What are you...

[Bether6074]

Went to see the Hannah Montana movie with my girls. (Hopefully Star Trek tomorrow) It was cute and the girls seemed to really enjoy it. I really like that Climb song of hers. Should I admit to being a 40 year old who likes a Hannah Montana song?

Anyway, I saw DK in the "Turn off your cellphones." spot before the movie. Interesting.

[Entilzha]

Just watched Crank:High Voltage. That was some wild movie .

[Pitseleh]

Trying to convince my bf to come and watch the ST movie with me...

[Aquarius]

Just watched Crank:High Voltage. That was some wild movie .

Oh, I wanna see that so bad! I love Jason!!!!!

[TPoptarts]

Watching AFV and eating apple pie

[Entilzha]

The bad guys never learn. You shouldn't mess with Jack Bauer .

[Aquarius]

...doing: writing a rough draft of my resume.

I'm at a crossroads, but it's more like I've hit a wall.

I'm tired of working two jobs. I'm tired of not knowing how much money I'm going to have at the end of the week, or if it's going to be enough.

So my mom and I talked when I saw her last week. My aunt works for the state, and Mom is encouraging me to seek a job working for the state, too. Lots of the jobs don't require experience or a degree, and they still pay a lot more than what I'm making now. Plus there are benefits, so I could actually go to the doctor and stuff.

And I'd actually be able to retire some day.

So, it's not quite what I imagined myself getting up in the morning and doing every day, but I'm craving the stability.

My aunt said to put everything down I can think of on the resume, and then she'll help me work it over into something I can use.

This is such a pain in the ass. I've already started my third page and I'm still just on work experience. I know a lot will get cut, but since right now we don't know what's going to be important, she wants to see EVERYTHING.

*sigh*

Back to the grind.

Somebody go write some entertaining comments about TnT so I can have something to smile about when I take my next break.

[evcake]

Hey, a worldly-wise friend of mine helped me just this way a while (a long while) back, and after he tweaked and trimmed and re-worded it, I landed a job with the City. Good luck!

Making: rice pudding (no raisins)
Reading: Kage Baker's new novel Empress of Mars
Going: to a crafting weekend, bearing rice pudding and a huge crate of art supplies

[Alelou]

Don't you have to take some civil service tests, though? In most states you need to get on a list. Sometimes they'll hire you ahead of the tests, which are not held regularly in most places, but then people with the test scores can bump you out, so you should definitely sign up and take them as soon as you can.

If you want to work in the unemployment office, I'll bet THEY'RE hiring and not waiting for a civil service list either.

You'd have some trouble getting hired in NY right now. First there's a hiring freeze, then they're about to lay off a bunch of state workers. This creates a circus of people bumping other people from position into position.

Checking with the city and county is not a bad idea either. Some of those have been quicker to get those stimulus funds and start using them than the states have been. And you might want to check the federal listings for Detroit while you're at it.

[Aquarius]

Don't you have to take some civil service tests, though? In most states you need to get on a list. Sometimes they'll hire you ahead of the tests, which are not held regularly in most places, but then people with the test scores can bump you out, so you should definitely sign up and take them as soon as you can.

If you want to work in the unemployment office, I'll bet THEY'RE hiring and not waiting for a civil service list either.

You'd have some trouble getting hired in NY right now. First there's a hiring freeze, then they're about to lay off a bunch of state workers. This creates a circus of people bumping other people from position into position.

Checking with the city and county is not a bad idea either. Some of those have been quicker to get those stimulus funds and start using them than the states have been. And you might want to check the federal listings for Detroit while you're at it.

My aunt says that years ago when she hired in, you had to take the civil service exam first. Now, they want to see your resume and interview you first, and THEN if they like you, they'll send you on to take the test. That way they don't waste taxpayer money on someone they're not even interested in.

I have been checking the state's website under the employment link. There are job postings. Some jobs they have a hard time filling because they don't pay what the private sector does. That's irrelevant to me, because I'm just looking for more money than I've got now.

I'll check out the other options, but I kind of have an "in" here with the state, as my aunt works in personnel. She can't influence a hiring decision, but she CAN tell me what to write and all the right things to say and to whom in order to get the job I want, and she's chock full of good advice.

Also, she says that within the next two years, there's bound to be tons of jobs, because as our governor exits, she's likely to put all kinds of early retirement packages on the table, so they can get rid of old-timers who make lots of money and replace them with people like me who will work for cheaper and don't know any better.

[Alelou]

Well, state work can be frustrating because offices tend to be run by politically-appointed numbnuts who don't know how to do anything but cover their own asses, and pay does lag behind private sector, but the benefits really can't be beat and with any luck you'll actually be serving the public good. Good luck.

And yes, it's always good to have an in.

[Linda]

In Wisconsin (which is kinda irrelavent to your situation,Aquarius), you do take a civil service test and are put in a pool of potential employees from which you can get selected for an interview for a class of jobs. Of course the list of job offerings is way down now. For several years now our dear governor has been trying to downsize civil service and outsource some state work. It was supposed to be more cost effective but it has been discovered that contractors are less cost effective and the work was done better by career civil servants. Of course now we have the economic crisis though apparently Wisconsin has been hit less hard than some other states. Anyhow, the state wants the unions to renegotiate (read eliminate) the 2 % raise we civil servants are supposed to get, which does not even keep up with the rising cost of living, and in addition is impossing an eight day furlough (days off w/o pay) for each of the next two years. Retirees also will see a reduction of about 2 % in their pension checks. Both my husband and I work for the state. We have decided that having a job, even with less compesation, is better than having no job and the benefits like health insurance are still in place, so though things may get tight, we will get by.

[Aquarius]

Well, I'm prepared for a certain level of frustration. Governmental bureaucracy's got NUTTIN' on some of the headcase neurotic clients I've had, and some of the district managers and salon owners I've had to deal with are enough to drive you to drink. I'm well aware that in many ways I'll just be trading one set of difficulties for another. I just want to be able to pay my bills while I'm doing that!

I've got the rough draft all done. I did what Auntie said to do, I wrote down EVERYTHING whether I thought it was relevant or not. We'll see what she says when I see her. I totally need her help with that "objective" business. That has got to be one of the most bullsh*t aspects of the resume writing process. Everyone's objective is to get a job that will enable them to have money so they can do things and afford their lives; anything else is just telling the employer what you think they want to hear.

[JadziaKathryn]

Very true about the objectives.

Ins are wonderful, aren't they? That's how I got my summer job at The Children's Place - my cousin used to work with the manager. Today was my first day, and I think it's going to be very good. (And it's not food service! Yessssss!)

I'm getting free chocolate! You can too!

[Kevin Thomas Riley]

...watching?

In order to get the bad taste of Abrams Trek out of my mind I've just watched The Wrath of Khan again. It's been a while and it's still the best damn Star Trek movie ever made, 27 years later.

I actually watched The Motion Picture last weekend, so I'm probably going to re-watch all the movies in sequence.