Muskblog: Homesteading the Internet since 1995

During all the time I’ve been unemployed I’ve done way too much thinking.  I’ve also done a lot of reading.  I’ve tried to learn stuff. I’ve tried to do a lot of things. Marvel at my resume.  There is no shortage of advice for jobseekers both online and in the newspapers.

Twitter is a source of many, many, articles.  I read them immediately or email them to myself for later consumption.  I’m blogging less and posting stories to Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter more.  One Twitter account I follow that posts a lot of advice for jobseekers is McNak.  Some of these links may have come from them, I’ve taken the best jobseeker advice I could fine and put it into a single post. Here is yet more ‘expert’ advice.

• The ten worst things to put on your resume.
• I was fired because of Facebook.
• 10 things you should always bring with you to an interview
• Six Keys to Managing Your Reputation on the Web
• Nine things successful people do differently

On an average I’d say I look at a half dozen or so advice articles and many, many, many more job postings.  I also have to do research on industries, markets, companies, and technologies.  Even with all that I have plenty of time on my hand.  I get a lot of email and subscribe to too many RSS feeds.

There is no shortage of advice on what to do with ‘my time’.  I’ve done some volunteering.  I’ve continued to lend assistance to the W2, in fact I’m supposed to meet Irwin tomorrow to discuss the latest issue they face in opening their social enterprise cafe and media centre.  Sometimes volunteering leads to real work. It can help you build your resume.  But I already worked in the DTES and would still be working there if there was funding for my previous position.

I’ve worked on my hobbies.  I’ve done some painting and modeling.  I’ve read books.  I’ve played a lot of guitar, include working on my slide stylings.  I’ve watched a lot of DVDs.  I watch sports sometimes.  I go to meetings and networking events.  I spend a lot of time in cafes.  I spend even more time online in front of my laptop.

The point of all this?

Well another top ten list of course!

Below is the top ten things I’ve built while unemployed.  I did this to prove to myself and hopefully other people that I have skills and insights.  It is one thing to put keywords on your resume.  It is a totally different thing to demonstrate aptitude publicly.  Plus I naively believe in helping people, will eventually pay off.  I’ve been paying it forward for so long, I better be reincarnated as a demi-god.

The Top 10 Things I’ve built while unemployed

The first five are Excel spreadsheets the next five are mashups made mostly with PHP:

1. Standard Venture Capital Calculations made easier
2. Breakeven analysis leveraging VBA
3. Breakeven analysis in a growing market
4. My CFA Level 1 question set
5. CFA style question generator
6. My CD Cover Gallery
7. Random CD Mashup
8. My Favourite Songs
9. My Favourite Films
10. My Favourite Quotations

Try them out and let me know what you think.  Oh and let me know if you know anyone hiring…

Update

I’ve continued to have difficulties finding full time employment. People just don’t believe me, they keep insisting I am lying. I have continued to build stuff both online and offline.

Related posts:

1. My ten most useful blog postings
2. Blog your way to a better career (no really)

This entry was originaly posted on May 24th, 2011, it was last edited on February 27th, 2013 and is filed under: Blogging, Excel, Self Marketing and tagged: advice, breakeven analysis, CFA Level 1, Facebook, job interview, job search, jobseeker, LinkedIn, PHP, quotations, quotes, resume, spreadsheet, Top 10, Twitter, valuation, VBA, web mashup.