Test Yourself and Your Skills!

A fortnight ago; I received the most unexpected phone call inviting me to an interview for a job I couldn't recall applying for. Aside from an E-Mail inviting me to an interview over a concept note I had come up with for an advocacy video at work, this was the second best thing to happen to me, this year.
I am a firm believer in not turning down interviews unless your mental, emotional and physical state are compromised in a manner that makes it impossible for you to give it your all. I was in that kind of state and knew I would not be able to make it for the interview while the details were being given to me over the phone. I immediately declined and thanked the person for the call.
You would not believe the joy I felt after that phone call. As much as I had to turn down the break of an interview, I could not help but be happy over the fact that the application I sent in on a whim got me that far.
When I sent in the application: a week to the day of my accident, early June according to LinkedIn, I was not looking for a job. I was testing my skills and credentials. During our volunteer workshop for Interns and Volunteers, a former Supervisor once said that always try for a job if you meet 3/5 requirements of the job description. I realized that LinkedIn made this so easy with its system because all a person has to do is press "apply" when a position of interest comes along. However, this piece of advice is not restricted to technology. One can take the traditional channels available to them and apply for any position as long as they meet half the requirements. You do not necessarily have to be looking for a job. Take the time out and periodically test your skills and credentials of your professional field to ascertain that you earned your position and that your current and additional skills are good enough to get you an interview elsewhere.
To make up for the lack of experience in the other half of the job description requirements, take advantage of the internet and its vast resources to learn. Teach yourself some of these things. Invest in yourself and your career especially if you wish to grow. Personally, I never knew anything about creating a newsletter until I was thrust into the role without help. I watched tutorials on how to use MS Publisher, downloaded the manual and practiced until I got the hang of it. If you have free access to the Internet make it beneficial to YOU and your career growth.
Another thing; once in awhile, ask a friend of yours to anonymously call up the people you list as referees on your job applications. When a friend of mine said this, I could not get over the sneaky yet cleverness of it. Sometimes, the people we do use as referees sabotage our career development because no one wants to lose a good employee but what about you when you feel that it is time for you to move on? Getting your friend to find out if your referees sell you or curtail your chances is a good way to be sure that nothing stands between you and your next place of employment.
Like I mentioned earlier; I am a firm believer in not turning down interviews unless your mental, emotional and physical state are compromised. Over the course of my young career, I have had to turn down two interviews on account of my health. The first turn down in 2016 hurt me a lot because I was sick, unemployed and really needed the job. I almost asked for a postponement until I remembered that appealing to the emotions of a Messenger was not the way to go. I sadly apologized and hang up. I contemplated going for it but the memory of me taking my final exams under the grips of poor health with the cold sweats randomly popping out did not seat well with me. I would have done more harm than good. The last thing you want to display to the interview panel is you at your weakest. They might empathize but will not take pity on you for showing up in that state. Always show up when you are at your finest and can think on your feet.
Truthfully; I have experienced a lot of failures in my pursuit of development programs to enhance my skills, knowledge and experience in my current field of operation but this invite to an interview even if it never materialized restored my spirit, faith in myself and capabilities.

Image Credits: googledotcom

Girl Getting Her Own!

I made it through my first month of employment! Alhamdulilah! Most of you won’t get this but it is a big deal.
Huh! Where to begin? I find myself so busy that I hardly have the time to update Simply Shanah. I spend the weekends sleeping like someone suffering from sleeping sickness. Something I rarely did until now. My sleep pattern is definitely changing.
The writer in me keeps these little notes on the phone to keep track of what is going on with my life at particular moments in time but they rarely make it here. Let me just say, A LOT has happened in this one month of working.
To take it all back to the beginning; I was on the fence about working full time because of my health and all the other issues that cropped up to make it a little more difficult than I anticipated. There was a point where I felt like throwing in the towel after two days!
The day I felt like giving in, I spent it in a teary chat with one of my best friends. The old friend I talked about here. Somehow she understood me and gave me a pep talk that I believe helped me carry on. I just don’t know what was wrong with me. Even now, I can’t explain it though I have an inkling as to what brought it on.I am glad that she is in my life because if it were not for her, I wouldn’t even be writing a post about my first month. She means a lot to me and I am glad to have her back in my life.
I like what I am doing and the people I come in contact with. I have been involved in situations which I thought I would never be in and came out unaffected. I am learning how to deal with a conniving work-mate whose motives I am yet to understand and also work in an environment where I can’t call any of the people friends.
All in all this is a good thing. It took me awhile to get here and now that I am - I am happy to say I like it. Yes! I am FINALLY a girl getting her own! And that feels fantastic. ;)

Not My Cup Of Tea!

I work twice a week but I have to say the two days take the hell out of me. I find myself quite tired at the end of each day and looking forward to the last hour of my last day! Yes, that’s how much it takes. The days over there are more demanding than when I used to work with mum. With mum; such days were sporadic but over there… after two – three hours of lazing about in the morning, the pace picks up out of nowhere.
Fortunately, I am still new over there and my skills are not so on demand. Speaking of skills, I hate how everyone automatically thinks every Information Science and Technology person is good at Programming and Design! For some reason they expect you to be able to design a database or a website off the bat – stuff I haven’t done in years. To be honest; this is the bit about Information Science and Technology that makes me not want to pursue it as a profession.
I loathed Programming at University and still do to this moment. I can’t imagine myself seated in a corner going bonkers over a piece of code that’s failed to run with my nose pressed on the computer screen. That’s not even talking about the sleepless nights and the perpetual unkempt look Programmers spot. I am not desirous of that lifestyle because I don’t have the patience and it is not my cup of tea.
My interest lies at the front end of Information Science and Technology. I love the tweaking and managing and whatnot. That is where my passion is. I put a lot of effort and hard work in pursuit of this degree, acquired the skills and also the knowledge so I’d be a fool to write off something I worked so hard for. Right?!
We are in the era of Information Science and Technology where practical skills and knowledge of the Computer and it’s entities is no longer a must but a necessity and me having those is a bonus. Plus, everything comes back with practice and I am sure that if I really wanted to program and design it would all come back to me but to be frank, it is not what I want.
Whenever the opportunity arises and my skills are questioned, I extol my interests and try as much as I can to disabuse them of the programmer thought that automatically comes with the Information Science and Technology credentials.There is no Programmer over here, not in my direction.

X. Shanah

Every Scar Has Its Own Story.

Whenever we embark on new paths and journeys in our lives, the words you’re bound to hear from loved ones with certainty are ‘experience’ and ‘exposure’ for it will all be new. I think those two should come with a warning and a manual on how to act when you are exposed to something you have never come across in your 20 something years!
My work has been a wealth of exposure when it comes to disabilities and the people involved but nothing could have prepared me for Mark! He walked into the office and I literally got chills. I was freaked out at first and didn’t know how to react! I couldn’t stop myself from staring whenever he looked elsewhere and my mind was ripe with questions.
Mark is really tall, dark and slightly bigger in build with a diploma in Accounting and Finance. At first sight you hardly notice the scars running down the left side of his head and face. There is nothing wrong with him until you notice the hands. They are both overran by scars with the right being amputated at the wrist. You only see what is supposedly a palm.
His left hand is there except that what would be the backs of his hand and palm are attached to each other. With his index and little fingers embedded into it leaving his palm facing out with three functioning fingers. The thumb, middle and ring fingers.
It struggled to keep my eyes off him as the chills and fear disappeared. The scars on his face and hands seem to be a result of probably childhood burns. I remember talking about it with my friend and we both concluded on it being caused by a callous person. Someone with a heart of stone. Naturally, I told mum and she said it could have been a burn accident caused by childhood curiosity and not necessarily a person.
There is a saying about situations bringing out either the best or worst in us?! This had the potential to bring out the worst in me due to it being the first time I came across someone like Mark. Despite my feelings, I managed to greet him back with some semblance of normalcy. He is quite a likable guy with confidence. His lack of self consciousness puts you at ease and before you know it, you hardly notice the hands and the scars on his face.
I never ask people what brought on the disability and scars because I find it personally intrusive. You tend to remind people of the darkest years in their lives and the hellish experiences if it pertains burn victims. Questions bring all those memories back and if the person never got over being disabled and learned to live with it, the bitterness of what they are rears itself in their words and expressions. Much as I would like to know what his scars have to say, I would never ask him something so personal and painful.
This is someone who life has dealt a great deal of cards and to see him be confident in himself and who he is, is quite remarkable - something I appreciate as a three legged hussy! It is rare to find a person living with disabilities as confident and assured in their own skin because of the childhood torments and society.