Finding that Dream Job

Looking for that dream job? So am I. Any ideas on where and how to get that dream job? Sometimes I get so close, going through several interviews, just to get turned down. I start to question my abilities to sell myself and my talents. What can I do to improve my interviewing skills? How can I sell myself so that someone begs me to come on board? Any thoughts out there?

With a Masters in Education and 15 years experience in training and development I would think I could pick and choose between jobs. How does one get training management experience and become an executive without experience in those fields? In other words, companies are looking for managers or executives with 5-10 years experience....who is willing to give someone that experience?

I know the economy is struggling and jobs are hard to come by, but there are jobs out there and I am getting interest, just would like others out there who might have insight on how they got their dream job...

Wordle of Thesis

Week 4 Reading - Telling the WE Story

The WE story is something like a symphony. You can have one instrument play a song but when you get the whole group of instruments to play you truly have music. As a student of Full Sail I have come to appreciate the "symphony" of my classmates. It has been a long journey yet I have not done it alone. Along the rocky road to learning new things I discovered the vast array of friendships that supported my work. So of the best projects were done in a group...the WE factor.

The WE story says, "we are our central selves seeking to contribute, naturally engaged, forever in a dance with each other" (Zander & Zander Stone, p. 183). I have been dancing with many of the students in my classes at Full Sail and I will continue to dance with them for years to come as the bonds of friendship have developed. The ability to share ideas over time and work through issues and develop great programs is a group effort that enforces the WE story and completes the dance.

I have experienced the WE story on a personal level, having kept in touch with many high school friends over the years, some since grade school. Our committment to each other and the contributions we have made for each other have created a symphony to dance to. No matter how caught up we might get in to ourselves and our own lives, we always make time for each other and are there to encourage each other.

My relationship with my man is one of WE. Together we work through our troubles, guiding and supporting wach other, keeping each other positive during the hard times and celebrating life together knowing that we have each others support. We love engaging in long conversations about our dreams and hopes and how we see the world and how we can make a difference in it.

WE is all around us. A nation of individuals that bound to communities for strength and support. Families, neighbors, and friends coming together for the good of others. The more we think of WE instead of I, the more WE will succeed.

Week 4 Comment on Fred Benetiz

Fred writes about stress:

One of the earliest problems I encountered in my life was the way I dealt with stress. When given a major project or a deadline, I usually work myself to exhaustion on the first day, first week, and often times until it's done. For example, I once created an original 50 page website on Apples in one night for a class project. Did I need to make it 50 pages? Yes. Did I need to do it in one day? My eyes still wish I hadn’t. It isn’t that I try and get it “out of the way”, but it’s more that I have trouble sleeping if I don’t know exactly what I have left to do. And even when I do know what I have, I check and recheck lists and outlines just to be sure its accurate. Even further, I have a very negative outlook on my own works (written, visual, etc) and it’s extremely difficult for me to be happy with what I produce. Maybe it’s a low self esteem or a keen ability to fish for compliments, but I have always been this way.

Knowing this when I entered the EMDTMS program had me terrified before the start of month 1. Aside from learning about educational gaming, digital literacy, and memorizing Bob Dylan’s Subterranean Homesick Blues, I also managed to deal with my stress in a much more normal process. The most important change comes in a thought process based on the words, “everything is going to be ok.” This simple statement (repeated throughout the day, over and over…) has left me with a sense of calmness and positivity. My girlfriend has learned to simply pretend to listen to me explain what I have to turn in, as she knows I’m only going through my list. Maybe my tendencies lean to an OCD diagnosis, but when I thought they would be at their worst, I actually made it out alive. Well, At least to month 11.

My response:

You are not alone in the stress factor and even more so in your behavior. I think there are many of us out there, myself included, that are not happy with what we produce even though other people love it. We are the type that are very hard on ourselves and demand perfection. It is not a lack of self-esteem and it can actually be a good quality to have. i often think my work is sub par and I am reassured that that is just not the case, but I know I expect a lot of out myself and at some point I have learned to just let go of that fear that I am not good enough.

This year has been a stressful one for us all, especially for those of us who are so hard on themselves and demanding so much. The speed at which the class went and the amount of work that goes into each month is enough to drive any ordinary person, insane. Fred, I have seen your work over the past year and have had the pleasure of working with you on group projects and you have done a fabulous job. I hope you take that to heart. I liked that you worked fast and furious to get the projects done early and did it with such ease and with perfection.

Let the stress fall on the floor, we are almost there.

Week 4 Choice - March of the Penguins

This week I had an assignment at work to watch the March of the Penguins and pull out aspects of the movie that represent teamwork and other working aspects and piece them together for a video clip. This proved to be challenging and fun. The entire movie was narrated by Morgan Freeman and there was a lot of things I learned about penguins. For instance, I did not know that they could hold their breath for 15 minutes or that they walked 70 miles to breed. The fact that they survive under such extreme conditions is beyond me.
I did find teamwork when it came to the male and female passing the egg with great care not to kill the unborn penguin. The male and female also use great teamwork techniques when passing the baby chick, keeping them from touching the freezing ground. There was a sense of community and group when huddling in the cold weather and keeping warm to survive.
What does all of this teach me? It makes me think about community and working together for the betterment of the group. It makes me think about survival and just how far I have come with all the trials and tribulations and it makes me want to strive harder to be successful.

Week 4 Media Project

This week is just a continuation of the thesis project due this week. Many nights of fine tuning the information and finding pictures and video clips that can offer some insight has been difficult. I am very hard on myself and feel the pressure of wanting to do a good job and feeling like it is not adequate. I am excited about seeing other peoples projects and ideas that my classmates are coming up with. I have had the privilege of working with some outstanding people in my class. Not only is there a plethora of talent but everyone has been very helpful and supportive throughout the entire process.
I have learned so much and this project is no exception to the rule. The project has made me think deeper about my thesis and forced me to research in more detail the many aspects of what I am trying to get across. I am looking forward to the last month with confidence and dreaming of the day I graduate May 7th. Woo Hoo!!!!

Here is my Udutu project link:

http://publish.myudutu.com/published/launcheval/16728/Course30719/Launch.html

Week 3 Reading - The Way Things Are

I have watched the movie Babe many times. I love the story behind each of the animal characters and the information that the story is trying to reveal. There is a real sense of "the way things are" and many of the animals have resigned themselves to what they are. All of them except for Ferdinand the duck. He wants to be something else like a rooster so he wont have to look at the ugly truth of the way things are in his life. He lives thinking of what should be and wants to be anywhere but in the present.
Accepting the way things are is a great start to being present without resistance and allows one to feel the entire moment for what it is. Clearing judgments and closing exits to stop the blaming of why things are the way they are is a step in the right direction. However, I do believe that anyone can change the way things are in many aspects of life if they just set their mind to accomplish them. Accepting that I am female is essential. Accepting that I am a trainer and that is just the way it is, is not. Ferdinand the duck needed to learn to accept that he was a duck, but he could not accept that humans ate duck and that he could be the next meal, so he flew away. Change will get you out of the way things are to some degree by showing a different side to the same things. Things are what you make it and the way things are is what it is...your reality.

See Babe Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=myyb4FUUMwI