Quickly, Before it Evaporates

Since last I blogged, I gave birth.  My kid's 15 months old now.  I spent the last 4 months of pregnancy and the first 10 months of my daughter's life with no energy to do anything.

Then, I started playing rugby.  That was better, and once I'd started to do that I found do other things as well.

Today, I woke up at 5:45.  My dawn alarm clock keeps losing time, and I need to fix it.

Instead of rolling over, I got up and made muffins.  While they were in the oven, I dragged one of my boys out to the little green space two blocks from my house, for company, and ran sprints:  Google maps suggests each is 240 feet; I measure them in lightpoles (and of those, I ran six sets of two lightpoles). It isn't much, but I sweat.  I couldn't do it four months ago.

When I got back, my other boy had taken the muffins out of the oven.  (He had crawled back into bed.  He loves his sleep.)

Muffins. They have blueberries in.

 

 

 

 

Tonight, I re-read The Phantom Tollbooth.  New books still seem too hard, like I'll risk too many emotions.  I take the little victories.

I've been ruled by fear for too long.  I can't say fear won't rule me again, but for now, there are muffins.

Wish List for Job Postings

Recently, I've found out that "entry level" jobs can require more than three years of relevant experience. This baffles me, so I hopped on the Internet to learn more. I follow the Ask A Manager blog in an attempt to keep a sense of perspective and learn more about professional conduct, and in this post, Ms. Green recommends a book called Why Good People Can't Get Jobs by Peter Cappelli. The Kindle version was under six dollars, so I decided to pick it up. It made me feel a great deal better about my job search and helped me articulate some things that hurt both employers and candidates.

Based on this and some of my more recent job-search failures, I have developed a wish list for employers-- stuff that would make my life easier and might help out HR at the companies to which I've applied, too.

1. If you're going to kick out my resume based on a hard-coded binary decision, do so before I spend 45 minutes filling out your application.
   
   Ms. Green suggests that Dr. Cappelli overstates how often this happens, but I know that it's happened to me at least once after filling out a particularly odious application. Most vexing, and super easy to fix.
   
   Look, you can even copy and paste the following phrase: "We will not consider applicants without ___________."  Just fill in the blank, and I will automatically think better of your company (unless the requirement is ridiculous).
2. When you post "entry level" jobs or positions "for new graduates", make sure you clarify how much experience you require.
   
   I keep running into jobs "for new graduates" that require more than three years of experience. I realize there are a few people out there who worked between high school and college in professional roles and a few more who have gone back to school to change careers, but the pool of people in this boat can't be THAT big. Still, over the past week, I have started applying to at least three different "entry-level" jobs that list minimum experience levels ranging from three to seven years before cottoning on and either (a) abandoning application (for the one that required 5-10 years) or (b) applying anyway (for the one that specified a 3-year minimum).
   
3. The more searchable you make the job listings, the better I can determine which positions fit me well.
   
   Right now, as a recent graduate, I don't really live anywhere and I'm somewhat open to relocation. While "four hours away from anywhere else" doesn't work for me*, there are a lot of places I will move to at my own expense. I'm more interested in finding a position where I can make an impact and build value-- but I can't search positions based on skills and qualifications.
4. Similarly, the more detail you include in a job listing, the more productively everyone can use time.
   
   If you're looking for a mechanical engineer whose core responsibilities will be determining price and dimensions for gas furnaces, please say so-- I won't apply, mistakenly thinking that you're looking for a mathematician with some business sense, and you won't waste your time interviewing me. Meanwhile, bonus points to employers who list core requirements and then rank nice-to-have qualifications based on how important they find them.
5. Don't store passwords in plaintext.
   
   Just don't.

If anyone has any good workarounds for any of these, I'd love to hear them.

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*Where will K find a job if you are the only employer in a two-hour radius? Alternately, will you pay me enough to make up for his lost income?

Some Books for Children

Books!  I love books.  My mother is fond of telling the story of the time in third grade when the teacher asked us what we'd like to be when we grew up. Lots of doctors, astronauts, police, fire fighters.

I wanted to invent a book you could read in the bathtub*.

Today I found a list of a bunch of books to read to children under 10 via Offbeat Mom. It hits some notes I might not hit myself, which is neat, because I read tons and tons of books in my youth, and there are new books on there.  NEW BOOKS. I love new books**.


The comments add, among books, favorites like Susan Cooper (The Dark is Rising), Ms. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH, Antoine de Saint-Exupery's The Little Prince, Lloyd Alexander's Prydain series, "My Father's Dragon", and Diana Wynne Jones.  Maybe not all of these for the before-ten set! But that probably depends on the child in question.  The Offbeat Mama post adds Tamora Pierce and Patricia Wrede's "Dealing with Dragons". I'd personally add Daniel Pinkwater and Diane Duane's "So You Want to Be A Wizard".

In conclusion, I can't wait to be in a semi-permanent home so I can begin the Scouring of the Used Book Stores for All the Books.  And then, I won't be able to wait until I have children, so I can read them All the Books.

On a related note, does anyone have any tips on how to dust books and bookshelves?
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*Current solution: Kindle in a plastic Ziploc bag.
**Anyone have recommendations? I may be in a place where I can get a library card soon!