Serendipity happens!
It is common knowledge that serendipity refers to the unexpected, often pleasant happening. For example, you're looking for your car keys in the morning, and you discover a $20 bill in the pocket of a pair of pants that's gone through the washer. My favorite definition of serendipity came from a professor of communications at the University of Michigan whose name has escaped my memory. He said:
"Serendipity is looking for the needle in the haystack and finding the farmer's daughter".
So I'm applying for jobs yet again and remember sage advice about customizing one's CV and cover letter to the particulars of the advertised position. Did it, and had success!
You can't just blanket the world with one view of yourself. Be like the apostle Paul--"All things to all people" (1 Cor 9:22, NIV; www.biblegateway.com). I would be remiss if I didn't reprint the whole passage so you can see the context, so:
"I have become all things to all people so that by all possible means I might save some".
He's not saying that we should sway at the mere mention of a breeze, but rather keep yourself open to different ways of communicating your message. You never know what might trigger that conversation, for you OR your audience.
Onward...
*Grover Washington Jr., All My Tomorrows, 1994.
Monday, September 25, 2017
Saturday, September 9, 2017
Alfie* part III
I was a fool for thinking I could make a difference.
It's been nearly four years since I graduated Clarion. Since then:
January 2014-September 2014--Paraprofessional, Chester County Library System
September 2014-June 2015--Adjunct Principal Music Library Assistant, Rowan University--a huge step up, and arguably the best job I've had in my library career.
June 2015-October 2016--unemployed
October 2016-October 2017--Librarian I, Free Library of Philadelphia. I was scheduled to go to the Business Resource and Innovation Center (BRIC) but the HR powers that be decided to not let me do that and put me in a place that was as far removed from my career goals as could be--but admittedly with nice co-workers--and if I'd known that the FLP HR was going to pull the bait and switch on me, I might have said no to the offer, but at the time my disability status was in question, and if I turned down work, even work which I didn't like, I didn't know how that would affect my ability to continue to collect. To add to my aggravation, City and Union rules require anyone with a FLP position to establish residency within 12 months. I told the family about this and met with nearly unanimous opposition.
Meanwhile, I see friends and colleagues advancing in their careers, morphing into new ones, sending their kids to colleges and taking vacations I can't even dream of affording. It's wrong to be jealous but...
SIDEBAR: my good friend and classmate Leigh Anne Yacovelli
was just let go from her job in Hatboro PA. If you want a top-notch librarian and archivist, you couldn't do better. Leave a comment if you can help her out.
In happier news, welcome Turkmenistan! that's 67 countries heard from. Feel free to register complaints or plaudits, slap me if I whine too much, etc.
*Burt Bacharach and Hal David, 1967; covered by numerous artists.
It's been nearly four years since I graduated Clarion. Since then:
January 2014-September 2014--Paraprofessional, Chester County Library System
September 2014-June 2015--Adjunct Principal Music Library Assistant, Rowan University--a huge step up, and arguably the best job I've had in my library career.
June 2015-October 2016--unemployed
October 2016-October 2017--Librarian I, Free Library of Philadelphia. I was scheduled to go to the Business Resource and Innovation Center (BRIC) but the HR powers that be decided to not let me do that and put me in a place that was as far removed from my career goals as could be--but admittedly with nice co-workers--and if I'd known that the FLP HR was going to pull the bait and switch on me, I might have said no to the offer, but at the time my disability status was in question, and if I turned down work, even work which I didn't like, I didn't know how that would affect my ability to continue to collect. To add to my aggravation, City and Union rules require anyone with a FLP position to establish residency within 12 months. I told the family about this and met with nearly unanimous opposition.
Meanwhile, I see friends and colleagues advancing in their careers, morphing into new ones, sending their kids to colleges and taking vacations I can't even dream of affording. It's wrong to be jealous but...
SIDEBAR: my good friend and classmate Leigh Anne Yacovelli
was just let go from her job in Hatboro PA. If you want a top-notch librarian and archivist, you couldn't do better. Leave a comment if you can help her out.
In happier news, welcome Turkmenistan! that's 67 countries heard from. Feel free to register complaints or plaudits, slap me if I whine too much, etc.
*Burt Bacharach and Hal David, 1967; covered by numerous artists.
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