As most of you know, I've been trying to find a new work contract or job position since January. It has not been an easy task and, to be perfectly honest, I've failed miserably. In the nearly 40 years that I've worked, starting as a 15-year-old working weekends in a sailing shop, up until now, I've never really had a problem finding qualified work. There were even times that I had a choice of jobs.Mostly, each job came with new and interesting responsibilities.
Still, there have also been times when economic restrictions has made it necessary to look for the same job, but with another company. What I call changing desks, or geography, but not jobs. Times when company hiring philosophies were so conservative that HR officers were taking no risks when filling free positions and thus, giving no one the opportunity to come into the positions with enthusiasm, naivity, and a willingness to try out new ideas.
These last months have been particularly discouraging because those job opportunities that I have applied to, where I covered the job profile 150%, have come and gone without even being invited to an interview. This is the first time that this has happened to me in my life. It is hard not to take this personally. Well meant platitudes from friends and family do not sooth the hurt of feeling unwanted and unnecessary. It is surprising how much of my indenity is based on my ability to work and receive a salary.
After much contemplation, I've decided to become self-employed (training and project management). The German employment agency offers a substantial training program and financial package towards acheiving this goal. So, it could be that this blog will have various posts about this new branch on my journey. I'm feeling a bit uncomfortable about doing this, having always wanted to keep a clear distinction between my "real" self and this blog. Yet, honestly, I do know most of you guys who read my posts, so I am not so sure why I am reticent.
What are your feelings about this topic? Do you have inner guidelines in your blogs? Does it interest you at all to know what other bloggers do for a living? Should I keep to the old format?
First the question: We are going far down into Mexico. It was the least expensive alternative that got us out of town in style. LaPaz...all those places we have never seen. If they are still shooting at each other, I'll get off the ship. Maybe I will pick up a new piece of art too. :)
ReplyDeleteBlogging restrictions: In my Blogspot blog, I copy and paste from my Open Diary blog then edit to fit the space and for length. There the rules are that everyone remain anonymous in OD. I work around that with pictures. When my techie skills with newspaper graphics got behind the curve, I took the first part time, hourly job that appeared on my radar. For years I was a security guard with the two sports teams in our area....baseball and football. When my hip went, I went. Anyone could figure out what I did from my images.
This job gave me time to learn how to semi use Photoshop as well as my new camera. And in the end, I was able to take my camera to work every day. There were some great shots from this experience.
Open Diary is a "social networking" site. I didn't know this when I joined. I picked it because the programming seemed simple, I could turn off the WYSIWYG editor....my computer at the time hated editors, and I could post pictures.
When I moved my blog to Blogspot as a mirror site, at first I used it intact from OD. Where I discovered that OD readers read everything, instead Blogspot readers wanted entries short and sweet. You still know most of the details of my life....just the truncated version.
Personally I am interested in what people do. Jobs help show me the whole person. I show photos of my home, the beach, the Point, my interests....et al. The blog is me.
There you go, ranting is me this morning. Hugs.....
i say post away, think it would be really interesting to come along on the journey, your loyal blog readers (and family!) might be able to help you, you them on what you discover along the way.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Kim! I am always interested in reading about the journey and who knows what might come of it...
ReplyDeleteAnother voice saying yes. Please share your journey, to the extent you are comfortable doing so...
ReplyDeleteI keep some parts of my life away from my blogging - I tend not to mention my kids by name, so that they don't have my stories attached to them by search engines. Anyone who wanders around on my site can figure out the name of the school where I teach, but I don't usually talk about it, so that I don't have to worry about whether I am crossing any lines with regard to privacy.
That said, last year I started a second blog to talk about ideas, links, my own creative process, my learning and some of my teaching. My sketchblog has its own identity and focus, and it seemed easier to start a second space for the other ideas. But both exist on the same website, and I link back and forth between them.
I look forward to learning more about your changing work. Thanks for asking, and thanks for sharing all you have.
I'm far more interested in personal stories than anything else, and that means I'd love to hear more about your work life and such. I find it hard to keep parts of me separate from each other. Of course I have to do it but I'm quite open.
ReplyDeleteI know that my blog is too diverse, and common knowledge would tell me to divide it up into several: a mommy blog, a self-help blog, a personal blog, a knitting and spinning blog, a music and art blog, and a podcast blog.
But that would mean that updates would be less frequent than they are, and no one is forced to read anything. So I decided to just be mostly myself on the blog as in real life.
I've been wondering about your job situation anyways, and would like to hear more.
This is your blog - so you should write about exactly what you want!!
ReplyDeleteI don't blog much about work or private things - because private is private, and because lots of people at work read my blog - including my boss. Plus we have lots of secrecy agreements in place so I can't really say anything specific. And thirdly, my blog is for relaxation, about finding the small beauties of life - and they don't usually get found in my scripts or computer screen at the office...
I don't know how it works where you are, but in the U.S., it's not ever a good idea to write about work in any possible identifiable way as to company names, people names or anything that would help others identify those - whether it is an employer or a client.
ReplyDeleteMore and more here, potential employers and clients check out prospective employees online and who knows what might put them off. You can write in the most general way about what's going on.
But then, you know better how business operates where you are.
Liebe Lia, ich bin einfach zu müde, um auf Englisch zu antworten. Im Red Tent hatte ich auch nicht so sehr zwischen mir und mir getrennt - weißt Du noch? Europa in Brüssel, z.B. Im übrigen geht es Dir so wie ganz vielen über 50jährigen hier in Deutschland. Ich kenne etliche Leute, die sich jetzt selbständig machen (mangels Alternativen) - und die es schwer haben. Alles Liebe, Christine
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