Kristin Davie spent months unemployed after graduating from her New York college in May of 2009 and now is back out on the job hunt once again.
Even though Kristin has made the wise choice of living with her parents while working in New York City, she had to spend nearly $300 a month just on transportation costs alone, in addition to student loans and the costs of owning a car. Once she found herself unemployed yet again, Kristin took another look at her expenses and cut back wherever she could.
“Instead of buying $5 cups of coffee at Starbucks, I make my own,” explained Kristin. “I run around the block instead of paying for a gym membership and I volunteer to be the designated driver rather than opening a tab at the bar.”
With the support of her parents, Kristin was able to come up with a budget that worked with her and was even able to get some input from her parents on the decision. Cutting back mostly on entertainment and dining out costs, Kristin has also made the choice to not own a credit card.
“I’ve never owned a credit card – the damage I could inflict literally frightens me and I have no plans to get one for now,” said Kristin.
The thought of not owning a credit card may actually have others frightened, but Kristin insists that only spending what she has and staying organized has worked the best for her financially.
Kristin’s finances may be under control while she’s looking for a job, but the one thing that concerns her the most is living without health insurance. Unsure of how she’ll deal without insurance, Kristin, like so many other unemployed New Yorkers, is left “crossing my fingers in the meantime.”
Being no stranger to the unemployed life, Kristin loves to offer up advice to any New Yorkers who are recently employed. The biggest aspect of her job search? Social media.
“I’ve found Twitter to be a great asset in the job search and perhaps the most powerful networking tool available to job-seekers today,” said Kristin.
Other social networks she spends most of her job searching on include Mediabistro, Linkup and Ning networks like the 405 Club. Kristin believes that job-seekers should turn themselves into social media experts by looking out for popular sites such as foursquare and taking advantage of them to aid in the job search.
“There are countless platforms that job-seekers can become familiar with to aid them in their search,” said Kristin. “It won’t be long before foursquare and other applications are household names like Twitter [and] job-seekers should jump on the bandwagon before it takes off without them.”
While foursquare may not seem like a place for job-seekers, Kristin explains that it is important in today’s economy for each professional to create a brand to stand out.
“Job-seekers should think of themselves as a personal brand and be prepared to actively engage employers,” said Kristin. “The most dynamic and proactive users will have the most success.”
Besides branding, social media can also help keep you sane while searching the same job boards day after day. Blogging has helped Kristin a lot during her time as an unemployed New Yorker, and she’s been able to do more than just “rant.”
“It’s comforting to know that I’m not alone and I enjoy knowing others read my blog and feel the same way,” said Kristin. “[Plus] blogging has also opened up a lot of doors for me, whether through additional writing opportunities or invitations to interview.”
For job-seekers, the best part of using social media is that most of it is free of charge. Anyone can search Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, etc. for no charge at all, while still staying ahead of the game.
“A solid understanding of social media is extremely sought after in the market today,” said Kristin. “Job-seekers would do well to start a blog of their own and develop Twitter lists tailored to their industry [as] a great place to start!”
To learn more about this social media obsessed PR professional, catch up with Kristin on her blog here : http://capandgowncountdown.wordpress.com/
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Kristin,
Thanks for visiting The 405 Club – we’re happy to help! Let us know if we can help you.
-Garrett
The 405 Club: (Un)Employment Support Network