Bolles was only fired twice? “Fired” can mean more than one thing but the fact that I do temporary / contract work means I’m “fired” or at least unemployed on a regular basis – it’s usually just the completion of all the work but sometimes there is a selection process where you may not make the cut. They used to last a whole year but nowadays it’s once a month. Even if I get picked up the next week on a different project, it’s not something that I got used to so much as accepted as part of what I do.

One positive thing I can say about being an itinerant worker is that because I have done work for a number of different agencies over the years, I have a number of employers and individuals who can vouch for me and my work as references. For example, even within the same agency, I believe my track record enabled me to have my complaint about a supervisor taken seriously, as that was the first time over many years that I had an issue with one of the managers. I requested not to work with her and for the most part, I was able to do that.

Anyway, WCIYP 2022 Chapter 2 is about the mental / emotional aspect of the job search. The negative emotions and other potential roadblocks can really get in the way of the job search so it makes total sense to address those issues early in the book. Luckily, I’m starting this blog while employed and so it is less bad in that aspect. And even more fortunately than that, I’ve spent my time getting as organized as possible in other areas of my life so that I can say that my faith and health routines are in good shape. I probably have the best habits in those areas now than I ever have.

But one thing I just realized is that one reason for my lack of clarity about the direction I want to go with my work is Problem #1: there has been zero variety in my work tasks. This is all my own fault – by doing the same task for years, I eliminated the possibility of trying anything new or advancing myself. I don’t even do the small amounts of writing that I used to do for law school exams. I really need to find a field / job where I will not limit myself like that again. Where I can accumulate the skills I want to improve. *** I need to make a list of skills I want to improve.***

One thing I want to improve are my writing skills. Not sure what kind of writing, other than nonfiction. I wouldn’t mind attempting fiction, but it’s not necessary. Legal writing was never that appealing but better than nothing if I had an opportunity to improve that too. Might be something to work on as a transition into more general writing. ***I should keep an eye out for all writing opportunities.***

That’s another reason documenting everything on this blog is important for me to do. Just to practice a “new” skill – the habit of writing every day – to see how much I like it. Since writing was suggested to me to do either “as a career in itself or adjunct to whatever else you are doing” – then, like any job I’m interested in, I need to “test drive” the job by using the necessary skills to complete a test project.

I never took advantage of any “advancement” opportunities in my current work because I always assumed that this work would be temporary and that I would find eventually find something better, sometime. So I never committed to it. I didn’t intend on doing it for this long, but that lack of decision on what to do became a “commitment” through inertia.

Problem #2: my current work creates no takeaway work product, as any work I do is confined to the online platform and not to be disclosed. So I have nothing to “show” for years of work – no tangible proof to potential employers to present, no portfolio – other than a general summary of what I’ve worked on. Again, another benefit of having a blog is something tangible to show as my own work. Problem #3: no personalized achievements or results! My current work is generic and individual performance doesn’t matter as much as group performance. The upside to that anonymity has been flexibility – a lack of concern about anybody’s individual schedule. But I’m facing the downsides of that now.

(Note: this post is longer because I was able to get ahead on Sunday :).)