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Here are two very different exchanges between a caller and me on my KALW-FM (NPR-San Francisco) radio program today. Perhaps they might help you in finding well-suited work.
I've edited them for length but the essence is intact.
The first exchange is with a recent college graduate who'd like to make a living as a writer.
CALLER: My name is Conor and I graduated recently with a degree in creative writing. I know I want to get a job as a writer but I don’t know how to get started.
MARTY NEMKO: A first decision is whether to build on your creative writing degree and focus on being a novelist, screenwriter, video game story maker, technical writer, etc. That’s a competitive market. Or do you want to go for a less crowded niche: for example, becoming a website or catalog copy writer, annual report writer, technical writer, etc?
C: I’d like to be a copy writer but how do I develop a portfolio?
M: It may help to identify a specific niche. Do you have a content domain you know a lot about?
C: Not really but I did once write about my Toyota Yaris. I wouldn’t mind writing for Toyota.
M: Well, for this phone call, let's take that. You might go to Toyota.com and read some of the writing there: press releases, announcements of forthcoming cars, etc. Then write three diverse samples. Request feedback on them from a professional copy writer, perhaps someone in Toyota’s communications department you found on Toyota.com or on LinkedIn. When you feel good about your portfolio, submit that with job applications as well as with your efforts to network your way into the company even if an appropriate ad isn’t being advertised.
C: Sounds great. Thanks.
The second caller is 65, just returned from the Peace Corps with damaged hands, and needs income.
C: I’m 65. For 35 years, I ran a sewing business that focused on bedrooms. My slogan was “What you do in your bedroom is my business.” But I’ve spent the last two years in the Peace Corps. I was supposed to be teaching women to sew but I ended up spending two years fixing rusty sewing machines and I ruined my hands so I can no longer do much sewing or work on a keyboard. Now I’m back in the U.S. and need to make some money.
M: Do you want to do something related to your sewing business or something new?
C: I’m still passionate about sewing but I can’t do much sewing any more.
M: Well, how about your being the front person who does the design, estimating, sales, and supervision but you find people to do the sewing?
C: I’m not much of a manager.
M: It needn’t be a big deal. How about just finding one person, perhaps someone you already know and get along with?
C: That sounds good but I’m new to the Bay Area and don’t really know anyone.
M: Well, how about asking the owners of local sewing shops, which often run sewing groups. Those shop owners have seen a wide range of people and so might be in a position to recommend someone good.
C: That sounds great.
M: Often key in a one-on-one manager/worker relationship is to find someone who, in addition to being competent and responsible, is someone you get along with, whom you laugh with.
C: That’s so right. When I think back to assistants I had in the past, with the best one, we laughed a lot.
M: Also, if you’re new to the area, you might need that person to do some outreach to get some business.
C: That’s true. This is all very helpful. You’ve taken me from stalled to jazzed!
The takeaway
Is there anything in these two exchanges that might help you go from stalled to jazzed?
Marty Nemko’s bio is in Wikipedia. His newest book, his 8th, is The Best of Marty Nemko.
