i think there is an art to this that has been escaping me....like letting them pile and plug up in my inbox is not such a great idea. i actually created 2 folders..one to consider..one confirmed with appointments to meet. the problm is that once i put them into a folder, i lose the actual attached resumes and just end up with a running script at the bottom of the email....huh? how is that helpful? i SHOULD have been printing off for the ones i have invited here. so i thought...well that is ok..i can print off the ones coming this morning...except i forgot..the computer is not in the office..i lent it to colleen and she sleeps in on weekends like most normal folks do on their much needed days off. i should have thought of this yesterday...double duh.
oh yay carol....reduced to paper and pen and cryptic notes.
i will tell you what is interesting in reading resumes as a prospective employer vs building a resume as a job seeker. i can see the difference between the "correct" resume/cover letter writing which really is just a formula in job searching and the ones who have deeper meaning.
advice to job seekers....pretty and well constructed language just tells me you paid attention in your resume writing course. regurgating what the advertisement said just tells me you know how to read (don't get me wrong here...that is hugely important to me...if you really did not understand what the ad said we are looking for, would not be a good thing.)
but it is the ones who some how get across that it is not so much a job here that they seek...but an opportunity to get paid for doing something they feel really passionate about...in our case...that would be caring for animals.
cuz here is the thing...getting paid 10 bucks an hour to clean up feces, urine, and gutted toys...to bleach, to mop, to do laundry and toss out fresh food and clean water....that is a shitty job if you ask me. but getting paid to care deeply for them, to beome an old animal slave? to have the chance to make the end of their lives happy? to have the blessed opportunity to become their very dear friend?...hah...now that is not a shitty job, that is a wonderful gift.
tell me you feel that in your resume/cover letter...show me that by telling me what have you done up til now in your life to actually seek to experience this?
paid jobs in the animal care industry are few and far between...so...volunteer experience means a lot around here too. volunteering means you are passionate and caring enough to do things for free. and one of the applicants i am meeting today has no paid or unpaid animal experience..but what that resume did have was extensive, demonstarted and committed volunteering in a different area...which tells me, this person believes and acts in the service to others without an actual pay cheque...and i find this typoe of person, worth meeting.
i did not realize how much more i can learn about a person from a couple of sheets of paper just by looking at their volunteer experience...everyone in the world has equal opportunity to do that...but most folks don't bother to volunteer much in their lives. many of the applications are just past listed job after job with skill sets acquired...and while knowing the length of employment committed to is valuable (but many are no longer giving actual dates around this for some reason)...for around here the actual job done is probably not as valuable....simply because here, it is not a just a job...it is getting paid to beome a animal family caregiver....that is huge...so tell me what there is about you that makes me believe that this is what you really do want to be.
it is not warm and fuzzy feelings like...i really love animals...i have to be honest here...most of our animals have already been victims of irresponsible but very real and selfish human-type love.
the reason saints works so well is because for all of the volunteers, for all of the staff..whatever the limitations inside each of us, whatever the difficulties and challenges in working here and caring for them....they do become our actual and ultimate reward for being here. it is not just about the paycheque (although when trying to pay your bills, it certainly helps)...it is not about the glory...hah...has anyone found any real or meaningful glory around here?
it is about making a bunch of sweet or actual pain in the asses happy and comfortable in the last days of their lives.
really understand, commit and believe in that...and someone will probably be lucky enough to actually win the lottery of a technically shitty but soulfully fulfilling, job.
at least the folks invited up over the next few days will get to see saints in the sunshine....you just cannot get better than saints in the sun!
My glory is NOT the egotistical thing. Anyone who knows me is giggling. My Mum is more than likely laughing hysterically.
BUT that said, I DO feel wonderful when acknowledged by whomever when a bridge is crossed. That is an accomplishment. I DO feel a sense of pride that me and him/her were able to traverse. It takes a lot of time to gain an animals trust...especially ones who were used and abused.
For me, it's a partnership in relationships. And when a trust is nodded upon by the animals themselves, I soar.