I read “Stop Hiring Based Only on Category Experience” today. It was refreshing to read after applying to several jobs over the last day.

While experience certainly plays a large role, I’ve always believed that the tangibles are key qualities. You can’t teach ethics, punctuality, passion for your work, etc. These will keep people around and allow them to adapt to new and unfamiliar situations.

Both in organizations and professionally I’ve worked with great and some not so great individuals. I did not let this hinder my responsibilities, I just learned the best way to adapt to working with the person.

I learned this from a very young age. I would often complain about guys on my baseball, basketball and football teams. Whether it was general dislike or I didn’t accept their poor work ethic, I would speak about this with my dad. He told me, “Son, don’t let it bother you. You’re not going to get along with everyone. You’re going to work with assholes one day so get used to it.” I’ve remembered these words of wisdom in each difficult situation I’ve run across with another person.

I’m really looking forward to my interview with McCann-Erickson Detroit tomorrow. This is a really great opportunity to get back in the industry and keep growing professionally.

I don’t believe Detroit is dead, there is still a lot to learn from this great creative city. I’m also a fan of the advertising community in Detroit, I’ve met a lot of great people by attending Adcraft Club events.

I’m certain I will have a great experience to write about after tomorrow and I’m betting there is also a great ending.

I find it best to take a step back and analyze the situation at hand. A job search can create quite the frustrations.

You’re thinking: I’m clearly qualified… don’t they like me? Then you see who they hired and are completely puzzled.

I started looking at some Jim Valvano (Jimmy V) quotes to remind myself to keep dreaming and keep fighting. Every email I get that begins “We regret to inform you…”, or of that nature is the driving force of my future success. I’d like to frame every rejection email, note, letter, etc. in the corner office someday. A personal tribute to say thank you.

After a brief Twitter poll, I’m off to write a cover letter. This is for an agency I’ve been interested in for a long time.

“To me, there are three things we all should do every day. We should do this every day of our lives. Number one is laugh. You should laugh every day. Number two is think. You should spend some time in thought. And number three is, you should have your emotions moved to tears, could be happiness or joy. But think about it. If you laugh, you think, and you cry, that’s a full day. That’s a heck of a day. You do that seven days a week, you’re going to have something special.” – Jimmy V

I’ve noticed some differences in being an undergrad and being an alumni. There were so many things I took for granted as an undergrad:

Seeing your friends everyday

The electricity of the city during football and basketball season

Sunday morning breakfast with everyone

Meeting great people everyday

Rick’s American Cafe… for better or worse

I enjoy heading to East Lansing for the home football games and just seeing everyone and simply just enjoying the day. A MSU win can usually help that out.

I read a hilarious article today titled “PepsiCo iPhone app draws fire for stereotyping“. The article is about an iPhone app from PepsiCo that assists you with pickup lines and allows you to track these conquests.

If you’re not laughing this post isn’t for you.

The article has some great quotes that made me laugh from start to finish. Of course there is criticism from the public. Don’t we all need a good laugh in awhile?

What makes it such a bad app? It is clearly a form of entertainment that engages the consumer (hmmm doing it’s job?). It isn’t meant to function as a tool such as a GPS. People need to stop being so negative, especially with advertising. Don’t take everything as a personal persecution, learn to laugh at yourself.

“He who never made a mistake never made a discovery.” – Samuel Smiles