1:53 a.m. - 2003-01-11
Ghosts
I spent a lot of time reworking my resume yesterday. Two revisions for two different reasons.
First, my supervisor called and wanted considerably more detail added to the updated one I had sent to him about a week ago. Current wisdom is that a resume should be no more than three pages plus a cover letter. Well, I guess that works if you've only been working and volunteering for a few years or if you have only done one or two types of jobs. My interests are kind of eclectic so I'll try anything - so long as it is legal and ethical, and if it's paid work, can pay my bills - once. Another stream of thought goes that one should list skills and abilities but go light on the experience (company names). I haven't been able to figure out how to do that yet since, as someone who does hiring too, some vague statements about nebulous qualities without backup proof won't get you past square one with me. When I hire, I want to know what you have done and I need to know how you deal with stress and challenges - past tense. I give preference to those I have had a chance to observe for a while and I do check references for any workers who I am going to allow any degree of responsibility. Anyway, the resume I finally sent him was eight pages, because he also requested that I include a significant amount of detail about the last two assignments I had with them. It appears, from the requested amendments, that the client has reconsidered their needs and seems to be looking at a broader range of services. Should make the data management company happy if the contract is bigger than first anticipated. Here's hoping it's a go.
The second revision occurred when I decided to apply on-line for a federal government posting. Before the new year, one just had to take one's standard resume and paste it, in text, into the application, then send it. Worked for me, but it seems a lot of people were sending several slightly different resumes for a single posting and clogging up the system. A notice stated that there were nearly .5 million such submissions. As a result of the abuse, they now want a very structured submission where each field has to be individually keyed as they've set it up. It's very time consuming and unwieldy to do even one, so I guess they hope to slow people down that way. They even felt the need to limit each registeree to five variations of their on-file resumes.
Astrologically, the planet Mercury is retrograde right now - in otherwords it appears it is moving back along the path it just travelled. Mercury represents all forms of communication, short journeys, and commerce. A retrograde is sometimes interpreted as the "if it can go wrong it will go wrong" period, but more astute astrologers usually see it as meaning that one will likely have to go over something just completed to amend or improve it - a second chance. It also often can mean people or circumstances out of one's past surfacing in one way or another. So, in addition, to the resumes having to be rewritten I have been contacted by a number of people I haven't seen or talked with for a while.
The most interesting one was an e-mail - an angel tag - that appeared in my inbox from someone whose name I didn't recognize. Turned out my Mom's cousin in Australia had given it to one of his nieces who had recently remarried. I had been trying to find a way to contact her without success, so it was a nice surprise. She sent pics of her new family including baby number 3 who is only one month old. She wanted to know if I had e-mail addresses for the rest of the family so I posted those back. Her new hubby is in the Canadian military and is waiting to be posted overseas, so I think she might need all the emotional support we can give her.
Three people I have worked with in various jobs in the past few years also contacted me out of the blue in different ways, so unlike a lot of people I am enjoying this retrograde period. Mercury will start moving forward on the 22 of January for those not having such good results with the "ghosts" of past actions and relations.
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