alstin communications

Alstin wishes everyone a safe and happy Memorial Day Weekend!

If you’ve ever watched Reality TV, it’s a safe bet that you’ve found yourself wondering: Where do they find these people?

Well, there’s a job board for that. RealityWanted provides those who dare to dream that they too could very well be the next Snookie, Bachelor or Real Housewife the opportunity to apply directly to Reality TV, Game Show and Talk Show casting calls.

The PR firm behind the job board explains it like this: “It used to be that those with aspirations of being in the entertainment industry dreamed of singing or dancing or acting … today, those aspirations now fall into another category.” Another category indeed.

Want to help, but not sure where to begin? CharityNavigator may point you in the right direction to charities with a history of working on massive disasters and/or of working in Haiti.

Everyone at Alstin wishes you and yours a very Happy New Year – see you back on the blog Monday, January 4, 2010!

The Alstin team will be enjoying more than just left-overs this Friday. We’re extending our holiday through the weekend, returning to the office on Monday.

We hope that you will be rockin’ your elastic waistbands and stuffing yourself silly like we will with family and friends this holiday. Alstin wishes everyone a very Happy Thanksgiving.

What were you doing in September 1982?  Were you enjoying “The A-Team,” which was one of the top 10 TV shows or the release of Michael Jackson’s “Thriller?”  Many things are different today than they were when the jobless rate hit 10.1% in September 1982, including the people that are part of the nation’s labor force.  To learn more, check out “Meltdown 101: When Unemployment Last Hit 10%,” in this month’s issue of Alstin Answers.

Ryan Star, a new rocker on the scene who is currently touring with American Idol winner David Cook, put a spotlight on the unemployed with his inspirational song + video for his new single Breathe.

The video features several unemployed adults who carry signs with messages that read: “Flight attendant. 34 years experience. Furloughed,” “Good at my job,” and “Sent out 100 resumes … nothing.”

Star says, “When I started thinking of how to represent ‘Breathe,’ this idea made sense because unemployment is the common thread that I have been seeing everywhere I have been touring It just feels to me that people everywhere need to hear a positive message, that things will all be OK and that we are here for one another.”

This video has some real charm and humor to it – “Nice monkey mug little dude.”

However, the real fun is in Deloitte’s clever companion microsite for recruiting consultants. Check it out at  www.born2consult.com.

Greetings from the City of Brotherly Love – and America’s birthplace – everyone at Alstin wishes you a wonderful 4th of July celebration!

“It’s all about who you know.” If I had a nickel for every time I’ve heard this during my young adult life, I could’ve paid for a first-class international plane ticket by now, en route to someplace far, far away from this crazy economy. Instead, I’ll hang onto those proverbial nickels, say a prayer for the job market, and recount what I’ve experienced as an Alstin Intern – and job seeker – on an effective way to make good on a situation that needn’t be as desperate as it seems.

Spending a few months as an Intern has added invaluable dimension to my previous one-sided idea of networking. At first, I saw networking as a narrow two-way street: an awkward exchange of business cards and resumes between seasoned professionals and anxious college students, making their way through crowded job fairs and nerve-wracking interviews. When a close friend and working professional clued me into LinkedIn almost a year ago, I blindly registered and due to my narrow-minded idea of networking only displayed highlights of my resume and connected with immediate friends and family.

Thanks to being exposed to the latest recruiting trends here at Alstin, I can report that taking advantage of LinkedIn’s potential truly is an excellent means of networking - a plethora of opportunities to find the most appropriate talent, find decent work, expand skill sets and meet interesting people – with awkward intimidation at an all-time low.

I went ahead and added more detailed content to my profile and was thrilled when someone found me based on the information I provided. That person ultimately presented me with an opportunity to do PR work for a new non-profit. The position (which I still hold) was legitimate, interesting, and fitting for my demographic and level of experience. That single Linkedin connection immediately opened multiple doors for me while pinpointing the talent my supervisor set out to find – an overall win-win.

If Alstin wasn’t so good at retaining employees, we’d be considering Abby McKeown for our team. For the recruiters out there that may have an entry level position related to Marketing, PR or Communications, we encourage you to connect with Abby via her LinkedIn profile.

And for recruiters out there who are not sure where to begin when it comes to using LinkedIn to connect with talent, email us at blog@alstin.com.

Since starting my internship with Alstin Communications in January 2009, I can honestly say that I have not had a bad day while working here. I’m lucky to have this opportunity to work comfortably with people who are willing to help me get a real first-hand look at the advertising world. With no prior ad agency experience, I came in eager to learn, but not knowing exactly what to expect.

Luckily, since I started I’ve been able to bounce around between projects and learn more about Alstin and the business of advertising with each new task. I have been able to use effective methods for researching potential clients to help maintain various sales databases, write entries for the “Client News” section of Alstin’s newsletter “Alstin Answers”, and learn more about how recruitment advertising is growing with new trends in technology. So far, what I have enjoyed most is seeing how technology and social networking are playing bigger roles in the recruitment and retention arena. As a frequent social network user who enjoys keeping pace with technology, I can recognize the direct and immediate impact that these developments have on the current job market. It’s really interesting to learn how practices I’m already pretty familiar with are now being used to benefit more people and companies on a much larger scale.

As of May 17, 2009, I will have my Bachelor’s degree (and my experience and eagerness to learn) from LaSalle University. I am about to enter the job market at possibly its worst since the Great Depression. Knowing this, my internship experience could not be more valuable and I’ve put everything into developing new skill sets that are marketable while I have been here. No matter what I end up doing with the rest of my professional life, I will always be grateful for this opportunity and fondly remember the people at Alstin who have served as a big step in my transition into the professional world.

If Alstin wasn’t so good at retaining employees, we’d be considering Abby for our team. For the recruiters out there that may have an entry level position related to Marketing, PR or Communications, we encourage you to connect with Abby via her LinkedIn profile.

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Every recruiter has a wacky job interview tale or two – hopefully not this wacky.