Hello August, and goodbye? I’ve been back home, in Vancouver, for almost a month now. Almost. After much catching-up, settling-in, and give-me-a-second-to-figure-out-life, I can finally take a second to write a procrastinate-blog-post. This comes after bleeding cover letters, resumes, and various “hey, can I haz job” conversations with friends in publishing and/or digital industries. It’s this and/or situation that I take as the topic of today’s musings. August, I dedicate you to my ambitions to be an employed, digital “something” by September.

So. Within the two weeks of combing through Indeed, FreshGigs, LinkedIn, and various other job posting sites, I’ve noticed a funny circumstance emerging in my job hunt. Thanks to the countless hours I’ve sunk into everything This is Vancity-related (in addition to Textbook stuff), it appears that I am an above-suitable candidate for a few digital agencies and ad agencies looking for a project manager, lead generator, etc. As far as I’m concerned, my digital agency options go far and wide. This is good! This is good? But check out what my publishing prospects have yielded:

• I was respectfully trumped by a colleague for a digital publishing internship.
• I am awaiting response on my application from a fantastic local publisher of magazines.
• The Editor-in-Chief of a consistently-award-winning magazine has asked me to pitch myself to the Publisher
• I have secured one interview for a part-time publishing-related job

While I am far from experiencing a true dilemma at this point, the funny circumstance I’ve noticed is a classic school smarts vs. street smarts situation. After three-point-five years of self-teaching myself to produce events, publications, and various startup-style projects, many of the friends I’ve made along the way are ready to hire me … to be me. Yet, after  six years (and counting) of post-secondary education in world literature, publishing, and interactive art, I must consistently re-communicate myself to strangers with the hope that their need aligns with my want. Or perhaps I’m dichotomizing too much. After all, my traditional education has informed my entrepreneurial endeavours, and vice versa. Hm. Ya, that sounds right. K, time to go make some food, and then eat it. Give me a shout if you’d like to respond to my ramblings in length. Otherwise, tweet me @mikedespot. Goodbye, August!