Photo by Progess Illinois

At Toni Preckwinkle’s campaign headquarters last night, I wandered around asking people why they were there. Why they cared enough to come out to a campaign party on a cold February evening?

One of the best answers I got came from a man who told me he was there because Preckwinkle had done “something nice” for him once. He didn’t offer details at first. I guessed it was something aldermanic—maybe like getting a stop sign put up on a busy street or getting a messy park cleaned up. But I asked, just in case the answer was something juicy.

It turns out that what Alderman Preckwinkle did to earn this man’s vote wasn’t aldermanic or scandalous, it was kind. Apparently, a few years ago, this man was stranded on the side of the road; his car had broken down. Alderman Preckwinkle didn’t know him, she’d never met him, but she stopped and helped him jump-start his car. He said he’d supported her ever since.

Please welcome job-seeker MG Farrelly to the “Give me a job, please!” series.  Thoughts, ideas, leads for him, post away. (If you’re currently unemployed and want to be a part of this series, email us here.)

Name: MG Farrelly

Looking for work as: Librarian, working with young adults and kids of all ages. I’m also a freelance writer and editor with a Master’s in History and another in Library Science.

If you were to describe your dream job to a small child, what would you say?

I’d use the medium of storytelling.

“There once was a history major named MG, who loved to story Caliphs and Fatimids but could not find much work doing that. So MG went to library school and learned the ways of Dewey, LOC, and OCLC. With a head full of learning MG wants to work somewhere he can tell stories, teach about history, help people answer questions, organize information, and make the world a smarter, more well-read place”

This story would be illustrated by Mo Willems and I would provide a number of funny voices for the audio edition. Read the rest of this entry →

Have a few less-than-ideal internet appearances?  Want to hide them from possible employers?  You can try to un-google yourself–Wired has a few tips, as does the site Wikihow.

Among the advice from the Wired wiki :

“Many of the scariest websites are most often from people you know. For example, members of wedding parties will often find themselves on a wedding website. Lucky for you, if you’re on a wedding website, you’re probably friends with the person who owns and hosts the content on the internet. A simple e-mail should straighten up any wayward information.”

“Though wedding websites are usually safe, public photo albums are probably not. It’s therefore a good idea to politely request removal of your last name from friends’ public photo albums. Think of how embarrassing it would be to find your full moniker attached to a caption reading “butt contestant,” no matter how tame or innocent the context.”

One problem I’m not sure there is a way to solve–having the same name as someone else.

For the record, I’m not the Adriene Hill that has the Twitter bio: “Love music, films, crafting, my handsome little kitten & everything.”   I’m also not a chiropractor in Florida.

The Metropolitian Transporation Authority in New York distributed seven million transit cards with the word “optimism” on the back. Nice, right? (via)

Have you always wanted a chance to ask strangers about their private life? 

The US Census is planning to recruit 100,000 people in Illinois to help gather information for the 2010 census.  Most of the jobs are temporary (2-6 weeks) and anywhere from 20-40 hours a week.  Average pay is $12-13 an hour.  Interested?  You can find more information about the application process here and a map of local census offices here.

Part of the application process involves taking a test (you can practice here) which includes questions that test your clerical skills (alphabetizing, serializing, matching), reading skills, number skills (addition, subtraction, multiplication) “interpreting information and evaluating alternatives” skills, and organizational skills.

Samples:

Choose the one answer which BEST fits the meaning of the word in capital letters.

Do not permit any UNAUTHORIZED person to see census information.

A. uninformed, B. unidentified, C. unofficial, D. illegal

Ms. Jones can’t remember the year of her birth but she knows she was born in the month of September.  If it is now May 2010, and Ms. Jones tells you she is 78 years old, in what year was she born?

A. 1931, B. 1932, C. 1930, D. None of these

Today we launch our series “Give me a job, please!” with 5 questions and answers with job seeker and WBEZ listener Mary Gustafson.  It’s now up to all you readers to volunteer a couple minutes of your time to contribute your job hunting advice/tips/leads for her.  (And, if you want to participate yourself, send me an email.)

Name: Mary Gustafson

Looking for work as: a writer/editor/journalist

You sit down in an interview and the boss starts with: “Tell me why you want to work here.”  You say:

Hopefully something that belies my desperation and still comes across as sincere.  I know I’ve interviewed for jobs that I didn’t really want – reporting on niche industries I have zero interest in. Recruiters can probably sniff that out pretty fast. It’s a hard line to walk though when you really need that job – or any job, really. My poker face needs a lot of work. Read the rest of this entry →

Darryl Harris is now the Director of Diversity Enhancement in Illinois.  I got a chance to talk to him late Friday night and asked him about  his new job, and how he plans to increase minority participation in state contracts.

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As part of our new “Give Me A Job, Please!” feature that we’re launching next week–we’ve been thinking a lot about really bad interview questions and personality tests (the tests where they ask the same question over and over and over in different ways).   One of the freelancers here at the station posted this list of personality questions she was asked at Nordstrom’s.  The Wall Street Journal also published a sample.

Have you run into these tests–do you love them?  hate them?  try to cheat them? and if you did try to cheat, did it work?

And what’s the worst interview question you’ve been asked (on a personality test or in an interview)?

A job interview (AP/File)

The Hard Working blog has a snazzy new home (with a lot more readers)–and an excellent new feature idea.  We’ll start publishing what we’re calling “Give me a job please!” regularly–featuring 5 Q & As with a job seeker.  Expect a mix of straight-forward questions, lame interview questions, and maybe a question that amuses me and Justin.  Wanna participate?  Email me at hardworking@chicagopublicradio.org.

And–for everyone else with a little free time–we need you to help our featured job seeker .  Maybe you know of a specific lead, or a professional organization that might help?  Let’s use the blog to network.  Post what you’ve got in the comments section or contact me directly (and I’ll pass the info on to our job seeker). 

Got it? Let’s go! Watch for the first Q & A next week.

Los centros de Illinois workNet  son centros de servicio con personas que tienen una dedicación al apoyar y desarrollar la población activa en la comunidad. Estos centros conectan las empresas y a quienes buscan trabajo con los recursos y servicios en Chicago.

 Better Business Bureau tiene una misión “ser la guía en avanzar la confianza del mercado.” El BBB quiere crear una comunidad de negocios confiados. La pagina de Web tiene información que puede ayudar su empresa.

 El Departamento de la Seguridad de Empleo  La página de Web del IDES tiene servicios como talleres de currículum vitae y trabajos, recursos en línea para desempleo, y también “subsidio de paro, programas de empleo y de entrenamiento, e información de la carrera y de mercado de trabajo.”

 Esta página tiene dos guías : Una que tiene los pasos necesarios para aplicar y obtener una licencia de negocios con la ciudad de Chicago. La otra tiene puntos importantes para v los vendedores ambulantes en la ciudad.

 El  Chicago Workforce Center ofrece clases de alfabetización para adultos en Ingles como un idioma segundo (ESL) en toda la ciudad. Esta pagina de Web es en ingles, y tiene la información que necesita. Todos estos servicios son gratis para búsquedas de empleos.

Algunas de las bibliotecas públicas de Chicago tienen secciones especiales para estudiantes de ESL. El Learning Express Library deja los usuarios hacer exámenes de práctica para el TOEFL y los exámenes de naturalización de los Estados Unidos. Alguna de la información tiene instrucciones para estos exámenes en español. Necesita una tarjeta de la biblioteca para usar los recursos en línea.  Cuando se registre, use el número de su tarjeta de la biblioteca como su nombre de usuario.

Literacy Chicago, 17 North State St., Suite 900, (312) 870-1100, ofrece programas gratis para adultos que les interesa aprender y mejorar su ingles. Estos programas incluyen clases de alfabetización para adultos en Ingles como un segundo idioma. Para más información sobre direcciones y tiempos de clases, llama (312) 870-1100 o envíe un mensaje a info@literacychicago.org.

Literacydirectory.org es un directorio de programas de alfabetización y ESL en los Estados Unidos. Puede elegir su lugar con código postal o con la ciudad y el estado y elegir clases de alfabetización ypreparación para GED o ESL en su barrio.