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You know when I published my thoughts using the name I'd made up, "DigitalPenny", I felt really good about what I was writing, stating, whether it made sense or not. I feel that something good is about to happen in my life, so I'm not going to sit any longer and just wait. I'm going to enjoy the time that I've been given to be myself. So, I guess I'm back again. Yes, everyone living with me today are enjoying my mood swings too. I think.
I haven't posted in a while, and I haven't felt like posting on a daily basis, although I have thoughts. I'm not seeing any benefits to doing this, so I'm logging out for a while. I don't know when I will return.
Blog...Out...until further notice.
-spiced
So, yesterday I talked about the job. Today I'll say a blurb about how technology has influenced the job market. Technology has taken on an exclusive role. Everything is electronic. Classified ads in the newspaper are not entirely printed in the newspaper (that thing that you touch and feel with your hands; that has that funny printing press/paper smell). I hope that no one who is seeking employment is totally pennyless while looking. If you don't have a computer with internet access at home and an email account, and you are looking to enter the work force as a white collar worker (do people even use that term anymore?), then it is a must that you invest in a computer, get internet access, and establish an emil account. It wouldn't hurt to invest in a printer/scanner/copier/fax machine too. These are the tools of the trade when it comes to hunting for employment.
Classified ads in the newspapers provide an extended announcement and in many cases contact information via a WEB ID (that's what I'm calling it anyway). Some job ads may have a partial description and a FAX number at the end. So, if you want to gain access to any additional information about the position, you have to have access to the internet. This is where your printer/scanner/copier/fax machine will come in handy. If you can print and FAX over a cover letter along with your resume that would be great; that is, if you're all set up at home. If you don't have access to any electronic equipment in you home, you might want to try FEDEX/Kinkos where they charge $0.10-$0.15 just to make a copy of a single page and $1.00 or more to fax a page. I think that if you don't have the necessary equipment at home, it's going to cost you more money to go out and have someone else copy or fax your resume and cover letter. We have arrived in the so called paperless future. It's all around us, and employers are taking full advantage of that market-driven opportunity.
Just the other day, one company sent me an application (in pdf) via email. They asked me to complete it and then either return it via email or to send it USPS. Now, in order for them to expect me to return any information via email, they must have anticipated that I'd have in my posession a printer/scanner/copier/fax machine, or that I'd spend money at the local FEDEX/Kinkos, Office Max, or Office Depot just to get a pdf made and then somehow return that to them via email. And what would I have done, if I didn't have a printer conneted to my computer? Dell, the computer company, along with a few other computer companies is giving employers the misconcieved idea that all computers are sold with free printers. Is that what's happening now? When I purchased my laptop, no one offered me a free printer. Employers are being duped into thinking too that every household in America has at least one computer in it. NOT THE CASE.
An interesting thought just came to me. What happens to the scanned copy of the application, which has my social security number written on it. If I'm at the local FEDEX/Kinkos, Office Max, or Office Depot, and I give my application to Diane Somebody or Joe Yahoo, how do I know that they will completely delete my copied file from their system? I know that copy companies have to deal with copyright laws by not making copies of copyrighted material, but what about making copies of personal identification information? Who's governing that? Who protects the job hunter? Do you think I'm foolish for wanting to reply to an employer in the same method in which the contacted me? Well, I'm sure that lots of people respond to employers that way. What's more importnat here is that I think copy companies should sign an agreement and pass along a copy of that agreement to its customers along with the receipt, so that they become liable if their employees abuse their customer's information.
That's not all. When completing applications, I've found that they are mostly web-based. When you walk into a department store or drug store and ask to apply for a job, the workers seem to be automatically programmed to say, "Did you check our website?" They may even reply, "Did you complete the online application?" Walgreens, a place where I didn't think anyone would have to complete an online application just to become a cashier, has an online application and questionnaire. Many of the large companies require that you complete an online application via their website, even if the job was listed on HotJobs, Monster, or some other 2nd or 3rd part recruitment website. My...the business world has become employee-techno-savvy. So, as job seekers, we have to acquire another skill or should I say that they have to become techno-equipped because face to face searches seem to be of the question.
Anyhow, it's tough enough locating a job. But it's even touhger if you do not have the correct access skills, capabilities, and the correct assess to necessary equipment or money to to apply for a job. My goodness.
I’ve been in Naperville now for about two weeks, and I'm still looking for a job. What I’d like to do is get into writing and developing course work for medical companies or companies that work within some facet of the health care industry. I really thought I'd have secured something by now, since I’ve been looking since November. I just figured that sometimes when you want something really bad, it gets delayed when you are not patient. So, I’m being patient, and I’m keeping a positive attitude. The job market is not at all the same. Employers are looking and thinking differently, and technology has taken on an exclusive role.
What's different about the job market now than 5 or 10 years ago is that employers are being extremely specific about the skill set they are looking for when it comes to filling a position. Yes, you've got instructional design experience, but you have no pharmaceutical knowledge. Yes, you've written and designed WBTs and CBTs, but you haven't "developed" them. Yes, you've written and designed courses, but where are your samples for designing and writing a course that was instructor led (ILT, they call it)? You reply that you do not have those samples in your possession, yet they expect that you do. What do I look like...master holder of all of the work I've ever produced on the job?
It seems to me that employers don't understand that when you've worked for a company that you don't always get to take your work with you when departing. I would rather be given a writing sample on the spot and an hour or so to work at changing the sample into a set of procedures or a course. That would be a real test to see if in fact I can walk the talk. Now, let's turn back to that word: "development". Personally, I don't associate that word with coding or programming, especially when I'm not interviewing for a coding or programming job.
Developing a course...now, that's terminology I've been used to saying and practicing. Being able to develop a course from start to finish is a huge task. People who have never done it cannot even begin to discuss the intricacies involved, especially when having to develop a CBT, WBT, or ILT. And you know what? At any given time, you may not know who you are developing the course for (who's the audience?). The potential audience could be anyone. What's important in that situation is that you know the product and you should know how your company operates. AND one more thing. To develop an instructor led course where you have little or no contact with the instructor…well, you may as well trust your instinct and develop it as if YOU are going to teach it. That's all I have to say for now.
Well, I'm back! The transport was difficult. We left on a night when it was snowing and icing going into Erie. My washer fluid froze, and I had no way of clearing the wet mud from my windows while driving. So, after stopping, I let M-sr drive my car, and I drove the truck. I felt at ease because he was driving, but I remained somewhat uneasy because we continued to move forward. I’m just glad that we arrived at our destination point safely.
I’ve been moving boxes, boxes, boxes. Putting items here and there and rearranging. We've moved into an apartment, which is too small (I'm finding) to hold all that we own. I'm finding too, that most of what we own are clothes, BOOKS, and kitchen ware. The children have settled into a good routine, and each is enjoying school. I don’t miss Syracuse, but I do really miss the people I met. I like where I am now, and don’t plan to move ever again, with the exception of moving into a home somewhere within this state. This is home for me, and I know it’s home for my children.