“Our greatest glory is not in never falling but in rising every time we fall.” – Confucius

Well not a great start. I had a very long day at work today and a very busy week. Tomorrow it is time to buckle down. I started working on my cover letter the other day and I also refined my resume. What do you think?…who am I kidding, no one reads this silly blog ;)

I’ve been looking at other portfolio websites:

• http://minimalexhibit.com/ – Great examples of minimal websites.

I think the greatest thing that I need to improve on is my portfolio. I know I can do a great job because I learn fast and am always improving.

I recently read on a company blog that:

The top 5 tips on how to land an internship in public relations

1. Follow Directions. Provide the requested materials in your application. We asked for a cover letter, resume and writing sample. That’s it. Pretty basic. Don’t send additional materials even if you think they are going to help you get your foot in the door. It will do the exact opposite.

2. You will be “Googled.” Before submitting an application or resume, search for yourself on Google. See what comes up. You may want to edit a few things, but remember, what happens on the Internet, stays on the Internet.

3. Use Social Media tools. List your LinkedIn profile, Twitter handle, Facebook page (if public) and any other resources you would like to share to demonstrate the quality of your network, experience and knowledge of social media. Be sure these profiles are up-to-date and appropriate for a hiring manager to review. We don’t want to read that you’re the champion of beer guzzling for your fraternity or see pictures of you doing questionable things with your friends. If it’s not something you want to share, make it private.

4. No stalking allowed. Don’t call, email, Facebook or stalk if the hiring notice says, “No calls or emails. Really.” Reference #1. Follow directions. Calling me repeatedly or friending me on Facebook is a sure fire way to not get the job.

5. Do your research. Come prepared to discuss the clients we work with and some current work we’ve showcased on our site/blog. I want to know that you did your homework and that you at least know the types of clients the agency is working on.

Well.. lets get to it!

Day 1 of my journey. If you are just joining me, the plan is to get a job in advertising in about a month and a half.

As you may notice I’m up at 7am. I couldn’t get much sleep nor did I want to. I have a large task ahead of me, and I don’t want these opportunities to pass by.

On the agenda today? I have to go meet at the San Diego State University EMC to discuss a website project that I am currently working on. I’m currently working on 3 big website projects (which I NEED) and I can’t wait to place them in my portfolio. I’m going to try to design on in HTML5 (the latest web technology).

Then I go to work for about 5-6 hours to work on various web/graphic projects. It keeps me busy, but unfortunately, it ties me up so I can’t focus on my business/job hunt.

Below is my resource list for getting ideas and learning on how I can get a job in advertising before it is too late. It will be updated along the way.

My plans for tonight: Brush through my website www.RyanLum.com to refine the code, research how to traverse the DOM ( seems like every web developer needs to know this), refine resume and add my most recent award.

Well, it’s time to make some breakfast of ..eggs? ( Well hey, it was JUST Easter)

My Arsenal:
Social Media – I probably am on a majority of the sites, Google Buzz, Delicious, Digg, LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, etc.
My Seeds – I tried to get my name indexed (used slideshare to get more pages on the webs indexed on different sites).
My website – I took a lot of time designing this site, and will put time in the blog.
My Resume – Cleaned it up so its short and sweet. Before I had a lot of things listed..who wants to see that? job history dating back to 2001? no thanks.
My brain – Lets do it.

My Resource list:
http://www.smashingmagazine.com/ – Great website full of tutorials, articles, and everything design.
http://workawesome.com/ – Great network of sites, useful articles relating work.
http://zenhabits.net/ – to keep me sane.

Well I’ve been in San Diego for about a whole month and haven’t had any luck. It’s a little frustrating because of the economy being in a recession and it seems difficult. It’s funny, when you don’t want something, it comes to you. However, when you do want something, it seems to never come.

I think it’s the whole idea of when you are sitting in class watching the clock. It seems to be going so slow, but time never changes. I’ve interviewed with Lambesis Agency in Carlsbad. I would love to work for this company and I feel like I did my best, and to me that is success. I did/doing the best I can right now. I will work on my portfolio in case of a second interview so that I can show them some more examples.

Anyways, short little rant for me. I’m getting tired and should go to bed. Tomorrow I’m hitting the pavement to gather applications…fun.

I want to work in an industry that is not static. I am constantly evolving and learning about new ways of thinking. I want to work for an agency that is constantly evolving as well. I want to work in a fun environment that is stimulating and always presenting new challenges. I want to be able to use my skills and previous research to create new ways of thinking by deconstructing the idea and building it from the ground up. I want to work in an agency that allows room for growth. I want to be able to explore new ideas and put them to use. I want to make people say “Why didn’t I think of that?”