Marianna’s goals: 8th Sept

Angie

Sorry, Marianna! I had a million things to do this morning and I ran out the door forgetting to post this thread. But we are back on track :0)

So, as I recall, you have a template 7-day task schedule. What’s on it for the rest of this week? Investigating volunteer opportunities? Finding out about classes? Setting up interviews? Tracking down that perfect interview suit? Giving Gertrude plenty of hugs and kisses? Seeing friends? Networking? Helping out others on the forum?

Give us run down of your rough plan from now until Friday and we’ll support you as you complete those tasks. I know you'll have another productive week!

16 years ago

General

13 replies

Latest reply was from marianna

Inge

(website)

Moderator

Angie is relentless and ABSOLUTELY incredible, isn't she!!!

I hope you had a lovely long weekend Marianna (the shopping went amazingly well;-), do keep us posted about this week's projects. Did you manage to get hold of that event planner?

16 years ago

marianna

Veteran

No worries, Angie!

At the current moment my mom and I are taking photos of everything and anything we don't want/use anymore and I will be posing these items for sale on Craigslist/eBay, etc. We're doing this to hopefully earn a little money while I'm in the process of looking for additional work. I am also going to go through my closet again and stop holding on to things that are too small and that I haven't worn in years. I'll take these items to a buy/sell shop to hopefully get a little cash as well. So that's today's game plan -- purging the home of useless items and hopefully making some money.

Then tonight I will sit down and create an updated task schedule. I am flying back to Chicago next Monday so when I get back I will call the two people who called for interviews last week and hopefully set something up. I am continuing applying for jobs everyday (mostly checking out Craigslist and Idealist.org) but I know I need to expand my search. Regarding volunteering, I have narrowed down a few organizations that I am passionate about and would love to volunteer for, but they're controversial organizations and I have some doubts. I emailed a few organizations a few days ago but haven't heard back yet (holiday weekend?)

I've honestly been a little lackluster about researching classes as I just got finished with school and going back so soon is a little revolting. Haha. I sort of just want to self-teach myself new skills. I need to think about this more. I also don't know if I want to spend money on classes right now.

I haven't returned the Tahari suit yet because I'm scared that I'll get a call for an interview and I won't have anything to wear! I don't want to have to suit shop in a panic. I don't have a ton of money to spend, and it seems difficult to find a nice suit in the $100 range and I'm sort of a quality snob, but I may have to sacrifice quality to get me through interviews? Not sure yet. I haven't really started suit hunting yet.

Gertrude is in Chicago with her daddy and brother chihuahua (my boyfriend has a little boy chihuahua!) and I'll give her plenty of love when I get back. That doesn't even need to go on my schedule because it's a given!

I will write back with a formal 7-day plan later tonight though. Thanks so much for this!

16 years ago

marianna

Veteran

Inge, my stylist never called me with that event planner's number! Should I call her and remind her? I don't want to be a pest...

16 years ago

Inge

(website)

Moderator

I think a friendly reminder wouldn't hurt? (just say that you are very excited about researching this possible career for yourself and that you couldn't wait to talk to someone in the field). Perhaps your stylist was away for Labour Day weekend. I'd call her on Thursday or something.

Just had another thought: do you have a black or grey (pencil) skirt (or even trousers) Marianna? Pair that with the new jacket you got, perfect for interviews in my opinion.

16 years ago

marianna

Veteran

You're brilliant, Inge. I don't have a pencil skirt but I do have black trousers... and I agree that they would look great with my new jacket! VERY good idea. Never would have thought of that on my own!

I'll give my stylist a few days and then call her!

16 years ago

Kari

Veteran

Ooh, I like Inge's idea for separates with your new jacket!

Marianna, kudos to you for applying to so many jobs & inquiring about volunteer opportunities. I hope that you are able to have fabulous interview experiences & find just the right organization.

I don't know if this helps you, but in addition to networking, the main places I looked for jobs were Craigslist, Careerbuilder, Indeed, Monster, and some local job search websites (one is affiliated with our city newspaper, the other with our state career development & employment center.) I subscribed to some services that would automatically email me with jobs that I might be qualified for, but I felt like I had better luck if I simply picked one day a week to look at each website & apply to the 1-3 most relevant jobs I found there.

I also suggest looking directly at the website of companies you are interested in working for. Often companies have different job postings on their main website from what you see on external job search sites, so you have a larger pool to work from. You may be doing this already, so I apologize if I'm repeating information that you already know!

16 years ago

marianna

Veteran

Great info Kari, thanks. Did you find Monsters to be helpful? For some reason I prefer to email directly from my email account than going through a website. Not sure why, seems more personal!

How did you find the job that you were just offered?

16 years ago

Kari

Veteran

Me too, Marianna. I also prefer to email my resume in a Word or PDF document rather than copying & pasting into a web form. But I sometimes submitted through Monster and Careerbuilder if I had no other choice.

I actually found the job I accepted (as well as the other one that I interviewed for last week) on Craigslist. It seems like a lot of small & mid-size companies are relying on Craigslist because they don't get quite the volume of resumes that they receive from Monster, and I don't think they have to pay for a membership to use Craigslist either.

16 years ago

marianna

Veteran

7-day task schedule (Tuesday-Tuesday). This is pretty boring and repetitive while I'm at home in CA. I'll have more variety once I'm back to work in Chicago.

Tues Sep 8 - Major goal = de-clutter
- Take pictures of unwanted items and post them on Craigslist (done)
- Clean out closet, getting rid of everything that's too small and that I haven't worn in over a year.
- Take a few items of clothing to the tailor (might do this tomorrow)
- Find a PC and apply for a job at Nordstrom (their application doesn't work on a Mac!)
- Check out new jobs/internships on Craigslist and send resumes/CVs.

Wednesday 9th
- Apply to at least one job and one internship
- Create a more professional blog (I have a personal blog and I want to create one for more professional ventures, maybe even to keep track of my goals.)
- Figure out volunteer stuff. I'm dragging my feet on this for some reason.

Thursday 10th
- Apply to at least one job and one internship
- Look for some paid research studies (easy money...)
- Play with Excel. (Do I really need a class for a simple program?!)
- Look at what classes the local community college offers and how much they cost
- Update new blog

Friday 11th
- Continue applying for jobs/internships (at least one of each!)
- Update new blog...
- Figure out if I have something to wear to the Bay Area YLF meet-up!

Saturday
- Apply for at least one job and one internship (as usual)
- Enjoy a weekend day with my mommy. Maybe get pedicures?
- Update new blog?

Sunday
- YLF Bay Area meet-up in Los Gatos!
- Pack for my trip back to Chicago...

Monday
- Fly back to Chicago
- (This will probably be a rest day on applying to jobs)

Tuesday
- Call and set up interviews!
- De-clutter my Chicago closet (sort clothes for buy/sell shops, look at stuff with tags still on and decide if I should return, unpack my suitcase).
- Apply for at least one job/internship
- Create new 7-day task schedule
- Go to bed early (back to work on Wednesday from 6 a.m - 6 p.m!)

16 years ago

marianna

Veteran

Kari, is Word or PDF better? I've been using PDF because I think it looks cleaner. Do you know if employers have a preference?

16 years ago

Kari

Veteran

I haven't noticed a strong preference one way or another, but I prefer PDFs too because they are cleaner and because there is no way for an employer to back-track and see the old edits I've made to a Word resume file. Another plus for PDF files is that as long as the employer has Adobe Reader they will be able to open it, but if you are sending a docX format (Word 2007 document), the employer might not be able to open it if they lack the latest version of Office.

Impressive schedule! I hope you'll let us know how it goes so we can cheer you on!

16 years ago

Angie

(website)

Fashion Stylist

Oh, Inge. You are always SO sweet. Kari, you rock too. When do you start work?

Marianna, you must miss Gertrude terribly! Back to biz though, I love your plan! You are a star! Very impressed. Feel free to ponder your volunteer options with us since they are causing a bit of stress. That’s what we are here for :0)

On the suit front, have you tried the Rack? I love Inge’s idea of matching separates.

16 years ago

marianna

Veteran

I was actually at the Rack yesterday and didn't see anything great but wasn't thinking about suits. I have to go return that cream trench so I'll take another look!

Oh, also I forgot to update that I contacted references the other day and got approval to use three people as references so that's more progress on my part! I was dragging my feet on this too but it was surprisingly easy and people always seem happy to help.

I do miss Gertrude terribly, and I always wonder if she thinks I've abandoned her (which I know she doesn't have the capability to do, but still!)

Today I saw a job posting for a Special Events Manager at Macy's (a job which I'm obviously not qualified for) but I decided to apply anyway. No risk no gain!

16 years ago

Category