Job Listing Sites, plus Call Outs for Art Submissions, Articles

Pablo Serrano's "Visiones Nuevas" Mural in Pilsen, Chicago; seeing it being painted is a fond memory of my first few months in Chicago.

So for the last few weeks, employment has been a big topic amongst my friends and colleagues. Folks unhappy with their jobs, job openings, and people looking for jobs or a new career. I also have been reminiscing on my now one-year time here in Chicago, especially those first four months of looking for a job. As a veterano of the job-searching scene, I wanted to pass on some helpful sites that may help those unemployed or those interested in a new opportunity in the arts.

Idealist:  The most well known of all. Great search tools to narrow down the position you are seeking. They also have a blog, which recently posted some great tips on how to maximize your job search activities, including organizing templates, and using RSS feeds to eliminate the need to search the same website everyday.

Chicago Artists Resource: I hope this website is more known to you than Idealist. A very well-rounded site that not only lists any and all arts-related job postings, but also lists events and grant opportunities.

League of Chicago Theatres: This may be narrowing it down a bit too much for you all not interested in theater, but hey, I had a business degree and somehow ended up working 7 years for a theater company. Worth a look.

NPO.net: A great no-frills job search site focusing strictly on Illinois/Chicagoland openings in the non-profit sector. Mostly social-service listings, but occasional arts-related positions go up. Where I found the job I eventually got!

University Websites: Searching local university websites are a gold mine for listings and opportunities. It seems many of these schools rarely use job search engines/sites, or don't post all their listings elsewhere. As I am writing this blog, I just got emailed two arts-related job openings at the University of Chicago, a Community-Arts Partnership Manager and Assistant for Arts and Events Management. 

Emerging Leader Groups: I have posted links to their sites before, but wanted to again recommend people join the Young Non-Profit Professionals Network (YNPN) and the Chicago Emerging Leaders’ Network on facebook. Both regularly email and post job-listings and many more related articles.

Another strategy is to be very vocal about your job search. Don’t be embarrassed to tell your friends or even new people about your search, it’s a great way to recruit additional look-outs for you. Networking events are a great way to accomplish this—if you fear the thought of networking, review this earlier post of mine.

Many of these sites link not only full-time but part-time, temporary, and volunteer positions, so even if you are happy with your job but have an inkling to try something new, it would be worth to check out, both for personal growth and future employment opportunities.

Before I peace out, I wanted to share a news ticker of a few call outs for art submissiona and articles that have come my way and that you might want to read or take advantage of:

Pilsen/Chicago-based Cobalt Studio has issued a call out for submissions for their next exhibit Action Figures! Deadline is September 1…. La Calaca Press has issued a call out for submissions for their International Print Exchange and Exhibition, with the theme of CALACAS. The prints will be exhibited in Oak Park, IL., and travel to Nicaragua and Florida. Deadline is September 15….The Chi-town based Cloud Cakes Project, which brings together artists worldwide to create a coloring book whose ensuing profits will be donated to a deserving individual/organization, has issued a call for submissions. Deadline is September 30…. Clayton Lord, an old colleague from the Bay Area, wrote a great blog post on next-generational “whining”, or the much-talked about tension between the new and veterano generations. Some great thoughts on positive ways to overcome it….another Bay Area colleague, Ebony Mckinney, was a guest blogger on the Americans for the Arts blog, and wrote an engaging article on emerging ideas on the future of the arts, that include ensuring employment in the non-profit field is accessible to all and not an exclusive, privileged, domain.