Persistent Job Searching Leads to Results

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The last time I wrote, I was in the middle of a job search. I had just gotten notice the day before that my contract with the government was being cut. Not one to sit on my laurels, I went out and attached the job search.

Through promotion of myself on social media channels, getting in touch with multiple different staffing agencies, reviewing different job bank sites and setting up RSS feeds, as well as pure Google searches, the fruits of my labour paid off. Within a week and a half, I ended up with three different companies interviewing me, an interview via a staffing agency, and a position won based on my CV alone. I also got another call for another interview after I had accepted a position, but I declined that interview.

It also goes to show timing is everything. I was all set to begin my temporary contract with the governmental department that had called me up on a Friday. The day before, I had my second interview with a company (along with a small technical test). After the interview, I went for my optometrist appointment, for my three year laser eye surgery follow-up (to which I’m happy to report my vision remains at 20/20. Not bad for someone who had a prescription of -9.50 in the left eye and -8.50 in the right eye beforehand). In a good mood based on that alone, I came home, and started to get my gear together for karate class – I was leaving early to hang out with a friend who needed a study break.

I then got the callback. A letter of offer had been emailed to me. In shock, I said I needed to think overnight. However, it took all of ten minutes, and walking out the door, to realize that I needed to take this opportunity. When I arrived at my destination, with my friend’s complete understanding, I sent off a few emails – one telling the staffing agency I was not reporting the next day, the other accepting the letter of offer, and stating I would get it to them that night, or on the weekend.

Since I signed the offer, and have been set up officially in payroll, I can definitely announce that I will begin work with Ascentum in a software developer position this upcoming Monday. I am excited beyond belief. Prime location, and based on the letter of offer, tasks that will interest me more than pure WCAG 2.0 compliance testing/coding.

Did I write this to purely state my good luck? Partially. I also want to stress to any job seekers who might land upon my blog that with perseverance and the right attitude, you’ll find that perfect job. I’ll leave you with some of my personal tips:

  1. Keep your CV up to date. If you have a smartphone, keep a copy saved on the SD card of your phone. If you are out and need to email from your phone, you’ll save yourself a LOT of trouble.
  2. If you use social media on a regular basis, don’t be afraid to promote yourself via the available channels. You might be surprised with the results.
  3. Don’t discount any avenues. If you think there might be a job lead, pursue it, no matter how weird it might seem at first.
  4. Lastly, stay optimistic. A good attitude towards your job searching will translate into confidence in interviews – and confidence can potentially lead to job offers.

And that’s it. My personal guide to job searching. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have errands to run before meeting my friends for pho tonight. The rain hasn’t started, and I intend to take advantage of that.

In Where Miriam Searches for a New Job

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Disclaimer: this post is partially advertisement of myself

Most people know what’s going on with the federal public service here in Canada right now. It’s no secret that people are, and will be losing jobs. Count me as one of them. Luckily I have a two week notice, and I didn’t have to leave right away.

I’m lucky I’m in a field (web development) that’s in demand. I’m also lucky that I have both private and public sector experience, and that I work with a variety of programming languages. I’m comfortable communicating with others, and I’m willing to adapt to different situations.

It’s proven helpful this past week. I’ve been in contact with at least five different staffing agencies here in the city, with three actively working on a potential placement for me. Via Twitter, I sent out a tweet advertising myself (with 12 retweets thus far), and within 12 hours, I had two people reply, directing me to a website or email address, to apply to a private sector position.

I also updated my LinkedIn profile (http://ca.linkedin.com/in/miriamgoldman), and I highly encourage anyone who wishes to connect with me in a professional sense to search me out there. In addition, I am networking personally, contacting former managers and colleagues, asking them to “keep their eyes and ears open”. You’d be surprised how much that works.

While it’s always a disappointment to have to search for a job in these circumstances, I think I’ll be OK. Being proactive is essential, and so is keeping all my options open, and not letting a door close.

If you are reading this, and are in a similar situation to myself, don’t fret. Stay optimistic, use your network, and don’t discount social media platforms. You’d be surprised with the results.

If you are reading this as an employer, and wish to discuss potential opportunities with me, please contact me via Twitter (@mirigoldman), or on LinkedIn. I’d love to hear from you.

Two Months to Go

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I’m sitting here, two months and 10 days (exactly) away from my second degree black belt grading in karate. 71 days. Strangely, I’m relatively calm about the whole thing.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m nervous – but not as nervous as I was this time in 2010, when I graded for my black belt. This time, I have experience on my side. I’ve been through a major grading like this before – and I know that half the battle is mental. Physically, I know I will be dead after that weekend, and no matter how much I prepare, the senseis will be pushing me (and the others grading) WAY beyond our limits. And I’m OK with that. After all, grading to a higher level in the martial arts needs to be a challenge – and I don’t do it often. After this, providing I grade successfully, I will have 4-6 years before I am even eligible for another grading.

I am also looking forward to AFTER the grading – when the intensity will die down, and my schedule will loosen up. I plan on returning to ballroom dance (although I think now I am going to focus on the standard dances, and not latin), and I hope to resume belly dance as well (stay tuned for a post regarding that within the week). If that fails, I think it’ll be time to pick up a secondary martial art – iaido is first on my list, followed by kendo, and judo.

So, to all those brown belts from my dojo going for shodan, and fellow shodans working towards nidan (and our nidan going for sandan), let’s keep at it as a team. We’ve been jelling together quite well in our training sessions, so keep on feeding off each others’ energy. To all the rest from my dojo who might read this, regardless of rank, keep up your support and encouragement of us. It helps, it really really does.

….and to think five years ago, I would have never dreamed to be where I am today. First degree black belt, grading for second, and a regular instructor at the dojo. How times change.

Cooking with Miri – Chicken Noms

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I like chicken. I’ve always liked chicken. When I was a picky eater as a child, it was a staple. I don’t know how many chicken sandwiches I took to school in the past. Now, as an adult with a broader taste, I like to experiment.

On Sunday evening, I took some chicken, and marinated it in a mix of thai seasoning, honey, olive oil, and ginger. I left that in the fridge for 24 hours. The next day, I cooked it up on the stove, adding in diced sweet onion, and sliced red bell pepper. I had picked up some hot mango chutney earlier on in the week, so I threw in a few spoonfuls of that. Once that mixture was done, I threw it on some quinoa (the new superfood which I bought a cookbook for yesterday), and poured the leftover sauce over the whole thing.

I think adding the mango chutney was the best idea of the whole meal. It added some needed spice (I can not tolerate bland food anymore), and gave it a hint of a fruity taste.

Finished Product

Doesn’t it look great? I’ll admit, I’m not the greatest photographer, nor cook. However, if it makes my taste buds dance, and the dish is relatively healthy, it’s win-win.

Tonight I plan to try making jalepeno poppers. Spicy. Just the way I like it.

In Where Miri Gets Inspired from the Grocery Store

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One of my close friends from the dojo and I have a routine. We will do the same karate class, and then walk up to the local grocery store up the street, get what we need, and go home (we live in the same apartment building, which is great for those dark nights – walking buddy!). Tonight was no different.

I walked in having no clue what I wanted to buy. When I saw the cauliflower at a reasonable price, I got inspired. Picking up one, I then grabbed a sweet onion, some brussel sprouts, a package of honey garlic sausage, and some jello (that’s not related to this post, it’s a long-running joke between some high school friends and I).

I came home, grabbed a bowl, and put in some olive oil, salt, and pepper. Preparing my cauliflower and brussel sprouts, I tossed them in the mixture, placed it on a baking sheet, and shoved it in the oven. In the meantime, I cut up two sausages and pan-grilled them, sauteed about a quarter of the onion in some margarine, and started to cook up some instant basmati rice. 45 minutes after getting home, I was done.

Let me tell you, it was fantastic, and worth eating so late. I had always been hesistant to try brussel sprouts, but if they are prepared like I did, I will scarf them down like nobody’s business. The onions complimented the sausage, and basmati rice is always good. It was a hit in my tummy, and I’m happy that I have leftovers for lunch tomorrow.

Now I just need to roast more cauliflower, brussel sprouts, and let’s face it, other similar veggies. Counting down the days until the closest farmer’s market is open. Yum yum yum! What should be next? I’ve already done sweet peppers, butternut squash, onions, and asparagus in the past. Leave your suggestions in the comments!

I’ll leave you with some pictures.

Sausage and Onion

Roasted Veggie Goodness

Finished Product

Musician Hoarders

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Got your attention, didn’t I?

It’s no secret that other than karate, my main passion is music. Before I get to the actual subject at hand, a background on my history as a musician.

It started in the fall of 1996, when I started grade seven, and signed up for band class. The way the band teacher helped her students pick an instrument was interesting – we had two week units on a number of different instruments. Each instrument we got graded on. I don’t remember the particular order, but mine were (with respective grades in parentheses); clarinet (10/10), trombone (9/10), trumpet (7/10), and flute (6/10). Disappointed, because I came into junior high wanting to play flute, I picked clarinet. Turns out that was the best choice, as I turned out to be a natural on it – moving straight to first clarinet (first chair), and my grandmother buying me a clarinet two years later for my 15th birthday. Later on in high school, I was considered one of the more advanced clarinettists, successfully auditioning for wind ensemble in my grade 11 year.

As the years passed, I added on more instruments. Grade nine (1998-99) I switched to tenor saxophone for regular band, due to a plethora of clarinets, and picked up the trombone again for jazz band, after an unsuccessful audition on sax. Moving to high school in grade 10, I went back to clarinet for my main instrument, but the trombone was picked up yet again for the lowest level jazz band in grade 11 (2000-01). While having to drop wind ensemble and jazz band due to academic concerns in my senior year, I did double on the Eb sopranino clarinet for regular band. I also took a summer band workshop twice, picking the second instrument option, playing french horn for a week the summer before grade nine, and trumpet (for a week) the summer before grade 12.

Adulthood came, and I continued with the Bb clarinet, adding on the bass clarinet in the winter of 2009 for a musical theatre production of Beauty and the Beast, and in the winter of 2011, alto saxophone for a musical theatre production of Hairspray. In March 2011, I started out with guitar, and played in front of people for the first time in January 2012.

Now, with my musician history out of the way, let’s get to the meat. Owning instruments. I currently have a Bb clarinet (Yamaha), and an electric guitar (SX series from Rondo Music). Right now, I am on the lookout for an acoustic guitar, and a saxophone (either alto or tenor). Those are just my “main” instruments. Within the next couple of years, I hope to learn bass guitar (which is on tap for this summer), drums, and yes, oboe. I’ve “conquered” the single reed instruments, time to try double-reed. Of course, I’ll need to obtain all those instruments. Let’s not forget I’m also wanting a bass clarinet and an Eb clarinet.

Do you see where I get the idea of musician hoarder? I live in a comfortably sized one-bedroom apartment. I definitely do not have room for all these instruments I wish to have. My living accommodations is stopping me from going instrument-crazy, but once I eventually buy a house, watch out. My bank account will probably be seriously in danger.

Any other multi-instrument musicians have similar issues to me? Or am I just crazy? I am a black belt web developer musician, after all. That just says crazy on it’s own. ;-)

Eat Local Dishcrawl – A Better Alternative to a Pubcrawl

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Last Tuesday, as I was reading through my Twitter stream after work, I came across a tweet stating that there were 3 tickets left for the local Dishcrawl happening that night. Quickly verifying that I was in a financial situation to afford it, I jumped on the opportunity, and got in. By the end of the night, I was very glad I did.

If you are unfamiliar with Dishcrawl, essentially it’s where a group of people get together, and get led to four different restaurants in a localized area, and get to try dishes, and learn about the chef and restaurant. This one was an “Eat Local” theme, where all the locations sourced their ingredients locally.

For me, it was a wonderful experience, getting the opportunity to try restaurants that I would normally just walk by. Our group went to Murray Street, Must, Steak, and Maison Chaloin. At each one, I sat with a different group of people, and was able to socialize with others who appreciate good food.

I won’t go into detail about what was had at each place, but rest assured, I enjoyed the majority of dishes served. All I know is that I need to go on another Dishcrawl, and if you enjoy food, trying new things, or just meeting new people, you need to go as well.

Addicted to….dance?

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Those who know me well enough know that I have been interested in dance since last summer. I took ballroom lessons from September 2010-May 2011, and have taken belly dance lessons since February of this year. I watch Dancing with the Stars, and finally clued into So You Think You Can Dance, both the US and Canadian versions.

Tonight, while watching the finale of SYTYCD:C, I was surprised to find myself wanting to try hip-hop. I hate hip-hop music! I’ve also wanted to take some ballet and tap lessons for the longest time.

I have no clue where all this came from. My urge to dance is growing stronger as each week passes. I miss ballroom dance so much (time conflicts), and look forward to belly dance each week. The passion I seem to have acquired is rivaling with my karate. Now that’s when you know it’s serious.

My next nine months are going to be taken up with karate, as mentioned in my last post. But next summer? I think it’s time to explore. The only question is, what first?

Just Do It: The Journey to Nidan begins

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Nothing excites me more than karate class. Not only do I get a killer workout, and the ability to interact with others (whom I would not normally in my chosen profession), but there are always challenges. It may be a grading, or new curriculum, but in either case, it gives me great joy.

That’s why this week I made the decision. While it is still early, and nothing is set in stone (nothing ever is), I have made the official decision that I will test for nidan, my second degree black belt, this upcoming May. My sensei already mentioned that I would be good to go if I decided to commit.

I have a new training partner for this grading. My uke for my shodan, A., has been battling some major health issues, and can’t grade with us. So, I am working with L. Her and I have constantly graded together since we were green belts, and often pair off in class.

While our “official” training won’t commence until mid-November, I needed to personally make this decision now. I’ve had 15 months out of hard-core training mode, and I need to shift back into that.

I’ll be 28 when the grading rolls around. If you had told me, five years ago, that before I was 30, I would potentially be a second degree black belt in karate, I would laugh in your face. Here’s to the next 9.5 months – hard training, soreness, and probably exhuastion, all wrapped up into one.

Let’s do it.