Boston Jobs Blog

By Nick Holt

Over the weekend, I came across a video by Alec Brownstein called “The Google Job Experiment.” Mr. Brownstein was an entrepreneurial job-seeker with nothing to lose. He decided to use Google AdWord ads to target five of New York City’s creative directors, essentially soliciting each of them for a job.

Being intelligent individuals, these creative directors had been monitoring their visibility on Google. Mr. Brownstein’s ambiguous message “Googling yourself is a lot of fun. Hiring me is fun, too” resulted in him securing four interviews—and two of those interviews allowed him to land a great job!  All at a cost of $6.

I am not preaching that you start throwing-down money for personal Google Ads targeting your career idols or every person you interview with, but this story is great motivation for thinking outside the box in your own job search; particularly if you’re searching for a creative position. 

Here’s another creative job-seeker’s success story from a previous blog post!

By: Nick Holt

In case you missed it, U.S. News published an article in December 2009 highlighting the “50 Best Careers of 2010“. Each occupation classified as one of the “Best Careers” was chosen because it offered either growth, good pay, varied educational requirements, or sustained opportunity.

Finance

Boston is renowned for having one of the world’s most prominent Financial Districts. We’ve got State Street Corporation and Liberty Mutual, just to name a few! And with 52 universities in town, Boston is also home to an array of professional clubs, associations, and networking groups.

Boston job-seekers hoping to break into the finance world should check out the following careers, which all made the “best” list:

• Financial Advisor         
• Financial Analyst
• Loan Officer                                          
• Actuary               
• Cost Estimator
• Market Research Analyst                   
• Accountant

By Gillian Seely

This morning I had the pleasure of listening to Virgin America’s Porter Gale speak at an American Marketing Association event, along with many other professionals from the Boston marketing community, and I wanted to share some thoughts.

In addition to being a fantastic speaker, she got me thinking about the nature of branding, and that branding success seems to now fundamentally depends on two things: 1) the ability of a company to provide a top-quality product or user experience and 2) (provided that #1 is in place), the ability of that product or experience to go viral online.

Virgin America has many things going for the brand: a “rebel” persona that differentiates it from the competition and gives it huge pull with Gen-X and Gen-Y customers (who, conveniently, are all on social media); a flat structure at the top that fosters a spirit of innovation and entrepreneurship throughout the organization (LOVED the example of interns monitoring Tweets of passengers while they are in the air, and having flight-attendants address those needs in real-time) ; a knack for logical strategic partnerships (hosting events with YouTube celebs who have millions of followers); and a sense of humor…maybe we can thank Sir Richard for that.

One main point that I took from the presentation is that Virgin America consistently takes the good with the bad without censoring, and genuinely listens to the wants of customers when addressing needs and implementing change. Attention to detail is key here. As Gale pointed out, even something simple like the design on headphones can go a long way to building brand presence and loyalty.  By listening to customers’ every word (sometimes literally and in real-time on Twitter), they are able to provide the best experience and cultivate a loyal mass of people who will be frequent flyers for years to come.

Boston marketers, Virgin America is one company that’s doing it right, and we would all do well to follow their lead in the branding space.

By Karen Choucrallah

Being out of work or between jobs is a huge financial blow, particularly in an expensive city like Boston.  While it’s tempting to curl up and pretend everything’s fine, three-day Law & Order marathons will not help your cause (although I do love Benson & Stabler!).  Sometimes all it takes to find a great Boston job is a burst of energy channeled into a day of cover-letter writing, followed by a full evening of networking.  I’m having trouble thinking of anything worthwhile that was ever achieved on the couch (unless a laptop was involved).  So get up, push yourself out of your comfort zone, and hit the city to find a Boston networking event.

Networking events don’t have to be named as such.  You’ll probably soon realize that you make your most valuable contacts-and those most closely related to your desired line of work- when you get involved in activities you’re truly passionate about or those that fit your background.  Are you into art? Visit a free exhibition at Newbury Fine Arts, or submit a landscape piece to Arnold Arboretum.  Do you love to read?  Join a book club at Barnes & Noble, or check out a visiting author at a university book store.

Do keep in mind as you pick your events that no one likes a phony.  Showing up to a wine tasting with the sole intention of mingling with Boston’s gainfully employed is a sure-fire way to look like a big fraud.  Not to mention that people who really are there to sample the wine will be annoyed if you are incessantly passing out your business card at every opportunity.  Of course it’s ok to try new things and DO be proactive about meeting people, but keep it relevant and keep it respectful.  Here’s a great list of events to check out. Happy networking.