This is truly embarrassing. I’ve had the same job for almost two decades. People used to fill out paper applications. You didn’t send email thank yous (tried reading up on this). Your CV/ resumé was what you studied in school (or what crap jobs fed into what you wanted to do).
My Jobs as an Adult are:
- Working for the French Government (1,000 years ago–anybody who knew me then are dead) teaching ESL
- Teaching* Secondary Education (as a permanent substitute, meaning I was ‘the teacher’ all year for several classes, most of which were for at-risk students, again anybody who knew me is dead)
- Where I am now (almost everybody has been made redundant)
At this point, I don’t even know how to figure out what I want. I have done loads of research with government sites meant to help you decide what you want, what fields are growing and what requirements are needed. Come to find out? That’s a bit of a crock. There are not any of those jobs in this region (even the ones they say are in high demand)! Maybe someplace else but it ain’t here! This workshop isn’t meant to help that but it has to help.
Teacher! Teacher!
Since I’m clueless and goodness knows I don’t network unless you count going to the doctor, I’m going back to school. I hope it’ll teach me something useful or at least build my self-esteem to get me looking again!
January 19 Session Objectives:
- Developing clear self-marketing messages using your strengths, accomplishments, experience and education
- Developing an effective accomplishment-based resume
- How to leverage your one month access to XX website, an interactive site using the latest web technology to provide you with resources, connections and tools
- How to use XX: A confidential website to record and replay your interview practice sessions
- 60 minute lunch is on your own
January 26 Session Objectives:
- Resume editing and finalizing; cover letters and correspondence
- How to research your market, create targets and identify decision makers
- The power of networking: Uncovering opportunities through networking and LinkedIn
- Interviewing: Mastering common questions, interview types including competency-based, behavioral interviews
- Tips and tricks of the negotiating process
- 60 minute lunch is on your own
* My degree is not in Education. I haven’t any Teacher’s certification. I was fresh out of uni and applied to the French Government because I heard they were looking for native English speakers. While I always joke that I speak ESL, I’m technically a native speaker. This was not a school program. I did this shite almost on my own.**
** An extremely-kind native French speaker helped me fill out the 24 page application. Jeezoweezo. I told her that it was cheating and she shrugged and said, ‘Everybody there does it.’
You taught ESL?! How cool! I sooo want to do that. Somewhere like Japan. Maybe a Spanish-speaking country. I think it would be awesome. I really should have done it straight out of uni, but I didn’t want to leave the country and end up not being able to go back. (I was waiting for my Canadian work permit.) Blah!
I hope you find the workshop really helpful and it gives you the boost you need for your job hunt!
Since it was on my own, I was regarded as an alien-worker (not in a good way; it’s like Americans speak of Mexicans coming here and ‘stealing our jobs.’ I was told that REGULARLY, ‘You’re stealing a French job.’).
I am, however, glad that I got to live in a foreign country. I didn’t get to travel as I was ‘missing’ student loan payments. I had to save everything I made. Oddly, I made the amount THEN that I do now. That’s HORRIBLE! Oh, but no medical payments because I lived in a country with universal healthcare. Sad. Twenty years ago my quality of life was better (due to society).
If times become desperate -the healthcare field. You are certainly familiar with it.
Well, familiar as a patient! That’s why I really thought PT assistant would be good. I know most people are straight from hs and limited training (I can’t go to be a true PT because I don’t have maths skills required) but I’ve had PT soooo many times that I thought it’d at least be truly satisfying.
No jobs here.
Good on you! I hope the workshop is beneficial. It sounds as though it might give some good advice and hints… though I did laugh at the 60 minute lunch – I think you’re a pro at that!
Well, we get 30minute lunches here. I usually spend 25minutes doing a meditation (to help since I don’t ever sleep much and I can almost totally disconnect from pain when I’m meditating).
This will be SCARY cos I’ll have to network or at least talk to strangers. I can talk to ANYBODY but these are career-y people. Thanks for the nice words.