Welcome to Happy Hour!

Remember this? Well, welcome to the first installment of Happy Hour: the pursuit of a perfect mix of work & play – for life.

Just to get things off of the ground I'll start with a few online job boards that I've used as a starting place – you've probably heard of Yahoo!hotjobs & Monster so I'll start with some things that were new to me & that I had some luck on.

Media Bistro // especially useful if you're in NYC, but many listings for large urban areas (use menu at left to filter your search).

How Design // always a consistent flow of design jobs of all kinds in many locations. Read their other articles on things like job search tips, resume & portfolio, etc.

AIGA // also a good resource with lots of variety but if you aren't a member you can't view the whole listing. (annoying) If you are a member you can post portfolio images too. AIGA is also a great place to find articles about the job search, interviewing, etc.

Creative Hotlist // by CommArts Magazine. You can browse jobs, post your resume, contact potential employers though the site. You can search jobs by location or category. Anyone can post a resume for free – I posted mine & got an interview with a big-time magazine (that I happened to be in love with) just because they found my info on Creative Hotlist.

*Best of all, if you are a designer without a website you can pay $35 for 6 months to post portfolio images, your resume & cover letter then use the link to it as your website when contacting people.

LinkedIn // I haven't actually utilized this yet but I've seen lots of professionals use it as a networking tool.

design*sponge // I had my information on the d*s job board for a while but it seems that they have discontinued that section. (I'm not totally sure, it disappeared this week.) It cost $15 for 3 months of listing & I did get a freelance inquiry from it.

Idealist // a great spot to find non-profit jobs, in any field, worldwide! I have heard of many people finding (& getting) great jobs from the listings on this site.

And very important. Salaries. Here is AIGA & Aquent's 2008 design salary calculator it's not perfect but it's very helpful for ball park figures.

The Graphic Artists Guild also puts out the Graphic Artists Guild Handbook: Pricing & Ethical Guidelines which I just ordered my copy of on recommendation of a former professor.

Okay, that should be enough to get you started! Good Luck!