Cityfile: New York's Most Notable and Influential

Unemployment Just Got a Little Less Miserable | There's a little good news today if you happen to be jobless. The House voted to give an additional 20 weeks of unemployment benefits to people who are out of work, and the bill is now headed to the White House for President Obama's signature. [NYT]

Wall Streeters can expect to see annual bonuses jump 40 percent this year. But working for a bank requires you to wear a suit, sit behind a desk all day, and perform tasks that are often exceptionally boring. Why not become a stagehand at Carnegie Hall instead? You can show up in jeans, you'll get plenty of exercise, and while you won't make quite as much money, you'll sure come close! More

Hedge Fund Formation For Dummies | Having some difficulty landing a job? Maybe you should consider starting your very own hedge fund! Contrary to conventional wisdom, it's a pretty good time to get started. And Business Insider has assembled a step-by-step guide to make the process that much easier. Just be sure to pick an appropriate name for your new fund—try to avoid words or historical events ("Ground Zero," "Auschwitz") that might conjure up negative thoughts, if at all possible—and you'll be good to go. [Business Insider]

Goldman Sachs Wins Again | Despite the drama of the past few months (and Matt Taibbi's best efforts), Goldman Sachs' reputation doesn't appear to have been damaged much—at least as far as job seekers are concerned. According to Vault.com—and for the 11th year in a row—Goldman was named the most prestigious banking firm to work for. [Crain's]

America's Only Growth Industry | Are you out of work? Maybe you should consider dealing a little pot to get by. Thousands of Americans are now doing it to make ends meet, according to the AP, which reports that "demand for domestically grown marijuana is at a record high, in part because stricter border control has made it more difficult to import pot from Mexico." The economy isn't putting a damper on sales; on the contrary, "demand appears to be rising with the unemployment rate." Which makes perfect sense. What else are you going to do when you're unemployed and sitting on your couch watching TV all day? [AP via Daily Finance]

You may have been thinking the fact that you were laid off recently gave you a pretty good excuse to sleep in a little bit late, occasionally spend the mornings in your pajamas, and maybe even go an entire day without showering. How wrong you were! As the Wall Street Journal's Christina Binkley explains it, you'll need to get up earlier, dress better, and possibly take remedial English classes, too:More

If you recently lost your art or design-related job, the folks at Time Out New York has some extremely useful advice to share with you about transitioning to a new field. Instead of doing something that actually involves a small measure of creativity on your part, how about becoming a "corporate presentation specialist" and taking a job with a bank, so you can spend your days designing PowerPoint presentations for ungrateful investment bankers? Sounds like fun, doesn't it? (And pay no mind to the fact that many banks now outsource this task to people in India who make $2 an hour.) More

Willingness to get very, very close to your subjects a plus, too. [Mediabistro]

Masochist Wanted | Who said jobs in the entertainment business are scarce these days? Bob Weinstein, Harvey Weinstein's slightly less volatile brother, is hiring a new assistant. And it sounds like a total blast: "This is a 24/7 job; you will be the only assistant to this executive. You must be available on nights and weekends, and expect to spend long hours in the office." [Gawker]

Gridlock Spreads From Albany to NYC | If you're currently job hunting and you figured that if all else fails you could always end up working for the city, you may need to come up with a new backup plan. The stalemate in Albany has led Mayor Bloomberg to resort to "drastic measures" and impose a city-wide hiring freeze. The move has already led to the postponement of tomorrow's graduation of 250 NYPD recruits, and a long list of other hires will now be put off, including the recruitment of 150 firefighters and 34 emergency 911 operators. It also means 151 traffic agents won't get hired anytime soon, although we're guessing car owners won't be complaining very much about that. [WCBS]

James Bond With an MBA | Last month the CIA revealed it was looking for laid-off Wall Streeters to join its ranks, part of an effort to find people with backgrounds in "economics and financial services to help assess overseas economies and to track down illicit money used to finance terrorist activities." Investment Dealers' Digest has a long article on the subject and has interviews with a bunch of people who made the jump. The good news: It turns out the hours are much better compared to Wall Street. The bad? With salaries ranging from $48,682 to $95,026 a year, even first-year investment banking analysts take home more. Of course they can't claim they're defending America and saving the world from evil, so you'll have to factor that into the equation somehow. [IDD via Dealbook]

CIA Now Pinning Its Hopes On Unemployed Wall Streeters | It seems the CIA is looking for unemployed investment bankers and hedge fund managers to put their "intelligence" to work for the good of the nation and track down a few terrorists. Want more info? "Private interviews are set for June 22 at a secret Manhattan location. Don't call, the CIA says, just e-mail your information." The email address to submit your resume isn't listed in the Post article, unfortunately. Presumably you try applying using the CIA's online resume submission form. Although if you're going to be expected to nab a bunch of cunning members of Al Qaeda—and save us all from harm in the process—you should probably be able to dig up an email address, shouldn't you? [NYP]

Wall Street looks nothing like it did a year ago, of course, but here's a sign that things may be even more desperate than previously imagined: Some hedge funders are offering to work for free. Why would people accustomed to earning seven-figure annual incomes in the past stoop to this? For one thing, lying to your wife and telling her you have "meetings" to go to and then spending the afternoon playing online poker at a Starbucks in Midtown gets old after awhile. And working for free might just lead to a real job in the future. That's the thinking, at least:More

The Greatest Show, Not the Greatest Gig | In case driving a bus wasn't your thing and you're still looking for a job, please note that Ringling Bros. & Barnum and Bailey Circus is hiring. And you don't even need to wear makeup, put on a silly wig, or taunt tigers either. A job fair is scheduled for next week and the circus is looking to fill 200 ticketing, ushers and maintenance positions for its Coney Island summer run. Applications available for download! [CIDC]

It's rare to hear about an industry that's hiring these days. But today is not one of these days: The MTA is currently hiring bus drivers. It seems the agency instituted a hiring freeze when it looked like the doomsday budget cuts would go into effect. They didn't, of course, which means the MTA is now looking to fill as many as 230 positions. If you worked at Lehman Brothers or Condé Nast until recently, it's unlikely that a bus driver gig is going to  meet your salary expectations. (And judging by this and this, it can be a lot more dangerous, too.) But, hey, it's better than taking your chances with a sandwich board, no? [Urbanite]