Job Interviews
13 October 2008
I helped do 17 job interviews at Jane on the weekend and I really enjoyed myself. It was most interesting sitting on the other side of the job interview desk for a change.
One of the things that stuck out to me was that nearly all the participants turned in generally pretty bad applications and most interviewed poorly*. I thought I’d give a list of hints and tips to help you out especially if you are student to write a good resume and nail that job interview.
The Resume
- Address the selection Criteria. We weren’t harsh on our applicants for not doing this but other people are. If you don’t follow the instructions your application will end up in the bin.
- If it says keep the letter to one page then keep it to one page! If there are six criteria address all of them.
- Also make your resume looks nice. Most of the applications we received were ugly. Underlined headings are bad. It makes it look like your Mum got on Word and typed it for you. And if you don’t know anything about aesthetics then stick to simple Times New Roman with headings in bold.
The Interview
- Confidence with a capital C.
- Ability to sell yourself (passionate about why you want the job).
- Know about the job inside out be prepared to ask the interviewer a question or two. This shows initiative.
- Show initiative even if your ideas are stinkers someone who thinks is better than someone who doesn’t in my opinion.
- Tell people your strengths (again passion).
- Admit faults and be honest.
- Dress up a bit (not essential)
*If you are one of those people I’m happy to help you and give constructive feedback.
tags ministry tips, thinking
The Ultimate Fighting...
12 October 2008
...Pastor! See here. He's from Driscoll's church. I guess there's no surprises there.
Olivia Kious Jolly
08 October 2008
More from Christine here.
tags pictures, shameless self promotion, update
The Bridge
06 October 2008
It’s a hauntingly beautiful to watch the time lapse photography as fingers of fog fold in and out of the long thin wisps of cable supporting The Bridge. The camera slows down and pulls back…there's a pause and then a splash.
I’ve never been to San Francisco* but I reckon that Golden Gate Bridge must be one of the most beautiful places to visit in the world. I watched a documentary DVD over the weekend called The Bridge. It details the stories of people who each year jump to their deaths from the bridge. It’s compelling viewing as you are drawn into the stories and events leading to each person’s death. We watch as people wander listlessly along the bridge in obvious distress but are ignored by passersby who seem unaffected by the events around them.
The film isn’t for the faint hearted with it’s enduring close up images of people plunging to their deaths. The Bridge also raises many interesting and deep ethical questions about the relationship between the film makers and the jumpers, (Some IMDB reviewers argue more could have been done more to prevent the deaths).
However I think this misses the point. In a world where so often it’s hard to understand why someone would want to kill themselves, I found it eye opening and powerful stuff. The film neither glorifies nor trivializes suicide but seeks to non judgmentally understand. In many cases we learn of jumpers, substance abuse, oppression, hurt, and depression that leads to their deaths. I found the film a reality check, a reminder that things in our world are not as they should be.
*Well that’s not quite true I’ve sat in the airport.
tags linkage, review, thinking
Bad TV, the Olympics and Me-ism
I remember hearing while the Olympics were on that the coverage described as the worst in years. I’m not out to agree or disagree with this but I do want to point out something that I believe underlies this opinion.
It’s the idea that I create the world of meaning, relationships and beliefs around me. Perhaps a good way I could describe it is with the following picture.
You can see the person’s reality is constructed around them illustrated by the parts of the newspaper circling. In other words the world I create around me exists to serve me.
This expectation carries through into our culture more broadly. If we want something now we can choose to have it instantly. Examples of this include express supermarkets, fast food joints, and instant communication. Furthermore these ways of thinking are perpetuated by the Internet and technology.
In short we expect to be able to watch what we want, where we want, how we want , when we want to. So we download movies and TV so we can watch it at a time to suit us. To return to my theory about the Olympics, I believe that this is part (though not all) of the reason so many people were dissatisfied with the coverage because it simply didn’t suit ‘me’.
Daylight saving...
05 October 2008
So who stuffed it up? Come on own up...
tags stupid award
Faith vs Reason?
04 October 2008
Faith is the subjective act of the existing subject in deciding for God above reason but not against reason.
Pregnancy Pictures
03 October 2008
Christine signed me up to this email list from the Baby Centre. They send you emails every week to tell you what the baby is doing and how big it is. The thing that cracks me up most are the lamo pictures... enjoy.*Photo may not resemble actual persons. Please note that 'Squiggle Brick' is a working title
tags pictures, shameless self promotion
The hardest words of all
02 October 2008
Fiona says...
I read somewhere recently that “sorry”, “please” and “thank you” should be the hallmarks of a Christian life... more.
tags christian, friends, linkage, ministry
Email Etiquette #3
01 October 2008
Forwarding Emails
It’s best to almost always consider this a no go zone. Nearly all people who do it, do it badly.
“If 10000 Christians sign this my friend will eat his underpants”.
Much of this type of stuff is just SPAM. I like to use Snopes to check if an evil forwarded email is actually true or not. If it’s not I spam back all the stupid people who signed it and send them the link for the snopes page... but I'm a pretty mean guy.
If you must send an email with a link to a funny site (or whatever it is that is so hilarious), make sure you have a clear Subject line like “Link for you” and preferably a description of why you want someone to look at it.
You can read the rest of my Email Etiquette series here.
tags shameless self promotion, thinking
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