One of the most frightening aspects of being laid off is wondering how you’ll stack up against other people looking for a job. Times have changed, and a lot of positions require more technical skills than you might be used to.

When PsPrint Facebook fan Lori lost her job as an editor, she cathartically took her pen to paper to create a comic strip whose name expresses her disdain for her situation (warning: adult language, to put it mildly). The latest in the series shows her frustration over being interviewed by a publishing company that expects her to know PowerPoint. Lori has been proactive, though. She has years of writing and editing experience, so she needs a job more than she needs another degree. That quest led Lori to lynda.com, which provides online software training for a monthly subscription charge. To make her $25 per month worthwhile, Lori takes as many classes as possible for programs such as Dreamweaver and Photoshop. Her continuing education is evident in the technical progression of her cartoons.

In my opinion, when it comes to graphic design and so many other creative careers, your portfolio should matter more than your education. Designer and blogger David Airey recently compiled a list of complaints about graphic design schools, such as, “What we lacked was web design teaching. It’s a big part of the demand would have been a major plus.”

If you’re past the traditional college age of early 20s, now might be the time to fill in the holes in your technical expertise, and online classes are an affordable option for people who are pressed for time. Check out PsPrint blogger Valerie’s list of individualized design courses.

How have you kept yourself relevant in today’s job market?

©2010 PsPrint Blog. All Rights Reserved.

Photoshop alternatives. Graphic designers have been depending on Adobe’s Photoshop for almost 20 years, and while it’s a great product, let’s face it: It’s expensive, it takes up a lot of RAM and it can sometimes just be more than what you need. Often I just want to resize a photo, and that’s where programs such as GIMP and IrfanView come in. They take just a second to open up and do your thing, and they’re often free downloads. Photoshop isn’t going anywhere, but it’s good to have alternatives to Adobe products.

Mousepads. I use a trackball, yet I still love my Lady of Guadalupe mousepad.

Free resources. There was a time just a few years ago when entrepreneurs, telecommuters and freelancers were mostly on their own. If they had questions or wanted to bounce ideas of off others, there weren’t many options. But with the explosion of Twitter, Facebook and other social networks, you can amass a following of people to exchange referrals, thoughts and banter. Sites such as Business.gov and PsPrint.com offer a bunch of resources for small businesses – everything from how to start one to how to market it. No more consulting fees or flying by the seat of your pants!

Travel mugs. Could there be a better invention? It keeps your coffee hot, and it keeps you from buying paper cup after paper cup, only to throw them away.

Aeron chairs. These are downright luxurious. Manufactured by Herman Miller, Aeron chairs are ergonomic and adjustable and provide the perfect lower lumbar support that you didn’t know you craved. The mesh also provides circulation. And the chairs are 94 percent recyclable! I’ve been known to steal these from other cubicles – that’s how much I love ’em.

Newly sharpened pencils. They smell good, there’s a satisfaction to the sharpening process and it means the difference between a fine line and a smudged stroke.

IM. Remember when you used to have to get up to communicate with your co-workers, and they’d be away from their desk, so you’d have to sit down, only to get up and return again? Instant messaging has been slammed for eliminating face-to-face communication, but I love it because I can ask a question of a co-worker without feeling like I’m interrupting, and in fact, I can check in to see if the person is available for some one-on-one time.

Snail mail. An actual, physical thank you card beats a hastily typed e-mail any day.

Mix CDs. They’re faster to make than mix tapes and easier to distribute than MP3 playlists. Plus you can design CD cover art. They make cheap gifts and marketing tools!

Coffee. Or tea or energy shake. The morning ritual is comforting.

Keyboard shortcuts. I’ve been addicted to using the Apple key since I started on computers. There are times I don’t even know how to execute certain commands without them. While designing, it’s often faster than scrolling all over the place, especially as monitors get bigger and bigger.

Cute websites. Surfing for puppies on Cute Overload and lolcats on I Can Has Cheezburger has been my equivalent of counting to 10 many times.

Your turn – what do you love this Valentine’s Day?

©2010 PsPrint Blog. All Rights Reserved.

I haven’t wrangled an invitation yet – I admit I haven’t even tried. I’ve never been an early adopter of technology – I usually wait for the first round of bugs to be fixed before I jump into something new. So here’s what I’ve learned about Google Wave.

A Wave is a combination of a document and instant messaging, and it can include a group of people. Folks can review a document and chime in with their thoughts, editing the doc along the way, and you can include video, photos and graphics. The whole Wave can be saved for later reference. As a business tool, Google Wave could be used for group projects, meetings and brainstorming, whether people are in the same office or off-site. It’s an open source code, so people can even develop their own features to suit their needs.

Google Wave is expected to remain in development through the end of the year. Current users are encouraged to provide Google with reports on their experiences and any bugs they encounter.

The reviews I’ve come across have been all over the place, from, “So confusing! I futzed around with Google Wave for about 30 minutes then gave up,” to “Woot! This is going to be a game changer.” While I like the idea of being able to hold a meeting entirely on a computer with everyone sharing in real time and then saving the whole thing, I can only imagine some companies with their non-tech-savvy staffs spending a lot of time just learning how to navigate Google Wave.

Have you tried out Google Wave? What’s your experience been?

Nerd cred: The name “Wave” was inspired by the short-lived Joss Whedon TV series “Firefly,” in which a wave was an electronic communication. The crash message for Google Wave is, “Curse your sudden but inevitable betrayal,” a “Firefly” quote. That right there might sell me on giving Google Wave a spin. Anyone have an invitation to spare? Shiny!

©2010 PsPrint Blog. All Rights Reserved.

These questions were in the back of my mind as I read two completely different blog posts – one about technology tools that graphic designers can’t live without and one about families that chucked their day-to-day lives and are now traveling the world. Initially, I thought these were different concepts, but once I read deeper, I realized that “getting away from it all” doesn’t necessarily mean leaving technology behind.

The first blog post, from Smashing Magazine, lists the 40 Web development tools that designers can’t do without. They include Fotografix, a portable graphics program that lets you both edit and create images, FileZilla Portable, a PortableApps.com application for FTP, and ToDoList, a portable project management and task list manager. Sense a theme there?

The second blog, from AwayTogether, is subtitled “One Family, One Year, Many Places, No Regrets” and includes an interview with my friends, the Rehm family, about their decision to embark on a road trip in a ’71 VW bus. So many of us think they’re crazy. But they’re armed with a portable DVD player, a netbook and cell phones. They’re constantly on the lookout for Wi-Fi. And they manage to post about their adventures practically daily on their Web site, BodesWell.

Maybe you’ll never be as extreme as those people, but it begs the question: What do you require to keep your business going? If you were stranded in a desert island, what would you need?

My list:

Cell phone (acts as an alarm clock and a camera, too)

MacBook with Wi-Fi (let’s just pretend the island is a hotspot)

Sunscreen (OK, it’s not technology, but still, it is a desert island)

It’s at this point I realize I’m not prepared for my trip to the desert island. My computer isn’t tricked out with the applications I need to go portable. And I accept the inevitable – I’m pretty darn comfortable at a desk.

©2010 PsPrint Blog. All Rights Reserved.