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| I snapped this the other night, the old house/shop kind of looks how I feel on the inside right now. |
It's been a few of weeks, but I'm still here. If you follow me on twitter you'll notice I'm a bit absent there of late, the same as I on YouTube, and here. So why is that? At this point my energy and time is pretty much being poured entirely into the search for a normal job. What isn't being expended on job search has been allocated to not falling into the "death spiral of depression" what little is left is being used up just trying to keep up with regular life...dishes, laundry, cooking...
A flashback:
"I had a phone interview in the middle of last week, on a cold and icy day. Seemed to go very well. Company is a major local player here and was a major vendor at my last job. I know them and their products very well so that's a bonus. The HR person seemed pleased so now I'm waiting for the hiring manager to decide who to interview."
Two issues arose from this:
Issue 1) The hiring manager supposedly sent a calendar invite--hint he did not. So I got a call from the nice HR lady asking why I did not show? Now as you guys that know me can guess "duh I wasn't given a date and time" is what I wanted to say, but stayed professional and basically said everything but "duh."
Issue 2) The interview went too smooth. I knew when I left something was wrong, but couldn't figure what. My daughter hit the nail and I looked at it a bit differently "you are used to interviewing not being interviewed." This revelation allowed me to flip the event. He (young boomer or old gen-X) made an offhand let's say ageist remark about the HR lady (Millennial): "she's new and young" now he had already mentioned he "worked his way up" and how long he had been with the company, so red flag spotted. He remarked several times that the guy I'd be replacing was moving to another division and he hated to lose him, "but he's young, single, and nothing to lose."
From those remarks I think HR forced him to talk to me...not a good sign.
So I have gotten several let's call them "you don't fit" emails, obviously from those fancy HR parsing programs. The big question is why?? Positions I am applying for are in supply chain so buyer, MRO (Maintenance Repair Operations), purchasing agent, project coordinator, I am qualified, so why? Well me and friend were talking and we think it is my old job title "Assistant Maintenance Supervisor" so not for the last time I did some edit work. Now the previous title reads Assistant Maintenance Supervisor/MRO purchaser/project coordinator, enough to catch the parsing software's eye.
Running the resume through Indeed's parsing program it nailed another issue, the gap between last employer and now. The suggestion is: if you were in school say so, caring for family? Say so. So I did:
"July 2018 to Current
Caring for Grand-child at home
Reason for leaving: Grand child ready for public school
Primary duties:
Personal care
Physical and fine motor skills development such as: tying shoes, penmanship, coloring in the lines, proper use of scissors
Mental skills development such as home school instructor Kindergarten and first grade in all subjects
Basic life skills education"
So now I can apply it to other jobs and see if I make it through their filter programs.
In this job hunting process I have become even more cynical of the news. You hear how employers are desperate for experienced supply chain people. How so many jobs are unfilled that it is a seekers market. Bologna, I have been turned down for an "entry level" position! I have been told "your skill set though impressive is not quiet what we are looking for." Excuse me?! Maybe talk to me and see if some of that impressive does apply. Ask me questions, give me some feed back. Employers are not as desperate as the media are making them out to be.
I did have a nice conversation with a recruiter for a major multi-national corporation who had encouraged me to apply for a position with them. Sadly the hiring manager marked the job as "must have a degree" so when I clicked "no degree" the parsing system kicked me out...again. Probably nine in ten job posting in my area require a degree or some sort of technical school certificate (a degree). Mind you I am at Master Craftsman level but because I didn't go to some fancy building to learn in laboratory conditions my learn it the hard way doesn't count for anything. Even if the post is "Degree in_____ or relevant work history" the fact it says "Degree in" kicks you out of the parsing program. This is why I was trying to get my shop up and running while looking for a job. As my own boss I don't require me to have a degree.
This week I'll be applying for maintenance supervisor roles. I really don't want to go back there but may have no choice as so many jobs demand a college degree to do basic math, count parts, and extrapolate how many the company will need in the coming months--never realized you could teach common sense 🙄. I hate the idea of going back to 24/7 on call for every stupid alarm code. Working with live electricity in the rain, and dealing with raw sewage--I really thought I was done with that.
So once again we are at; "where does that put everything?"
YouTube production may come to a halt. In a maintenance type position I will have to scrub the channel of basically every video except the first cake I made as both my voice and my image are rather recognizable, and especially when combined.
Ordinary-Times, Upside I am on no determined schedule so articles may be more sporadic than the every other week I was trying for. (Andy if you're reading this it's not that I bailed, time is quickly running past me.)
Here, Like OT there may be times nothing makes it up.
Twitter, I will have to scrub my time line of pics of me for the same reason I will need to for YouTube.
Shop, my donation links will stay active including my go fund me link minus the video teaser. All funds donated are still in a seperate account and will stay there until I need stuff for the building, I give you my word they will be used for nothing else. Ultimatly my longer term goal is still to get the shop up and going so as to transition to using it full time for my income.
MauraAlwyen.com will remain as is unless I have a pic of me then that will be scrubbed.
Basically my image will return to my logo, and my voice may be scrubbed. If you are asking "why?" you have to remember I am trans female (or MTF), and a Maintenance Supervisor/Manager job will require using my legal name (something even my own mother no longer uses). Typically in this area Maintenance Department personnel tend to be VERY adverse to anything LGBT and especially to trans persons. Having my image up puts my safety at risk.
If you have followed the personal aspects of my blog you know I have hinted at good news to come late in the year, that news is still out there, but contractually speaking until all the t's are crossed, the i's dotted, as well as the toner and ink have dried, I am contractually bound to mostly silence--believe me I would absolutely love to share it, but this is as close as I am allowed, and it may be quite a while yet before I can share.
So that's where everything stands.
Prayers for Maura to land a job are really needed at this point. I am running out of time quickly as by Memorial Day I will be on my own and alone for the first time in my life. The upside though is both kids live near by, and I'll have more uninterrupted time to get the shop up.
--Maura
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Mauraalwyen.com
ordinary-times
Look for my logo to know it is genuine Alwyen!
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