She left a kick-ass job to pursue her dreams and a Masters degree in Social Science at the University of Colorado Denver.

You can find her salsa-dancing her way through some pretty amazing events like Ignite Fort Collins, Ignite Boulder, or PodCamp Fort Collins. Cali is also a social entrepreneur – and a damn good one at that.

Awesome is surrounded by awesome, as they say. If you want to find out where general awesomeness is, Cali is like a dowsing rod for amazing people (millennials & old folk) and events.

Connect with her:

Twitter: @Caligater
Web: http://www.caligater.com/

Baby Boomers: 50% of Gen-Y is unemployed. Tell your friends. For the record, a lot of us think it’s crappy most of you have to spend your retirements greeting the masses at WalMart.

Gen-Y: Most baby boomers realistically can’t afford to retire. Even if they did, most companies would cease to exist because you were never trained to take their place.

Gen-X: Rock on with that Medicinal Marijuana stuff. Outstanding use of the free time you have since they wont promote you and you can’t quit.

Now… if we’re talking about money instead of age – then hell yes it’s Us vs Them; I think it’s high time we go to Wall Street and kick some ass. Everybody but Gen-X, that is (who’ve misinterpreted my use of the phrase “High Time”). Just point ‘em to the Cheetos.

I’ve long said that collaboration will be the new competition once the Millennials take over.  There’s no better example of that than Brazen Careerist.  A blog aggregator and so much more – Brazen has grown to include more than 1,000 blogs from Gen-Y troublemakers all around the world – this blog included.  They’ve been featured on TechCrunch and many other blogs – anyone who is part of the Brazen community knows that their success is also our success.

Nowhere can you find a more diverse set of voices, each one trying to find their way in this crazy-ass world we’ve inherited.

I am very proud to be a part of that community – and encourage you to support them as they launch their new site by paying them a visit.

Thank you,

-Nick Armstrong

I want to know who your favorite millennial entrepreneurs are.

As much fun as it is to write about my own experiences in the Captain’s chair of my own destiny, I really want to hear from you.

Millennial Entrepreneurs.  Or, if you’re not both of those things – who you would espouse as the cream of the crop of the Millennial Entrepreneurs.

So – leave me comments, give me a list – and then I’ll feature your picks (and their companies) on the Psychotic Resumes podcast in a few weeks!

Here are my two favorite (besides myself – WTF Marketing) from Fort Collins:

Crystal from 3 Elements and Christina, a Northern Colorado Wedding Photographer

If you’re not prepared, your millennial mind might draw a blank.  Maybe you had questions, maybe you didn’t, maybe you forgot.

Avoiding this situation is simple:

1. Do research before your interview
   Do a Google search.  Find the mission statement, facts about profitability and products, and events the company has held in the last month.  You win if you seem tuned in to the industry, even if you’ve only been tuning for 30 minutes.
2. Have a pad of paper and a pen ready
   Chances are, you aren’t going to remember the question you wanted to ask when it really matters.  Write it down.
3. Listen during the interview
   Demonstrate your great listening skills and land the job – demonstrate you can’t listen or force the interviewer to repeat something they’ve already covered and kiss employment goodbye.

Finally, have a few “backup” questions prepared anyway.  The ideal question demonstrates your interest in the position, makes the interviewer imagine you in that position, or demonstrates your knowledge of the company.  Here are a few samples:

1. What would my average workday look like if I were to start tomorrow?
2. I’d like to prepare myself to take on the position – are there any books or skills I should pick up to help me if I receive an offer?

The best questions will be things you’re interested in knowing.  If you don’t care about the answer, don’t ask the question.  If you honestly have no questions, ask one of the two above and leave it at that.  One final question that may help you:

What are the next steps, do you need anything more, and when should I expect to hear back from you regarding a decision?

Have a better suggestion for interview questions?  Leave a comment and tell me about it!

Listen Now

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Show Notes

This week’s show featured an interview with Dan Schawbel – author of Me 2.0 and creator of the Personal Branding Blog.  He talks about the importance of building your presence online.

A little in-joke: I’ve called Dan a hack in the past – and that’s actually how we started talking.  This is what we’re laughing about when Dan mentions online reputation management.  A lot of people believe Personal Branding to be “the next big thing”.  A lot of people think it’s a load of bunk.  Make up your own mind about that – but a lot of Dan’s concepts he discusses here are sound.  Build a website, establish credibility, build a community, and participate in the community you make.

Links Mentioned

Dan Schawbel’s Personal Branding Blog and Me 2.0
ProBlogger
Blogging Tips
Alltop

Next Week

Katie from KODA – social media job search/recruiting tool!

Join the show:
Email – PsychoticResumes@gmail.com
Voicemail – (858) 5-WTF-FTW (858-598-3389)
Web – www.PsychoticResumes.com

• Episode Zero – Nick’s Special Tips
• Episode One – The Worst Thing You Can Do On A Resume
• Episode Two – Time Management
• Episode Three – What Now
• Episode Four – Career Fair Psychosis!
• Episode Five – Before You Graduate and Casual Interviews
• Episode Six – Be Prepared!

Enjoy – and if you have a question or an idea for a show, let me know!

Email – PsychoticResumes@gmail.com
Voicemail – (858) 5-WTF-FTW (858-598-3389)

“Every once in a while, declare peace. It confuses the hell out of your enemies.” – Quark, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.

I’m about the most rabid advocate for the millennial generation you will ever meet.  Usually this takes the form of me berating the “corporate bastards” on Twitter and writing angry blogs in response to ageist blog posts and magazine articles.  They, in turn, largely ignore these as they sit on gold thrones and count their rapidly shrinking piles of money.

What I’ve noticed is that for as rabidly and vehemently anti-young person these business “professionals” are, they quickly change their tone when you confront them in person with stats and figures.  In fact – most of this age-based tension is based on surface-level stereotypes ALONE.  It just doesn’t stand up to scrutiny.

Here’s my solution: practice tolerance and declare peace.  When an older generation does something you think is cool – promote the hell out of it.  When they screw up, be patient and explain why they offended you.  It’s very easy (and really fun) to write a snarky comment or e-mail in anger, but it’s just going to deepen the chasm between the generations.  Your call.

A lot of millennials are in the same situation she is, I’d like to share my response publicly.

You might not have any work references, but you most certainly have academic references or people who can speak to your character.

You might have a favorite professor (college) or teacher (high school) whose class you excelled in, consistently performed well, and so on.  To this day, my best references come from my favorite marketing professor.  I graduated in 2007.  Think about teammates on sports teams you might have been a part of or classmates who worked with you on projects, anyone who can speak well of you and isn’t directly related to you.

If you are still coming up short – find a mentor, volunteer position, open source project, or something else you can work on for a length of time. Pick something interesting – like habitat for humanity or volunteering at a local Better Business Bureau. Over time you will gain someone who can speak as a reference, whether it’s a volunteer co-worker or the coordinator or even the recipient of the volunteer work.

No Work Experience wasn’t always this scary, but the economy that we’re facing at the moment is rife with peril for new entrants. My advice? Do as much networking as you can – get involved on MeetUp with a professional organization, do an Ignite speech – hell, start up an Ignite group if your town doesn’t have one.

Do anything and everything you can – claw for every inch.  Collaborate, connect, and dream – but most importantly, DO SOMETHING.

Today’s Monday millennials is very simple, a list of all the cool millennials that I’ve run into on Twitter who can help you understand the Gen-Y perspective. Each offers their own individual voice, style, focus and perspective. These are all people that I follow as @ImNickArmstrong.

Here they are, in no particular order:

• @MadameTwit
• @EcosphericBlog
• @LEStinson
• @DanSchawbel
• @JeskaEatsBrains
• @BlakeSunshine
• @Modite
• @MarkSettle
• @JRMoreau
• @MissReported
• @JonathanHung
• @JSeavitt
• @BrazenCareerist (new as of 6/21!)

I’m sure I’ve missed some wonderful millennial Tweeps. Please don’t be offended, I’m leaving for South Dakota today! Add to the list via a comment or @ me on Twitter and I’ll add you and yours to the list ASAP!