Making the best of your time between jobs.

Andrew Lisy Male New York, NY United States: Share; Share on Twitter; Share on Facebook

Blog Posts (15)
Discussions (33)
Events
Groups (10)

Andrew Lisy's Apps

Andrew Lisy's Friends

View All

Andrew Lisy's Groups

Marketing

18 members
Technology

19 members

Entrepreneurs

8 members
San Francisco

3 members

Chicago

9 members

View All

Andrew Lisy's Discussions

Interview Tips

Started May. 3, 2009

Who do you know that can help you out?

Started Apr. 19, 2009

What to do with your 401k?
2 Replies

Started this discussion. Last reply by Vicky H Apr. 2, 2009.

View All

The Hub

Gifts Received

Andrew Lisy has not received any gifts yet

Give Andrew Lisy a Gift

Latest Activity

Profile Information

Personal Website, Blog, or LinkedIn Page

http://blog.ajlisy.com

What you wish to get out of this site

Build your online identity/recognition, Network with others in your area, See what others are doing, Find interesting things to do while I have time off

Job/Skillset Industry

Engineering, Entrepreneurship, Finance

Past Work Experience

- Convertible bond trading at Merrill Lynch in New York

Educational Background

- BA in Electrical Engineering/Computer Science from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (2007)
- BA in Management from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (2007)

Plans Going Forward? (Start looking immediately, travel, move industries, etc)

I plan to passively look for jobs and travel for the next few months. Beginning around June 2009, I will start looking more intensively at jobs, primarily around the Chicago area.

About Me

I recently got laid off from my job at Merrill Lynch in convertible bond trading in New York. I have a technical background, and had some trouble finding websites that brought together people between jobs, so I created Free Agents.

From here, I am looking across a spectrum of industries, from finance to alternative energy. On the financial side, I am interested in small shops that are focused on technical trading strategies such as high frequency trading and statistical arbitrage. On the non-finance side, I am interested in internet marketing, environmental careers such as alternative energy, and technology consulting. One of my primary goals with the time I have between jobs is to figure out what is most attractive going forward in order to focus my job search.

Andrew Lisy's Blog

Forget Job Boards

Job boards are a waste of time. In this job climate, any job that has made it to a public posting will be so overrun with applicants that not even the best-qualified person has much of a chance. The problem is with numbers -- when an HR person gets 300 resumes for a position, he or she just can't sift through them all in truly efficient manner, so ultimately it's almost random who makes it to the "finals".

What works then? I've said it before, but personal or quasi-personal relationships are by… Continue

Posted on May 25, 2009 at 11:27pm — 1 Comment

Don't try to fake it!

I had an interview today for a position that typically hires people with 5-10 years experience in this specific area. I have no experience in this exact area, and just under 2 years of experience in a related area. Needless to say, it made the interview very interesting when the person I was speaking to was telling me this.

Two ways to go from here: 1) try to "fake it" and pretend that the related experience that I do have is more relevant than it really is, or 2) just tell them flat out "I hav… Continue

Posted on April 17, 2009 at 3:12am — 1 Comment

Looking for a job? Don't keep it a secret!

By far the best way to find a job is running into someone that is looking to hire a person like you. You never know when this is going to happen -- maybe you're talking on the phone with a college buddy who mentioned that his firm is looking to expand, or perhaps you sit next to someone on the train that wants to add someone with your exact credentials.

There are many distinct advantages to the "casual run-in" over more formal jobseeking efforts like sending out resumes and directly applying. F… Continue

Posted on March 31, 2009 at 10:43am — 2 Comments

Bull market for volunteering!

Wow -- I went to sign up for a few volunteer events today at nycares.org, and its pretty clear that times are good for the volunteer market. Virtually every category had at least a 1-2 week wait before you could get involved in a project, and some were even worse.

- If you want to feed the hungry in Manhattan, they're all booked up until mid April.
- Working with children in Manhattan? A few projects a week out, most farther
- Senior citizens? Two weeks minimum

Its great to see that the recess… Continue

Posted on March 23, 2009 at 1:00am —

Using Twitter to Find a Job

One cool thing about Twitter is that there is an infinite amount of applications that can be created just by scanning Twitter posts. Since its a sort of "stream of consciousness" for the world, applications that filter Twitter posts, or "Tweets" can present some pretty neat information.

Enter TwitterJobSearch. Its a Twitter search engine optimized for searching posts that are advertising for jobs. Its pretty cool -- a search for "hedge fund chicago… Continue

Posted on March 18, 2009 at 1:56pm —

Comment Wall (15 comments)

You need to be a member of The Free Agents to add comments!

Join The Free Agents

At 11:47pm on May 28, 2009, Vicky H said…: Unfortunately no such luck but the past month I took advantage of the opporutnity of taking a Project Management course at Stony Brook. I am hoping it leads to something. I been just making network connections and asking if they can give me a reference for when the time comes.

If you need anything, feel free to shout my way :)

At 10:28pm on May 28, 2009, Vicky H said…: Congratulations on the new job, I wish you much success...

At 8:27pm on April 7, 2009, Lori Curley said…: Andrew -
I have done a little work promoting a site. Maybe you could post a video about your site on www.eCorpTV.com . It is trying to become a professional YouTube. Of course, it is free to use.

At 5:27pm on April 7, 2009, Lori Curley said…: Andrew:
I am not a nitpicker or a hair splitter. You can use your "that" anyway you see
fit. And your "who" too. Thanks for keeping me entertained this week.
I will try to find a photo. But I disagree about the resume tweaking - what I want to do is improve writing simply by paying attention to it. I arrive at a firm and review any day's file of email - Presto! The spelling improves; grammar rules are considered. Lori

At 12:28pm on April 7, 2009, Lori Curley said…: Andrew - Notice how many of your members are making this "who" vs "that" mistake. It is incredible - all very smart young professionals!

Lori

PS I am interested in editing your site, blog, anything.

At 12:26pm on April 7, 2009, Lori Curley said…: Andrew:
Thanks for your email - I am happy you learned to use "who" so quickly. Here's my latest venture:
Assuming most financial types avoided writing classes in college, and assuming these same people might need a refresher course on some of the basics (like "who" vs 'that"), and assuming they do NOT want to sit through a full day seminar - I review a sample of their writing, score it, then leave them specific tips and rules. Painless. I can work on-site and review as many as 25 employees in one day for less than it costs to send all 25 to a seminar.
Let me know what you think.

Lori U.

At 12:27pm on April 6, 2009, Joe Molitoris said…: Andrew,

Congrats. on the excellent web site. Some years ago I went to MIT also. You might think of making your web site into a business. Let me know if I can help in this regard.

Sincerely,

Joe

At 7:22am on April 2, 2009, Emily Valentine said…: Hi Andrew-I came across your sight through the article one MSNBC (I believe). My first thought was, why I didn't I think of this!? I was especially drawn because it said you were 24. I'm 25 and I don't know anyone else around my age that has lost their job, all of my friends are very fortunate to still be employed, but it makes this situation a bit lonely for me at times.
And I would def love to contribute writing pieces sometime:)

Emily

At 3:01pm on April 1, 2009, Paul Blakeney said…: Hi Andrew, thanks for the comments. My last job took me to North Carolina. I worked for a company named Black & Veatch there under their power delivery group. I started as an electrical design engineer designing high voltage substations responsible for the electrical physical layout and some protection and control schemes. I was laidoff in February and had to move back to Fort Worth until I can find something in hopefully Austin or San Antonio. I have not really had a chance yet to explore Fort Worth yet though, like you said, it is crazy out here!

At 12:55pm on March 28, 2009, Cheryl Richter said…: Hi Andrew, to answer your question about what I read to keep up with the latest marketing techniques, I tend to rely on the legitimate journalist/b-to-b trades...blogs from legit sources like MarketingProfs, MediaPost, Chief Marketer, B2B Media, etc... blogs by pros are great, but I find without the journalism part it's opinion only and they can often be too basic...