Growing new patterns of work

It’s spring and the farmhouse (AKA Planet45) is alive with socializing and romancing birds, knee high dandelions and buttercups, woodchucks, mice, ants, bees, and a hundred thousand other things stretching wings, legs, fronds, pistils, and what have you. It’s an exciting time to be on Planet45. It’s a stirring, daunting, and exciting time to be embarking on new ventures too.

Unlike the shrubs blasting into bloom around the house, I take tentative steps to establish a little business. In an economy like this, one searches for gigs and full-time employment at the same time, which in the abstract ought to require the same sets of skills. Identifying prospects might be the same for gigs and employment, but going after those prospects is different. Positioning oneself for employment requires a level of visioning and strategizing that is different from that required for landing small projects. Establishing a pattern of business with a client requires long-term thinking that takes time away from job-hunting.

It’s hard to maintain that balance. I’ve picked up bits of advice here and there on the internet (and I am sorry that in some cases the attributions never made it into my head). Here’s one I like when I get overwhelmed: do the revenue-producing work first thing. For example, I get an occasional paper to edit or grants research to do- those earn income and help me to “live another day” to do the longer term work. Having that essential, well-defined task to complete puts structure into days that can deteriorate quickly into amorphous blobs. Invariably I learn something or pick up a nugget of inspiration as well. And knowing a little income is on the way helps the focus on more creative or visionary tasks later in the day.

Growing things require care, nutrition, structure. What do you do to help grow new patterns of behavior in your professional life?

 

The World is too much with us

The world is too much with us; late and soon,
Getting and spending, we lay waste our powers  – William Wordsworth

When was the last time you really focused on something? If it was ever easy for you to focus, is it getting more difficult lately? There are some tasks that are inherently painful to focus on- like job-hunting for example. And we are told too that if we wish to keep an edge we should be tapping the powers of the internet, blogging, twittering, searching. These are good things. But it is possible to be washed overboard by the attention-spamming power of Twitter– possible to become self-absorbed blogging– and exploded into pieces by the process of searching for jobs or information.

Sometimes one has to step away from the keyboard. Forced absences. Refraining from jumping on the computer first thing (this is hard to avoid, but I am working on it). Spending time outdoors – yes, outdoors where you really can’t use your laptop fruitfully when the sun is up! My favorite antidote to a long day of fractured thinking: taking the dog for a run someplace beautiful while the sun is setting. Try it. Your attention span will thank you for it.

to finish with the Poet’s lovely sonnet:

Little we see in Nature that is ours;
We have given our hearts away, a sordid boon!
This Sea that bares her bosom to the moon,
The winds that will be howling at all hours,
And are up-gathered now like sleeping flowers,
For this, for everything, we are out of tune;
It moves us not.–Great God! I’d rather be
A Pagan suckled in a creed outworn; (1)
So might I, standing on this pleasant lea, (2)
Have glimpses that would make me less forlorn;
Have sight of Proteus (3) rising from the sea;
Or hear old Triton (4) blow his wreathed horn.

 

Good links about networking and job-hunting

A super tool for networking is the informational interview: Science on Informational Interviews

I saw a terrific seminar by Tory Johnson, CEO of WomenforHire.com. She emphasized getting out there, not just on the internet but virtually as well. Her website is chock full of great tips for everyone – not just women.

Harvard has an amazing Office of Career Services (big surprise there, eh??) and with it, a website jammed with solid information that is well-presented. I am especially fond of materials that can be found under non-academic careers for graduate students - this section has some very helpful information on networking, resume preparation and interviewing.

I hope these help! Good luck!

 

Moving Forward with Twitter

I’ve been having a lot of productive fun with Twitter – you can view some of my recent experiences- including starting to work my way into freelance scientific editing- at thetalentbuzz.com. If you visit my link you might also help me to win a contest!

My entry is entitled “Twitter: The Kindness of Strangers (Friends) and can be found here

 

Attacking the Boomer Blah-Blah-Blah

I’ve been around a while, and I’ve spent a lot of time around academics and Extremely Smart People. Along the way I’ve picked up the habit of using big words when small ones will do.

Today I have managed to read a few things that collectively make the case to simplify and energize one’s resume, cover letters, and online profiles. That shouldn’t be news, but as I look at what I’ve put out there, I realize that it comes nowhere near to conveying my excitement about what I do. In fact, it’s not entirely CLEAR what I do.

I have experience, yes, and I’ve been around a while, but my materials are as exciting as a dictionary! It’s time to stop droning on like a Boomer (I’m a late Boomer) and convey the passion and confidence that makes me an asset!

Two pieces you should check out too if you are in the job market- and especially if you are “mature” and entrenched in Boomer-Talk.

From the Employer’s Point of View: Get it Right in the Cover Letter

Guy Kawasaki on making over his LinkedInProfile

 

New tools for creating one’s world

IN the effort to find and/or create my right livelihood I’ve been using tools that are relatively new in the scheme of things, and some that are fairly well entrenched now. Facebook, linkedin, and twitter are fabulous ways to connect with like-minded people all over the place, and in the process, help one to define oneself and refine one’s (dare I say it) personal brand. I don’t have a personal brand yet but I do appreciate the concept as an anchor for all these tools, and for my blog, and indeed for my resume.

It’s hard to settle on a brand. For one thing, making that decision has the emotional feel of being cast in stone, and in times like these one desperately wants to be able to transfer marketable skills wherever they might be useful. But, in a country increasingly full of talented professional jobless folk, one has to transmit some kind of clear message or risk being seen as shiftless.