My Blog

Welcome to my blog! Here you will find my experiences, hopes, details of my current job hunt and sometimes silly nonsense. You can access each blog post on the right hand side of the page under “Recent Posts”.

Please come back often, read, comment share my site on your social media….and enjoy!

Messaging on LinkedIn

A lot of people are looking for work. I mean a LOT. I’m reading posts on LinkedIn by people who say they have been looking for work for months, some as long as a year, and are getting, for example, 5 responses out of the close to 1,000 they have submitted. Sad situation of course but that’s not what surprises me.

What surprises me is the way people are talking. I’m seeing words that would never be on a job board ten years ago, maybe even five. I’m not talking about the Big One, but all the small ones sprinkled throughout their post when they are frustrated with their job search. I also see negative posts about recruiters and the recruiting process,

I wonder if those people realize that recruiters see those posts? I for one don’t want to be offensive while looking for work. On the other hand, maybe norms in the job market are changing. I’m a mature worker….not “old” but there are definitely people coming up behind me who might have a different idea of what is appropriate. And if most people are on the same page, then probably very few people are offended.

Decades ago adults at the time thought it was offensive to use less than perfect grammar when writing or speaking. Hundreds of years ago we followed very different language rules.

Maybe I should just relax.

MBA’s

This article I found on LinkedIn explores MBA degrees and how they can help your career.

I’m a voracious learner and college junkie. I could go to school full-time for the rest of my life, learning history, English, music, math (yes, math) coding, web development, you name it. Who else spends her free time reading about early American history and ancient Rome, watching documentaries on politicians and the history of the royal family?

I went back to school twice in my adult life, once while working full-time and once not. I earned an Associate Degree in Computer Network Systems and an Associate of Technical Arts Degree in Web Application Development. I like to joke that if I put the two 2 year degrees together they should make a bachelor’s degree but I’m told it doesn’t work that way

What I’d love to do is go back to college for a master’s degree, not necessarily for an MBA, but in computer science. I love computers, I love technology and I love learning. Do I see it as feasible for the way my life looks now? No. So, I will live vicariously through articles like this. I will admire friends and coworkers who do have master’s degrees. All the while I will be grateful for my two degrees and the countless contract jobs they have helped me get.

It’s all about being grateful.

Preparing for an interview

I have an interview tomorrow with a well-known global company.

Today is prep day. I will research the details of the company and the interviewer, rehearse what I want to say, make sure my work area is set up with good lighting and bottled water, and I’ll make sure my desk chair is adjusted comfortably.

It’s a short-term contract, but if I land it, who knows? It might lead to other opportunities in the company upon conclusion. Then again, it might not. If it doesn’t, it will still look good on my resume. I’ve completed short-term contracts for a lot of major companies: Microsoft, Adobe, AT&T, SAP Concur, and Kaiser Permanente, but unfortunately, with the exception of Adobe, none of these contracts lead to offers for conversion or transfer. At Adobe, my manager planned to hire me but then COVID hit and my contract was allowed to expire. Fair enough.

My experience is that if your employment history is full of short-term contracts, it doesn’t necessarily look bad to employers. It’s more about work consistency (meaning few gaps) and sometimes who you’ve worked for.

Michelle Lawson is a seasoned web producer and content manager. She has 8 years experience and expertise in content management systems, branding, project management, writing, and delivering impactful web solutions that enhance brand visibility. She is currently seeking her next opportunity.

What do you look for?

What are the top three things you look for in an employer while job-seeking?

  • Company culture
  • Benefits
  • Pay
  • Remote/hybrid
  • Company history
  • Company reputation
  • Something else?

Speaking for myself, if I have been unemployed for a long time, I might look at pay first, then benefits, then remote/hybrid.

When we are in the middle of a strong Covid surge, it would probably be remote/hybrid, then pay, then benefits.

In normal times, when I have not been unemployed long enough for it to be an emergency that I find work, I generally look at company culture, company history, company reputation then pay (okay so I listed four)

I’m interested in hearing what you think!

Michelle Lawson is a seasoned web producer and content manager. She has 8 years experience and expertise in content management systems, branding, project management, writing, and delivering impactful web solutions that enhance brand visibility. She is currently seeking her next opportunity.

Daylight Savings Time

I always thought that Daylight Savings Time was created to benefit farmers by giving them an extra hour of daylight to work their fields. Turns out this is a myth.

The change can be traced back to 1918 when entomologist George Hudson, who loved to collect insects after work, suggested introducing two extra hours of daylight in summer.

In 1907, a British resident by the name of William Willett presented the idea as a way to save energy. It was not implemented at that time.

Daylight Savings Time was adopted in Ontario, Canada in 1908, in German Austria Hungary in 1916 and finally in the United States in 1918, signed into law by President Woodrow Wilson. The rationale was that it would reduce fuel consumption, but that belief is still fraught with controversy. An undisputed benefit of DST, at least as far as I’m concerned, is time to spend outdoors in the evenings. Children have more time to play, adults have more time to walk, bike, swim, and participate in other leisure activities.

The idea of abolishing the time change altogether has been presented to Congress but from what I understand it won’t be adopted soon. I just hope that if it’s abolished we will keep the extra hour of daylight, not lose it.

Michelle Lawson is a seasoned web producer and content manager. She has 8 years experience and expertise in content management systems, branding, project management, writing, and delivering impactful web solutions that enhance brand visibility. She is currently seeking her next opportunity.

Why you still need to take breaks and vacation while working from home

This article from Lucidchart explores break and vacation time and how it can impact productivity and well-being.

There were no surprises or new information in the article for me. However, reading it was still a tremendous help because knowing this information and incorporating it into my work day are two completely different things.

If I take the typical two 15-minute breaks and hour lunch, each time I get back to my desk I have difficulty getting refocused. The rest of the day is a struggle. Instead, I usually power through from 7:30 am to around 3 pm then run completely out of gas. I’d take a break but then I’d have trouble getting focused again and have trouble finishing up that hour or hour and a half of the workday.

The surprise in reading this article is this epiphany I had: If I have trouble getting refocused after taking breaks, and I have trouble getting refocused after 7 hours straight of hard work, then isn’t the choice easy? Isn’t it better to take those breaks to take time to walk, read, and spend time with friends and my pets? There is no downside here,

I would love to hear your input.

I, Michelle Lawson, am now a break-taker but am still a hard worker.

Michelle Lawson is a seasoned web producer and content manager. She has 8 years experience and expertise in content management systems, branding, project management, writing, and delivering impactful web solutions that enhance brand visibility. She is currently seeking her next opportunity.

Where do Americans prefer to work?

This article on LinkedIn by editor Mariah Flores explores Americans’ work location preferences, focusing in part on Millenials, Gen-Xers, Gen-Zers, and Baby Boomers.

Surprisingly ( or not surprisingly depending on your own preference) 58% of Americans prefer to work remotely. Predictably however, the preference for working remotely increases as the age of the workforce decreases.

I don’t mind saying that I’m a Gen-Xer. Early in my career, working remotely was unheard of. As my career progressed, I began to hear about remote work; primarily folks in the software development world. I was intrigued and set my sights on someday landing a remote job.

Fast forward several years and two college degrees later, I’m a web producer/content manager who has been working remotely for three years. I hope to never go back to on-site work. The money and time spent on commuting, even in good weather and especially in bad weather, left a lot to be desired. The idea that I have a lower carbon footprint factors in. Then of course, and perhaps more important, is work-life balance. A comment on the article mentions Gen-Zers being less likely to have kids or dogs to come home to…I don’t either but I still prefer working remotely.

Please leave me a comment telling me where you prefer to work and why.

Michelle Lawson is a seasoned web producer and content manager. She has 8 years experience and expertise in content management systems, branding, project management, writing, and delivering impactful web solutions that enhance brand visibility. She is currently seeking her next opportunity.

Covid be darned; who needs a weekend, anyway?

Luckily, I’m not too desperately sick.

Job hunting on a Saturday isn’t exactly something I’d wish for but as long as I’m stuck in my recliner, I might as well be productive.

Blog posts, however, seem to be a bit difficult so I’m going to get back into my Job Seeker mindset. I’ll see you all tomorrow!

Michelle Lawson is a seasoned web producer and content manager. She has 8 years experience and expertise in content management systems, branding, project management, writing, and delivering impactful web solutions that enhance brand visibility. She is currently seeking her next opportunity.

COVID!

Ever try to maintain a job search while you have Covid?

Its not easy.

I have several irons in the fire; talking to a few recruiters about opportunties and am trying to keep up with returning calls, providing information they need etc but wow its tiring.

One thing I know is that if I keep at it, I’ll land something. I always land on my feet. My career has been good to me! Next week is my last week on my current contract but I’ll be okay for a while.

Time for a nap.

Michelle Lawson is a seasoned web producer and content manager. She has 8 years experience and expertise in content management systems, branding, project management, writing, and delivering impactful web solutions that enhance brand visibility. She is currently seeking her next opportunity.

Day 7 of job search….

I’ve had a handful of meet n greet calls with recruiters and have been submitted for 3 or 4 positions. Like they say, “waiting is the hardest part”.

Michelle Lawson is a seasoned web producer and content manager. She has 8 years experience and expertise in content management systems, branding, project management, writing, and delivering impactful web solutions that enhance brand visibility. She is currently seeking her next opportunity.