This week, just as local fledglings are leaving their nests, trusting their futures to untried wings and thin air, so are copies of my résumé taking to the digital skies. Ten went out yesterday and today, panic has set in.
Am I ready?
I spent the weekend drafting and re-drafting my CV, reducing it from an IT-heavy, initialism- and acronym-rife two-page tally of a quarter century of programming experience down to a slimmer, more writing-oriented sheet that touts my accomplishments in the world of letters.
I also constructed a portfolio–something I hadn’t thought of before–to showcase not only my skills but also my growth as a writer: three pieces each of fiction and non-fiction, all good (I hope) and engaging enough to keep a recruiter or hiring manager interested.
Cover letters were also written, different versions for different targets; I found that permanent full-time copy editor jobs are thin on the ground, filled mostly by interns, so I’ve expanded my Plan A to include copywriting as well as copy editing. And as if all that weren’t sufficient, I contacted prospective references, too, including some folks from my current workplace, thus outing myself in the process. No worries. I didn’t plan on keeping it a secret.
Anyway, it was a busy, busy weekend and I did not sleep well or much.
But the birds are on the wing, and more will be following them.
Grant me patience. Grant me calm. And please o please, grant me a good night’s sleep.
k
I’m the same, easy to wake and stay away, esp., if there’s ongoing issues. Or when deep into writing a story that can keep me awake writing in my head even when I quit for the night (best to stop a couple of hours before bed, as in eating) and not being able to stop it. Which is good, if I just wrote and didn’t have to be up at 5am for a stupid day job. Exercise and DHEA 25 every other day helps with my lack of desire at things lately, and melatonin for sleep and helping me fall back asleep. They stopped working well so I quit for a few days (month on the DHEA) and then got back on (both) and seemed to have reset my metabolism. I’m sleeping well again and building back up to feeling like doing things again though I suspect a depressive kind of malaise has crept in which will no doubt remain until I finalize certain overall changes and eliminate a certain life element through metaphorically surgery.
Hang in there. 🙂
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Hang in there. I’ve learned two things in life on this. If i want something bad enough, eventually it will happen. I just have to put in the time, the work and have the focus. If you build it, they will…well, anyway it kind of goes along with the first part.
Best of luck!
Not that you’ll need it. Though true and great success typically does need some amount of luck. Then again we do build our own luck in being in the right place at the right time as much as possible, with the correct, necessary elements in place, while being prepared, ready for whatever is to come. 🙂
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Thanks, pal. Now, any advice for dealing with 3AM panic attacks?
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Yes, deep breath of freshly crushed black pepper. They have found that for the anxiety in using cannabis it relieves the panic feeling. 🙂 Other than that, yeah I hear you. Exercise to relieve the stress I suppose. Years ago at work we had a woman that was giving me a nervous breakdown so I started going to the health club in the basement and would work off my stress, then go back to work and I could deal with her again. I have several bouts however of drinking too much at home over her which all went away when she was fired after five years, for incompetence. Then again sometimes, you just have to grin and bear it until it is over. When that happens, I usually hang on to knowing I’m proactively working to change things (which you are), and that things will change (which they will). I’m making my own way through this mess with a very similar goal in mind. 🙂 As always, all the best.
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Exercise, yes. I’m back on the treadmill at least 5 days/week, both for stress management and just general health reasons. Always good. Drives in Pepper help too. 😉 It’s just the early morning, when I wake enough to have a thought, and that thought is either about current day-job or the Big Change we’re putting in place, and WHAM! goes the adrenaline. After that, I’m up, regardless the hour. This morning I looked at my watch, saw 6AM, and thought “Not too bad.” Except that it was 5AM. Still, better than 4AM, eh?
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I’m glad you’re not keeping this a complete secret at work. That will make the whole “reference” process much easier.
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Yip. I asked my boss to put me on the next layoff list, so she had a clue. Friday we have an actual one-on-one, where I’ll tell her “for reals.” I think it’s only fair, so she can do long-range planning. Also, it’s why I won’t be participating in all of their hokey “goal setting” and won’t be volunteering for learning anything new. No need for it, moving forward.
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Bon Courage, Kurt! A good stretch and a bit of risk taking keep the brain sharp. Refocusing your CV, as you have, should be very helpful.
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CareerBuilder sent me a critique of my CV. It’s pretty good, but could be better. Definitely a work in progress.
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I think I have it tougher\easier than you. I don’t want another job like this. Or at all if I can swing it. At least, I’m situating myself so that if i do need a job, it can be something unlike this nastiness. 🙂
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