossing the street, bends over, and moons us!
Sunday, May 27
It's been a while...
Since I last posted. I'm back in Michigan for Memorial Day and I've got to say, there's really only one place that I can call 'Home.'
This blog has fallen to the wayside since I started working but I've decided to have another go at it.. actually it was Jana, the girlfriend of one of my best friends here, that mentioned that she read this and liked it, so I feel compelled to keep going.
My life in New York has gotten pretty comfortable. At my job, I'm no longer relegated to 'Intern' status and am considered a full time employee with a yearly salary. I'm contributing more and more, and for the last 3 weeks, I've been running the company since my boss is out of town on vacation. The company is really small; there's the owner, my boss, and me. The owner doesn't contribute too much to day to day operations. I've felt like it's been a never ending job lately because I've had to cover my boss's responsibilities as well as mine, but that will be coming to an end soon!
My apartment is sweet, it's a seven bedroom with 4 guys and 3 girls. It's a good mix of people, and I'm realizing that I like living with girls. The apartment tends to stay cleaner and a lot of entertaining banter goes on. I've got a few local dive bars I like and am starting to delve into the music scene.
Things are good. Life is good. But there is still only one place I call 'Home.'
This blog has fallen to the wayside since I started working but I've decided to have another go at it.. actually it was Jana, the girlfriend of one of my best friends here, that mentioned that she read this and liked it, so I feel compelled to keep going.
My life in New York has gotten pretty comfortable. At my job, I'm no longer relegated to 'Intern' status and am considered a full time employee with a yearly salary. I'm contributing more and more, and for the last 3 weeks, I've been running the company since my boss is out of town on vacation. The company is really small; there's the owner, my boss, and me. The owner doesn't contribute too much to day to day operations. I've felt like it's been a never ending job lately because I've had to cover my boss's responsibilities as well as mine, but that will be coming to an end soon!
My apartment is sweet, it's a seven bedroom with 4 guys and 3 girls. It's a good mix of people, and I'm realizing that I like living with girls. The apartment tends to stay cleaner and a lot of entertaining banter goes on. I've got a few local dive bars I like and am starting to delve into the music scene.
Things are good. Life is good. But there is still only one place I call 'Home.'
Thursday, March 15
Phase 2
I'm headed into the next phase of NY life. My job is good, it's gotten me into a good rhythm. The guys I work with are real laid back and chill. Money is coming in steadily and I still practice my thrifty ways... I haven't bought any celebratory items nor do I intend to until I put a dent into my credit card debt accumulated during my transition.
But I am moving. Downtown. Closer to work and closer to the amaziness which makes New York New York.
It's a 7 bedroom on the edge of Chinatown with a very diverse group of 20-somethings. Walking distance to Little Italy and Soho, short train ride to the East Village and Union Square.
The thing that gets to me is rent. It's so fuckin expensive here. It is almost impossible to pay less than $1500/month for a room unless I live in the ghetto. And I guess I'm cool with it.
But I am moving. Downtown. Closer to work and closer to the amaziness which makes New York New York.
It's a 7 bedroom on the edge of Chinatown with a very diverse group of 20-somethings. Walking distance to Little Italy and Soho, short train ride to the East Village and Union Square.
The thing that gets to me is rent. It's so fuckin expensive here. It is almost impossible to pay less than $1500/month for a room unless I live in the ghetto. And I guess I'm cool with it.
Thursday, February 1
10 Tips for Recent College Grads on Getting the First Job
1. At all costs, AVOID looking for a job between Thanksgiving and New Year’s. Companies are too distracted with family and the holidays to look for employees. In January, however, companies get a new budget and lofty goals for expansion, so this is the perfect time to be looking.
2. Once you’ve focused on a career path, don’t divert your attention into other possibilities. It takes A LOT of work to demonstrate your abilities and skillsets. Looking elsewhere means you have to start all over.
i.e. After a few setbacks, I tried getting a temp office job and had to prove a mastery of MS Office. They expect you to know every little detail of the programs and expect you to finish like 140 questions in 45 mins for each program… LOTS of prep work to ace that thing. Conversely, I’d been working on my portfolio for what seems like forever, so there were only little gaps that needed to be filled. So yea, I failed that skills test miserably!
3. See how you rank with your competition. Look online at other resumes, portfolios. Identify those who have “made it” and compare yourself to them. What are they doing? What do they have that I’m lacking? How do I fill those gaps?
4. Go waaay over the top in demonstrating positive attitude, passion, and commitment. It’s cliche, yes. But if you’ve chosen the right career path, you’ll automatically be passionate about it, so tell the company you’ll commit to their company because of this passion.
5. If applying to a job posting, read into the ad and make assumptions on what you think the company really wants. In the cover letter, address these assumptions and tell them that you are the embodiment of these traits with a proven track record. Reword your work experience to support the embodiment claim. Its ballsy, its cocky, and it grabs their attention.
6. If you get an interview, the cover letter worked and you’re probably right about their needs. They will spend a lot of time talking about what the company does and what they need done. This is your opportunity to tell them how you would fit in, and give examples of how you accomplished these things in the past.
7. Make sure to ask for the job before you leave the office. I read somewhere that most people don’t do this.
8. Send a follow up email restating their needs and how you intend to fill those needs (like in the cover letter, but more task specific).
9. Take it one day at a time. Every night, identify one thing you want to accomplish the next day and use that the get the ball rolling in the morning. If you’re unemployed and looking for a job, it gets increasingly difficult to stay productive (or even get out of bed) if you don’t do this.
I could go on and on… in the end it came down to a lot of personal development literature helping fuel the desire to keep going, learning what I gotta do to make it work, then doing it, trial and error, until it does work.
One last, very important thing I want to add:
10. Get over the sense of entitlement. I’m 23 and my generation has been dubbed “GenMe.” I started out this way, feeling as though people should be begging me to work for them. But the sooner I got over this, the sooner I got to being honest with myself, and the sooner I got to working to achieve this goal.”
2. Once you’ve focused on a career path, don’t divert your attention into other possibilities. It takes A LOT of work to demonstrate your abilities and skillsets. Looking elsewhere means you have to start all over.
i.e. After a few setbacks, I tried getting a temp office job and had to prove a mastery of MS Office. They expect you to know every little detail of the programs and expect you to finish like 140 questions in 45 mins for each program… LOTS of prep work to ace that thing. Conversely, I’d been working on my portfolio for what seems like forever, so there were only little gaps that needed to be filled. So yea, I failed that skills test miserably!
3. See how you rank with your competition. Look online at other resumes, portfolios. Identify those who have “made it” and compare yourself to them. What are they doing? What do they have that I’m lacking? How do I fill those gaps?
4. Go waaay over the top in demonstrating positive attitude, passion, and commitment. It’s cliche, yes. But if you’ve chosen the right career path, you’ll automatically be passionate about it, so tell the company you’ll commit to their company because of this passion.
5. If applying to a job posting, read into the ad and make assumptions on what you think the company really wants. In the cover letter, address these assumptions and tell them that you are the embodiment of these traits with a proven track record. Reword your work experience to support the embodiment claim. Its ballsy, its cocky, and it grabs their attention.
6. If you get an interview, the cover letter worked and you’re probably right about their needs. They will spend a lot of time talking about what the company does and what they need done. This is your opportunity to tell them how you would fit in, and give examples of how you accomplished these things in the past.
7. Make sure to ask for the job before you leave the office. I read somewhere that most people don’t do this.
8. Send a follow up email restating their needs and how you intend to fill those needs (like in the cover letter, but more task specific).
9. Take it one day at a time. Every night, identify one thing you want to accomplish the next day and use that the get the ball rolling in the morning. If you’re unemployed and looking for a job, it gets increasingly difficult to stay productive (or even get out of bed) if you don’t do this.
I could go on and on… in the end it came down to a lot of personal development literature helping fuel the desire to keep going, learning what I gotta do to make it work, then doing it, trial and error, until it does work.
One last, very important thing I want to add:
10. Get over the sense of entitlement. I’m 23 and my generation has been dubbed “GenMe.” I started out this way, feeling as though people should be begging me to work for them. But the sooner I got over this, the sooner I got to being honest with myself, and the sooner I got to working to achieve this goal.”
Friday, January 26
I'm here to stay
I received my first job offer! I will be an Industrial Design Intern for Elseware, Inc. For the next five weeks, I will be fleshing out the details in an innovative human powered vehicle and responsible for building a full scale functional prototype. At the end of five weeks, the prototype will be reviewed by the investors and if given the green light, a production model will be built and shown at the Bicycle Show in Vegas.
BOOYA!
BOOYA!
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