I originally launched SL’s Job Hunters as a sort of stop-gap measure; when it was clear that we could no longer publish a daily calendar on saratogaliving.com that had any worth to the community, with all of the live events in the area having been cancelled or postponed, I racked my brain for the next best thing. A few days later, I landed on the not-so-novel concept of job creation. How was I to know that just a few short weeks later, we would all be working from home full time—and more than 17 million Americans would be applying for unemployment. It’s breathtaking to think of the job losses that have happened in such a short period of time.
My mom was always pushing me to do community service when I was a kid—and I don’t think I listened to her. So, with this column, I’m trying to make up for a little lost time. Call this my duty to the Saratoga community for as long as the COVID-19 pandemic is still raging—and possibly, a little longer than that. Because there are always going to be people in need of (cool) jobs, who might be under-employed or furloughed or are just sniffing around for a juicy side project.
Now, something recently occurred to me that I can neither confirm nor deny, but may be worth your while if you’re ramping up a new job hunt: The fact that we’re all stuck at home right now means that all jobs—no matter if they’re based in Singapore, New York City or Saratoga—are, in essence, “remote” jobs. So, I would suggest widening the scope of your job prospecting beyond those ads that simply say “must work in New Jersey” or something like that. Because, if you’re qualified, you could work any job, remotely, from anywhere right now. Obviously, if you get a job that’s based in New Jersey, you might want to eventually move there to continue working it. And you should always contact employers to see where they’re at on the subject. But it’s worth a shot. These days, you really don’t have an excuse not to “think outside the box.”
Local Job Opportunities
Cool Job Tip (Local)
So, the New York Racing Association (NYRA) confirmed to Saratoga Living that the Saratoga Race Course summer season was still on schedule to begin on July 16. (It did, however, delay the opening of the Oklahoma Training Track, so it’s unclear how that’ll affect the big show.) Either way, what’s a more “Saratoga” job than one in the horse racing world? (I know all about that magnetic pull; I got sucked in to a two-year stint at the Daily Racing Form several years ago.) NYRA is looking to hire a seasonal Coordinating Producer to work on its live TV broadcasts—and given the date range, it looks as though that person will be working at Saratoga Race Course. You’ve gotta have five years of experience in the business, though, so if you don’t know your way around a TV camera or racetrack, don’t apply. But if you’re qualified, you shouldn’t say, um, neigh to it. Find the job posting on LinkedIn Jobs or check it out on NYRA’s careers page.
Cool Job Tip (Local)
I’ve got to say, I’m pretty excited about this position. Mainly because I just wrote a massive feature on the company for Saratoga Living, and I know, from interviewing and writing about its brass—CEO/President Dan Pickett and Dr. Alex Marsal, PhD—that the company’s going to be a mint, if it isn’t already. That would be aptihealth, a digital startup looking to disrupt the behavioral healthcare industry. From my reporting, I know that the company’s looking to scale this year and bump up headcount to anywhere between 50-75 employees by the end of the year. aptihealth is currently looking for a Sales Executive, with just a year and change of experience—perfect for a recent college grad. Check out the job description here.
Cool Job Tip (Local)
It might just be because I’m a journalist—or, possibly, because I’m insatiable when it comes to news-reading and -collecting—but I really, really dig the Albany Business Review. I’ve been a regular reader for more than two years now, and I simply can’t get enough of it. (I don’t really see our three publications as “competing” in any substantial sort of way; sure, we report on some of the same topics, but we’re both in the news reporting business, and the more of that there is out there these days, the better, I say.) I noticed a recent story ABR published about “essential” business Quad/Graphics, the OG Saratoga-based printer, potentially creating 74 new jobs in the area, and my ears immediately perked up. If you’re unfamiliar with Quad, it has had major clients such as Time Inc. throughout the years and currently prints magazines such as W and Popular Mechanics (my former editor Andrew Daniels is the How To editor at the latter). For those of you annoyed that you can’t read past the first paragraph of the ABR story, I’ll say this: Everybody’s got to make money someway, right? Buy a digital subscription; it’s super cheap. In any event, it might be a good time to contact Quad. You can do that right here.
National/Remote Work Opportunities
Cool Job Opportunity (Remote)
Ever since a certain so-and-so has been in a certain non-hued house in Washington, DC, the journalism trade has been under attack. Or rather, a lot of vitriol has been spewed in the general direction of some of the hardest-working reporters in the world. One concept that’s been ping-ponged around a lot is that of “fact checking”—in other words, checking the validity of statements made. Some publications have made a cottage industry out of making sure news isn’t deemed “fake” (an actual problem out there still). One longtime digital source that prides itself on the fact-checking sub-trade is Snopes, which reins in tens of millions of unique visitors per month. (With any publication that focuses on a lighting rod issue, there have been a few public controversies involving the company.) And as luck would have it, the company’s looking for a full-time remote Story Editor, who has a minimum of seven years of experience and can handle a high volume of editing work on a daily basis. Take a closer look at the position here.
Cool Job Opportunity (Remote)
As I mentioned above, it occurs to me that all job opportunities these days are “remote,” in the sense that you’ll likely be interviewing for the position via Zoom or FaceTime, and if you land the position, you’ll more than likely be working from your home office (unless, of course, it’s an “essential” business). Keeping that in mind, venerable tome-in-magazine-form The New Yorker is looking for a full-time Web Producer/Copy Editor to begin working remotely, but eventually, once the COVID-19 pandemic eats it, from its offices in New York City. (Translation: You can start off working it from the Capital Region, but you’d have to eventually move down to the city to continue the role.) If you just had designs of writing for the magazine, think again: As the job ad notes, “this role is primarily to copy-edit posts on a wide variety of topics for newyorker.com and may include occasional work on magazine pieces.” The coolest part? You only need two years of experience in the media world. Search for the job on LinkedIn Jobs or check the magazine’s careers page.
Local/National Job, Business And Volunteer Resources
Can You ‘Handle’ It?
Yeah, I know. I pun a lot. But it comes with the territory. Given that you’re at home, all day, every day for the foreseeable future, my guess is you’re spending a fair amount of time online—and social media, perhaps. (Yeah, I just caught you looking at Facebook, didn’t I?) Well, make use of your time surfing social media by searching for remote or local jobs on your various handles. LinkedIn is an obvious source, but Facebook now how has gig-job postings on it, and if you’re on Twitter, you can search the hashtags #jobs and #remote for, yes, remote jobs.
Qualifications? We Don’t Need No Stinkin’ Qualifications!
If you’re a recent college graduate who’s grumbling about this COVID-19 thing and how it’s made your post-grad job search even more difficult, you might be onto something. But you might also only be applying for some jobs you think you’re qualified for and nixing others, because you think they’re out of your league. Hint: You should be applying for all of them. According to Art Markman, a professor of psychology and marketing at University of Texas at Austin, you don’t have to be completely qualified for an entry-level position to apply for it. Why? Find out here.
Cool Resources For Kids
Ohm My!
I kind of wish my parents had been bigger hippies when I was growing up. There, I said it. Because it took a work-life adventure out on the West Coast in my 30s to realize the calming power of meditation. And I often wonder what my life would’ve been like had I started meditating earlier in life. I know that I would’ve been a lot calmer, made less rash decisions and probably not thrown that Cobra Commander toy at my older brother’s head. Thankfully, Jaime Amor and her husband, Martin, founded Cosmic Kids in 2012, so that kids in the aughts could get down with mindfulness. The digital series helps make meditation and yoga fun for kids of all ages—and I assume anything to dial your kids’ emotions and stress level back right now could be golden.
Collecting
I know, I know…kids these days just want to plug into their tablet and forget you’re even there. And they loathe physical things like baseball cards, because they’re sooo 40 years ago. Actually, that’s not entirely true. Eight years ago, the Topps Company, best known for inventing the modern-era baseball card in 1952 (see: Mickey Mantle), launched Topps Bunt, an iPhone-based card collecting app (there are soccer, hockey, football, basketball and non-sports versions as well, including Star Wars and The Walking Dead). The basic idea is that you’re allotted a specific amount of valueless e-money per day to “buy” packs of cards, which you open up and find all types of cards in—even “hits,” or cards that are inserted per a pre-stated ratio. Besides just having a collection of cards you don’t really need to ever clean up, the idea here is for kids to get interested in sports, statistics and memorization. Maybe even pop culture. (The brains behind Star Wars have been known to promote upcoming movies via the Topps app.) Plus, it’s an old-fashioned way that parents can connect with kids that’s been updated for the 21st century.
Cool Diversions
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Follow @overheardnewyork on Instagram
If you’ve spent any amount of time in New York City, you’ll know that you’re bound to hear some of the funniest exchanges between regular people. I wasn’t immune to it during my 14 years there. One memorable situation stands out: I was actually in a hurry to get to a job interview near Times Square, so I ran full out up the stairs, skipping steps all the way up from the subway platform, and in the process, grazed a gentleman who was walking down the opposite side of the steps. For reasons unknown to me, I stopped, briefly, turned around and looked at the man, who had also stopped, briefly, to look up at me, with a scornful look in his way. At the top of his lungs he yelled, “Well, excuse YOU mother___er!” @overheardnewyork is the Instagram-account equivalent to that interaction. (There are also London, San Francisco and Los Angeles versions of the account.)
Listen to This Song
Are you in need of a pick-me-up? I think we all are at the moment. For that dose of inspiration you need to get from point A to point B in your new job hunt, let me direct you to this wonderful song, “The Joke,” by Brandi Carlile. It might even make you cry (I get a little “I’m not crying, you’re crying!” right around the time when the first chorus hits).