Some Hope and Advice on the career front

I am in the process of revamping my resume, you know jazz it up a bit. Not because I know where I want to go, I just know that I don’t want to stay.  Moral abuse and under-appreciation  can be fun for so long.  So I need to go somewhere where I learn something new, try something new and something that will allow me to be more creative. In a nutshell I just need to move on, but in order to do that I have to get interviews and to get interviews I have to have a resume that screams “Pick me, I’m Awesome!”

After several revisions, submissions and rejections, I decide to seek out professional help. Time to hit up the big guns and set up a meeting with one of the big bosses at my current job. Basically, I wanted to know how to make my resume better – “more desirable.” I handed over the 800th version of my resume and demanded to know “What’s wrong with me?”

After the boss finished aughing, she told me that I have to be more descriptive. She said to write a short paragraph under each job  title because the title alone can mean very different things in different places. She said as an employer, I want to know what you know in plain english. She said things like “Coordinated information between x,y and z” tells her nothing. What does that mean? You coordinate what? How? You can’t assume that very employer will know what you are talking about.

I even asked her about my demeanor - did I need change something?  What about face scares people? She told nothing  (Thank goodness) but she went on to say the market is tough but I have to keep trying, stay confident and positive. I walked out of her office repeating some-sort of Bridget Jones manta like “I’m a confident, independent, positive and desirable business woman.”

Let’s hope her advice pays off or that I hit the lotto, whatever happens first.

P.S.: According to CNN at least soem people are getting jobs…http://money.cnn.com/galleries/2009/news/0912/gallery.class_of_2009_jobs/index.html

[Via http://dooverdiet.com]

Jesus first * Others second * Yourself last (suck it old lady)

i typed up this post after my exciting bus ride across huntsville to get to the MHC the day my net connection flat lined.

8hrs!  that’s how many hours of my day a 30min appt took.>_<  & that isn’t counting the our i spent at the library.  i had a 12:30pm appt at MHC & had to ride the bus.  it took me 3 buses to get there & of course the same 3 to get back, and they all run on an hourly cycle.

i left the house at 9:2?am & got back about 6:10pm.  i had to wait just a few mins for the first bus this morning but i’m one of the first stops so i had to ride it all over town to get to the transfer station.  i was hungry but there is nothing near the transfer station & only a soda machine, no snacks.  which doesn’t make sense, but neither does the fact that the bathrooms are outside.  i don’t get that.  they are built into the indoor waiting area, and it seems like it would have been just as easy to put the doors inside the building as outside, but whatever.  i then had a 45min layover for the 2nd bus, then a 30min layover for the third.  thankfully, the third layover was at a mall with build-a-bear, so i went in & got an appl & some free food court samples on the way there & had lunch on the way back.

i got there 30mins early for my appt.  i thought it was an hour appt, & by the time i realized it ended at 1pm, not 1:30pm, i had pissed around a few mins & missed the bus by 1min.  fudge!  i had to wait for an hour for the next one, but i got some work done devoloping my next few chapters some more.  on the way back i had the 30min mall stop, then to the library for an hour, where i put in my appl for the temp clerk position (cross your fingers!), then from the library i waited a few mins for the bus (i got there in plenty of time, & it ran 5mins late:~p), & since the library was it’s first stop, i had to ride it around town, but it was on a relatively short loop, hurray!  i noticed on the schedule we were scheduled to arrive at the transfer station just 3mins after the next, & final, bus i needed was scheduled to depart, so 3mins before the other bus was supposed to leave we were almost back to the transfer station.  i had heard a few drivers calling other buses to let them know they were coming in & had a passenger who wanted to catch their bus, and ask them to wait, so i decided to do the same.  sadly, the driver told me that bus had already left (@ 4:45pm! that’s 3mins early!).  when we got to the station, i checked my cell by the big clock outside where the buses park, which also tells the temp btw, just so you know, & they were the same.  that bus driver deserted me!!  so i had to sit for another hour waiting on the next one.  then i was glad to be one of the first stops & when i got off it was dark & cold, & i walked a half mile to the house.

my day is in now way improved by the fact that i’ve lost my net connection for some reason.  all i know, is i had an update with an auto restart sometime this morning while i was sleeping, and when i woke up the computer seemed hung betweeon off and on.  the tower power light was on, but i couldn’t wake it.  so i went for the hard reboot & my tower started screaming at me!  i had know idea what was happening.  they speakers weren’t even on, so it was coming from the unit itself.  it didn’t even stop when i pulled the power.  i ended up unplugging everything from it & even flipping the surge protector.  it eventually stopped by i have no more idea why it stopped than i did why it started, though it did stop when i unplugged the last cords from it, which were the USBs, mouse & wireless network adapter thing.  so maybe it has something to do with why my net is now out?  or maybe i got some security/firewall update that doesn’t mesh with the settings.  all i know is my tower sounded like it was either on fire or i was trying to steal it, or both at the same time.  but it was not hot, no smoking or smells.  i don’t know.  it works fine now though other than no net access.  i’m hoping it will right itself.  if not, i’ll deal with it when i’m back from TD09.  tonight, i’m too tired to care, & it likely means dealing with e.  & this would not be the first time he’s cut my access to the network for some petty reason.

ok, i’m done.  i came in & typed this up in notepad just so i could truly capture my mood and thoughts at the time.  i knew you would all want the fresh perspective.

[Via http://nothingisalone.wordpress.com]

Job’s Prosperity

What word comes to mind when you think of the life of Job? Trial. Affliction. Suffering. Endurance. Patience. But what about prosperity? The beginning and the conclusion of the book point us to this conclusion about Job’s life. Note the chiastic introduction and conclusion to the book:

A – Job’s prosperous life (1:1)
B – Job’s prosperous family (1:2)
C – Job’s prosperous wealth (1:3)
D – Job’s priestly mediation for his family (1:4–5)
‘D – Job’s priestly mediation for his friends (42:7¬–9)
‘C – Job’s abundantly prosperous wealth (42:10–12)
‘B – Job’s abundantly prosperous family (42:13–15)
‘A – Job’s abundantly prosperous life (42:16–17)

And notice the final verse of the book, this sort of epitaph etched on Job’s grave: “Then he died, an old man who had lived a long, full life” (42:17 NLT). Or as James says, “You have heard of Job’s perseverance and have seen what the Lord finally brought about. The Lord is full of compassion and mercy” (James 5:11 NIV). Trials, affliction, suffering, endurance, and patience are all key themes in the book of Job. But we miss something when we fail to see “what the Lord finally brought about.” Which is the OT’s way of saying that God uses trials for our good. To those who love God, affliction is the pathway to blessing.

[Via http://spurgeon.wordpress.com]

Get a haircut and get a real job

There comes a point in ones’ life when you sit back and think – why the fuck am I wasting my time in a place where I am not happy?
Solving this dilemma is not easy let me tell you.
Day after day after day I wake up and think, I wish I didn’t have to go to work.
I want to find the right job. The job where you can’t wait to wake up and go to work the next day. The one where you get to 4 o’clock in the afternoon and you realise, wow, I’m hungry.
Then you realise, shit! It’s because I forgot to have lunch. And let me just put into context how monumental that feeling is.
My day revolves around when and what I will be eating next.
I would even go so far to say the day I forgot to eat lunch and didn’t care was one of the most important of my life.
I had found something that occupied my mind more than food!
Why then, am I not working in radio?

[Via http://bellatron.wordpress.com]

Some at seven

Some at seven, eight or nine
headed to work all in a line

Some do lunch, some will type
some will talk until their ripe

Some will sit, others write checks
some will call with crooked necks

All will watch the cursor blink
deleting thoughts that they might think

Some at four or five o’clock
headed home with the rest of the flock

[Via http://onmulberrystreet.wordpress.com]

Summer Research: $4500, airfare, housing, meals...

The Human Computer Interaction Graduate Program at Iowa State University hosts a summer Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU), sponsored by the National Science Foundation. 

This is a ten week internship where students take short courses in HCI and work in interdisciplinary teams on research projects.  Their research is presented at the ISU Summer Research Symposium at the end of the program.

• Round-trip airfare, housing and meals are provided, as well as a $4500 stipend.
• The application deadline is February 19, 2010.   APPLY ONLINE!
• More information about this program can be found at http://www.hci.iastate.edu/REU/

Women and underrepresented minority students are highly encouraged to apply.

Any Questions:
    Pam Shill, Program Coordinator
    Human Computer Interaction Graduate Program
    1638A Howe Hall, Iowa State University, Ames, IA  50011
    Email:  pshill@iastate.edu, Telephone:  515-294-2089
    www.hci.iastate.edu

[Via http://cstamuccnews.wordpress.com]

Personal Branding & Being Found on Google

Whether you’re searching for a job (like me) or just trying to make a good name for your self in your industry, it is important to be able to brand yourself. For the past year, I’ve worked to have an active presence on the web to be found by employers and recruiters and to have the ‘real me’ show up when I’m searched in Google.

There is more to the strategy, though, than just searching “Jessica Owens.” I wanted to be found with the most results on a search that would be most likely to be searched by employers. Although, it is unlikely that I can land even half of the top ten listings when searching “Jessica Owens.” I manually tested different terms and took a mental note on what sites showed up and what key words worked the best. It’s best to try to own all of the complicated searches before I can start really owning all of the results for “Jessica Owens.” Some of my searches include

• “Jessica Owens” Northwood University
• “Jessica Owens” Dow Chemical
• “Jessica Owens” Social Media
• “Jessica L Owens”
• “Jessica Owens” Marketing

As I registered my name on sites for a profile, I learned that “Jessica L. Owens” was a little bit more specific and it would be less likely for “the real me” to get confused with another Jessica Owens. I registered my blog to be http://JessicaLOwens.com and made sure the title was related to my career or linked with my name specifically (I’ve changed it a couple of times to see what works best). I also changed my resume to title “Jessica L. Owens” in hopes that someone searching might use that as a search term verses “Jessica Owens” or could at least distinguish which results might not be mine if something shows up as “Jessica A. Owens.”

I’ve found that by just adding my middle initial, it is more likely for my work to be found. And of course, all of my profiles are linked to each other or linked to my work, so people looking for me, will see things that I want them to see, not what other people have posted, or about things that are not related to me.

Look at the difference between these two searches…

“Jessica L Owens”

Almost all of the top findings are actually something that I produced or links to something that I’ve produced.

“Jessica Owens”

Not a single result is the “real” me. There is a Google Profile listing at the very bottom that doesn’t show up on this screen shot that is actually my profile with my photo in the search result. Unfortunately, if you are a potential employer, and have never met me, you might not know that it is actually my profile.

My other, more specific searches that I’ve already mentioned do show some content that is about half true and half random. It’s a work in progress and for me, it’s a continuous learning process.

This is valuable practice for those who need to be found or want to differentiate themselves from others. Make your name or title unique to others and set yourself apart. Try using a middle initial, or a specific title while having an online presence on websites and profile networks. It will advance your online results for your name (or product/topic) much more quickly.

[Via http://jessicalowens.com]