If you are homeless, hang in there. If you are struggling, don't give up the fight. Try your best to stay healthy. Protect your health the best you can so that you can find work, income, housing, etc.
For me, housing is an efficiency. A kitchenette and bath and a living area. It's a peaceful place, a decent roof over my head.
I want more for myself my daughter, though. A two-bedroom place, a nice spot near a good school somewhere.
Saturday, February 27, 2016
Friday, January 4, 2013
Resume mistakes to avoid
Part of my responsibilities at work include screening job applications to ensure that applicants have a bachelor's degree in an appropriate field of study and that their overall GPA was 3.0 or above.
Here are some mistakes I find:
1) The resume does not include information that the employer wants to know. For instance, if the ad says U.S. citizenship is required and you are a U.S. citizen, add a line to your resume indicating your citizenship. If a certain GPA is required, add your GPA to your cover letter or resume so that the employer does not have to contact you for that information. If you have a skill or qualification mentioned in the ad, modify your resume to show that you have it. How else will the employer know that you qualify?
2) The resume highlights work experience that is not suitable to the desired job. If have the right schooling but your level of relevant work experience is low or non-existent, start your resume with your education rather than your work experience. Provide a lot of information about the relevant coursework you did at school. Instead of merely writing Bachelor of Science in Biology with the year of graduation, include the courses taken that are relevant to the job you desire. Mention the relevant projects that you completed at school since is the only experience you have.
3) The resume contains spelling or grammatical errors. Use the spell check feature of your word processing software. If writing is not your strongsuit let an English major review and edit your resume and cover letter before you submit them.
4) The resume mentions the wrong job. I work for a science company that does academic rather than laboratory research. Sometimes I hear from applicants who say they are looking for a laboratory job when our vacancy ads clearly say that we do not have a laboratory and do not do that type of work. Some of these applicants are qualified for the job but, by mentioning the wrong job, they show that they have either not read our ad or have not bothered to modify their resume.
I hope these tips help. I wish you the best in your job hunting.
Here are some mistakes I find:
1) The resume does not include information that the employer wants to know. For instance, if the ad says U.S. citizenship is required and you are a U.S. citizen, add a line to your resume indicating your citizenship. If a certain GPA is required, add your GPA to your cover letter or resume so that the employer does not have to contact you for that information. If you have a skill or qualification mentioned in the ad, modify your resume to show that you have it. How else will the employer know that you qualify?
2) The resume highlights work experience that is not suitable to the desired job. If have the right schooling but your level of relevant work experience is low or non-existent, start your resume with your education rather than your work experience. Provide a lot of information about the relevant coursework you did at school. Instead of merely writing Bachelor of Science in Biology with the year of graduation, include the courses taken that are relevant to the job you desire. Mention the relevant projects that you completed at school since is the only experience you have.
3) The resume contains spelling or grammatical errors. Use the spell check feature of your word processing software. If writing is not your strongsuit let an English major review and edit your resume and cover letter before you submit them.
4) The resume mentions the wrong job. I work for a science company that does academic rather than laboratory research. Sometimes I hear from applicants who say they are looking for a laboratory job when our vacancy ads clearly say that we do not have a laboratory and do not do that type of work. Some of these applicants are qualified for the job but, by mentioning the wrong job, they show that they have either not read our ad or have not bothered to modify their resume.
I hope these tips help. I wish you the best in your job hunting.
What do you do for passive income?
Happy new year! Wow, I've been gone for so long. Haven't posted here since Jan 2011 and it's Jan 2013 now! Could it be that I get a zest for blogging at the beginning of the year and then it fades? Talk about things that make you go "hmmm".
Anyway, I would love to hear from people who earn passive and residual income. What are you doing? How did you get started? How much effort do you have to put into it? Let's get the conversation going, so that we make our dreams come true.
Anyway, I would love to hear from people who earn passive and residual income. What are you doing? How did you get started? How much effort do you have to put into it? Let's get the conversation going, so that we make our dreams come true.
Thursday, January 20, 2011
Hard Work Makes Your Dreams Come True
Dreaming doesn't make your dreams come true, work does. You have to focus on what you want to achieve. If you are not qualified, get trained, get experience, and keep working towards your goal.
There is something to be said for starting young too. The health and strength of youth are precious there is time to train for or work towards a dream. When you're 17 you may start training to compete in your first Olympics but the results may be better than if you start at 37. Not that 37 is old but some dreams are better sought in one's youth.
As a child, a friend of mine longed to be an airplane pilot. In those days, that was a big dream for a boy in the Caribbean. When he was a teenager his parents supported his dream and financed light-aircraft flying lessons. When he completed technical school, he went on to commercial flight school. He is a airline pilot today with Southwest Airlines in the United States.
I hope this encourages you to start early if you can and even if you haven't started young to find new dreams, new hopes, and great success.
There is something to be said for starting young too. The health and strength of youth are precious there is time to train for or work towards a dream. When you're 17 you may start training to compete in your first Olympics but the results may be better than if you start at 37. Not that 37 is old but some dreams are better sought in one's youth.
As a child, a friend of mine longed to be an airplane pilot. In those days, that was a big dream for a boy in the Caribbean. When he was a teenager his parents supported his dream and financed light-aircraft flying lessons. When he completed technical school, he went on to commercial flight school. He is a airline pilot today with Southwest Airlines in the United States.
I hope this encourages you to start early if you can and even if you haven't started young to find new dreams, new hopes, and great success.
Thursday, April 8, 2010
Spanish
An anglo-American coworker heard me speaking Spanish with another coworker who is originally from El Salvador. My American friend was not ok with us speaking in Spanish and summed up his views with the line "Welcome to America...now speak English!"
I understand where he was coming from. As an American, English is the language he grew up with and it's the main language used here in his homeland. It may have been a bit jarring for him to hear his coworkers speaking a language that he doesn't understand. Maybe he thought we were talking negative things about him or the company, but we weren't.
People who speak English in America are in the main stream. Jobs and opportunities may come easier for them. But how is not to one's advantage to learn a second language?
When I was in secondary school in Trinidad, we didn't have a choice. We had to study Spanish and French as part of the curriculum at the junior level (age 11 to 14). Foreign languages were optional in secondary school after that, but I continued French until I was 16 years old.
When I was hired by that particular company as the receptionist, the beginner-level Spanish I learned in Trinidad is what I polished up when I realized how many people spoke it. I began to ask, Miguel, my Salvadorean coworker "como se dice...?" which basically means "how do you say...?"
"Como se dice glasses, Miguel?", I asked as I admired his blue-tinted eye wear. "Lentes!", he told me.
"Como se dice straw, Miguel?" I needed a word for the drinking straw I'd gotten with my Burger King lunch meal. "Pajita!", he called back. "Gracias!", I thanked him.
I annoyed poor Miguel with questions like those for weeks. My vocabulary grew even more when I started going to a Spanish/English chatroom online. Then, I caught the eye of a guy named Mario, who was also from the job and also from El Salvador originally but limited in English skills. That's when my rusty old Spanish skills really started to improve. I had no choice but to find the Spanish words to communicate with my cutie, mi guapo. He loves to buy me flowers and take me out and calls me his "morena preciosa", his precious brown-skinned lady. I would say that that title roughly equals nubian princess...and I love it.
Mario is learning English from a pricey little self-study program that he bought, it's called "Ingles Sin Barreras" or English Without Barriers. Also, he learns new words that I teach him. It's not that hard to learn a new language.
Yes, this is America and it's to anyone's advantage to be fluent in English while living here but there is also an advantage is knowing another language and if it comes easy to you, why not learn?
I understand where he was coming from. As an American, English is the language he grew up with and it's the main language used here in his homeland. It may have been a bit jarring for him to hear his coworkers speaking a language that he doesn't understand. Maybe he thought we were talking negative things about him or the company, but we weren't.
People who speak English in America are in the main stream. Jobs and opportunities may come easier for them. But how is not to one's advantage to learn a second language?
When I was in secondary school in Trinidad, we didn't have a choice. We had to study Spanish and French as part of the curriculum at the junior level (age 11 to 14). Foreign languages were optional in secondary school after that, but I continued French until I was 16 years old.
When I was hired by that particular company as the receptionist, the beginner-level Spanish I learned in Trinidad is what I polished up when I realized how many people spoke it. I began to ask, Miguel, my Salvadorean coworker "como se dice...?" which basically means "how do you say...?"
"Como se dice glasses, Miguel?", I asked as I admired his blue-tinted eye wear. "Lentes!", he told me.
"Como se dice straw, Miguel?" I needed a word for the drinking straw I'd gotten with my Burger King lunch meal. "Pajita!", he called back. "Gracias!", I thanked him.
I annoyed poor Miguel with questions like those for weeks. My vocabulary grew even more when I started going to a Spanish/English chatroom online. Then, I caught the eye of a guy named Mario, who was also from the job and also from El Salvador originally but limited in English skills. That's when my rusty old Spanish skills really started to improve. I had no choice but to find the Spanish words to communicate with my cutie, mi guapo. He loves to buy me flowers and take me out and calls me his "morena preciosa", his precious brown-skinned lady. I would say that that title roughly equals nubian princess...and I love it.
Mario is learning English from a pricey little self-study program that he bought, it's called "Ingles Sin Barreras" or English Without Barriers. Also, he learns new words that I teach him. It's not that hard to learn a new language.
Yes, this is America and it's to anyone's advantage to be fluent in English while living here but there is also an advantage is knowing another language and if it comes easy to you, why not learn?
Monday, December 14, 2009
Mas Que Nada by Jorge Ben Jor
MAS QUE NADA by JORGE BEN JOR
These days, I am stuck on this Brazilian song. I listen to it over and over on YouTube; both the Sergio Mendes & Brasil '66 version and the Jorge Ben Jor original from 1963.
The lyrics are in Portuguese and it is tricky to translate the phrase "mas que mada" into English. Literally, it means "but what nothing" or "but that nothing" which do not exist in English but are equivalent to a frustrated, incredulous person saying "But what nonsense!" or "Oh, come on!". Essentially, someone is in the singer's way and the singer wants the obstructor to step aside so he (the singer) has room to samba. In essence, he's saying "Oh, come on, get out of my way!"
I have used the original song title" Mas Que Nada" (pronounced mash ki nada, in Portuguese). Apparently, the original title was being confused with the Spanish phrase "mas que nada" which is pronounced "mass kay nada" and means "more than nothing", so the title was eventually changed to Mais Que Nada to differentiate between the Portuguese and the Spanish.
I don't speak Portuguese but based on my research, these are the best lyrics, pronunciation, and translation that I can provide.
LYRICS
O ariá raiô
Obá, obá, obá
O ariá raiô
Obá, obá, obá
Mas que nada!
Sai da minha frente, eu quero passar!
Pois o samba está animado
O que eu quero é sambar
Esse samba que é misto de marcatu
É samba de preto velho
Samba de preto tu
Mas que nada!
Um samba como esse tão legal
Você não vai querer
Que eu chegue no final
LYRICS, PRONUNCIATION, AND TRANSLATION (FOR ENGLISH-SPEAKERS)
O ariá raiô Oh, a raiô song
Obá, obá, obá! Wow, wow, wow!
Mas que nada! Oh, come on!
[mash ki nada]
Sai da minha frente, eu quero passar. Leave from in front of me (get out of my way), I want to pass!
[sai da minya frenchy, oo kayroo pass-a-ar]
Pois o samba está animado 'Cause the samba is lively
[poys oo samba eshta animado]
O que eu quero é sambar And what I want is to samba
[o ki oo kayroo ey sambar]
Esse samba, que é misto de maracatu This samba, that's a mix of maracatu (a Brazilian rhythm)
[eshte samba ki ey mishtu ji maracatu]
É samba de preto velhu Is a preto velhu's samba (an old black man's samba)
[ey samba ji pretoo beyloo]
Samba de preto tu Samba of black you (Your black samba)
[samba ji pretu du]
Mas que nada Oh, come on!
[mash ki nada]
Um samba como esse tão legal A samba like this is so great (awesome)
[oom samba como eshte taow leygal]
Você não vai querer, que eu chegue no final You are not going to want, that I arrive at the end [bosay no by kayrehr, ki oo shaygi nu feenal] (You're not going to want me to come to the end)
These days, I am stuck on this Brazilian song. I listen to it over and over on YouTube; both the Sergio Mendes & Brasil '66 version and the Jorge Ben Jor original from 1963.
The lyrics are in Portuguese and it is tricky to translate the phrase "mas que mada" into English. Literally, it means "but what nothing" or "but that nothing" which do not exist in English but are equivalent to a frustrated, incredulous person saying "But what nonsense!" or "Oh, come on!". Essentially, someone is in the singer's way and the singer wants the obstructor to step aside so he (the singer) has room to samba. In essence, he's saying "Oh, come on, get out of my way!"
I have used the original song title" Mas Que Nada" (pronounced mash ki nada, in Portuguese). Apparently, the original title was being confused with the Spanish phrase "mas que nada" which is pronounced "mass kay nada" and means "more than nothing", so the title was eventually changed to Mais Que Nada to differentiate between the Portuguese and the Spanish.
I don't speak Portuguese but based on my research, these are the best lyrics, pronunciation, and translation that I can provide.
LYRICS
O ariá raiô
Obá, obá, obá
O ariá raiô
Obá, obá, obá
Mas que nada!
Sai da minha frente, eu quero passar!
Pois o samba está animado
O que eu quero é sambar
Esse samba que é misto de marcatu
É samba de preto velho
Samba de preto tu
Mas que nada!
Um samba como esse tão legal
Você não vai querer
Que eu chegue no final
LYRICS, PRONUNCIATION, AND TRANSLATION (FOR ENGLISH-SPEAKERS)
O ariá raiô Oh, a raiô song
Obá, obá, obá! Wow, wow, wow!
Mas que nada! Oh, come on!
[mash ki nada]
Sai da minha frente, eu quero passar. Leave from in front of me (get out of my way), I want to pass!
[sai da minya frenchy, oo kayroo pass-a-ar]
Pois o samba está animado 'Cause the samba is lively
[poys oo samba eshta animado]
O que eu quero é sambar And what I want is to samba
[o ki oo kayroo ey sambar]
Esse samba, que é misto de maracatu This samba, that's a mix of maracatu (a Brazilian rhythm)
[eshte samba ki ey mishtu ji maracatu]
É samba de preto velhu Is a preto velhu's samba (an old black man's samba)
[ey samba ji pretoo beyloo]
Samba de preto tu Samba of black you (Your black samba)
[samba ji pretu du]
Mas que nada Oh, come on!
[mash ki nada]
Um samba como esse tão legal A samba like this is so great (awesome)
[oom samba como eshte taow leygal]
Você não vai querer, que eu chegue no final You are not going to want, that I arrive at the end [bosay no by kayrehr, ki oo shaygi nu feenal] (You're not going to want me to come to the end)
Friday, May 8, 2009
Act Like a Lady, Think Like a Lady
U.S. Comedian Steve Harvey has a best selling book out now, "Act Like a Lady, Think Like a Man". The book has been featured on the Oprah Winfrey Show and is a runaway hit. I haven't read it myself but saw Harvey's interview with Oprah. On the show, Harvey tells women what men want, how men think, and how to know where women stand with the men they are going out with.
Serial Monogamy
I take exception to one bit of advice Harvey gave while he was on Oprah. He recommended that a woman wait at least 90 days before making love with a new boyfriend.
Will a 90-day waiting period really protect a woman from getting a broken heart? Call me cynical but I don't think it will. I remember dating a guy for quite a while before giving in to his sexual advances and he still rejected me afterwards. In retrospect, I realize that I ignored all the signals that indicated his unworthiness, not to mention his unlikeliness to commit.
On Oprah, Harvey raised an eyebrow to a female caller brought up the topic of abstinence before marriage. He said he doesn't know anyone who waits for marriage. In the light of that fact, his advice is that a woman should observe her new guy for ninety days and if he proves to be a stable, responsible, suitable gentleman, she has the green light for sex.
But my response to that is, what if he is sleeping with someone else while you put him through your 90-day withholding period?
A former coworker told me that she withheld sex for a long time from the man who eventually became her husband. She said it was easier for her to be abstinent at that time because she was still a virgin. He dated her and maintained their relationship, but when it came to sex, he was finding it elsewhere and she knew that. Eventually she gave him her virginity and later married him because she had given in. (Prior to having sex and getting married, she had made a rule for herself that she would either wait for marriage to have sex, and if she did not wait, she would marry the guy to whom she had given her virginity. She made the marriage happen. But after some years, it went sour with infidelity on his part first, then on hers. I've lost touch with her and don't know what became of their marriage).
Because of her story, I am sure that if a man likes you but won't wait for sex, he can find it elsewhere while you have him on hold.
Adult Abstinence
As a person with religious convictions, I believe in adult abstinence but I take Harvey's point that few wait. I have struggled and failed to practise it myself. I sometimes wonder where, in this day and age, will I find a man who is willing to date me and still wait until marriage. And if there are a few men out there who are willing to wait, what will be left for the women are not lucky enough to marry one of those premaritally abstinent men?
Sisters
Harvey said that the main reason men cheat on their wives is because they can always find someone to cheat with. I agree. When a woman sleeps another woman's husband, she does a disservice to all women.
Church
I hope to find a decent man in the church, but men don't come to church and don't want (or have) to be abstinent in the current climate. So where do we find faithful husbands? Right now, I'm being abstinent because I am so tired of being hurt. Tired of giving heart and body to a new lover and then having the relationship fail.
I am a mother of one. I dated my daughter's father for five and a half months without sleeping with him. We were church goers and we were trying to do the right thing. However, the abstinence didn't last. When we had sex, silly me, it was unprotected. I got pregnant and he left me. Even though I was 33 years old and employed, I was devastated. But I kept my baby. Even though I kicked myself for becoming yet another unwed mother, I took pride in my child. I have mothered her for three years now. She will be four years old in October 2009. I look at her proudly and I think, look at what I have done. Look how big she is now. Look at her. I did that.
What now?
Do I trust another man with my body? Do I take another chance with yet another man hope that he won't leave too? How many men does a woman sleep with before she meets the one she will marry?
If you opt to not be sexually active before marriage, you will be thought of as odd, even pathetic, in this society. But it is better than being hurt, I think.
Serial Monogamy
I take exception to one bit of advice Harvey gave while he was on Oprah. He recommended that a woman wait at least 90 days before making love with a new boyfriend.
Will a 90-day waiting period really protect a woman from getting a broken heart? Call me cynical but I don't think it will. I remember dating a guy for quite a while before giving in to his sexual advances and he still rejected me afterwards. In retrospect, I realize that I ignored all the signals that indicated his unworthiness, not to mention his unlikeliness to commit.
On Oprah, Harvey raised an eyebrow to a female caller brought up the topic of abstinence before marriage. He said he doesn't know anyone who waits for marriage. In the light of that fact, his advice is that a woman should observe her new guy for ninety days and if he proves to be a stable, responsible, suitable gentleman, she has the green light for sex.
But my response to that is, what if he is sleeping with someone else while you put him through your 90-day withholding period?
A former coworker told me that she withheld sex for a long time from the man who eventually became her husband. She said it was easier for her to be abstinent at that time because she was still a virgin. He dated her and maintained their relationship, but when it came to sex, he was finding it elsewhere and she knew that. Eventually she gave him her virginity and later married him because she had given in. (Prior to having sex and getting married, she had made a rule for herself that she would either wait for marriage to have sex, and if she did not wait, she would marry the guy to whom she had given her virginity. She made the marriage happen. But after some years, it went sour with infidelity on his part first, then on hers. I've lost touch with her and don't know what became of their marriage).
Because of her story, I am sure that if a man likes you but won't wait for sex, he can find it elsewhere while you have him on hold.
Adult Abstinence
As a person with religious convictions, I believe in adult abstinence but I take Harvey's point that few wait. I have struggled and failed to practise it myself. I sometimes wonder where, in this day and age, will I find a man who is willing to date me and still wait until marriage. And if there are a few men out there who are willing to wait, what will be left for the women are not lucky enough to marry one of those premaritally abstinent men?
Sisters
Harvey said that the main reason men cheat on their wives is because they can always find someone to cheat with. I agree. When a woman sleeps another woman's husband, she does a disservice to all women.
Church
I hope to find a decent man in the church, but men don't come to church and don't want (or have) to be abstinent in the current climate. So where do we find faithful husbands? Right now, I'm being abstinent because I am so tired of being hurt. Tired of giving heart and body to a new lover and then having the relationship fail.
I am a mother of one. I dated my daughter's father for five and a half months without sleeping with him. We were church goers and we were trying to do the right thing. However, the abstinence didn't last. When we had sex, silly me, it was unprotected. I got pregnant and he left me. Even though I was 33 years old and employed, I was devastated. But I kept my baby. Even though I kicked myself for becoming yet another unwed mother, I took pride in my child. I have mothered her for three years now. She will be four years old in October 2009. I look at her proudly and I think, look at what I have done. Look how big she is now. Look at her. I did that.
What now?
Do I trust another man with my body? Do I take another chance with yet another man hope that he won't leave too? How many men does a woman sleep with before she meets the one she will marry?
If you opt to not be sexually active before marriage, you will be thought of as odd, even pathetic, in this society. But it is better than being hurt, I think.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
