I finished my Experience in Motion course last Friday. It was useful – not just for the things I learned, but also for re-motivating me on the career transition/job search front. I was, admittedly, getting a little lazy with that. They say looking for work is a full-time job, and frankly I was dedicating more time to playing Bejewelled than I was to looking for work. Now I’m devoting myself to work-finding activities from nine to twelve each weekday morning.
I used to think that job-hunting was all about finding job ads and applying for them. But there’s a lot more to it than that, especially if you’re scouring the hidden (ie unadvertised) job market, which is where 80% of the jobs are. I have to do research and cold calls and information interviews. I have to come up with good answers to common interview questions, practice my 30-second elevator spiel, and write promotional materials for myself. I’m going to create a website, pull together some writing samples, and possibly start a new blog.
I’ve been in a bit of a catch-22 position with respect to knitnut.net. On the one hand, since I’m trying to make a career transition into writing (including, possibly, blogging for an organization), and since this blog is a showcase of my writing and blogging abilities, I’m tempted to include it on my resume. On the other hand, some of the content is a little too personal to show to prospective employers. I don’t mind showing it to family, friends and complete strangers, but I don’t think it’s wise to show it to prospective employers.
So. The solution is to create another blog. A professional one. One that I can direct prospective employers to. I don’t know what it will be about yet. Any suggestions?
In completely unrelated news, there’s an orange cat in GC’s neighbourhood who might be homeless and who looks very strange. I don’t even know how to describe him. He looks like he’s got another animal glued to his back. Imagine a cat with a huge lump of additional fur glued to his back, just behind his shoulders. I’m pretty sure this isn’t the case, since the fur is the same colour as him, and besides, it’s just too preposterous.
I haven’t had a chance to inspect him carefully, because he’s very aloof. But there appears to be a gap in the centre between where his regular fur ends and this weird fur starts…like it’s attached on both sides, but there’s a hole in the middle. He was limping the last time I saw him, but GC saw him today and said he wasn’t limping anymore. I’ll try to get a picture of him for you. (Updated with pictures on Thursday June 3rd.)
Anyway. What do you think I should do? I’ve been tempted to capture him and take him to the Humane Society, but I’d hate to be a catalyst for him getting euthanized. I don’t know if they would or not, but I hear they’re overloaded with cats these days, and I don’t think he’s very adoptable in his current condition.
Update (Thursday June 3rd): I hadn’t seen him for about a week, and I noticed last night he was looking quite a bit better. So maybe he’s not homeless after all. But from the looks of his fur, he could still use some help.
Re: the cat. You can file a Found Report with the Humane Society. If you can, take a photo and include that. There is a report online you can fill out then email them the cat photo. That way they will be able to see if there is someone in your neighbourhood looking for him.
Sounds like he’s in serious need of a grooming, that kind of matting can be very detrimental to a cat’s overall health. How much responsibility you want to take for (presumably) his care is up to you. Personally, I think a life on the streets, particularly in that condition, is no life at all. I’d bring him to the shelter.
Hmmm… Strange Cat sounds interesting… maybe he has super powers… probably not, but still interesting.
Regarding what to do with him, CiaoChow seems to have the right idea.
Re: the blog. Keep the subject really broad, like community or something like that. I first came to this blog because I’m sort of obsessed with knitting but I continue to lurk around here because of your writing and all of the wonderful posts about everything-but-knitting. In fact, couldn’t you comb through this blog and glean all the posts that you don’t find too personal and create a clone blog with a different name? There is so much good stuff in here that it seems like a waste not to use it to promote your talents. You go girl.
What Molly said is what I clicked over to comment/suggest. A variation could be to publish the non-personal blog posts onto a CD or DVD so you can leave copies with people. With that format, you could also include your resume and copies of other documents you’ve done at previous jobs. If your computer can handle them, the mini CDs would be fun and eye-catching to use if they hold enough data; your name and contact info could be the label.
I think what you do best, aside from the very personal writing, is the social conscience articles. You should even try to transfer some of the ones you’ve done here to the new blog and carry on from there. Like Molly said, keep it broad and probably with a local angle since you know this town really well – talk about the cops, the homeless, addiction, prostitution, poverty, etc. — be Ottawa’s social conscience. You can bring in all sorts of stuff from other cities, provinces, countries, etc by way of comparison – keep on top of the news and all the crazy stuff going on in local and provincial government; cover meetings on related topics, guest lectures, etc. I think there’s plenty of material there, it’s a topic that definitely needs a voice and you’d be the perfect voice.
Take the cat to the shelter. The huge lump may be a nasty abcess, that could be treated, or a tumor, which probably could not. Either one’s unhealthy and uncomfortable for the cat, so you might be doing him/her a favor. Suffering is no good.
I also clicked from my feedreader to suggest you create a clone blog and import all your Ottawa posts onto this new blog.
I agree with the other comments. I like the idea being Ottawa’s social conscience and broadening it to include other Canadian communities. A Canadian Conscience. Boy do we need that! I look forward to reading more of your powerful writing. Good luck – you are on to exciting things…I can feel it. The sick cat story has me worried. Sounds like he needs medical attention poor little fella.
Please, make it simple to navigate, and make sure your contact information is upfront and available at all times… so many people bury their contact information, or refuse to leave more than an email address. A reporter friend’s online resume has a side bar index on the splash page with thirty links to the various positions she’s had, and her contact info is second from the bottom… not good.
Also keep in mind Google doesn’t like a lot of repetition on separate blogs — they see it as probable theft of material. I did a series of cross-posts last year between two of my blogs and my Page Rank for one went from 5 to 3, and the other went from 5 to 4.
When I got rid of the duplications I ended up with two 4’s.
You’re currently a 5, by the way.
If you’re interested, I wrote a post about why I killed my Facebook account…
[…] My new regime and a strange stray cat […]
The cat looks like he has a mat (very Seuss) that he’s systematically ripping away. We had a cat when I was growing up that had unfortunate fur and was always looking lumpy from us cutting out his mats or taking him to the vet to be de-matted. That said, mats do often form due to injuries that keep the cat from cleaning properly, so he’d probably benefit from a vet visit to make sure things are fine (and of course a groomer to deal with his lump).
Taking him to the Humane Society is a good idea, but if you are leery of the consequences, you could do a catch-and-release vet appointment, I guess.
I agree with the fur-mat theory. That cat is a longhair, and adorable looking, but I digress. Quite likely got into something that matted the fur there and got it all gummed up. Humane Society is a good idea, IMO. I’m not sure I’d have the courage to try to cut that mat out of a stray cat — he/she would likely be threatened by it and respond…in an unpleasant manner.
Zoom, I like your blog just the way it is. You discuss a lot of subjects and you are a wonderful writer. Don’t change anything, it is a wonderful blog.
It looks like a matted fur problem. I once came across a super friendly neighborhood cat (very scruffy looking) w/lots of med-long white matted fur and nasty eye infections. On my walks, I brought some combs/brush and the next few days I carefully brushed & removed all of the mats til she had a silky smooth white fur coat. I knocked on the owners door to ask about her eye problems and her coat’s need for brushing.
I was very lucky because her owners saw how much better she looked with a good brushing (ie. she wasn’t a hopeless matted mess with icky eyes). They had already made an appt. that afternoon to bring her to the vet & did get medicine.
Do they have no kill shelters or rescue groups willing to help this cat in Canada?
I agree with XUP, that you do social commentary really well.
I haven’t seen that cat lately and I have not been able to get close enough to him to see what’s wrong with him, let alone catch him. Maybe if I had a large net to throw over him (like a fishing net) but I don’t. That time I caught the crow, I threw a towel over him but he was walking and not as fast as the cat. I think you’d need something bigger than a towel to catch a cat.
Poor sad-looking cat.
You know – I think this whole blog is amazing and I’ve said it before – you make the personal universal and the universal personal. I foam with jealousy at your writerly super powers. I understand why you might not show the whole thing to employers — but I am feeling sentimental tonight I find it a shame that censoring might be necessary.
ah sentiment.