#this is the shit I use my graphic design certifications for

[battfishe]

this came to me in a vision

[pikslasrce]

im going to do it for real this time (drop out and get a job)

[foxpunk]

would like to make a note for mac users: if you can help it do not use avira. it's owned by the same parent company as avast (and avg. both are notorious for shit business ethics, shit customer privacy protection, and shit bloatware). gen digital is good at taking your money and bad at protecting you and it is on purpose lmao. please use malwarebytes it works on mac just fine. if you're broke like me and are fairly tech savvy (or willing to experience a learning curve) use clamAV

Things that will make your computer meaningfully faster:

Replacing a HDD with an SSD

Adding RAM

Graphics cards if you're nasty

Uninstalling resource hogs like Norton or McAfee (if you're using Windows then the built-in Windows Security is perfectly fine; if you're using a mac consider bitdefender as a free antivirus or eset as a less resource intensive paid option)

Customizing what runs on startup for your computer

Things that are likely to make internet browsing specifically meaningfully faster:

Installing firefox and setting it up with ublock origin

adding the Auto Tab Discard extension to firefox to sleep unused tabs so that they aren't constantly reloading

Closing some fucking tabs bud I'm sorry I know it hurts I'm guilty of this too

Things that will make your computer faster if you are actually having a problem:

Running malwarebytes and shutting down any malicious programs it finds.

Correcting disk utilization errors

Things that will make your computer superficially faster and may slightly improve your user experience temporarily:

Clearing cache and cookies on your browser

Restarting the computer

Changing your screen resolution

Uninstalling unused browser extensions

Things that do not actually make your computer faster:

Deleting files

Registry cleaners

Defragging your drive

Passively wishing that your computer was faster instead of actually just adding more fucking RAM.

This post is brought to you by the lady with the 7-year-old laptop that she refuses to leave overnight for us to run scans on or take apart so that we can put RAM in it and who insists on coming by for 30-minute visits hoping we can make her computer faster.

[gryficowa]

Boycott!

Fuck Zionists and liberals, they are equally fucked up, Zionists are sadists and liberals are ignorant

Not only has the number of people interested in Gaza decreased, but I also have to meet this parasite (because I won't call you people anymore)

And my Internet randomly stops working…

Liberals will probably bash me in the comments anyway, because their level is like that of a fourth grader, because how come you hate Harris and Biden? You must be a Russian troll or some shit! (Because it wasn't because I saw children torn apart, people carrying body parts of loved ones in plastic bags and a father who went out to get a birth certificate for his twins, only to come back to find out that his wife and children were murdered by a bomb 100% supplied by the USA…)

Yes, liberals and Zionists piss me off, they're on the same level of being disgusting people

(Okay, I replaced the USB, but I will have to find a new USB because I use a mobile host)

Now that I have your attention:

--------------------------------------------------------

Yes, an additional entry under the collection links, it doesn't appear very often, I'm aware of that

Remember that Taylor Swift and Lady Gaga are silent about Gaza (And also about Sudan and Congo)

Also, fuck Rowling, but she knows a lot (Only the HP fandom will defend her…)

The actors and screenwriter in "Stranger Things" turned out to be Zionists, so if you want to watch the series, I recommend illegally, because legally you will give money to people who are disgusting bigots

(Okay, USB change worked, Internet doesn't crash every second)

But yes, lately it's been getting harder and harder to raise money because fewer and fewer people are interested in Gaza, which is depressing on many levels…

By the way, a liberal chimed in, I'm in the middle of writing a post and yes, what could be worse than rapes and the torn bodies of children? Besides, in Yemen he has the death penalty, so you can send him there, you know, there is a way to get rid of Trump, with Harris and Biden it is not so easy (Although Biden is old… Maybe he will die on the way)

But Harris? I don't know, some crazy person would have to show up, although I don't support assassination attempts on presidents and such (But yes, she would either have to lose or leave the elections, I have no idea, because she's too young, so the chance of her leaving would be like waiting for the death of Queen Elizabeth… I know she's dead, but with Elizabeth's death, dead memes about her immortality)

I have no idea what to do with Harris, because Trump can be sent to Yemen, and Biden will either die in many years or lose the intellectual capacity to rule the country (No, sorry, both of them probably won't live long, they are men, not Queen Elizabeth)

By the way, Putin doesn't look young either… 71 years old, you know what the average age of men is

Literally, retirees lol

I doubt Biden, Trump, or fucking Putin will live to be a hundred

So this text "Trump is worse" sounds even funnier, because he is 78 years old, and you know that in a year he may suddenly be incapacitated, because old age has that effect (It's already visible in Biden's case, Trump, with all this stress and everything, probably won't live long…)

In addition, if we take into account the diet in the USA and CO2, because Americans must have a million cars, you understand, an additional shortening of life

I have more doubts about Putin, because he doesn't live in the USA… But considering his age, it's only a matter of time before the effects of aging catch up with him

Hey, Benjamin is 74 years old, although this fucker is probably worse than Trump (Sorry, I had to parody liberals), and seriously, it's terrifying when liberals talk about how evil Trump is, but they remain silent about the genocide because of their white American privilege is more important

Okay, attack from liberals and Zionists in 3… 2… 1…

Coming back to the collections, this is the only way for them to arrive, unfortunately, I can never guarantee that it will happen, and that sucks, because many families live on the edge, because they never know whether they will be the next victims of an Israeli attack… And many collections last for many months and often stop at a certain amount, which means that few collections reach the very end :/

And only being angry can increase the post's reach or tagging to many tags (Because I will not give money to a Zionist company, sorry, but not only do I not have a bank account, I also do not earn money, and I would prefer not to give money to a company that pays Zionists to interacted with people fighting for Palestine)

As I mentioned, I'm worried that fewer and fewer people are talking about Gaza, and this makes it difficult to reach people, even the Palestinians themselves have a big problem with it (That's why they often put tags unrelated to the post, unfortunately, they risk having the post with the collection removed for spam…)

It doesn't help that Tumblr shadowbans tags about Palestine (Fucking Zionist yohoo, but what do you expect from a company that showed off transphobia?)

I deleted deviantart (some time ago) because it turned out that it belongs to an Israeli company (This explains a lot why there are so many disgusting Zionists), I have a blog on tumblr because I can't find an alternative, and on this blog my art gets lost, which makes it difficult with colored OCs because it may result in changing complexion, and we all know how people react to it…)

I also noticed that many Zionists use Jewish tags (Which sucks because they promote that every Jew is a Zionist, which is not true), so yes, more and more Zionists will be found there, I don't know what Jews supporting Palestine feel and see Zionist shit, but I know it must be depressing on many levels (You are strong, you have to deal with them anyway, but the fact that you have the courage to fight for Palestine is a sign of strength, the Zionists are weak, you are strong)

I doubt anyone will read it all to the end (Knowing liberals and Zionists, they will start writing insults)

[zer0psd]

im curious about adobe certified? like what does that entail?

basically in high school i was part of journalism, communications, film and photography! all three of those things required that i become very familiar with adobe suites. the communications department had a partnership or something so we could learn the suites for free; later on we had to take a test on all the different programs and we could earn a certification if we passed.

adobe suites are the industry standard; i've been doing photography and graphic design for almost 10 years now, and a lot of jobs within the professional industry require this certification. it's honestly bullshit imo, because i think people who make art can create insanely high quality work without overpriced tools, but at the same time ... thats showbiz baby!

its nice to have on my resume, and i've definitely gotten some great opportunities by being like "teehee i could make crazy potions via adob of photo shopped" so like i can't complain at all. friends who went into similar careers have also been able to use it as well.

now i think a lot of the industry has become somewhat more lax, esp with the rise of AI (ughhhh) and accessible editing apps/softwares. i've also found my niche/aesthetic that people care about, so. idk. i'm not into photography anymore, i used to shoot for music venues and bars and did a LOT of headshots and stuff like that, but most of said places are corporate and/or outsource, and some places just do it on their own since there's a lot more ways to, for example, manage social media for your small business with a camera and like. canva and vsco.

i honestly could not use illustrator for my life though. that shit would have me shaking and crying and throwing up whenever i had to use it.

[studyeonjena]

Introducing Me!

Hello! I am Bella, also known as studyeonjena, formerly known as westernstudies. I decided to redo this intro since I am revamping this page and also I have changed so much since the last time I posted this intro.  Without further ado, I present a small glimps into my life;

a mini bio:

My name is Bella, and I am 20 (an Aries) as well as a Junior in Uni. I am currently studying Behavioral Science and Social Science. I have a certificate in CompSci and Graphic/Web Design. I am very passionate about my beliefs on politics and am not afraid to argue with you if I think your ignorance will genuinely affect human lives. I get sick VERY easily and have the worst immune system in the world. I have had some bad problems with both physical and mental health over the last year and it has been very hard but I hope doing studyblr again will get me back on track with my studies. I love music, art, rain and coffee. Lastly, my personal outlook on life is that everyone has kindness in them, but it is not up to you to show those who treat you like shit the kindness they neglect to give you.

hobbies:

watching YouTube, reading, hiking and camping, discovering new music and singing along poorly, reading fanfiction, starting but never finishing art and craft projects, driving around, laying in bed and staring at the ceiling until I eventual tire myself out.

Connect with me:

 Personal Tumblr:  @camisadoclouds

Personal Instagram: @aestrieella

Personal Twitter: @bellasj0y

Personal Youtube: Star Girl

Spotify: Peaches

QUICK FAXS:

I am an INFP (Meditator)

Trying to be a Pescatarian

Astrology Lover (Aries, Leo, Aquarius)

Tree Hugger/ Earth Lover

Religion is complicated

HUGE Horror fan

Kpop fan

Spencer Reid Enthusiast

Not a Brony but I do enjoy My Little Pony

Trying to get into Adventure Time

Really wanna penpal

Former Emo Kid

GIANT Geek

ADVID British Joke Consumer

Chinese Meme Conisour

Language Learner

Trying to become a streamer

Terrible French speaker

interests:

I like to watch tons of different genres of youtube, these days I watch a lot of compilation videos and such

I’ve decided to take up reading again

Art

Video/Photo Editing and Taking

I prefer movies over tv shows, unless it is Asian Dramas

I enjoy baking

Dancing

Learning languages

favorites:

movies: Battle Royale, Midsommar, Crazy Rich Asians, Percy Jackson, As Above So Below

shows: A Business Proposal, Falling into Your Smiling, Full House (Korean), Crash Landing on You, Criminal Minds, Sailor Moon, So I Married an AntiFan and many more

colours: Powder (pink, blue, ect), Yellow, Navy, Maroon, Orange

albums: A Fever You Can't Sweat Out - Panic! At the Disco, Any Lovejoy album whatsoever, Sour - Olivia Rodrigo, Arrival - ABBA, Manifesto - Enhypen, Superache - Connan Gray

video games: Minecraft, The Sims, AmongUs, Portals

food: Sushi, Noodles, Popcorn, Tteokbokki, Japchae, rice

drinks: TEA, COFFEE, Orange Soda, Sprite, Ginger ale, dr. pepper

aesthetics: Light and Romantic Academia, Y2K Cyber, Cottage Core, Emo/Scene and sometimes Gothic.

I like to describe my aesthetic under the name Persephone Inspired.

TXT and IKEA for some reason

classes:

Winter Semester:

Still Determining

Spring Semester:

Still Determining

Summer Semester:

Internship in Hawaii

goals:

finish relearning Korean, Japanese, and Spanish ASAP

BULLET JOURNAL MORE, I am so much more productive and organized when I use my buju.

make all A's these next two semesters

eat and be healthier

participate in as many studyblr challenges as possible

have 1 year of productivity

do okay while streaming

Get an iPad

[sassypotatoe1]

I've always been like this too when I was 11 and 12 I worked in the school library, and only 12/13 year olds were technically allowed to work the computer, and covering and labeling new books as well as collection rounds and laminating files were the teacher's responsibility because children can not be trusted typically, except I was a crazy perfectionist and since the first grade my mom and I have been covering and labeling my school books and folders together at the start of the year, every year.

So one day the teacher asks me, 11 at the time and the only "staff" available in that moment, to laminate a few posters for her class while she graded some tests. She wasn't worried about me fucking it up because it didn't have to be perfectly straight, just all within the laminate sheet and not crumpled, but then it was perfectly straight. All 16 sheets. And so laminating became my responsibility at 11 years old for 2 years, because I could do it neater than the teacher herself. She charged R2 (like 10% of a Usd) per sheet and I got 30c of that for my labor. I had like 80 bucks by the end of the two years and learned a lot about basic debtors and creditors sheets keeping track of the payments from teachers and students laminating their shit and the cost of new orders of pockets.

Given how neat my laminating was, when I was 12 and the book fair came to the school, and the teacher acquired about 50 new books, I was responsible for covering and labeling them, because at that point I also had the Dewey decimal system down pat and knew exactly, without having to be told, how to label the books. I've forgotten it completely since but I suspect if I just scanned through it again I'd remember it all. I also figured out the electronic checking system in like an instant, by watching the teacher use it, so I was given early access to the system and checking books out and in.

So little preteen me was basically a fully qualified librarian at that point, and I rode that high all throughout my teens, taking jobs with school admin during school holidays, doing graphic design, printing, laminating, filing and organizing. All unpaid of course but I didn't care I LOVED it and I was GOOD at it, and if my disabilities ever catch up to me I would be perfectly happy and content working in the local library at the checkout counter or as a secretary.

I also got involved in office drama really young imagine a 13 year old student at your school is there for the holidays because their parents couldn't get off work or a babysitter and got bored and asked if they could help you in the office, and you're like yeah whatever I'm swamped, and this kid just whips up the design for the next prestige evening's certificates in between tasks, and the school uses it, and then you're bitching about Susan in accounting refusing to release budget for an order of printing paper and said 13 year old goes "oh I know right? One time I had to ask her for" and continues with an insane story about Susan from accounting and suddenly you have a gossip buddy... In a 13 year old student from your school who got bored and wanted to help out.

I ended up becoming a journalist for, hopefully, obvious reasons but teacher or librarian were top contenders at one point, and I think I'd make a great one of either of those if journalism doesn't work out for me.

[unown]

spending too much time alone and with my own thoughts is super dangerous for someone like me but I managed to calm down a bit and even started making some decisions. I’ve decided I love animals and being around them and I’m gonna do a vet assistant certificate at my community college. I don’t expect a sizable income from doing a job like this eventually but tbh I don’t care anymore I’m not gonna waste my life and money doing smth I don’t really care about. medical coding is super interesting to me and I know I won’t know things for sure if I don’t try but I researched this career very heavily and while I love learning/studying medical terminology the job seems so stress inducing and consequential financially in terms of making mistakes it just freaked me out that I would not be able to have aid and spend a shit load of money on a certificate I don’t think I would be good at. I want to see a therapist it’s long over due I want to work through my behavioral issues and not be anxious all the time anymore it physically hurts me and affects other ppl too….anyway this vet assistant program includes clinical work and I’m hoping that will open some doors for me and give me some experience. This is my last year full time with the kids I babysit and i think that plays a part in how emotional I’ve been bc I love them so much…I am still going to work for the family bc they love and care about me and I get to pick up/take the kids to and from school which is nice so yea I’m gonna use this remaining time to have a lot of fun with them, go back to the animal shelter and volunteer if they will have me….maybe practice more in terms of art idk maybe later down the line I’ll finally be secure enough to pursue graphic design but I’m just not in a good position to try that right now. anyway idk I don’t have many friends I’ll be honest irl and my relationships in general have been a little complicated and I just wanted to share….I’m really hoping I will be okay and this sudden optimism doesn’t go away so soon I just realized that I need to work small for now bc it’s best suited for my well being 😮‍💨

[shanlonwrites]

I am applying for my dream job as an exhibit planner and writer with an exhibit design firm and I have to go through all of my work from my previous job to build a portfolio. And it is just reopening that trauma all over again. Yuck. 

I have been terrified of getting a full time job again because my last job was so stressful that I would come home, sit down, and cry on the reg. I didn’t have the energy to do anything but go to work, come home, and half-watch TV. No socialization, no going out, I only cleaned on the weekends. I was depressed. Because I constantly felt like I couldn’t keep up. 

The plus side of it is: the more I am forced to examine that job, the more I realize just how batshit crazy it was. Do you know what I accomplished in just a year and a half working there?  

TOO MUCH.

I made a list (below) and Jesus H Christ, it’s no wonder I felt like I couldn’t keep up!

Stuff I did in 19 months as “graphic designer” at this startup: 

- created a brand guide

- performed historical research to correct factual errors about what was a top-secret military site, with zero budget for materials

- completely rewrote the tour manual

- trained new tour guides

- helped hire new tour guides and event staff

- created signage for the interior and the exterior

- created designs for multiple vouchers, gift certificates, pamphlets, and flyers - most of which went unused because I was also expected to hand those out myself I guess. I had almost no direction in any of this.

- planned and executed an Easter event

- planned and executed two major Halloween events, one of which involved soliciting donations from local businesses

- planned, designed, and project managed, acquired furnishing for, and tested and adjusted, the construction of a full escape room

- created 8 pieces of original art for the original escape rooms

- created 9 more pieces of original art for my own escape room

- planned, designed, constructed, tested, and operated a mini pop-up escape room for festivals

- ran both of those escape rooms, as well as all of the events, myself (with help! but still)

- planned, filmed, and edited together something like 15 “professional quality” videos (I am not a photographer or a video editor)

- shot all of the photography used in social media (until we hired a photography student as an event staff, and thank goodness for her!)

- planned, wrote, and managed social media content, including a blog

- this involved constantly having to push back against cheapo hack firms the boss kept hiring to plan our social media for us, and which only ended up making us look like cheapo hacks. One of those cheapo hacks mansplained UX to me, a UX designer. His UI was u n u s a b l e. 

- completely redesigned and rebuilt the website; also managed the website, which I was not aware was part of that deal until I was asked why I wasn’t doing it (”Because you literally never asked me to but okay I guess.”)

- designed, ordered, sold merch (t-shirts and stuff with the business logo on them for some reason???)

- investigated and helped select appropriate booking software for our needs. Twice.

- managed bookings and set up the software

- managed large group bookings

- full branding for a laser tag league that never came to be

- multiple poster designs

- designed, painted, and decorated four esports rooms

- designed and decorated a birthday party room

- set up attendance at multiple local events to spread awareness, then staffed the events myself

- cooked hamburgers and hot dogs for goddamn paintball players on the weekend

- planned a failed Valentine’s day event

- which failed because I was also in charge of marketing and not only am I not a fully trained marketer, have you seen the list of other shit I was supposedly responsible for? 

- More???

Fuck me, I guess I can see why I was so stressed all the time. 

[salora-rainriver]

Against my better judgment I’m diving into the discourse:

@monsieurhedge in precisely one year, if all goes well, I will have a full certification to teach elementary classrooms. I’m certified in first aid and CPR. I have a bachelor’s in anthropology, and like - I can also draw.

Extending this to my family, I know a lawyer who also manages properties for a living and knows construction work, a chiropractor-in-training (yeah, i know, but he IS studying anatomy so theres utility there), a politically-active currently-unemployed graphic designer, and an actual literal doctor. All scattered to the four winds but i can contact them easily. And they themselves all have contacts with varying skillsets of varying utility.

Not even getting into the proximity I have to the immediate community here in [LOCATION CENSORED]. No details, but at any given moment I may be able to contact someone working one of a variety of blue-collar jobs.

My point here is we’re not all ineffectual posters. Many of us have real jobs, or know people who have real jobs. Mutual aid looks ineffective to you because you’re seeing the mutual aid of a disconnected massive online community, that is wholly incapable of focusing efforts to such a fine-tuned degree and also feels largely powerless. So no shit all they can do is e-begging. What my mutual seems to be implying is we should try building stronger relationships with our immediate community, forming stronger and more intimate communities that can then more effectively prepare. Think about your own family, your friends, your family’s friends, and the people in your town or city. If your city sucks, find 20 or 40 folks who don’t suck.

Don’t go doomer on us just because you’re buying into the stereotype of internet users being NEETs. That would be probably the most pathetic reason to give in to despair.

Not to electionpost but I think the fact that we're seriously debating whether or not the president can pardon himself is evidence that we're fucked on a deeper level than a future risk of something bad happening

[lestcat-de-lioncourt]

I’m getting some guy who can only draw stick figures mansplain to me how I should practice doing my drawing.

I have spent my entire life drawing. If that wasn’t good enough, I spent 3 years in college verifying that I know how to, and know how to learn further and practice. I’ve been professionally taught, as well as the added years of experience I gained self teaching.

I have completed 2 courses with multiple distinctions and merits, and at least a pass on the rest. I am sick and tired of cis men mansplaining my knowledge and skills to me, whether it be that or filming, writing scripts, directing and film editing, the visual media course includes that strangely enough.

I am tired that cis men often seem to think they simply just Know more than me, off the bat, not even with the level of qualifications and experience as I have, which unfortunately feels like it goes to waste due to my level of anxiety with doing anything and feeling like it’ll be shit despite certificates to prove otherwise.

I use what I enjoy drawing to practice. I’ve already learnt how to draw. I know how to find reference, inspo, the mere basics, and it’s poor of someone to even assume you don’t even know that especially as soon as they find out you do art. Strangely enough, that’s how I can draw.

I’ve learned stop motion, created it, filmed it, animation, I did a HAND DRAWN, EVERY SINGLE PAGE, short film that was a few inches thick and took half a year, visual media design, life drawing, realism, cartoon, poster design, graphic design, website design, logo design. I’ve had a company already use a logo designed by me. I’ve had an exhibition. I’ve had my art put up in the local museum before I was 10. (I feel like I’m showing off but THIS HAS LITERALLY HAPPENED and why the fuck shouldn’t I not talk about it, not talking about it isn’t getting me anywhere tbh. This year is gonna be “try and be proud” year, because I’ve had enough of shoving myself down.)

Fucking hell man back the fuck up. Stop being so shocked that people Know Things already. It’s so demeaning.

Maybe if I was a cis man my stick figure could be a teaching to us all. I would be God.

[thewriterslament]

writing a resume from scratch

as with literally everything i write, this got really fucking long! like, wordcounter.net estimates this will take 7 minutes to read. so i’ve placed the bulk of this post under a read more

this is not a quick tips kind of post; this is a detailed breakdown of how to write a resume from scratch, with examples that are largely taken from my own resume. this is primarily a resource for people who don’t know where to start with writing a resume, not for people who just want resume hacks

i’m saying all this so i don’t get people in my inbox complaining about how long this is. writing a resume takes a lot of time and effort, and this post does not shy away from that

creating a resume will take you a while, especially if this is your first attempt. don’t be discouraged! take breaks, and don’t try to make the perfect resume on the first try. this tutorial is designed to be completed in rounds

it usually takes me a week to get a new master resume into working order

don’t worry about page length right now. you should make a multipage master resume that contains every relevant experience before making a 1-page resume. after you’ve made the master, you can build custom resumes from it for job applications

this post is best viewed on desktop, because i use nested bullets, and tumblr mobile hates those

let’s get into it!

step 1:

list out everything you’ve ever done that could feasibly count as a resume entry: extracurriculars, jobs, volunteer positions, research, organizations you were a part of (professional or casual), freelance work, long-term hobbies. i will refer to each different experience as an “entry”

for each entry, write where (city + state) and when (timespan) you did that thing 

ex. tritones a cappella group, los angeles, ca, august 20xx - present

going forward, update this list as you join or complete new jobs/hobbies/whatever so that you don’t have to wrack your brain a year down the road wondering how long you held down that job or leadership role

step 2:

describe each entry

use bullet points to list out all the things you did within that role. start with the big picture, then move on to the small stuff

big picture: the goal of the role/organization/research, overarching and long-term projects, what results you were trying to achieve + why

ex. “studied the neuroanatomy and synaptopathy of the inner ear to determine the role of glutamate receptors in hearing loss”

small stuff: literal day-to-day tasks, every software and hardware you worked with, any particularly successful moments

basically, walk through a typical day or week in this role and list out every single thing you have to do, even the grunt work.

ex. “used redcap to administer neuropsychological batteries and collect biological data”

ex. “designed and implemented a novel article format that yielded a 10% increase in audience retention”

if you still have access to the original job posting or a corporate description of responsibilities for your role, pull that up and see how much you can paraphrase from it

no duty is too stupid rn. did you google weather forecasts for your boss every week? write it down. you can make it fancy or choose to delete it later

step 3:

fancify this shit

rewrite your bullet points from step 2 with better jargon. tell your employers what you did in a concise yet assertive manner

it helps to break down each point into its most basic components, which you can then generalize or rephrase 

ex. “googled weather forecasts” might become “compiled weekly reports on changing data points to assess weather trends over time”

use action words. you can find resources all over the internet for this, but if you’re still struggling, shoot me an ask and i’ll link some of the resources i’ve used myself

caution: you don’t want to sound like you used a thesaurus on every word. make sure you aren’t obscuring the meaning of your bullet points. “googled weather forecasts” should not become “utilized online databases to assemble weekly communications on meteorological variations”

start thinking about how your responsibilities for each entry relate to a) what skills you want to showcase and b) what the employer wants from you. does the employer want you to demonstrate familiarity with online databases, or does the employer want you to demonstrate familiarity with weather forecasts? your bullet point for “googled the weather” will change depending on the answer to these questions

step 4: 

look at the big picture

you probably have a metric buttload of bullet points for each entry. now you need to cut that down to what’s relevant. think about which bullets are most impressive, noteworthy, and descriptive of each entry

aim for 3-5 bullet points. any less than that and you have to ask why you’re including that entry. any more than that and the employer’s eyes will glaze over

try to combine bullet points

ex. “identify content and write articles when necessary,” “maintain a pool of freelancers,” and “identify key graphics and maintain tagging structure when uploading articles” all involve the process of creating an article, so they can be combined into: “identify content, assign stories to freelancers, write articles when necessary, and upload with appropriate graphics and tags”

start thinking about tailoring your word choices and bullet points to what the employer is looking for

if you can, pull up the job posting or a sample resume for the job you’re applying to and compare your resume to it. are you using similar language? are you demonstrating similar skills?

jobhero.com is a lifesaver

finally, eliminate redundancy in your resume, both in every individual entry and in the resume as a whole. if a skill can be demonstrated by multiple entries, you only need to list it once

kill your darlings! it may sound harsh, but the things that seem super impressive to you probably won’t even be a blip on the employer’s radar. “but saying i made coffee runs shows i’m dependable and a team player!” the employer isn’t looking that deep, my dude. you can showcase your dependability in your cover letter or your interview

you should redo steps 3 and 4 several times, soliciting feedback from your parents, peers, career center, etc each time

step 5:

add the Other Stuff

education

typically, you should only include institutions for the highest level of education you’ve attended. (undergrad and grad school both count as college for this purpose)

there are exceptions to this, depending on how long you’ve spent at a higher level of education, whether your alma mater will earn you brownie points, whether you had genuinely impressive accomplishments earlier in your life, etc.

once you hit, like, 2 years in college, you should try to get rid of high school achievements and showcase college achievements instead

list the school name, city + state, degree type (BA/MA/etc) and expected graduation date (even if it’s in the future), your major(s) + minor(s), and any related coursework (ie preprofessional tracks, specific courses related to the job). you can list your gpa if you feel it’s relevant, but i caution against doing this once you’ve graduated

ex. (where // indicates a new line) harvard university, boston, ma, may 2020 // bachelor of arts in cognitive neuroscience // minor: english: focus in creative writing // related coursework: pre-medicine, computer science 101 and 102 // gpa: 3.9/4.0 (dean’s list, all semesters)

skills

a list of items without descriptions. you can do a bulleted list or you can list the entries in paragraph form, separated by commas or bold bullets

hard skills: hardware, software, languages (spoken and programming), digital and communication platforms, social media proficiencies, other technologies and devices

ex. microsoft office suite, java, wordpress, slack, familiarity with ap and chicago style

soft skills: general qualities, buzzwords, personality traits

ex. leadership, conflict resolution, time management

certifications and awards

can be one section or two depending on how many of each you have

list each one on a separate bullet point

for each, write the certification or award, the institution that granted it, and the month and/or year you received it if relevant

publications

tbh i just cite my publications in the following format instead of following a style guide

lastname, firstname. “article or chapter title.” book title, publisher (aka company or website). publication date.

if you’re the sole author, you don’t need to list the author’s name

interlude: stretch the truth a bit. don’t lie about having experience or skills you don’t, but if you can reasonably google how to do something, boom! you’re proficient in it. if you worked with two team members who never pulled their weight? you just became the sole project lead. were you a beta reader for anime fanfiction back in the day? you’re a freelance editor, baby!

step 6:

now you have to organize all the entries from step 4

separate your entries into relevant sections. what’s relevant might change based on what you’re applying for

i’ve had, at various points in my life, some subset of the following sections: work experience, volunteer experience, leadership experience, research experience, writing experience, other relevant experience

list sections in order of descending importance

write all entries in reverse chronological order: start with the most recent and work your way backwards

write all bullet points in order of descending importance. unfortunately, i don’t have any quick tips on determining what’s important, but it helps to look at the job posting and see what matters to the employer

i tend to list big picture goals, then personal accomplishments (leadership skills, projects), then daily tasks

step 7:

format this shit

you can find resume templates online or in your word processor. templates serve as a good starting point, but i recommend creating your own format so you can edit and customize it with ease. this will probably involve a lot of fiddling with indentations, paragraph spacing, and moving things around

don’t go smaller than 10pt font

mess around with line and paragraph spacing to get the right balance of white space. if you’re curious about what i use, shoot me an ask and i’ll share my weirdly specific settings

keep an eye out for bullet points with orphan words (ie lines containing only 1-3 words) and get rid of them to streamline your resume

margins can be anywhere between 0.5″ and 1″

consistency is key! make sure each entry has the same kind of spacing. don’t use hyphens in one entry and en dashes in another

in the header, write your name, email, phone number, and address

interlude: save this version of your resume as your master resume. this gives you an unedited list of everything you ever did that you can now pick and choose from when you apply to jobs. update this list every 3-6 months.

step 8:

customize your resume for the job application

unless you’ve been in the industry for several years, your job-specific resume should be no more than 1 page

if you have more than 1 page: compare the job listing and your resume side by side and ask which entries demonstrate your capabilities most effectively, which bullet points are the punchiest, and if there’s any extraneous info

match each job requirement to one bullet point on your resume. then match each bullet point on your resume to a requirement in the listing. get rid of any bullet points that don’t meet either of those criteria. if multiple bullet points match the same job requirement, get rid of the extra bullet points

if you have significantly less than 1 page: see if you can add more bullet points or reformat your resume to introduce some more white space. a 2-column set-up is great for this, with section headers on the left and bullets on the right. do you have any hobbies you’re forgetting about? any soft skills you could add?

emulate the language of the job posting; use the same action words, the same soft skills

coda

your resume should work in tandem with your cover letter, but that’s a topic for another post. maybe in another 6 months i’ll write a post on that, too

always save your resume as a pdf! you don’t want your employer to have access to your metadata

if you made it through this whole post... i’m so sorry lmao but also thanks for sticking with me

let me know if you found this helpful or if this method scored you a job!

[renlikesstuff]

Five Facts -- Get To Know Your Mutuals

Ask-turned-tag, which I got with gratitude from @riptidemonzarc. Good luck with the garden!

The ask states: Get to know your mutuals! When you get this, it means someone wants to know more about you, so list 5 things about yourself you want your followers to know! They can be as simple as your age or as complex as your deepest fear, as long as it’s something you’re comfortable with sharing. When you’re done and if you want to, send this to 10 people you want to get to know better!

This took me a minute to think about.

I’m an Elder Millennial, born in 1983 (37 years old).

I started work as a graphic designer and art director for a couple direct mail advertising agencies, then moved into interactive design for in-house companies and I love the shit out of my career. So I do website design, banner ads, emails, user experience and user interfaces for one company and I’ve worked at my current job for almost 5 years.

I used to be a huge Prince of Persia nerd after falling in love with Prince of Persia: Sands of Time in 2003 (almost 20 years, ughhh). To the point where I was super active on their forums and I was the first person in the world to 100% platinum the 2008 Prince of Persia game. And my name is in the credits for Prince of Persia: Two Thrones because I was so active in the PoP fandom.

I’m a certified Rescue Diver, thanks to my husband’s fixation on scuba diving. We powered through Open Water to Rescue Diver certifications (i.e. rank 1 to rank 4 out of 5 ranks) in just a year, despite only recreational diving twice in that year. And even with the concentrated training, I had a panicked-diver incident 2 years ago that have left me a little cautious about the water (I still love it, but I get a little anxious at the very beginning trying to go under because I’ve been under-weighted a lot and have struggled with ocean dives.) 

I have met at least 10 online friends in real life in various places. Two of them ended up being among my closest friends and were actually bridesmaids in my wedding. Some I’ve known for almost 20 years from various forums and fandoms. And best of all: I’ve never had a bad experience from it. It really makes you appreciate how wide and wonderful the world is.

[borderline-off-fangame]

Borderline’s 4th year anniversary

oh boy. it’s time my children. The game has been in development for 4 full years now. :’3 em tired. No art, i think i didn’t do art last year, oh well fdghfgh. been busy with real life and re-working on shit. yeaa, it’s gonna take a while aaaa... warning: birb rambles a lot here sorry!!

Let’s say that real life has been getting in the way, as I am close to wrapping up my studies and getting a graphic design certificate (also voluntary work at a print shop where I’m learning new things there dfhfgh), so progress has been slowed down than usual, sorry about that. Hopefully I will get back to proper development after I revise some stuff and write up new concepts.... yea you heard it right, Borderline is getting a re-write again.. Basically more criticism happened and we came to a conclusion to well.. re-work from scratch, and start working on new concepts for the characters. Will there be changes? Well, yes there will always be changes, major or minor, but pretty sure Borderline will take a different turn story-wise. Currently I have about.. well.

Not much concepts, but still working on them nonetheless, plus the art folder which is for graphic concepts of the game. So, to make this part short, Borderline will be going through a re-write, so the final product won’t be the same as the demo, you might even notice MAJOR changes to the story and the game play! Ye.. idk, I’m going in here super raw and rambly so again, sorry for that dfhfgh.

Anyways uh, what’s the progress over this year? 

Patch 2 exists, which was uploaded earlier this year, containing bug fixes and couple new shit in there, the whole 9 yards!! I even branched out and put Borderline in both gamejolt and itch.io for people to download in case they can’t use mediafire. Well, unexpected to say, as of writing this post, my game reached 2000+ downloads! How that happened, I don’t know, but it sure made me very happy!! :D I do thank you for taking the time to download my game and play it :’3333 I’ve met people whom I’ve inspired to make games of their own, and.. t’was an eventful year.. :’0c 

Sorry to keep things on such short notice, I’m unsure of what else I should say, I do thank you for being patient with me and my work as it takes time and effort to release content related to my game and shit, and thank you to the contributors who provided assets for my game.. uh.. what else? idk? I’m currently down with a cold, so I’m unsure of what else to say sorry ;; dfgh thanks so much for following this blog and keeping up with the progress despite it being super slow now, I just gfhfg. I thank you from the bottom of my heart!!

[honeyboyfelix]

you know i complained a whole lot when my school put me in graphic design without me knowing for my senior year but now i can flex my photoshop certificate and i actually know how to use  photoshop kinda which is amazing because that shits hard af to remember all the lil buttons and tabs 

[uncloseted]

i don't know what i'm going to do with my life, i feel like my life is a car making it's way to a dead end. i've never been to school so i don't have any qualifications to be able to work a normal job and my family can't afford to help me get a high school diploma. my mum lost her job so my uncle is the only working member in our house, he's turning 50 in a two weeks and it scares me more than it scares him. he can't keep working forever and i can tell that he doesn't enjoy it. (1)

the older i get the more i realise that the likelihood of me achieving my dreams is incredibly low. i've looked up menial jobs but all of them require a year 9 certificate, i don't even have that. next year i'll be legally responsible for my own shit because i turn 18 in may which isn't far away and i'm freaking out because i know that if god-forbid anything happened to my uncle we'd end up homeless and that petrifies me beyond words. i know its a bit "woe is me" to think like that but i (2) can't help but worry. i sit at home all day doing absolutely nothing. i just read books and go on social media trying to escape from reality. i hate the fact that everytime i think of my future, my immediate reaction is fear. i need to find a job ASAP, i can tell that bills are tight atm and i want to help but i don't know how. i've seriously considered becoming a stripper but that idea was shut down as soon as i realised i'm uncoordinated and have a flat arse. (3)

i want to try my hand in writing but i'm not sure where to start. i have a lot of ideas but often struggle to put them into words so that puts writing in the category of a pipe-dream than a possible reality. where i live jobs like working the till in a supermarket, clothing shop assistants and even bar tending all require a high school degree at least. i don't know if it's worth it to go on site and ask for an interview. sorry for flooding your inbox but I just needed vent / some advice

No worries!  I’m happy to listen and help if I can.  It’s a really hard situation you’ve been put in, and it’s way more than any 17 year old should have to deal with.  But the good news is that there’s always a way to improve your situation, and your life really is in your control.  Without knowing where you are in the world, giving specific advice on what your options are is a little bit difficult, but I’m going to try my best.... if you’re in the US, your best bet for long term success is to take the GED.  It’s a high school equivalency exam and will basically let you have a high school diploma without having to go back to actual school, and that will open up more options to you.  Your local library may have GED classes, and there are also a ton of resources online to help you prepare for it. From there, you can do community college to get qualifications or to learn a trade. If you’re in the UK, your best option is probably to take night classes towards a vocation.  

In the meantime, there are jobs you can apply for that won’t require a high school diploma or GED. Some common ones that don’t require a degree (at least in the US) include home health aide, construction worker, food service, warehouse or stock associate, cleaner, receptionist/secretary, food delivery, and truck driving (although you will likely need an additional license for that).  In the US, Indeed has a section specifically for companies that are hiring positions that don’t require a high school diploma.  They have international sites as well, so I would imagine that those have the same sections.  I would also go to restaurants, stores, bars, groceries, etc. in your area and see if they’re willing to hire you.  A lot of companies will say that they have a policy about how much education they require, but in reality they need workers and are willing to take what they can get.

Another option is to work online.  Some possibilities in that realm include freelance writing, transcribing or translating, moderating, virtual assistant, market researcher/survey taker, telephone mystery shopper, telephone interviewer, telemarketer, data entry, call reviewers, website testing, and chat agent. It will probably take a bit of applying to lots of websites and seeing what works, but there are a lot of opportunities out there and they may be worth pursuing.  If you have a lot of time on your hands, there are tons of websites that will teach you tech-related skills like programming, graphic design, and UX/UI design.  Those fields have a ton of remote positions available, don’t really care about your education, and can be very lucrative if you’re good at it.  It may be worth working on developing those skills.

As far as writing goes, it’s really just practice.  If you’re interested in creative writing, a writing prompt challenge can be a good way to start.  Basically, you get a different prompt each day and have to write on that topic.  It’s a good way to get practice even if you’re creatively uninspired, and it doesn’t take a ton of time or resources.  If you’re interested in nonfiction and journalism, there are a lot of resources online that can teach you those skills- try here, here, here, and here for some resources.

I hope at least some of this is helpful to you.  Let me know if there’s anything more I can help you figure out.