Puppies are cute and they make me smile. So here’s a basket of puppies to brighten your day. I need some cuteness in my day, and it probably makes your day better too. On to less cute subjects, here’s my week:
What I did
I continued the job search process, which is beginning to feel more like a slog through quicksand. If you’re keeping track, my totals are: 158 applications submitted, 45 rejections, 1 second interview, 2 job fairs, 4 networking conversations, 1 fake recruiter blocked, 1 real recruiter contact.
I attended 2 different virtual job fairs — one for my state, hosted by our unemployment office, and a Tech to Gov virtual job fair with multiple federal agencies represented.
I had a 2nd interview with 2 people for a position with a clinical research organization. There are some interesting things about the positions, and some questions I still have.
I only worked on the search for a half day on Friday and flew to Texas with a friend to attend another friend’s wedding. Because all of life cannot be job searching.
Get Michelle Keller’s stories in your inbox
Join Medium for free to get updates from this writer.
What I learned
Virtual job fairs are a mixed bag. I made a good connection at the statewide job fair. She was very helpful, had some good suggestions, and is happy to give me an internal referral for any positions at her company. There were dozens of companies and agencies represented though, and this was the only useful connection.
I had more conversations at the 2nd virtual job fair, but not all were equally helpful. Given that I gave 4 hours of my day to the job fair, it would have been more encouraging if all the conversations were equally helpful. But alas, reality.
I really prefer content design to marketing.
I love the prospect of building a design team from scratch. I am energized by that thought.
I think I would really like to work in civic tech — either directly for the government, or with an aligned agency. Government services are in desperate need of some compassionate design. People accessing government services are frequently in crisis and experiencing high stress. I can bring trauma-informed design into those spaces. My passion is to create content that promotes trust, protects the agency and dignity of our clients, is welcoming to all by being inclusive and accessible, and offers hope for the future.
What I need
A job. Believe me, if it’s not listed here, that will be the headline of the entire weeknotes.
Connections in civic tech. If you work in civic tech, I’d love to connect with you. If you have agencies I should check out, let me know who they are and I will happily follow them.
Some accountability — to post regularly on LinkedIn, to explore some more speaking opportunities. It’s on my radar, but I never seem to get there.
To more regularly take time away from the job search. I’ve been treating it like a job and putting in 40+ hours a week. That’s not good for my mental health.
More cute puppy pictures, because why not?!
Thanks for those of you who are still reading along and following. I’m hopeful to have more in my weeknotes than just endless job searching. But I’ll do what I can to make it interesting and informative. And for those of us in the job search process, let me know. We can encourage each other.
