Hey, everybody, I could use some input!
 

Yesterday I was scanning the writing jobs on a national job site on the 'net, and I came across this very interesting ad for a grant writer for a non profit called Family Promise http://www.nihn.org/about/about.html. The job is part time, and you can work at home. Family Promise is working to help homeless families get housing and provide training to the adults to allow them to enter the work force and become self-sufficient. I'd never heard of them before, but as far as I can tell, they seem to be a legitimate organization working towards a very worthy goal. In fact, nothing could be closer to my heart than the work they are doing to assist the homeless and help them get back on their feet and be productive members of society again.

Guys, I think that I could do this job. I feel that I really have made some good strides toward recovering from the neurological damage I sustained from the CO, and I feel much clearer and more focused than I did even a year ago. I want so much to be a productive member of society again, myself. This just might be a great first step. I could work in the quiet of my own home without the distractions of a regular workplace which would really help me stay focused and on task. When I worked as a professional librarian I successfully wrote up and obtained several grants for my library. They were small ones, but I DID get them. I was also the science and medical book reviewer for THE professional publication for librarians - "The Library Journal."

I'm still a pretty good researcher, and, in fact, because of my own precarious housing situation, I've already been doing a lot of research into available funding for housing for people at or below the poverty line. I am very familiar with government agencies, and I've fought several successful battles on my own behalf with them. In addition, I've written an article on homelessness for one weekly paper and went to a major paper Colorado Springs and got them to print a front page article on homelessness with me on the cover (not my idea to be on the cover - theirs :blush: ).

What goes against me is the huge gap in my work history and the fact that Family Promise wants someone with 3 years experience as a grant writer. What I was thinking is that I could send them my professional librarian resume, highlighting my research and writing experience, and then in the cover letter, explain briefly what happened to me to create the gap in my job experience. I think in this case, I just might be able to turn my greatest liability into my greatest asset. After all, my experience as a homeless person myself will mean that I will bring far more determination and dedication to the project than someone who has never had that happen to them. And how many people with two master's degrees have experienced being homeless and living below the poverty line, and understand first hand the desperation of such a life?

The folks who hang out here in the Cellar are a pretty bright bunch and a lot of you are professionals. You also know more about the current climate of the employment world than I do since I've been out of the loop for so long. Do you all think my application might have a chance of being considered or am I nuts to even think of trying? If you do think I might have a chance, any ideas on how I might package my application? Your thoughts would be very much appreciated. Thanks!

This sounds like the perfect job for you and I sincerely hope that you get it, or it leads to something as good.

In my opinion as someone that doesnt really know how things work in that particular area, it's the reason for a gap in employment that might be hard to overcome. From what you have described here, it doesnt sound like it would kill your chances outright. It may also be of some value to the decision maker that you have made huge gains to recovery.

I've been away from design for 3 years now and am interviewing here and there. They ask what I've been doing the last couple of years and I tell them "taking advantage of the downturn by getting another degree, working with other modeling type software in preparation for getting back into the market." That may very well be the reason I am not working right now, but it doesnt seem to phase the interviewer.

Demonstrating the required skills doesn't hurt either.

So, should you pursue this? Yes. But I would do what you can to actually see them. Tell your story, sell yourself.

That's what I'd do, for what it's worth.

Good luck Mari.

Sounds to me like you are underqualified to be a grant writer. they want 3 years of experience. You have gotten 3 grants. your librarian skills don't exactly translate. I would expect that grant writing full time is quite different. If no one else applies, you might get it, but you just know there is some newly mommyfied and therefore housebound grant writer out there that would be just perfect. I like it that you are at least thinking about getting back to work, but caution you against setting high hopes. For two reasons:

#1. your hopes will, statistically speaking, more than likely be dashed which will discourage you from job hunting....

....and in interest of satisfying my current 'troll mode' status, and in compliance with the wishes of those of you who have privately encouraged this kind of behaviour toward certain parties, I give you #2.(pun intended)....so....

#2: I think it is a cop out. you know you should be getting back to work, but you do not want to..... so, you hang all of your hopes and thoughts on a job that you know you won't get, thereby ...temporarily, at least.....relieving yourself of the prospect of going out and getting a job that consists of actual work.
Why not play to your strengths? You could be a Lilly Tomlin impersonator. You could do parties with Gilda Radner impersonators like Lady Sidhe.

If I were the person looking at your cover letter/resume, my one big fear would be that you were still incapacitated in some way by your CO exposure. Obviously you have to explain the time gap, but I would spend the first part of the cover letter highlighting your experiences as a librarian, etc.--and only after you've established that you're an excellent writer, not just in work history but in the cover letter itself, about halfway down the page bring up the reason for the employment gap (making sure to make it sound like another qualification instead of an excuse.) Incidentally, I'd also focus more on the homelessness than the actual neurological damage aspect of it.

If the cover letter starts out with explaining the employment gap, they may never even get to the resume part. Anyway, I think you could definitely do this job, and I agree with slang, trying to talk to someone in person would be the best way to go about it. Enthusiasm is much better seen than read. Good luck!

Go for it Mari! You know, even if you don't get it, it's a motivator. You know you could do this job, and if you're anything like me, you don't like being told you can't do something. And it sounds like a great opportunity. So do it, girl! I've got my fingers crossed for ya! :)

Sayin' a prayer or two wouldn't hurt either, for Christ's sake.

LJ, as always, your post is thoughtful, uplifting, and completely clueless. :p

you could say it was tough love........i'll just leave it at that.

Yeah only geniuses grant write........The last time I was involved in a selection of one we picked the person we knew that may have written some grants before. I think your resume is a good idea and maybe it will stick out more than most. Just don't minimize your own abilties during the process (if the responses on the cellar are any indication). I know your background having heard it for many years, and they would be Lucky to have such a person. How many years experience have you had writing, and were you or were you not educated at a prominent university for just that? (rhetorical) And remember, if grant writing doesn't work out you could always become a used car salesman. (maximum qualification is the ability rip someone off with their knowledge of it) ;)

there are plenty of real life jobs she could hold. I don;t know if she could handle selling cars.....you have to think a few steps ahead to do that properly. and in sales, people need to like you. she might be a tad cloying for sales. maybe she could work the register at the grocery store, or if she needs to work at home, there are always jobs for medical transcriptioners and such in the paper.

you are a very good friend, flippant. i mean, to sacrifice yourself like you do, posting in mari's threads and always sounding even stupider than she, just to make her look smarter....it's quite ....touching. we could all use frineds like you behind us. good job

Stupider Frineds
 

If "stupider" were actually a word I'd feel really threatened right now. I'm not her "frined" either. What do you use frineds for?

Well, LJ, aside, thanks to everyone else for your encouragement and suggestions. Clodfobble, I think that's an excellent idea to discuss my other qualifications in the first part of my cover letter and then introduce my CO expereience as the final qualifier while down playing the neurological aspect.

Even if I don't get this particular job, it has given me a more concrete goal to work toward. "I wanna do something with my writing" is pretty vague, now I have something specific. The stupid hospital FINALLY has the results of my neuropsych eval for me - it's only been since August that the tests were finished. The wait on the results has delayed me getting into the voc-rehab program, because they won't do anything for me until they see the results. So, next week I'm going to trot down there with my paperwork and see what they can do for me, as well. Who knows? Maybe they'll send me to some journalism courses up at CU so that I have some recent credentials to show future employers. Meanwhile, I'm still going to apply for the grant writing job. It doesn't hurt to try, and like Garnet said, it will help to get me back into a mind set where I'm looking for REAL work again.

Qualifier? How does poisoning yourself qualify you for this job?
Do you mean that your sob story might trump the fact that you don't have the 3 years experience they are looking for?

If you seem to be in the ballpark (and to me, you do, mari), then I've always said it is up the the potential employer to write you out, not you. So apply, emphasise your qualifications, both "academic" and experiential, and see what happens. Good luck, mari!

I only know one thing for certain, Mari. If you don't apply, you will definitely not get it.

At least you are trying. Don't worry about any naysayers: They can eat a steaming bowl of toxic shit spinkled with maggots. Screw them.
:thumbsup:

Good luck in whatever you do. :D

I say, go for it!!

What is the worst case scenario? You don't get it.
What is best case scenario? You get it!

What have you got to lose besides unemployment?

Definitely give it a go.

What they need to hear is that you have written successful grant apps in the past. That more than offsets whatever liabilities you might think you have. Keep in mind, they don't know you and don't know about some of the stuff you are worried about so don't volunteer anything.

Don't just go for it. Go for it with confidence. Just assume that they will give you the job. Your resume and cover letter should provide the "back up" necessary to justify them handing it to you.

Report back after you get the job.

You're right, Jinx. Think I'll just loll around on welfare at your expense. Maybe do a little creative writing, move back down to God's country in Durango, smoke a lot of weed, and find myself a sexy cowboy to hang out with. No point for someone like me to try to do anything. :p

I've been on both sides of job specifications and I can tell you that the qualifications listed are what they would like to get. If there a number of qualified candidates applying, you are unlikely to get the position.

On the other hand, if there aren't a number of qualified candidates applying you have a shot.

I once posted an ad for someone with three years of c++ experience. This was in a small town in the middle of illinois. The guy I hired had no experience in any field. What he had was a ph.d. in zoology and a minor in computer science. But, he was the most qualified applicant, so he got hired.

I think it all comes down to whether there will be other candidates with more experience. Give it a shot. But don't pin your hopes on it. In the mean time, submit a bunch of other resumes for other positions. Getting hired is a numbers game. You generally have to lick a lot of envelopes to get an interview -- and do a lot of interviews to get an offer.

Just a tidbit of unsolicited advice....

Monster.com...if you're truly serious about looking for a position, post your resume there too. My new job came from them searching there for resumes that 'fit' their requirements, and a slew of emails, phone calls, and interviews later, I'm starting there in approximately *gulp* 7 hours.

Good luck to ya....

stu·pid Audio pronunciation of "stupider" ( P ) Pronunciation Key (stpd, sty-)
adj. stu·pid·er, stu·pid·est

1. Slow to learn or understand; obtuse.
2. Tending to make poor decisions or careless mistakes.
3. Marked by a lack of intelligence or care; foolish or careless: a stupid mistake.
4. Dazed, stunned, or stupefied.
5. Pointless; worthless: a stupid job.

So people "LIKE" used car salesmen? That's hilarious :lol:

And Mari: a lot of the experience requirement depends on what kind of company it is. Some companies are tight-asses about requirements, others aren't. Some place more emphasis on the abilities of the candidate and how they present themselves in the interview. They might find someone with 10 years grant writing experience, but if that person is a troll who sucked at their job, they might hire YOU instead. With my last job I was totally unqualified, but the interview went great and they knew I was motivated, so it worked. Like I said before, go for it!

Mmmyeah, that's exactly what I said.
No, obviously (as in why would you need input on this, it's a no-brainer) I think you should apply for the job and do whatever you can to get the job, qualified or not. I do however question whether your "experience" is a "qualification" and I'm wondering why you worded it that way.

Do you know why I do my job so well? It's not because i'm qualified or i've experienced it. It's because I give a damn.Those things are great don't get me wrong.....But who wants to work with half-ass? They want to work with someone who wants to get them grants. Not someone merely qualified to do so.

Here's exactly what you said: "Qualifier? How does poisoning yourself qualify you for this job?
Do you mean that your sob story might trump the fact that you don't have the 3 years experience they are looking for?"

According to you I am someone who "poisoned myself" and expect to go around telling "sob stories" about this in order to obtain jobs that I am unqualified for. You really expected me to give a serious reply to a question worded the way yours was?

The short version of the furnace incident is that my CO detector was malfunctioning and I did not know it, and my ex-step father was the one who serviced the furnace, and at the time I thought he knew what he was doing. If you want to call that "poisoning myself," that's your perogative. The long version of the furnace incident IS a sob story which I'm not interested in relating here.

The job is working for a non-profit group which seeks to help the homeless. My qualifier is not that I suffered from chronic CO poisoning, but the fact that my resulting ill health prevented me from working and I ended up homeless myself. I know what it is to experience homelessness. I feel deeply about the issue. I have done a great deal of research on the subject on my own, especially when it comes to funding programs to help the homeless find shelter. My first hand experience makes me a very dedicated advocate on behalf of the homeless. Now, do you get it?

I know the long version... or the one flippant emailed my husband all about when he was kicking your wheelchair anyway.
I get it that you feel that thru no fault of your own you were significantly damaged and now are entitled to all sorts of things. Good luck with that.

This is the final time I will respond to a post by either you or your husband. Your opinions have no interest for me. I find many of the comments that both of you make to be childish, mean-spirited, and ignorant. You embarass only yourself with your ill-informed replies, and your husband embarasses himself by his spiteful and childish displays of anger against certain people on this board.

My dear, you don't "get" ANYTHING and you know nothing of me or what informs my actions or what really happened in my life. Your judgements have a certain amusement factor to me and nothing more.

Flippant shared the PM she sent to your husband with me and I thought it was very kind of her to stand up for a friend. She told a bit about her part in our shared story. She told very little of mine.

Now you may both reply as you see fit (or not), but all future posts by either of you will be met by me with the response they deserve. None.

I feel no further need to justify or explain myself to either of you. I have far better things to do with my time.

Bravo for you. You are right...it's certainly not worth lowering yourself to that level of bullshit. Do what you can to get that job, and always have a plan B handy.

All the best to you! :thumbsup: ;)

Oh shit, does that mean if you get this job we'll be subjected to endless posts about the homeless instead of the Yellow Book adventures?
Oh well, good luck.....it's right up your alley. :beer:

You mean I haven't already been subjecting you to endless posts about the homeless? Jeez, I'm falling down on the job, already! :smack:

No, you haven't failed. I just tune 'em out. :zzz:

My only and last post to you:

It's called turning a negative experience into a positive. No matter how awful it is.
So now what are you going to do about you and your husband?


3t's:You are a tired and tedious twit. Leave the ones who have a dream left alone until you have something positive to contribute. So, good luck with THAT.

That's okay. The Yellow Book which will be arriving thru your living room window any moment now should wake you right up. Nothing like a few deep breaths of cold night air to clear the brain as I know all too well. Oh yeah, don't bother trying to use it to look me up to make crank phone calls. I'm listed under the name of "Kenneth Rexroth" and he never answers his phone. :angel:

yeah. good luck with your stupider brain, cupcake. who was talking to you in the first place, anyway?

three t's indeed. moron.

leave her left alone. bah. dumbass.

I'm fairly sure that at some point mari promised not to read or respond to me, and she still does.

She doesn't keep her promises.

she probably just 'forgot' she said it to you, wolf. did you know she had CO poisoning? and that it effects her brain? yeah, really, she did! you haven't heard? well let me tell you all about it....... Oh, youre fucking sick of hearing about it, you say? well, isn;t that a coincidence. so is everyone else.

jesus you're all a bunch of whiney fucks. I've seen 10 year olds have less childish arguments.

feeling left out, jag? don;t worry, you;re still my bitch.

Damn...*chuckling*. :thumbsup:

Not only that, I've seen much more compassion for others by those same 10 year olds.

You know, I don't understand why everyone is getting pissy here.

Mari asked for advice on something, just like just about every regular on this board has at one time or another. There was absolutely no reason to get shitty with her about it, Jim. I understand if you don't like her, sometimes we're opposites on issues too, but I really don't see the need to attack her like that.

Now, I've not been one of the most mature posters here, and I recognize that, and it's something I'm working on. I just don't see the need to attack someone - anyone - for no reason other than you don't like them. It's mean and unnecessary.

I'm not surprised that certain people are bagging on her. What I'm surprised about are people that have been recently jumping in to do so...people that I wouldn't expect it from.

Wrong! I can say this with conviction, because I do not believe in refusing to read someone's posts, no matter how much that person may irritate me. In fact, Jinx and LJ are the only ones I've ever told that I won't reply to their posts anymore. I did so only because I feel it is impossible for me and the two of them to have anything even faintly resembling an actual dialog.

In your case, Wolf, you make an occasional cynical comment to me, and I usually hand it right back, but you and I have never gotten into some petty war and I generally appreciate your comments on various topics.

However, if you wish to become a bitch toward me, that's when I stop playing. Frankly, you owe me an apology because you are dead wrong on this one.

OC, since i have some respect for you, i'll let you in on my rationale for 'attacking' miss poorme. oh, wait, I just did.

I DO have compassion. for instance, I have not once posted anything about Rho turning every topic toward herself and her Kidney problems, because that is a real motherfucker that she didn;t ask for, and it basically rules her life. I didn;t start in on maristinkinchicko until i'd had it up to HERE with the vacuuous nature of her every post. And by vacuuous, i mean she sucks in every topic, apes every compelling thread, and generally (for me at least) has become intolerably annoying. In this thread particularly. i mean, c'mon. of COURSE she should apply for the job. what the fuck? why WOULDN'T you? the title of the thread should have been 'Hey, everybody, I could use some attention!' not 'input' That's why i chose to atack her here.

I feel it is my duty to be honest, and express my ire. I am also SURE that MANY of you agree with my sentiments. i find it very telling that almost all of the dopes that have significantly tarnished the coolness quotient of this site in recent months have chimed in to defend her. another factor is that i don;t spend nearly as much time reading as i once did, and am not as concerned about 'keeping the peace.' those of you that think i suck and am just a typical 'used car salesman' (even though I don't even sell cars!) are welcome to tell me about myself.........., and those that agree....you're just welcome. i said what you were thinking, and you didnt have to take any heat from the nitwit brigade.

--You weren't really a peacemaker during your days of regular posting...more like a troublemaker.
--I think the board is better without you posting so much...signal-to-noise ratio is down. People come, people go, the board goes on. Now, if UT would just pull the stick out of his ass, it would be even better.
--Marichiko hasn't done shit to you, or to anybody for that matter.
--I find it interesting that the person who is probably at the greatest risk for a downfall here takes such potshots at people.

wow. If i didn't know you were such a pussy, I'd think that you were skirting on the edge of threatening me. what downfall? i'd have to have been held in some type of high regard in order to fall. I'm the freakin class clown. I got nuthin to lose here......unless you were threatening me on a personal level....?

Not in my book.

Says the man that doesn't have the balls to say half the shit he says online in person.

I merely offered observations...do with them what you will.

HEY. it takes two to NOT fight at forks!.....

you want some? you know where to find me, marshmallow boy

Pffft! Jesus Christ...you have GOT to be high right now.

alrighty then. Jim you're a carhack. so take that you old lady-screwin' over, scheisty glad handin' used car pusher.

Syc- how does it feel to be the only guy to be so uncool, that Missouri voted to throw you out? i mean damn! they are dumb enough to think America's Pub is cool, but smart enough to know you are a dumbshit - that's gotta hurt.

wow for a minute there i thought we were in the insult thread. sorry. can we all just step away from the keyboards, take a deep breath, some prozac and then carry on with a discussion?

i haven't been around here much lately, but i have read most of the threads and i have come to the conclusion that a good portion of cellarites need post election stress therapy. this place has been a bit wacky since a bit before the election but has been downright ludicrous at times since the election.


let's face it, this is the cellar. 70% of what we do here is argue, er, i mean exchange ideas passionately. we all have somebody in here we'd like to push in front of a train but, as UT says this isn't just a board it is supposed to be a community. we could probably live without calling eachother names, having our friends retaliate, and then drawing everyone into a big pissing match. if you don't like someone but don't feel like shredding their ideas then just ignore them - chances are that everyone else is ignoring the same person.

I am sorry. I was actually posting with humorous intent, and it went badly wrong.

I do actually commend you for trying to get back to work and a higher level of functioning. Best of luck with that.

Ah, here we are, one happy dysfunctional family.

:grouphug:

(I actually like lumberjim. He's entertaining)

Thank you, Wolf. That was some real generosity of spirit on your part. I'm all choked up... :cry:

OK, now that that's over we can resume our normal hostilities. :rattat:

:D

And some of the abnormal hostilities too, I hope. Those are sometimes the better ones.

Well, I appreciate that, but I didn't really want (or need) a rationale from you, sweetie.

Well, IMO, Rho doesn't turn every post toward herself. I know you were generalizing, but I've seen ALOT of posts from her that had nothing to do with her problems.

There have been times that you have posted such inane crap that it was a thread of it's own, and it was to the extent that there was a vote to boot you off the board or not. IIRC, at the time, your position was that if someone didn't like what you posted, they should make use of the "ignore" function and/or go screw themselves.

Now here you are, attacking someone else just because you don't like them (or their posts, whatever..) just like people did to you. So I'll tell you what you told everyone else to do if they didn't like it: Just ignore her posts and quit worrying about it.

Since your time is so much more valuable now, why even go into a thread she starts? Why waste the time and aggravation? Why waste time posting hurtful and mean things? What does it accomplish? Does it make you feel better? Really? Those few minutes posting your vitriol at Mari (or whoever else for that matter) could be better spent with your family.

I wonder, since I've disagreed with you on this, if I'm considered part of your "nitwit brigade". I've been called worse by better.

When you first got here, you grated on me something fierce, and through PM's we worked it out. I truly do like you, Jim, I think that we'd have a blast if we ever met in person. I just don't like to see you wasting your precious time and energy in a negative way when it does no good to anyone.

Damn...when did we get assigned a Compassion Monitor? Looks like it is time to rein in the deep sharing lest I be accused of trolling for pity.

Sorry if I've come off as a pathetic loser, ya'll. Even though my name hasn't been mentioned in this rapidly-deteriorating thread (although why Rho's name *was* mentioned, I cannot fathom - but at least she was judged innocent in her trials, and her case dismissed), what with the stuff I've laid out here on The Cellar, I figure that I'll be next to be critiqued, so it is probably best to apologize for my past whinings, and shut up about non-intellectual, personal tribulations, thus saving the Pity Police the extra effort.

Besides, things are actually going a bit better right now, thanks...

Glad to hear it, dude. Just remember: no more whining, sharing or asking for advice or you will be banished from the Cellar by The Compassion Police! That goes for you too, Mari! And speaking of Mari, I'm actually interested in hearing if you applied for the job, and if so, if you've heard anything :3eye:

spode, i actually was referring to one of your posts.

Yours was the compelling one i referenced that she most recently aped. It aint that I don;t have compassion for her, I have disdain for her shitty sarcastic, poor me, you owe me because i contributed to society as a high powered librarian (high powered librarian?!) for a long time, and can't work now doing something like librarian-ing even though i can spend all day clamoring for attention on a b-board, constantly yammering, sticky, gooey, knees-bent advancing behavior, ridiculous, trite, petulant personality.

I don't hate her. and as far as compassion monitoring goes.....I'm not really sure if spode was sticking up for my right to not be outwardly compassionate to someone if I don;t really feel that way, or what,.... but it appears to be worded that way......and Pat, if you don't get it that people like the WAY you write as much as WHAT you write, you haven't been listening. You are not even remotely annoying to me. in fact, you are one of my favorites, and I tend to read your posts eagerly instead of skipping them like i have to do with that black hole's crapola.

Those of you that let your compassion obscure the fact that YOU kind of think that she's an annoying personality.....well, that's fine......that's just not me in this case. i have the right to tell you about yourself if I feel strongly enough to take the heat I get in response. which I do.

Cougar, you have no need to worry, you are not a member of the nitwit brigade. you just like to argue with me......which is fine, too. I could list the people that I think are in it, but then we'd have a bloodbath.* You always seem to think that I'm being mean just to be mean. that's not really true here. Yes, i could express my viewpoint in a calm, reasonable tone, well worded, and with care not to offend anyone, but then i would be Elspode or xoxoxobruce, not lumberjim. It is what it is.

* I'll tell you what this is about after it happens.