I spent a good deal of yesterday on Indeed, polishing my resume and generally making my online web presence -at least the professional, avaliable for hire aspect- look pretty darn good.
And I have to say that today, it feels like I’m actually a pretty good hite. Bonus: I have a call tomorrow with a consulting agency interested in my resume, which is like… great, excellent, that’s what I want!
I don’t know where my call will go, but hey: it’s a chance it and it might connect me to the industry at large, or even to some chances to grow my skills as an aspiring translator.
(And at worst, I’ll just end up as a reference for future contact!)
That all being said, today, I spent a good deal of time taking some of Indeed’s assessments, which buff up your skills by showing a visible metric rating of how capable you are. I took seven, all recommended to me by Indeed’s algorithm.
And, like… apparently, I’m quite the capable candid: I’m an Expert Typist, High Proficient at PowerPoint, Social Media, and Verbal Communciation, and Proficient with Proofreading and Timeline Management. Color me shocked!
It’s actually been quite encouraging to have tangible, visible evidence that I’m doing well, that I didn’t “peak” with being an ALT, that I’ve got skills to offer and hone and grow. When I planned on moving back, I didn’t plan for a pandemic AND an economic downturn. I certainly didn’t plan for upwards of 14% unemployment. Then again, who did? None of us -at least none of us everyday citizens- expected to fall on such severe hard times.
Hence why it feels so good to have some validation, even if it’s from a series of multiple choice quizzes.
Work doesn’t define me in terms of my personal worth: I feel more worthwhile when I draw or arrange flowers or even when I’m cooking. But the reality -for many of us- is that work factors into our worth, for better or for worse. Seeing that I’m capable, that the skills I’ve developed over the past few years gives me a lot of optomism about the future of this year.
I’m honestly a bit anxious about tomorrow: it’s been a very long time since I’ve had an interview. In fact, my last interview was four years ago for the JET Program. That interview was a quick thirty minutes, paired with a thick application, reference letters, and a few tidbits about me. While I’m definitely still young, it’s strange to be doing only my second interview: stranger still to be undertaking one during a pandemic.
But, I’ve been reminded -both today and consistenly over the course of this year- that the path I took is just as good as anyone else’s path, and that my work is worthwhile and important. Yet even still, at the end of the day, that worth is not all I have: if anything, I’m worth so much more than what work I can do.
Backlit Pixels 