January
7, 2001
Did i ever mention that i absolutely
detest making a resume? Probably not, since i avoid
doing it as much as possible! There's just something
about writing down one's perceived skills, talents, work
history et al, that smacks of egotism to me.
Even trying to
remember my work history became a chore this time.
First i had to remember when i actually started the
jobs. Which sounds like it would be easy
right? Except most of my employment overlaps each
other, and there are gaps in between when i might have
been babysitting or housekeeping instead. Not
exactly what you want to show when you are trying to
emphasize how much office experience you have.
And what exactly
did i do at these places of employment
anyway? How do you put a description to some of the
stuff - does being a paperclip counter have a job
description?
i got
really good at making the boss's coffee, and fighting with
the photocopier and convincing the guys on shift that they
should stop at the local Tim Horton's and bring me back a
sandwich. What's the title for that?
And sure i've got
the usual list of things - accounts payable and receivable
and payroll and all that - but those skills were learned before
it was common practice to have a computer in the
office. By the time i made it to that level, i'd
stopped doing any accounting and was into dispatching.
None of these
work skills were chosen by me - i didn't go to college
with a master plan of being anything in particular like
most people do - i just kind of fell into some pretty good
jobs. And self-taught myself what i needed to know.
Really quickly. In fact i rarely made a resume because, in
my case at least, the old adage 'not what you know, but
who you know' worked extremely well for me.
1st job - grocery
store (my parents knew the owner)
2nd job -
restaurant (my best friend worked there and got me in)
(Hairdressing
school and a job i actually applied for!)
Married to the
first hubster and a job in a store - (we knew the owner) -
a job in a bank - (we knew the loans officer) - a job
handing out food samples in a grocery store - (don't ever
do this! It is boring to the extreme, but my friend talked
me into it)
i left the first
hubster. We had to sell the house. Our real
estate agent *liked* me (sometimes being female is handy)
and offered me a job in the office as the
bookkeeper/receptionist. A few years later the
office closed and i had a four month break. Well sort
of. i was still working in a bar. (yes i was holding
down two jobs - bills had to be paid!)
One saturday
morning (severely hung over and trying to sleep it off) i
get a phone call from the wife of the furniture mover who
was affiliated with the real estate people. Their
bookkeeper/secretary had just quit. Could i go work
for them?
Five years later,
my best friend's hubster says the secretary/dispatcher
from his office was going on maternity leave - was i
interested in helping out? Instant career change. i
quit the moving company and learned how to dispatch.
This led to working for three different contractors in as
many years and got me deeper into computers.
There's a bunch
more - but i'm beginning to bore myself. i can
honestly say however, that some of the best things i did
were in fact the babysitting and the housekeeping.
Probably because i bonded with the people i was around.
But there are those
other sections of a resume that i detest even more.
Performance Skills. Education. i mean, can
going to grade twelve in a small town high school really
mean anything? i wish i could put a diploma on the
life skills i've learned instead - to me that's a whole
lot more important, when you are out there in the real
world dealing with real people in stressful
situations. i've learned how to deal with a drunk
who's coming after me behind the bar that i'm working in -
handling the CEO after that is a piece of cake. 'Course
you don't usually need to be wielding a crowbar under the
CEO's nose - but the same type of persuasive verbal
weapon is sometimes necessary.
And performance
skills? Well like i said before, i got very good at
making coffee. i even learned to get along with the other
secretaries (and i didn't trust women at all back then! At
least now i'm learning.) So i guess i can keep the
"motivated team player" line.
Did i mention
that i blatantly stole G's performance list? i just
excluded the line about speaking Hebrew. i
figured i can bluff my way through most of it but she's
one up on me in the language department. i think if i'd
not stolen her list though, i'd still be sitting here next
week trying to think of things to include.
i guess i'll
always have a hard time saying positive things about myself.
But why am i making a resume? Because the tenant is
MOVING OUT!
Okay, so i'm marginally excited about this. It's an
opportunity to have more space. (more than the
current 500 sq. ft.)
A
second bathroom.
More of my stuff stored in the basement can now find a
spot to live.
More of Master's paintings and general artwork can be
gracefully displayed.
No
more laundry day wars with the tenant who thinks every day
is hers and why do i have a problem with this?
No
more having to go outside and around the back to the
outside basement stairs in the dead of winter with a load
of laundry to find out the machines aren't available
anyway - even if it is my day.
A
place to leave the table open and the chairs gathered
round in anticipation of company.
A
back door! A bathtub! (yes i'm clean - but we only
have a shower up here)
In
order to enjoy all this however ... i'm back out into the
'real' working world. Possibly only a part time job,
so i'll be able to continue my projects here ... but i am
so positive it will be worth it.
my
only concern is that it not have an adverse affect on
Himself and i and our relationship. We've spent a
year in the cozy nest we have now - and i worry that my
leaving each day and not being here to make His tea and to
keep each other company might somehow damage things.
i
don't know. Perhaps our relationship is strong
enough that this will merely be another adventure to add
to our growing list.
i
do know that the high point of my working day will be
coming home to Him.
Note: i've archived the last year -
see the link "2000"
in the left margin :)
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