Out with the Old, In with the New
I wrote my first CV today.
It's an odd feeling--like I needed to do this awhile ago. But I was trapped in resume-think, and no one really gave me the kick in the pants that I usually need to change my outlook.
I was just told there *might* be an opportunity for me if I sent in a CV. So, I did.
There's a difference between writing a resume and writing a CV (or at least there is in the U.S.) A CV has something of an academic slant. It breaks out differently--not along the lines of "skills" and "career objective" and the usual stuff that makes up resume-speak. My CV is pretty much a statement of all the stuff I've done this year:
My editorial position.
My little teaching gig.
My other blog-related activities and my growing responsiblities with the local film festival (which I really love.)
The panel I was on, and the lecture I did four years ago.
The two articles I published this year.
My education, complete with my thesis and my art background.
All my academic awards.
I could have added more--the study I did while in college; the lit mag I resurrected and the tutoring I did in community college. But I figured that the information I included suited the writing position I'm looking for.
At least I didn't have to tone down my smarts in order to shoehorn myself into a job description. I don't have to worry about intimidating whomever will be reading my CV. Actually, it feels more like my CV is there to impress. My resumes never felt that way--probably because the jobs that requested the standard resume were looking for something other than the ability to think. Often, the jobs I sent resumes to were looking for practical stuff--software applications and experience mostly. Whether I could use PowerPoint was more important than whether or not I published an article this year.
It's quite amazing the number of times the word "blog" appears on my CV--then again, I've been pretty much living, breathing, eating and sleeping this world for close to a year now. So it's no surprise anything I write about myself would be pretty blog-happy.
In some ways, the CV's something like that of a young person--then again, I graduated only 5 years ago, and spent most of that time, up until last July, working menial jobs so that I could put some money together, stop working, and pursue my writing.
And writing turned into blogging.
Who knew?
The CV also gives me an idea of what I need to do--write more articles, for one thing. See where else I can get speaking engagments. Definitely re-fashion my "professional" blog so that it looks more professional (hey, I might even include ads on it--but not this one.)
More than the resume I (once again) revised a couple of weeks ago, this CV is giving me the sense that I have indeed started a brand new career--a "dream job" sort of.
Actually, Dream Career. "Job" implies that I looked it up somewhere on the 'net or in a paper. "Career" has different implcations.
Awhile back, when Gee and I were talking, I voiced how I thought all those commercials on tv for "career schools" were misleading. Those vo-techy kinds of schools get you better jobs--but I'm not sure those jobs are careers. I keep thinking of the term "vocation"--which is defined as A regular occupation, especially one for which a person is particularly suited or qualified.
It also refers to a religious calling. Strange how our words can be applied in so many different ways.
In a sense, writing is a religious calling for me. I feel like it's a particular calling though--not that I can write anything, anywhere, at any time for anybody. I admire folks who can do that--write a press release as easy as they can write a paperback novel. I'm a bit more focused in what I want to write, and how I want to write it. I like blog-writing. It's focused and particular--although, depending on who one is blogging *for,* there might be guidelines. To me it's like putting together a short academic essay, with links functioning like footnotes. When done right, it's giving people information and a bit of opinion (when I can--sometimes it's not apropos.) I also like research pieces--which makes me think I should be doing investigative reporting. I like digging into things, talking to people, spending hours in libraries. Most importantly, I like Proving My Point. Yes, there's a bit of the self-righteous smarty-pants in me that really likes being right and proving it (as if y'all couldn't have figured that out.)
It's that "HA!" factor. That HA! factor was there when I defended my thesis--and boy! did that feel great!
And I like memoir writing. I like describing internal states or creating verbal snapshots from my life. I haven't done that too much lately--mostly because I have a bit of fear that I'm encountering people who won't get that I'm writing personal stuff with a particular intention. The intention of what I'm writing seems, to me, to differentiate it from *just* the personal.
Perhaps if I just stated the intention, it might help some people understand it better? I don't know. I think if I did that, I'd be spinning things here a bit too much.
Overall, I have a sense of being self-satisfied. I feel like I could send this CV out to different places--and I could say, "here, look at all the stuff I've done this year. and I'll probably do a lot more next year." It focuses me. It shows the world I've been writing this year, and building a writing career.
To me, that I've started to build a writing career is more important than anything--because it means I've done the Most Important Thing that I was told by every single person in my family that I'd never be able to do.
It's another "HA!" Factor. So, there. I did it. Can't take it back. Bye-Bye. Have to go forward.
That's what the CV is really about anyway--moving forward, changing my viewpoint and becoming the person I always wanted to be.
Can it be? Well, it's in black and white now--and I've actually done everything on that CV. No embellishment. Don't need it. So, really, it must be real.
Amazing.
It's an odd feeling--like I needed to do this awhile ago. But I was trapped in resume-think, and no one really gave me the kick in the pants that I usually need to change my outlook.
I was just told there *might* be an opportunity for me if I sent in a CV. So, I did.
There's a difference between writing a resume and writing a CV (or at least there is in the U.S.) A CV has something of an academic slant. It breaks out differently--not along the lines of "skills" and "career objective" and the usual stuff that makes up resume-speak. My CV is pretty much a statement of all the stuff I've done this year:
My editorial position.
My little teaching gig.
My other blog-related activities and my growing responsiblities with the local film festival (which I really love.)
The panel I was on, and the lecture I did four years ago.
The two articles I published this year.
My education, complete with my thesis and my art background.
All my academic awards.
I could have added more--the study I did while in college; the lit mag I resurrected and the tutoring I did in community college. But I figured that the information I included suited the writing position I'm looking for.
At least I didn't have to tone down my smarts in order to shoehorn myself into a job description. I don't have to worry about intimidating whomever will be reading my CV. Actually, it feels more like my CV is there to impress. My resumes never felt that way--probably because the jobs that requested the standard resume were looking for something other than the ability to think. Often, the jobs I sent resumes to were looking for practical stuff--software applications and experience mostly. Whether I could use PowerPoint was more important than whether or not I published an article this year.
It's quite amazing the number of times the word "blog" appears on my CV--then again, I've been pretty much living, breathing, eating and sleeping this world for close to a year now. So it's no surprise anything I write about myself would be pretty blog-happy.
In some ways, the CV's something like that of a young person--then again, I graduated only 5 years ago, and spent most of that time, up until last July, working menial jobs so that I could put some money together, stop working, and pursue my writing.
And writing turned into blogging.
Who knew?
The CV also gives me an idea of what I need to do--write more articles, for one thing. See where else I can get speaking engagments. Definitely re-fashion my "professional" blog so that it looks more professional (hey, I might even include ads on it--but not this one.)
More than the resume I (once again) revised a couple of weeks ago, this CV is giving me the sense that I have indeed started a brand new career--a "dream job" sort of.
Actually, Dream Career. "Job" implies that I looked it up somewhere on the 'net or in a paper. "Career" has different implcations.
Awhile back, when Gee and I were talking, I voiced how I thought all those commercials on tv for "career schools" were misleading. Those vo-techy kinds of schools get you better jobs--but I'm not sure those jobs are careers. I keep thinking of the term "vocation"--which is defined as A regular occupation, especially one for which a person is particularly suited or qualified.
It also refers to a religious calling. Strange how our words can be applied in so many different ways.
In a sense, writing is a religious calling for me. I feel like it's a particular calling though--not that I can write anything, anywhere, at any time for anybody. I admire folks who can do that--write a press release as easy as they can write a paperback novel. I'm a bit more focused in what I want to write, and how I want to write it. I like blog-writing. It's focused and particular--although, depending on who one is blogging *for,* there might be guidelines. To me it's like putting together a short academic essay, with links functioning like footnotes. When done right, it's giving people information and a bit of opinion (when I can--sometimes it's not apropos.) I also like research pieces--which makes me think I should be doing investigative reporting. I like digging into things, talking to people, spending hours in libraries. Most importantly, I like Proving My Point. Yes, there's a bit of the self-righteous smarty-pants in me that really likes being right and proving it (as if y'all couldn't have figured that out.)
It's that "HA!" factor. That HA! factor was there when I defended my thesis--and boy! did that feel great!
And I like memoir writing. I like describing internal states or creating verbal snapshots from my life. I haven't done that too much lately--mostly because I have a bit of fear that I'm encountering people who won't get that I'm writing personal stuff with a particular intention. The intention of what I'm writing seems, to me, to differentiate it from *just* the personal.
Perhaps if I just stated the intention, it might help some people understand it better? I don't know. I think if I did that, I'd be spinning things here a bit too much.
Overall, I have a sense of being self-satisfied. I feel like I could send this CV out to different places--and I could say, "here, look at all the stuff I've done this year. and I'll probably do a lot more next year." It focuses me. It shows the world I've been writing this year, and building a writing career.
To me, that I've started to build a writing career is more important than anything--because it means I've done the Most Important Thing that I was told by every single person in my family that I'd never be able to do.
It's another "HA!" Factor. So, there. I did it. Can't take it back. Bye-Bye. Have to go forward.
That's what the CV is really about anyway--moving forward, changing my viewpoint and becoming the person I always wanted to be.
Can it be? Well, it's in black and white now--and I've actually done everything on that CV. No embellishment. Don't need it. So, really, it must be real.
Amazing.
posted by Tish Grier at 10:34 PM
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