Time for a press release

I just sent this out as a press release to some Bay Area news outlets, trying to market myself as an unemployment expert worth talking to on the issue. We'll see if anything happens.

January 6, 2009
President-elect Barack Obama is proposing an economic stimulus plan that would add 3 million jobs over the next two years, but it's a shortsighted plan that won't add long-term jobs to the economy, says a San Francisco Bay Area writer for AOL's personal finance Web site, WalletPop.com.
Aaron Crowe's posts on hunting for a job, such as the Obama one at http://www.walletpop.com/blog/2009/01/06/the-job-hunt-obamas-economic-stimulus-plan-flawed/ are insightful and Aaron can be your news organization's expert on unemployment. With more than 10 million Americans out of work, it's an audience you should reach. Aaron Crowe, a contributor at http://www.walletpop.com/, a personal finance Web site, lives in the San Francisco Bay Area and writes about his job search and offers tips and insight to the unemployed looking for full-time work.
Aaron was laid off at the Contra Costa Times, a daily newspaper in Walnut Creek, CA, in June 2008 after working there for 13 years as a copy editor and assistant metro editor. He has also worked as a copy editor and reporter at other California newspapers.
Aaron lives in Concord, CA and writes a daily blog at http://www.talesofanunemployeddad.blogspot.com/ about his job hunt and how it affects his 4-year-old daughter. Topics he has written about on WalletPop and on his Unemployed Dad blog include how to get employers to call applicants back for a job interview, how to overcome the daily struggles of the job hunt, and the best ways to improve your skills and search for a job. He's still collecting unemployment while holding down seven various part-time jobs, all of which are infrequent. His wife continues working as a copy editor at the Contra Costa Times, working nights, when Aaron takes over childcare duties at home.
Aaron Crowe can be reached for interviews at:
aaron.crowe.consulting@gmail.com
925.482.5934 Mobile
925.680.2557 Home

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Not-for-profit jobs growing in U.S.

I've written here before about non-profits and not-for-profits and why I'd like to work at one. I expanded on that idea for this WalletPop story about how not-for-profits need more workers than for-profit businesses, and how they pay a little more. Interesting stuff from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, one of my favorite places to get job data.

Due to time constraints, I recently had to stop volunteering at a nonprofit, The Public Press in San Francisco. But I'm still volunteering at RedwoodAge.com, although it's not a non-profit. With unemployment about to run out and more part-time work slowly coming in, along with the need to still find full-time work, I just didn't have the time to volunteer at the Public Press as I had hoped. As you'll see from the WalletPop story, many low-paying jobs that would normally be done at a not-for-profit are instead done by volunteers for free. I can't afford that, for now.

I've also got one less part-time job than I did last year. I was going to start doing some investigative work for a company that does background checks on new hires, but their work has slowed down and I won't be needed as much as I had hoped. They still might call on me to track down some public records, but I'm not expecting much during the recession and less hiring going on at companies.

However, I added another part-time job writing press releases for a local non-profit, and will discuss it here soon once I'm certain it will be a long-term relationship. I was given a tryout recently and wrote a short press release, which I got in local papers and some online sites, and I think I did well enough to warrant more writing for them. So at least with every minus, a plus comes along.

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Part-timing it

Like that old "Saturday Night Live" skit about a Jamaican family where everybody has at least five jobs, I'm hoping to get somewhere near that until I find a full-time position. I need at least a few part-time jobs to keep money coming in while my unemployment checks continue to arrive for awhile longer, and definitely after the unemployment money stops coming. And I hope these part-time jobs, along with volunteering, can lead to full-time work. Even when I do find full-time employment, some of the part-time work I'm doing may continue if time allows.

The first part-time job I found was with United Reporting. It's easy work and interesting. I get arrest logs from local police departments and fax them to United Reporting's office in Sacramento. It's only about 5-10 hours per week, but it's a start.

I've also blogged about writing biographies for the elderly, or anyone who wants to have their life story down on paper to pass along to their family. I'm still waiting for my first contract for that side job, and exploring ways to get the word out on it.

I'm also trying to find a way to blog/report on some issue and get paid for it, but so far no takers. My freelance writing hasn't taken off yet either, and I'm trying to promote that as much as I can. Ghostwriting for bloggers is also an option I'm exploring.

And lastly, I'm doing freelance writing/reporting for city newsletters. More on that later.

Who knows, I may be on the side of the road picking up aluminum cans by Christmas.

And just for the heck of it, since I'm trying to learn new job skills through blogging, I've posted one of the few videos I have online. Back when I was on paternity leave and had some spare time to put such things together...so here's some 40 seconds of Emma at about 6 months old.