Mentoring

So, I looked into this mentoring program for immigrants in my part of NewCountry. Basically, it's a volunteer-based program where they match you with someone in your field who has experience and contacts in NewCountry with the goal being to have advice on how to fit into the job market here and expand your local professional contacts list. So with Husband's help I sent in my application for the program last night. Now I'll have to wait and see. The automated confirmation email said they hoped to get into contact with me within a few business days one way or another. Other progress on the job hunt: none!

WOOOOOAAAAAHHHHH

Just saw this over at Girlpostdoc's blog. Woah. I think this is what I'm afraid of about taking an academic position. That when the doubt is already there NOW, I should just get out NOW.
Kathy Weston's Story

I think it also fits nicely with this post from EcoGeoFemme.

Update on me: Husband read about a new mentoring program for professional immigrants (that is, immigrants who are highly-trained professionals, not those who make their living moving from country to country...) and sent me the link... sounds really interesting. I will sign up and see what happens. Would be a great help to have a mentor in the business to help coach me on the local lay of the land...

Otherwise, besides my usual (unsuccessful) read through of the job announcements, I've not done much the past few days. Except play on the swings and the slide in the sunshine with LittleOne at the playground. And a bazillion loads of laundry.

Another PFO...

Well, I didn't get another job. Another file in the jobs I didn't get folder...

But I updated my CV again... I had taken off my publications list because I thought only academic jobs were interested in them, but then NewMentorScientistLady (who, keep in mind, is a TT academic) convinced me to put them back on. They're no longer in their own section, but just entered under the appropriate job, like this:

2004-2008 PhD Thesis in Molecular Biology, OldInstitute in PhDLand, Lab of OldSupervisor, from PhDLandU
Publication: Jenn, PhD et al. (2009) SuperAwesomeJournal Reference.

Is that ok?

Here in NewCountry, it is also common to put info on a CV that I was taught to NEVER EVER NOT EVER put on a CV, things like marital status, date of birth, country of citizenship, a photo of me etc... But I used to have this:

Married with one child (born 2009)

and this:

10/2008 - 01/2010 Postdoctoral Research Position, OldInstitute (on maternity leave since 09/2009)

so I removed the references to when LittleOne was born, I guess maybe hoping that they would think he was born more recently and I haven't been on maternity leave so long? Gah, I hate hiding LittleOne, I'm so proud of him, and I want to find a job with an employer who doesn't demand that I hide him all the time, but I just have a feeling that potential employers aren't even making it past the first half of the first page!

I found an interesting job ad today too - but it's in NewCountry Language. It would be my first application not in English. I will try to start translating today and ask for Husband's input tonight. I'm scared...

Accountability....

....was a big part of why I re-started blogging. So, here goes.

I haven't done anything productive for a job hunt since my last blog post.

I unpacked 1.5 boxes, together with husband during the entire weekend (that's not nearly enough).

I met a new scienc-ey contact over the weekend, who seems to me, to be THE very definition of professional career woman (academic) scientist mother. Four years into a Tenure-Track position, married to another TT scientist, with a house and 2 kids... Finally, someone to look up to, to show me that you CAN have it all. And it left me feeling like a huge failure. Not only am I not like her, I don't want to be. And that's hard to wrap my head around. She COULDN'T WAIT to get back to her job after baby #2 was born 10 months ago. She gets so BORED at home, she needs MORE in her life than just that. She has more IMPORTANT things to do with her time. She would never subscribe to the equivalent of NewCountry's Martha Stewart Magazine (It was one of my favorite Christmas gifts) or waste her time reading grocery store newsletters for new recipes. She knows what she wants, she goes after it, at work and at home. Me, I thought I knew. I thought I was a "professional career woman (academic) scientist mother" but I want MORE than that. I WANT to spend my time making a home for my family. I ENJOY domestic-ey things like sewing and baking. I get all excited inside when my new magazine appears in my mailbox. And if it's at the expense of my career, well, I'm not happy about it, but there's only 100% of me. I can't be 200% of a person. I guess in order to make room for the non-science-y things that make me smile inside, the % of my time devoted to science-y things has to go down. I wish that didn't make me feel like a failure with no ambition, no life goals, nothing important to talk about. And, in walks more demotivation... It's a slump, a rough spot. I'll get over it. Writing helps. How do I learn to accept the "real" me and stop idolizing the ideal I've been holding up for so long?

A new contact!

So, my former colleague who also comes from NewCountry gave me the name of someone he used to work with that is now in industry. So I gained a new contact. Yeah! Now I need to figure out what to put in an email to NewContact. I want it to be short, with direct questions, but I'm not sure what to say. I have a feeling on a phone call it would be easier, but all I have is an email address. Any suggestions?

That's all I've got though... No interesting job ads in the last few days again, no time to work on any spontaneous applications either.

On a different note, this week/weekend I'm determined to empty the rest (or at least a good chunk of the rest) of the still unpacked boxes from our move at the beginning of November (yes, that's 3 months of living around boxes and I'm soooo tired of it!). I'm tempted to just trash them or put them up in storage because if we haven't needed the things inside by now, do we really need to keep them? But it's a lot of books (we love books) that I just need shelves for, and some summer clothes that I know we will go looking for in a few months time. LittleOne is napping now so I'm hesitant to make noise and wake him up moving stuff around, but really I think that's an excuse...

A not so productive day ( at least not work wise...)

So it's mid afternoon and I've yet to do anything "work" related, besides the daily check of my Reader updates for the local job listing websites I check (how did I not discover Google Reader until this month?!)... I re-visited a job posting I had marked last week and realized that I missed the all so important "Must have at least 10 years experience" section of the job description. Blah.

BUT!!!! I took myself out to lunch today. Alone! I never do that. And it was ok (and delicious)! And then I finally took the time to visit a shop having a huge January sale and scored a pair of jeans and a pair of nice gray pants for 70% off! AND a package I ordered back when I was still living in PhDLand (yes, it's been a long time coming) finally arrived today. It was my first full non-Mom day since LittleOne was born and it was great. Though I'll be pretty happy to see him when he arrives back home at supper time. Apparently he slept in until 9:30am for Husband's mom. He NEVER sleeps that late at home. Guess he's happy there :)

Katie had a great suggestion in the comments on yesterday's post. I'm off to send a few emails and see if I can work some connections. Thanks blog friends. I've missed you!

UPDATE: I did do something work related after all!

1. I searched through part of a database I found containing local biotech companies

2. Drafted a cover letter for spontaneous applications (this will obviously be tailored to each company)

3. I sent 1 spontaneous application

Comment Clean Up

Just a technical question:

Does anyone know how to delete comments from spammers faster than one at a time? If I'm going to revive this place I thought I could at least do some house cleaning first...

Thanks!