As we head out to enjoy the long holiday weekend, here’s a similar tale to the one we mentioned last week whereby a New Yorker stood on city streets to distribute his resume.

Well, one husband in Toledo, OH took it one step further. He hired a billboard with a message that read: “Please Hire My Wife” along with her picture and an e-mail address. continued…

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

As many newsrooms across the country make various announcements regarding downsizing their newspaper staff, the Orange County Register has indicated they’re adding 23 positions! Plus, they’re adding a weekly magazine and daily business section.

Aaron Kushner, the publisher, distributed a memo after an all-hands meeting. Here’s an excerpt (as per JimRomenesko):

“We already have 23 new positions approved for hiring in our Content group, in addition to a significantly expanded internship program. Ken Brusic is leading our recruiting efforts with our strong deputy editors and team leaders. We are the Orange County Register and are looking for talent with our level of skill, commitment and teamwork. If you have friends and colleagues who you believe can help us grow please share the opportunity with them.

We have a number of areas we have not yet finished evaluating for growth but among those already approved for hiring are the business section, investigative team, auto, restaurant and movie criticism, sports, copy editing, graphics, data reporting and Sacramento reporting.”

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

And the temp industry has regained 87 percent of the jobs it lost during the recession, says U.S. News & World Report. Private employers as a whole have only recovered half the jobs shed in the recession.

Temporary hiring is supposed to precede full-time hiring, as cautious employers get back into hiring with employees who are easy to let go in case of another sudden downturn. But so far what we’ve seen during this “recovery” has not followed the usual pattern.

“The current economic situation is also one of unusual uncertainty. Temporary staffing may continue to see steady growth as employers put off hiring in the face of weak global demand and fiscal uncertainty at home,” as U.S. News put it.

Overall, temp workers make up 2.3 percent of the nation’s workforce, up from half a percent 30 years ago.

Professor of sociology Arne Kalleberg told U.S. News that the change was significant, despite the small numbers. (That is, after all, a more than 400 percent increase.) “I can’t see the end of it,” he said.

There are about 2.5 million temporary and contract workers in the U.S.

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

According to a post on Inc., Jeff Haden says the interviewers who adhere to the following technique will get the most out of the interview. In turn, assuming you’re the job seeker in this situation, there are three questions to be prepared for. (And if you’re the hiring manager, it seems like the following three questions will pave the way to get a comprehensive picture of the candidate.)

For starters, Haden recommends the job interviewer start at the very top, asking the candidate’s work history from then until now. In the piece he writes, “Move quickly, and don’t ask for detail. And don’t ask follow-up questions, at least not yet.”

As the candidate explains each job, he suggests interviewers ask the following questions… continued…

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

Okay, along with most Americans we’ll celebrate the day off but we figure as media professionals we should take a moment to dive into the back story.

According to the Department of Labor, the very first Labor Day was celebrated in NYC in 1882 in accordance with plans made by the Central Labor Union. Known as a “workingman’s holiday” (ahem, that should be working people, thank you very much), it spread with growth of labor organizations and the following year it was feted in other locations, too.

As for the back story itself, it’s a bit unclear. As per the government site, some records point to Peter J. McGuire, the general secretary of the Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners and a cofounder of the American Federation of Labor. Apparently he was the first person to suggest a day to honor people who “from rude nature have delved and carved all the grandeur we behold.”

Others believe that Matthew Maguire, a machinist, founded the holiday instead. In 1882 he allegedly proposed the holiday during his tenure as secretary of the Central Labor Union in New York.

Regardless of McGuire or Maguire, the labor union created the Labor Day proposal and the rest is history.

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

Want to achieve longevity in your career? Look no further than LeVar Burton. The actor has starred in three iconic TV shows (Roots, Star Trek The Next Generation and Reading Rainbow, in case you’re wondering), directed films, written books, and he recently dove head-first into Silicon Valley by releasing the Reading Rainbow app.

So, how has he managed to re-invent his career so many times? By being a “self-starter,” he says.

“I found early on in my acting career that I didn’t do well just sitting around and waiting around for the phone to ring, for somebody to give me a job,” Burton explained in our Media Beat interview. “I’ve always been out there more pro-active than anybody else on my own behalf, because I just know that you’ve gotta make it happen. Nobody’s gonna make it happen for you.”

Part 1: LeVar Burton on Bringing the ‘Reading Rainbow’ App to Silicon Valley
Part 2: LeVar Burton on the Future of Reading Rainbow & Printed Books

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

That is, according to a study conducted by PayScale and Millennial Branding, 18 to 30-year olds in the job market switch employers every two years. In comparison, baby boomers typically spend about seven years with an employer whereas Gen X-ers typically spend around five.

And it sounds like millennials prefer to work at shops with less than 100 colleagues since 47 percent of this population is employed by small companies. In fact, less than twenty-five percent are employed by companies where head count exceeds 1,500. continued…

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

Essentially, one list focuses on what you must accomplish today and the other list focuses on weekly to do items.

In a Lifehacker post, he recommended moving items from the weekly list to the daily list as the week progresses. Here’s the kicker: As you’re working, only focus on the daily items. When the day is done, so is your list but he indicated if your daily list always has items leftover that trickle into the next day, you’re biting more than you can chew.

He wrote, “Set fewer goals and actually finish them. Easy, right? Unfortunately, almost nobody takes my advice! They claim that they have to get that work done, so they can’t possibly set a smaller to-do list. Instead, of setting smaller goals, they continue creating to-do lists they can’t possibly finish.” continued…

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

In Mediabistro’s latest AvantGuild feature, seasoned journo Ben Goldstein recapped his own resume and shared some valuable tips for writers in the online world. For example…

If you’re not fending off job offers, you’re doing something wrong.

To give yourself some leverage, start networking and learning new skills while you’re still employed. ”Classes and workshops related to your profession are great places to meet people,” said Charles Purdy, senior editor of Monster.com. “The teachers are often experts who are still working in the field, and the other students and attendees will be professionals like you. And, of course, there’s the side benefit of learning something new.”

Read more in 4 Lessons for Writing in the Digital Age. [subscription required]

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

Saar says that within a day of launching, he had made the front page of Hacker News (which tends to provide a boost of between 3,000 and 30,000 visitors, we’ve read) and his video had been viewed more than 2,000 times.

What makes it a Kickstarter-esque project besides the site design? Well, potential employers can “pledge” to meet with or temporarily hire Saar. The lowest-level “pledge” is to meet the guy for coffee. Higher levels include giving him a two-week tryout (he says he’ll work for free) or even a full-time job.

Our unsolicited take, in which we use Saar as an example to educate others: Ok, we smiled when we saw the layout. Pretty much everyone in the Western world has probably seen at least one Kickstarter (and it’s possible we’ve all backed at least one failed project). And Saar’s interactive videos aren’t bad.

However, judging from the response so far, Saar could change his approach. For one thing, he doesn’t present very well in video, and looks like he’s looking at the ceiling for a good chunk of one of them. (Yes, it’s rough when English is not your first language. The fact remains…) For another, while an interactive CV is clever, Sander really should have his actual resume on the site somewhere obvious (we had to go to his LinkedIn page). And finally, this is just a nitpick but shouldn’t there be more than one opportunity to take Saar to coffee? Maybe open the campaign up to 10 backers or so at that lowest level?

We felt like this tactic was creative enough that we had to call it out on MJD, but the proof is in the pudding, or in this case, the backing, and no backers means that maybe Saar was just a little too creative for most employers. Don’t give up, dude–tweak and try again.

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

On Labor Day, a holiday synonymous with logging off, the Sundance Channel is airing a marathon starting at 7 p.m. ET for their employment-based show, Get to Work.

The docu-reality series will move to its new timeslot that night at 10 p.m. ET so essentially the marathon will culminate in airing a new episode at 10.

As for the show itself, three job seekers hope for a fresh start as they struggle through back-to-work boot camp called Strive. Maybe it’ll provide a boost of inspiration for job seekers everywhere?

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

According to The New York Times, Newhouse indicated daily distribution of two of its titles, The Post-Standard in Syracuse, N.Y. and The Patriot-News in Harrisburg, Pa. will officially cease this coming January. continued…

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

As such, your pals here at MJD are doing our part to remind you of key things to ask during the year-end meeting, as inspired by a piece on The Daily Muse.

1. Areas for growth. For starters, a review may feel good when you get accolades for a job well done but you can get even more out of the meeting when you ask your performance manager what you should focus on and more importantly, how you can get there.

The key as well to valuable meetings is knowing your manager’s abilities. While you should leverage the meeting as a growth opportunity, realize not all managers are created equal and your boss may not even be able to provide you with productive feedback. continued…

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

As we look at signs of a disgruntled co-worker, boss or direct report, it’s important to notice some red flags.

According to the Occupational Safety & Health Administration’s (OSHA) site, about two million American workers are victims of workplace violence each year and no one is immune. continued…

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

We’re big fans of thinking outside the box with a job search, so keeping that in mind, one man landed five interviews by standing on a street corner!

As pointed out by The Wall Street Journal, Vincent A. Giordano has been searching for two years. Well, the past few weeks he started working the streets in NYC by handing out his resume.

At 42nd Street and Lexington Avenue, he told the newspaper, “I gave out 50 resumes in one day.” That resulted in five interviews “but no cigar.”  

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.