Just say No to Citizens Bank

Why is it okay for banks to make up fees as they go? Why can banks charge people money for not having enough money? This is an issues that continues to baffle me. Why can banks who get my money when they are in a pickle, turn around and take more money from me, when I am in a pickle?

Can someone explain? Please? Someone? Anyone????

Work As if You Are Not Working

A couple of weeks ago, the unemployment thing was REALLY getting to me. I am a responsible person who actually enjoys paying her bills on time. Naturally, I was getting so stressed about not being able to pay my bills that the feelings of discouragement, hopelessness, and fear were hanging over me like a wet, wool, cable knit scarf. After a considerable time feeling sorry for myself, I decided to think positive thoughts. And like any red blooded, over educated American, with too much time on her hands, I thought positive thoughts in the form of changing my Facebook status. It went from "Danielle Graham is stressed" to "Danielle Graham...it's a new day."

After making this profound proclamation, a good friend of mine sent me an email with a sort of prophetic tone to it (After confessing of his Pentecostal background first). He told me he read my status update and immediately got a vision of two castles in front of me. He said that for some reason he felt they symbolized a job opportunity for me, and that the job wasn't necessarily permanent, but that it would be something I would enjoy. He said that he felt strongly that this opportunity was less than a week away.

Being the jaded, yet surprisingly open-minded cynic that I am, I took it with a grain of salt, and thanked him for looking out for me. I knew that if an opportunity arose, I'd welcome it with open arms, but I wasn't going to count on what seemed a bit hokey.

Well, a week later, out of the blue, I get an email from a woman who owns a local floral design company. She came across my blog and resume by means of another friend who posted them to her facebook profile. She saw that I worked for a reputable floral design company in L.A. and needed someone to do similar work. We exchanged emails for a few days, and she decided to hire me.

I have been working with April, from Mocha Rose, for almost two weeks. Like I said, it is not permanent, but the pay is very reasonable for a part time job. If I didn't have close to a hundred grand in school loans, I would probably work for her for a very long time. The point of sharing this though is that even though I can't quite cover all of my expenses, I am reallly enjoying this job. My day consists of preparing the most beautiful aspects of people's most meaningful events. How could anyone not love doing that?

Well, today was an off day so I scheduled a lunch meeting with former co-workers who over the years have become like family. As we sat down to eat, one friend shared how he just got laid off, today! He works with youth, and because of state funding cuts, they cannot afford to pay their employees. This friend is still working with the kids, because he loves them. He is not getting a paycheck!!???@@@!! We all started talking about how important it is for work to be like play. Meaning that work should be something that you are so good at, or so interested in, that the affect of it, low pay, physical demands, hours, etc, are not so bad, at the end of the day. Granted, we have to keep evolving so that what we do, does in fact enable us to live day to day, but we cannot lose sight of ourselves, our interests, our skills, and our purpose along the way. At least I can't.

I am learning that I have to follow the direction of my heart and hope that it leads to the filling of my wallet. I cannot follow the direction of my wallet and think it will fill my heart.

So if you are getting married, planning a special event, or know someone who is, Call April at Mocha Rose!

Guaranteed Job Security

In a recent job search on Craigslist I selected a post with the heading "Guaranteed Job Security." In this current economic climate, guaranteed job security stands out! After clicking onto the add, this is what it read:

"Cemetery Sales is the best sales job that no one knowns about. If you want never to be with out work and make the big bucks call our Director... . Please email first . If you learn to sell cemetery products and memorial estates you can sell anything...

So much to say about this ad, so little blog space.

First off, I did not realize that cemetery sales was the best kept secret that no one "knowns" about. (Their spelling mistake, not mine.) It does make sense though. I mean everyone dies, and most people in the United States of America get buried in a casket, in a plot of land somewhere, so it is true, you can always guarantee a market.

Secondly, can you really sell anything if you can sell cemetery products and memorial estates? If the money is so good, why would you want to sell anything else??

Oh what the hell. It's worth a try.

I figured, my background in crisis intervention, my experience in helping fields, and a graduate education focused in pastoral care could actually benefit me a great deal in offering a mix of determination and compassion to both the employer and their clients.

Could I get over the creepiness factor though? My gut tells me you'd have to be a special breed to sell caskets, plots, and grave stones all day. I bet the money is good though.

You bet your sweet casket I sent my resume in. We'll see how it goes. And I WILL call the director (Thanks Lara ;-)

Workplace Rejection

In the past three days, I've applied for four different jobs. I applied for a sales position at Costume World in the Strip district, a case manager position at Lydia's Place, a Floral Designer position at a florist and Oakland, and I applied for a paid Arts Administration Internship with the Pittsburgh Opera.

The difficulty in applying for these jobs, and all of the jobs I've applied for so far, is that they are faceless. They are all (with the exception of Costume World) jobs I found and applied for online. The hiring managers are not able to look me in the eye to get a sense of who I am or what kind of worker I might be, and we have modern technogoly to thank for that. I really do think you lose something when you apply for jobs without that face to face contact. Not only that, but jobs that are advertised online are usually the kind that insist "no calls please!" So you can't even call these people and ask what the status of your application is or anything. I am just expected to fill out an application, maybe send a resume and cover letter and just let it do it's thing. I get no feedback, no courtesy call, nothing. And if they don't hire me, I never know why, I never know what the person who DID get the job had over me!

I am starting to think that looking for a job is like dating. It's like when I guy asks you for your phone number, or even takes you out on that first date, but never calls after that. You're left wondering what you did wrong, if you didn't look right, if you talked to fast, or didn't come from the right pedigree, etc.

I seriously think this who job application process is giving me a complex!

Cool Tools!!

One of the things I am learning throughout this job search phase of my life is that I must be good at marketing myself if I am ever going to convince someone else to hire me. It is a competitive market out there and if I don't have something that others don't, I will be jobless forever.

So lately, I have been racking my brain trying to figure out how to add a little pizazz to my resume and draw some attention to my hard work, experience, and education. I recently visited a blog that was super duper adorable. I saw on the right of the blog that the blogger had her resume, portfolio, and published work as links on her blog page. Uh, DUH!!! What a great idea!!! So I googled "Resume hosting sites" and found a page that showed "the top 5 free resume hosting sites."

These host sites allow you to create a resume using their templates. I decided to go with Lead You because I liked the more non-traditional look. The process was very easy. You just create a username and password, choose a template, fill in your personal information, add the resume elements you want to include, and voila! Click "DONE!"

Not only can I now post my resume to my blog, I can email it, share it, post it to facebook AND my friends & family can also send it to others as well!

The good thing about this format is that YOU can provide feedback if something on my resume needs revising or if I have a spelling error that I missed.

*Note: IF YOU SEE A SPELLING ERROR OR YOU THINK SOMETHING IS WORDED FUNNY PLEASE TELL ME!!! I can't stress how open I am to constructive criticism regarding my resume. If I am overlooking something it may be the difference between an interview and getting my resume tossed! So please, BRING IT!!

Hopefully sharing these cool tools will give me some good job search Karma and won't simply give someone else the advantage over me!!

When No one is Looking

I once heard that a way to measure your own integrity is to think about what you do when no one is looking. If you are the type of person who would cheat on a test or steal a pack of gum, just because you could then you'd probably be one of those people who are lacking in the integrity department.

That integrity test recently made me wonder if there was a parallel way of figuring out what kind of career path you should take. It got me thinking...what do I want to do when I am not getting paid. What kind of work do I like to do when no boss is looking, or signing a paycheck. It may sound cliche or like a no brainer to posit such a question, but for me it's one I don't think about enough. I get the impression that many people do things for work that simply bring home a pay check and they have hobbies of some sort that are completely different from their jobs. I don't want that for myself. I want to be one of the fortunate ones who comes homes at the end of a hard day's work knowing that my hard work was enjoyable, meaningful, and filled with opportunities for growth.

So here is a list of things I like to do, that I would like to somehow get paid to do. These are the things I like to do when no boss is looking.

1. Collect and fix old furniture.
2. Salsa dance
3. interior decorating/design
4. Read/write about current events, politics, and religion
5. Write about my own experiences and life reflections
6. Bake
7. Quilt
8. Teach youth how to do cool stuff

Now I have to figure out how to get paid to do these things.

Will Work for FREE!!!

So do you want to know how hard it is to find a job right now? It is so hard to find a job right now, I can't even find one that DOESN"T pay!

About a month or so ago, I got an idea to volunteer. Part of my motivation was altruistic, but most of it is was self serving. I figured that if I volunteered at places where I could meet people and network that maybe I would make some connections that would count when it came to finding a paying gig.

First I decided to become a "Big Sister." I may not have many networking opportunities as a Big Sister, but I think I would enjoy being a positive influence in the life of a young person. I filled out the online application. A woman sent me an email saying that the online app was just a preliminary application. She explained the expectations of a Big Sister and then asked, "do you still want to do it??" as if it were really torturous to commit to a child once or twice a month. She explained that if I were still interested I'd have to fill out the attached application and that I'd have to probably wait six months to be matched with a child. Apparently there are not that many kids who need a positive role model in their lives. Who knew?

I then decided to offer my services to the arts. I went to the Carnegie Musuems website and inquired about volunteer opportunities. It was a couple of weeks before I got a response. By the time I did, I was asked to fill out an application...to be a volunteer! References required and everything! I couldn't believe it. They might have been on to me though. After all, I did apply for an actual paying job just weeks before. But what's a girl to do??? I can't just sit on my butt all day eating bon bon's and updating my facebook status!! I need some interaction and intellectual stimulation.

So I filled out another application and submitted it. Two weeks have gone by. Two weeks have gone by since I applied for a non paying volunteer job, and I have not gotten a call back. Did I mention I have a Bachelors degree in Art and a Masters degree in Theology?