Heading for a new 'career'

Ann McRae

Would you hire me?

I feel like my resume should read
'plump, frumpy, forty something looking for an exciting high paying job but has only worked for herself for the last ten years and, while she knows a bit about a lot of things really isn't a specialist at anything. mother of 3 (now teenagers) so really good at multitasking, giving orders and taking criticism. would prefer to take and edit photographs all day every day, but can't afford to'

but it doesn't!! Had a bit of help, but I need to teach myself some things like MS Accell and maybe some html and CSS and even dreamweaver..........

got a haircut, now need some clothes. and I've decided that if worse comes to worse, I'll hawke my jewelery before I hawke my camera gear!!!!!!!!


ann

Nir

Ann, sending you a huge 'good luck' hug!

(hope I allowed to do that after many years of our on-line acquaintance...)

marlof

Ann, I'd hire you on the spot. From what I've learned from you in these forums, you sound like the type of person who's not afraid to roll up the sleeves and make things work for you, in stead of complaining that they don't work. Good luck in getting up to speed in your competences!

Higgmeister

Hi Ann,
Sending you lots of Luck. Been where you're at and not doubt will be there again myself.

Chris

Ann McRae

Hey guys


Thanks so much for the support! I am always accepting of hugs - no ban on PDA
(public displays of affection) here!

This is very daunting and I truely feel very exposed, and not in control.

Anybody know of some good books or on line resources for quick mastering of html, MS access, etc?

Thanks again

ann

Sam

Ann McRae wrote:

Hey guys


Thanks so much for the support! I am always accepting of hugs - no ban on PDA
(public displays of affection) here!

This is very daunting and I truely feel very exposed, and not in control.

Anybody know of some good books or on line resources for quick mastering of html, MS access, etc?

Thanks again

ann

Ann,

I have a book "Access 2000" I bought a few years ago that weighs about 3 Lbs, (read large). I don't know if this will help you or not, I am not up on the latest version etc. If so e-mail me and I'll send it off to you.

Sam

Andy

ann you kick ass anywhere

i'll be happy to help in any way possible.

i love your attitude!

Khaos

After reading your post, public relations might be a good fit. Marketing too.

ginger_55

Ann McRae wrote:

Would you hire me?

I feel like my resume should read
'plump, frumpy, forty something looking for an exciting high paying job but has only worked for herself for the last ten years and, while she knows a bit about a lot of things really isn't a specialist at anything. mother of 3 (now teenagers) so really good at multitasking, giving orders and taking criticism. would prefer to take and edit photographs all day every day, but can't afford to'

but it doesn't!! Had a bit of help, but I need to teach myself some things like MS Accell and maybe some html and CSS and even dreamweaver..........

got a haircut, now need some clothes. and I've decided that if worse comes to worse, I'll hawke my jewelery before I hawke my camera gear!!!!!!!!


ann

Gosh, Ann, that stuff happens in novels all the time. Used to be you would now become a super slim high powered CEO. I think the novels now would put you in slightly reduced circumstances, but you would be very happy!

I personally can't stand reading them anymore. I am 65, and it is not in my age group. We, hahahaha, have arrived.

If it can happen to anyone, it can happen to you, and these are not fairy tales. Good luck, yours is the age for it, you have the ability.............and the credentials. It is called, I think, "management".

ginger

Steve Cavigliano

andy wrote:

ann you kick ass anywhere

i'll be happy to help in any way possible.

i love your attitude!

with the fair-haired boy and couldn't have written it any better

During my Hi-Tech career I have interviewed and hired hundreds of individuals. If you need any help with your resume or just need a little moral support, please let me know

I too had to change careers a couple of years ago. It was/is tough :uhoh But, as Andy points out, you have a GREAT attitude. That will go a long way towards convincing potential employers that you not only CAN do the job but that you WILL do the job well.

Good luck Ann

Steve

Ann McRae

Steve Cavigliano wrote:

with the fair-haired boy and couldn't have written it any better

During my Hi-Tech career I have interviewed and hired hundreds of individuals. If you need any help with your resume or just need a little moral support, please let me know

I too had to change careers a couple of years ago. It was/is tough :uhoh But, as Andy points out, you have a GREAT attitude. That will go a long way towards convincing potential employers that you not only CAN do the job but that you WILL do the job well.

Good luck Ann

Steve

Thanks very much Steve. I may need to take you up on the resume edit - if I don't catch anything with the bait as is!!!!

Your support is great and really appreciated!
ann

Ann McRae

, ginger - so funny how real life mimics 'unreal' novels all the time!!!!Thanks for the support!

ann

ginger_55 wrote:

Gosh, Ann, that stuff happens in novels all the time. Used to be you would now become a super slim high powered CEO. I think the novels now would put you in slightly reduced circumstances, but you would be very happy!

I personally can't stand reading them anymore. I am 65, and it is not in my age group. We, hahahaha, have arrived.

If it can happen to anyone, it can happen to you, and these are not fairy tales. Good luck, yours is the age for it, you have the ability.............and the credentials. It is called, I think, "management".

ginger

ginger

Ann McRae

Khaos wrote:

After reading your post, public relations might be a good fit. Marketing too.

Hey Khaos
!
I am actually applying for communications, public relations, graphics when they do not require real degrees...as well as administration and accounting kinds of jobs. Found a couple cool ones so far - communicatons officers with a special project in the Dept. of Education, Communication officer with photography skill required by the Metis Nation of Alberta, etc.

ann

Ann McRae

andy wrote:

ann you kick ass anywhere

i'll be happy to help in any way possible.

i love your attitude!

Heheheh - but employees don't like being kicked!!!!

Thanks andy! You are the best cheerleader I know!!!

I appreciate the support!

ann

Ann McRae

Thanks Sam - I've found a local course (available on line if I need) in each of the programs I'm short on! My computer program skills are all learned from my hubby who is a bit of a non conformist at choosing programs - uses lotus instead of MS office!!!

ann

Sam wrote:

Ann,

I have a book "Access 2000" I bought a few years ago that weighs about 3 Lbs, (read large). I don't know if this will help you or not, I am not up on the latest version etc. If so e-mail me and I'll send it off to you.

Sam

Ann McRae

Well, today I wrote a competency test for one of the jobs I've applied for - imagine after being out of school 17 years, being self employed for 10, and not being formally trained in the procedures but being self taught - imagine a 2 hour written exam!!!! At one point I even thought about standing up and walking out!!! But I finished it - I have noooooooo idea if I gave the answers they were looking for - none, nada, but it was a first step.


So the job is
Admin Assistant to the Researchers at the National Institute of Nanotechnology.

ann

Khaos

Nanotech huh? You'll be playing with little, teensy-weensy, tiny, wee, small things.:D

I wish I could remember being out of school only 17 years.:cry

lynnesite

Ann McRae wrote:

Well, today I wrote a competency test for one of the jobs I've applied for - imagine after being out of school 17 years, being self employed for 10, and not being formally trained in the procedures but being self taught - imagine a 2 hour written exam!!!! At one point I even thought about standing up and walking out!!! But I finished it - I have noooooooo idea if I gave the answers they were looking for - none, nada, but it was a first step.


So the job is
Admin Assistant to the Researchers at the National Institute of Nanotechnology.

ann

Forgive my ignorance, but whatever is wrong for being self-employed for 10 years? Good luck in your quest, in any event. I've had at least 7 "careers", and used the skills gained in each succeeding one, nothing was wasted.

Lynne
self-employed for 16+ years, and certainly not feeling inferior to the W-2 folks!

DavidTO

lynnesite wrote:

self-employed for 16+ years, and certainly not feeling inferior to the W-2 folks!

Hey, you know what we've got that you haven't got?


W-2s.

Not a big deal, really, when you think about it.

Ann McRae

Khaos wrote:

Nanotech huh? You'll be playing with little, teensy-weensy, tiny, wee, small things.:D

I wish I could remember being out of school only 17 years.:cry

Hi Khaos
Well, I won't be playingwith anything more than a computer, photocopier and file cabinet. But I will be in an amazing learning environment and one of the most beautiful locations in this city - the university campus is lovely and ripe with photo ops!!!!

ann

Ann McRae

lynnesite wrote:

Forgive my ignorance, but whatever is wrong for being self-employed for 10 years? Good luck in your quest, in any event. I've had at least 7 "careers", and used the skills gained in each succeeding one, nothing was wasted.

Lynne
self-employed for 16+ years, and certainly not feeling inferior to the W-2 folks!

Well, Lynne
As I am sure you know being self employed is a double edged sword - being totally self reliant means you have taught yourself an amazing amount of material and have faced an amazing variety of new situations. It also means you have no referrences to vouch for you, you cannot become unemployed and have the safety net that other Canadians rely on. In my case, I do not have any documentation to say I am certified in my knowledge of x,y or z. I haven't had to follow the strict guidelines that big corporations have to in terms of staff relations. I have been able to be a rogue about a lot of rules, have been able to be extremely flexible in my comings and goings, lots of things that the corporate culture isn't too fond of. It has been wonderful, but it is necessary to move on and find something new, exciting, challenging and more secure. And learn to play by the rules.....

Thanks for the good wishes.

ann

Ann McRae

DavidTO wrote:

Hey, you know what we've got that you haven't got?


W-2s.

Not a big deal, really, when you think about it.

so what is a W - 2s?

Ann McRae

So, I got an interview! They set the interview for 2 weeks from now, sent me the thorough job description (sounds pretty interesting - editing reports and research papers, filing grant aps, making travel arrangements - much different than I've been doing for sure) and an 11 page document describing the 'behavioral competencies' that I will need to demonstrate.

One more baby step - what a rollercoaster! Was feeling quite bummed about the exam - I really had to engage the creative bit of my brain to get through that thing - so am glad they weren't looking for someone that could quote chapter and verse about 'proper office management skills'.

ann

auraflora

Ann McRae wrote:

So, I got an interview! They set the interview for 2 weeks from now, sent me the thorough job description (sounds pretty interesting - editing reports and research papers, filing grant aps, making travel arrangements - much different than I've been doing for sure) and an 11 page document describing the 'behavioral competencies' that I will need to demonstrate.

One more baby step - what a rollercoaster! Was feeling quite bummed about the exam - I really had to engage the creative bit of my brain to get through that thing - so am glad they weren't looking for someone that could quote chapter and verse about 'proper office management skills'.

ann

Hello Ann,

Attitude is Everything--as has constantly been repeated over and over again by Keith Harrell, a top training instructor and motivational speaker.

The rollercoaster, or the mountain, sure seems huge at the moment--but the little engine inside your gut which keeps on chanting "I think I can, I think I can", will surely make it.

Good luck to you.

Michal

luke_church

Ann McRae wrote:

but it doesn't!! Had a bit of help, but I need to teach myself some things like MS Accell and maybe some html and CSS and even dreamweaver..........

For a quick and nasty intro to HTML, The 'Teach yourself in 24 hours' books are good. (The HTML was good, the Javascript were bland and don't even touch them for full power programming languages, you'll collect more bad habits than knowledge)

For a deep understanding, turn to O'Reilly Press. HTML and XHTML.

If you're really serious, the standards aren't too long to read at www.w3.org

CSS1 and HTML 4.01 can be read from start to finish, don't bother doing the same with CSS2, it's not properly implemented by browsers yet, just learn the useful bits.

I pitty you having to use Access, not the nicest of databases, but fairly easy to get started with. Sybex wrote some good stuff on it back in 2002... But it'll teach you how, for database design theory turn to: 'Database Systems Concepts'. You should find it in a good library.

Send me a message if there's anything else I can do to help.

And good luck

Luke

Ann McRae

Thank You Luke and Michal

I've spent the last two weeks just doing regular chores and not learning any new stuff!

The interview is this morning.

I've also rewritten my resume yet again and have a collection of job postings that I will respond to once I have a better sense about this job. Having been on the other end of the hiring equation for too long, I really don't want to be that employee that leads the employer astray!

Anyway, here goes!

ann

auraflora

Ann McRae wrote:

Thank You Luke and Michal

I've spent the last two weeks just doing regular chores and not learning any new stuff!

The interview is this morning.

I've also rewritten my resume yet again and have a collection of job postings that I will respond to once I have a better sense about this job. Having been on the other end of the hiring equation for too long, I really don't want to be that employee that leads the employer astray!

Anyway, here goes!

ann

Goood Luck Ann,

Hope it went/goes well.

Michal

ian408

First of all, I very much admire you for the journey you set out on. It takes
courage to change careers regardless of where you've been. Good on you!

Second, from what I've read here and learned from you, I would definetly
consider your experience valuable and worthy of consideration.

Best of luck to you in your job search!

Ian