One of my favorite musicians, Phoebe Bridgers, tweeted this the other day: “It was the worst of time; it was the worst of times.” She was, of course, riffing on Charles Dickens’ much more balanced 1859 quote and being her usual sarcastic Twitter self, but she wasn’t that far off from the truth. Over the past few weeks, we’ve learned that nearly 10 million Americans have filed for unemployment benefits. Yikes. And that number will continue to climb, steadily, as the COVID-19 pandemic digs its nails deeper into the country. And, look, we can sit around idle or we can take action—and as far as I’m concerned, the latter sounds like the only road worth taking.
So, the pool of viable jobs keeps shrinking, but there are still a number out there, both remote and local, to apply to, if you’ve recently lost your job or are looking for a way to pad your income. (Many of us are reaching burnout levels, because working seems to be the only thing that keeps us sane in these most troubling of times.) Also, even if you’re out of work, there are a number of ways to stay mentally active and continue building your “brand,” so that when a flood of wonderful, cool jobs eventually crops up, you’ll be more than prepared to land the job of your dreams.
Just ask Saratoga Living/Capital Region Living‘s latest intern, Matthew Harding: He got hired mere minutes after doing an informational interview with me on the morning of April 3. I connected with him through family friend Renee Walrath of Walrath Recruiting, who reached out to me on LinkedIn, because she’d wanted to get involved with the SL’s Job Hunters column. Poetry in motion.
Local Job Opportunities
Cool Job Opportunity (Local)
New York City-based startup, WayUp, which helps find entry-level jobs for college aged adults struggling to find employment, is looking to hire its own employee—a part timer, who can create 15-second TikTok videos to help market the company. (If you’re unfamiliar with TikTok viddy this hilarious example, set to the tune of one of my favorite anatomie gym class songs; mind you, it sounds like your job would be to make classier vids.) The job would amount to creating, editing and posting 3-5 videos per week, which, ironically, would be about showcasing college life, first time experiences job hunting and interviewing. It’s a paid job, and the pay is negotiable. Search for the position on LinkedIn Jobs or check the company’s careers page.
Cool Job Opportunity (Local)
This one is posted on the Home Base Recruiting site (check out the disabled veteran-owned business profile in our first edition of SL’s Job Hunters). HBR’s client is “a leader in the global shipping/freight industry vertical” and is looking for a Brokerage Manager for the Import/Export Business. This would be a full-time, direct hire, base salary opportunity with benefits. Apply for the job here.
Cool Job Opportunity (Local)
Schools will likely be out of session for at least another few weeks, maybe more—but many are going the virtual route, and some are even still hiring, like the Albany Academies, which is seeking an Assistant Director of Admissions and Enrollment. (They’re also on the lookout for a Student Mental Health Counselor.) You can find the job postings by searching Indeed, or you can read about them here.
Cool Job Opportunity (Local)
Are you a paralegal looking to make a difference in the lives of immigrants? Walrath Recruiting has an opening listed on its site for an Immigration Paralegal, “who will handle visas and assist clients with documentation and filings as needed. This is a full-time, permanent position supporting a Partner-level attorney in the Albany area. Apply for the job here.
Cool Job Opportunity (Local)
One destination in the culinary world that will never go out of style—even if there’s a potentially deadly virus raging outside—is the pizza restaurant. Home Style Pizza in Schenectady is looking for a daytime pizza slinger (experience is necessary). Stop by the shop and ask for Anthony. (The job posting was found on Craigslist.)
National/Remote Work Opportunities
Cool Job Opportunity (Remote)
Shipt, a company, similar to Instacart, that home-delivers groceries to folks—a trending job at the moment for obvious reasons—will apparently be hiring thousands of new employees in locations across the country. (Search Google for postings in Latham, Averill Park, Castleton-on-Hudson and other Albany-area locations.) You can even apply for a fully remote position at the San Francisco-based company—and a doozy of one at that. Shipt is looking for a Business Development Manager. The position would be all about “prospecting and closing new business, delivering on the strategy that you also help to create,” with a focus on the Midwest (clearly, it will be a requirement that you have experience with and deep contacts in the Midwest; travel will be a must once that sort of thing starts up again). For more information on the post or to apply, click here.
Cool Job Opportunity (Remote)
I couldn’t believe it when I first read the job description, but it’s legit: An e-commerce website called This Is Why I’m Broke—which sells everything from a $3,000 Mandalorian armor set to $30 Wu-Tang Clan scarves—is looking for freelance content writers, who can ghost write gift guides for them. It’s a part-time, contract position. Apply for one of them here.
Cool Job Opportunity (Remote)
An even stranger cool job than the one above? Try unwrapping this one: Oddfish Games is looking to hire a new Business Manager for its company, which produces popular Role-Playing Games (RPGs) such as Cooking with Dice and How to RPG with Your Cat (being tested as we speak), as well as a line of “adventure scents,” or fragrances that apparently help make RPGs more real for gamers (we’re not entirely sure how, but we guess that’s what’ll keep the role of Business Manager interesting). The gig is fully remote, part time and pays $15-$20/hour. As the ad notes, “In addition to remote work, there may be the option of participating in tabletop gaming conventions in the future (depending upon the COVID forecast), with travel, accommodations, and admission paid for by the company.” Search for the job on Indeed.com, or you can contact Oddfish directly on its website for further details.
Local + National Job/Business/Volunteer Resources
Cool Way To Give Back (Local)
Our local nonprofit organizations in the greater Capital Region are being hit extremely hard by the COVID-19 outbreak. One .org that could use a little love right now is Pitney Meadows Community Farm, basically the last remaining piece of undeveloped land in Saratoga Springs (it’s that massive tract of land that’s approximately across from the Saratoga YMCA), which is used for actual farming and educational programming. Its mission is to provide healthy food for the Saratoga community, and it’s never been more critical at a time like this. “We are immediately increasing our planned acreage under production to allow us to increase our support for local food pantries and customers,” notes a rep. “We cannot do this without community investment.” To contribute to Pitney Meadows, click here.
Cool Job Resource (Local/Remote)
Remember how valuable I said LinkedIn Jobs could be in nabbing your next remote or local position? Well, the smarty-pants journos on the LinkedIn content staff decided to encourage all employees searching for new hires to use the #HiringNow hashtag. And LinkedIn is keeping a running list of all the open roles. Talk about bringing the power to the people.
Cool Job Resource (New York City)
Once COVID-19 decides to get itself and disappear, it’s going to take awhile before life gets back to normal. But for all of you college kids out there dreaming of getting into the New York City media business like I did in 2003—I actually did a gap year teaching English in Madrid, Spain before rolling into the Big Apple—make sure to keep your eyes glued to the two greatest junior NYC job boards on the planet: Ed2010 and Mediabistro. There’s much goodness to be gotten from them.
Cool Job Resource (Anywhere)
Several years ago when I was a full-time freelance writer/editor, I got really into the concept that I owned my own business. I mean, yeah, I was the lone employer and the lone employee at the same time, but I was fascinated by the guts of what a good business could be and how to make it fire on all cylinders. And the inspiration for that perspective came from the oddest of sources: in an interview with an Australian entrepreneur that ran a pornographic website in the Netherlands. He was really into maximizing his business’ output and told me to read a book about it called The E-Myth: Revisited by Michael Gerber. I didn’t get through the entire book, but the part I read was fascinating. Maybe it wasn’t meant to be read cover to cover.
If Your Stars Are Properly Aligned…
The good folks at Psychic World—I wonder if they can predict what I’m going to write next?—have put together a list of all the top side hustles it thinks we should do, based on our star signs. Example: Because I’m a Sagittarius, apparently, I need to become a podcaster (not a bad idea, Psychic World!). I did just buy some home recording equipment. I guess I should give it a try.
Cool Resources For Kids
The Whys And Wherefores
You’ve probably been wondering why I’ve been including these cool resources for kids. It’s for reasons twofold: One, if you’re recently out of work, you need to have time to focus on your job hunt, with little distraction (obviously, if your kid is running around with a pasta strainer on his head, with rigatoni shoved up his or her nose, that’s something you’ll probably have to intervene on…but fun, educational resources could help you avoid future situations like that one); and two, kids are really our future: If we can get them interested in learning about, say, science in the middle of a global pandemic, maybe the next time one of these ugly outbreaks rolls through town, that same kid will be the doctor that finds the cure to it.
Kano Star Wars The Force Coding Kit
I’m a massive dork, as my colleagues can attest, so any educational tool that may have a hint of dorkery in it is the type I like the most. How about this Star Wars-themed coding playset? Get your kid STEMing it early, with this kit that can help your child learn about coding, making music and yes, sharing, all within the context of “the force” and other things you’re embarrassed to talk to your significant other about at the dinner table. It’d help if your kid had a tablet to go along with it, but you can just buy the kit separately here.
Also…A Message From Billionaire Mark Cuban:
Sign your kid up here.
Cool Diversions
View this post on Instagram
Follow This Instagram Account
We’ve sort of been on a roll with Instagram accounts of late, so if you’re in need of a good laugh during your all-day session of social isolation, we’d suggest checking out @wfhfits, an account entirely devoted to people’s incredibly eccentric work-from-home outfits, most of which are as close to high fashion as it gets, even when it comes to home-office-wear. (If you’re like me, it’s been jeans, flannels and slip-ons for the duration.) Are you wearing some haute home couture? You can DM the account a photo of yourself, and its fashion-minded managers might share your photo with the account’s 20K-plus followers.
Take Some Ivy League Classes…Or Complete Your Entire Freshman Year for FREE!
Ever want to pretend like you’re Matt Damon’s character in Good Will Hunting? (How do you like them apples?) Class Central, an online hub that features a bank of MOOCs (i.e. Massive Open Online Courses), has posted a number of Ivy League classes—from top schools such as Brown, Columbia, Cornell, Dartmouth, Harvard, Penn, Princeton and Yale—that can be taken for free. If you want to take that a step further, one of my old bosses runs a nonprofit organization called Modern States, which is looking to help underserved high school seniors, military veterans and others do their entire freshman year of college for free. Find out more about the program here.
Listen To This Song
One of my favorite bands in the whole wide world is Nada Surf, the indie power-pop band that, if you’re of a certain age, you might remember gifting us with “Popular” back in the ’90s. And although some may claim the band’s a one-hit wonder, they’ve, in fact, been producing some of the best indie rock albums since the early aughts. Take 2005’s The Weight Is A Gift, for example. It’s one of my all-time favorite albums, and in fact, I wrote at length about a song from it, “Do It Again,” on LinkedIn, and how it saved my professional life. Read about it here. Listen to it above.
Want more insight into the Capital Region job market? Check out Saratoga Living‘s first two installments of SL’s Job Hunters below:
