Awkward Classical Music Photos

Rachel helped me clean my room ALL DAY! Then we went to see Rise of the Planet of the Apes. Soooooo no time for a blog again. Tomorrow, I promise!

For now… HAVE SOME AWKWARD CLASSICAL MUSIC PHOTOS!

Kitten!

I’ve decided that whenever I’m too busy to write a blog post, I will post a picture of something cute or awesome. TODAY’S IS A PICTURE OF A KITTEN ON A PIANO!!!!!!

I was at my neighbor’s lake house all day, and I’m going to be skyping with some friends from college later so no time for a real post. Highlights of the day include going out on the boat, tubing, swimming, and getting a sunburn on my head. I currently have aloe on my scalp. Taking a shower should be interesting…

Tomorrow or Saturday (I have company over tomorrow), I will be writing about something INTERESTING, because my boyfriend challenged me to write a post that is exactly 1754 words. So we’ll see how that goes.

-Lena-

Days until move: 19
Crisis count: 0
Interviews scheduled: 1
Times listened to Deathly Hallows 2 soundtrack today: 0

On Applying for Jobs Online

“When I was your age, we printed out our resumes on nice-looking paper and sent them in the MAIL.”
–My dad

The internet is pretty awesome. I use it to communicate with my friends and family, to watch videos, to save me from boredom, and to build a professional network. I met my boyfriend online, and most of my best friends live hundreds of miles away. Now I’m using it to help me apply for jobs. For the most part, this has been a huge convenience for me! But there are also a few things that I don’t like about the online application process. Here are some thoughts!

Pros:

• Search from any location: I can’t imagine trying to find a job in Portland while in NY without the help of the internet! (Let’s leave out the fact that I wouldn’t be MOVING to Portland if it weren’t for the internet.) I’m guessing I’d have to have Bobby send me local classified ads in the mail — who knows how long THAT will take.
• Filters: I’m glad that I can write down Bobby’s zip code in the search bar, and change it to find jobs within 5 miles. Since I won’t have a car, being able to find jobs easily accessible via public transportation is crucial! I’m also grateful to be able to filter by full-time vs. part-time.
• Job suggestions: After I apply for a job, Monster, CareerBuilder, and Indeed will bring up a window that says “Similar jobs in your area.” I’ve found a few more open positions through this window!!!
• Email correspondence: If you’re like me and have an irrational fear calling business on the phone, you can set your “preferred method of contact” to “email” in your profile (at least, you can on Monster!)
• Employer searches: I mentioned this a bit yesterday, but I’ve gotten a few interview requests from employers who have found me via Monster and CareerBuilder! It’s great to see that employers are looking for workers as actively as I am looking for a job!
• Save your jobs: I started looking a few weeks ago before my resume was done and saved a bunch of jobs to my accounts so I could easily come back to them.
• Search via websites: When I was applying for bank teller jobs, I just google mapped banks near Bobby’s house and clicked on their websites then on “careers.” Super easy!

I’m sure I’ve forgotten some, but you can always just look up “WHY DO PEOPLE USE THE INTERNET” and that should about cover it. These probably seem quite intuitive.

Cons:

• Finicky web forms: There’s no chance for technical difficulties when filling out paper applications! I’ve encountered several really frustrating web applications in the past few days that have made me question applying for a position at that company; you should be able to make a functional web form if you have a big website! I ended up applying, because it could have been a browser issue (though I tried Chrome, Firefox, and Safari) and I want every opportunity I can get! I didn’t, however, apply to the company that said I needed a Windows computer to apply. Seriously? Get with the times already! It’s frustrating enough that my CD-duplication company uses an uploader that only runs on Windows. Anyways, on one application, every time I tried to delete something that was highlighted, it would go back to the previous page. On another, it asked me to select a date via a calendar (no manual input option was available) and the calendar popped up so three-quarters of it was off of the screen. There was no scroll option, and zooming out in the browser didn’t do anything. The only problem that actually prevented me from applying to the job (I sent an email about it afterwards) was one where an application asked me to select choices from several pull-down menus… and the menus weren’t showing up on the page. I probably could have gotten away with skipping these questions, but, unfortunately, they were–
• Required fields: (Awesome transition is awesome.) A lot of “required information” doesn’t apply to me as a first-time employer, but many web sites require you to fill in stuff for “employment history” even if you haven’t been previously employed (which makes sense for a universal application for an entire company.) A few times, the site told me to put “N/A” if I had never been employed, (and for the others I did the same) but you can’t fill in N/A on a pull-down menu! I had a lot of fun putting “>$100,000” under “previous salary.” The worst/ best was when applications asked me for numbers and the question didn’t apply to me… I enjoyed writing things like “3.141592653” (okay, I didn’t really but I kind of wish I had. I usually just wrote “1.”) Also, I have two strong references, but one website wouldn’t let me submit my application without three. I had to scrounge up a whole new reference and hope that I didn’t accidentally close the Google Chrome tab with the application in it while I was waiting for her contact information; this particular website happened to have —
• A lack of save function: (I’m doing pretty well with these transitions.) Pretty self-explanatory — some more extensive websites have a save option, but for the most part you have to just hope that you can fill in all of your information at once without the internet crashing or the page timing out (this happened a few times. Nobody told me it was going to time out when I got a phone call.)
• A save issue specific to Monster: You can’t save all job postings to your account. On some job descriptions you will find a side bar with “save” and “email link” options, but sometimes that side bar isn’t there. It’s really strange, and I haven’t discovered a pattern to it as of yet… But I lost at least two jobs I had discovered a few weeks ago due to this issue 😦
• Resume copy-paste: There are two components to a resume: the content and the formatting. I know that people, myself included, spend hours trying to get the spacing and font just right. So websites that ask you to copy-paste your resume (or to upload a .doc rather than a .pdf) are really disconcerting. I want people to see my cool font and formatting! I think that uploading a word document is worse than copying and pasting, because if the font isn’t standard the document may run onto a second page.
• THIS IS ON MY RESUME, !@#$ IT!!!!!! It’s super frustrating when a website asks you to upload your resume, then asks for a bunch of  information in their “application” that is obviously going to be in your resume, like education and work experience! Seriously, who doesn’t put that stuff in their resume? On a paper application it’s easy to just say “see resume” but not so much on an online application. On a related note, finding a job through a search website that already has all of your info, then having to fill in all of your info again on the actual application is SUPER ANNOYING. I got excited about being able to apply to positions quickly after uploading my resume to Monster and CareerBuilder, but it turns out that almost every site has external applications that you need to fill out in addition to your Monster profile. I wish that Monster would integrate some sort of auto-fill into their website; these companies are paying to have their jobs posted there, it’d be pretty easy for them to program and install a client that matched up fields from the website to fields on the external application. Isn’t one of the points of being on a job-search database a speedy application process?

Obviously, the pros outweigh the cons here (though the cons require a lot more explanation!), but I wanted to put the pros out there so people don’t think I hate the internet. I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments! Do any of you have similar experiences?

–Lena–

Days until move: 20
Crisis count: 0
Interviews scheduled: 1
Times listened to Deathly Hallows 2 soundtrack today: 4.5

How to Get Out of Jury Duty Without Really Trying

Job Search Update

I got my first interview request today! Actually I got three, but the second was for something that I’m really not interested in, and the third wasn’t in Portland. The interview is with a growing company called D.M.A Solutions, which provides customer service and marketing to other companies in the area. The woman I talked to was super nice. She sounded only a few years older than me and she was very fun to talk to! She asked me to call back on August 24 to set up an in-person interview.

If you’re actively looking for a job, I highly suggest that you make your Monster or CareerBuilder profiles public. That way employers can search for YOU, instead of you searching for them. That’s how this opportunity came up.

I don’t want to post too many specifics about my interviews or job (once I get it) since this is a public blog, but I will keep you posted as I see fit. I’ll probably list the company that I’m interviewing with when it actually happens, and just say if I think it went well or not. Also, I probably won’t be posting here every time I get an interview unless it’s one I’m especially excited about, so be sure to watch the interview count at the bottom of the blog.

Also, I just wanted to say, thanks for reading my blog and for all of the helpful comments! It feels so great to write again!!!!

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How to Get Out of Jury Duty Without Really Trying

Sometime last year, I got a letter from the Monroe County court system that read “THIS IS NOT A SUMMONS” in huge letters. The document asked me to confirm my address, then asked me if there was any reason that I couldn’t serve in the two years. At that point, I had no idea what I was doing after college, so I just wrote that I would graduating in late May of this year.

Of course, I got summoned for jury duty the week of August 15, which is the week before I move. Technically, I could serve, because I was going to be at home and I didn’t have anything scheduled for that week, but really, who wants to spend their last week at home serving on a jury? To make matters worse, my juror number was 31. THIRTY ONE!!!! I have never heard of someone getting a number that low, and this number guaranteed me having to go in and pretty much made sure I would be questioned. So I called the juror office a few weeks ago, and the woman I talked to said that I should just  come in on the first day (which is when I would be called) and explain to the judge that I was moving the next week, and that should get me out of it.

That was all fine and dandy, until my dad scared the crap out of me by sharing horror stories about the few times he had been called in to serve. “Once, there was a man there who had just gotten out of surgery for a car accident and was obviously in pain, and they made him serve!” “I saw a woman nursing her screaming baby, and they made her serve!” Don’t ask me if these stories are true. My dad tends to both exaggerate and mis-remember things a little bit – he’s pretty intense – and I’ve never been called for duty before so I have no idea what the environment is like. Dad said that if I were moving the week I was called I’d definitely be able to get out of it by providing my one-way plane ticket confirmation, but “I’m moving next week” wouldn’t cut it. “If it gets to the point where you’re in front of a judge,” Dad said,”Tell him that you can’t be impartial about the case. And BAM. You’re out.” The thought of *possibly* lying to a judge (what if it were a case in which I could be impartial?) freaked me out, and the whole thing was really stressing me over the weekend.

So yesterday, I called the juror office again. I’m pretty sure I reached the same woman, and she looked me up in the system and asked why I was calling again (stupid systems.) I said that I could most likely come on the first day, but I wouldn’t be able to actually serve on the jury on the off chance that I was chosen. Luckily, I had never postponed before (thank goodness!) so the woman was nice about it. She then explained to me the procedure for someone moving out-of-county.

Basically, when I get summoned again (in February) I have to provide two of the following documents:

• a utility bill or phone bill
• a copy of a drivers license or DMV I.D.
• a forwarding label from a piece of mail
• a tax return
• a pay stub
• a voter registration card
• a copy of a lease

Since I’m going to be renting a room in a house, it’s going to be difficult to get a utility bill or phone bill addressed specifically to me. And I won’t be getting a new drivers license because I don’t have a car. I won’t have a tax return by January, or probably a voter registration card. Forwarding labels from a piece of  mail won’t be too bad (I gotta set that up!) and neither will a pay stub, or most likely a copy of a lease. I’m glad that they make the process pretty simple and have a lot of options to choose from. Mallory has been having a lot of trouble getting her drivers license in Florida, and I’m glad this will be easier than that. Hopefully registering to vote by next year’s election won’t be too difficult either.

The moral of the story is, if you have a fear of serving on a jury duty, move across the country!

– Lena –

P.S. I know that I said yesterday that I would post about applying for jobs online today. I lied.

Days until move: 21
Crisis count: 0
Interviews scheduled: 1
Times listened to Deathly Hallows 2 soundtrack today: 2.5

On “Experience”

When I was 16 I asked my parents if I could pick up a part-time job to earn a little spending cash. They responded by saying, “School is your job,” and consequently paid for most trivial things (like going to the movies or the mall) that I wanted through high school. Once I got to college, I asked again, and my parents advised me against getting a job. They always paid for anything I needed while at college (like clothes, prescriptions, and school books) and I was able to use my iTunes checks to pay for things like dinners, movies, and cons. It wasn’t bad. Besides, it wasn’t like I was sitting on my butt doing nothing. Between my school activities and “Harry Potter” projects, I was busier than most of my friends throughout college.

But despite all of my awesome projects… It’s really difficult to apply for a full-time job without any prior job experience. Tons of the work I’ve done is relevant (organizational and communication skills from producing musicals as well as lots of leadership, time management, and analytical skills) but most of these online applications ask the question “how many years of experience have you had?” I’m applying primarily to receptionist and bank teller jobs, because I’m very people-friendly and a great typist. But all of these jobs, even those listed as “entry level” require one or more years of “REAL” experience. This frustrates me!

I saw an amazing presentation junior year by a guy named David Cutler about being a “Savvy Musician.” I always felt that my achievements weren’t recognized at school and that I got shunted for not being a performance or education major, but this presentation made me feel like my projects were actually worth something. It was all about “entrepreneurial musicianship,” that is, fighting to find your own way to succeed in the music industry. For those of you who aren’t experts in the classical music industry, I’ll lay it out for you:

• If you’re a music performance major, you get your bachelor’s degree, then a master’s and possibly doctorate in performance, then try to land an orchestra gig or something similar. Some play in pit orchestras on broadway, or in opera houses across the country.
• If you’re on the education route (as are many of my best friends), you’ll probably teach in a public school for a while before getting your masters degree, supplementing your income with private lessons. Then you’ll go back to school and finish your education (you need to have a masters within 4 years of landing a teaching position in order to stay) and live your life to the fullest. This is the most practical option when pursuing music, which is why a lot of people choose to double major in performance and education.
• Then there’s composition. Those who survive the brutal composition programs at their college of choice (I am not one of these lucky people… only 1 from my class made it) usually go far, but at least at my school, there’s not really a place for “non-traditional” composers, that is, those who don’t want to write non-concert music. Like me. This is one of the reasons that I dropped out of the composition program.
• If you’re a theory major like me… you’re pretty much screwed. You have to go to grad school, then you have to teach… I don’t want to do either of these things. It’s like having a degree in Latin or something.

But David Cutler encouraged everyone to defy these norms! His whole presentation urged my classmates and I to find other ways to do what you love without have to compete with every single other musician. I could tell that  many of my classmates literally couldn’t comprehend this notion. The girl sitting right next to me furrowed her brow almost the entire time- so much that it was pretty comical. But to me, the presentation was completely intuitive. I decided that I wanted to write a musical, so I wrote a musical. Done. I understand why to other people this may be confusing, but I’ve created my own opportunities for my entire life and I plan to keep doing so.

So I guess one of the reasons that I’m so frustrated is that looking for jobs is like being back in college all over again. If I want to write musicals or do anything entrepreneurial like that, I’ll have to work on commission; on the flip side, if I want a steady job so I can keep food on the table, I need to basically get a desk job (until I somehow become rich and famous. Then I can do what I want.) And I can’t tell if any potential employers will care that I’ve done all of these cool, intuitive projects; from their websites, it seems like they just want experiences that are easy to catalogue and comprehend. I am a very opportunistic person, and I’m finding it so difficult to create my own opportunities and experiences in the process of this job search.

My parents and I spent a really long time creating my resume this past week, and we decided (and aptly so) to make it a “skills resume” rather than an “experience resume” (I’m really starting to hate the word experience.) The resume showcases how I used valuable skills that a company (namely a bank or office) may want throughout my years as a college student and “Harry Potter” fan.

Touring Musician (2008-2011)

• Planned and performed three regional and national tours
• Arranged performances at libraries, bookstores, and cafés
• Executed and tracked monetary transactions
• Resolved last-minute issues in a calm and professional manner
• Recorded and self-produced 7 CDs

It makes me sound pretty cool, doesn’t it? The problem is, many of these jobs have extensive online applications (more on that tomorrow) in addition to a resume uploader, and 99% of these applications asked “how many years of experience have you had” very early on in the process… So I’m betting that they review the online answers before even looking at the resume.

To sum everything up (and forgive me, I’m not used to writing so maybe this blog is impossible to follow. Props if you’ve made it this far.) “Experience” is a very relative term. I understand why it’s very important for upper-level jobs, but I think that some leeway should be given for jobs classified as “entry-level.” To me, “entry-level” implies that this could very well be your first job, and/ or that job training is available. As for the word “experience,” well, that’s a little trickier. I think that handling a cash box for multiple people at once on tour is equivalent to running a register at Pennys. I think that communicating with companies about renting equipment and services for “The Final Battle” is equivalent to customer service experience. And God knows I’ve encountered many difficult situations and frustrating people in the past few years, not unlike when a cashier or service rep may have to deal with an angry customer. I believe that I’m just as qualified for these entry-level jobs as anyone else, and I’m hoping that potential employers will overlook the fact that I don’t have any “REAL” job experience.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m really looking forward to my first “grown-up” job- I just hope it’s not in a grocery store- but I also hope that I get the chance to showcase myself and my talents in a job that I deserve. I’m an opportunist, so I’ll take what I can get, and make the most of it. And for now, I just have to wait.

-Lena-

Days until move: 22
Crisis count: 0
Times listened to Deathly Hallows 2 soundtrack today: 3

My name is Lena

I’m 22 years old.
I just graduated from Ithaca College.
In 23 days, I’m moving from Rochester, NY to Portland, OR.
That’s approximately 2700 miles.
I don’t have a job.
I don’t have a place to live.
I have about $1600 saved up.
I’m excited.

This is my blog.