Career counseling · Old blog

Career counseling #5: the illusion

Codrin PO

I read this morning an article on the web about a private college professor with a Master`s degree from an Ivy League university. The professor, let`s say he`s Greg`s brother Hugh, finished his studies magna cum laude and was considered by his colleagues “most likely to succeed“.

Hugh got married to his college sweetheart, had a beautiful baby boy and was as happy as anyone can be.

And then things started going downhill. His wife died in a car accident, leaving him with a baby that was, soon after, diagnosed with a chronic illness. Because of the time spent in the hospital with his baby, he lost his tenure track professor job and was obliged to get a teaching job at a skills and trade college, with only a few courses to teach per year. The job was bringing him around 24,000 euros/year. The house which he bought together with his wife was taken back by the bank and he was left only with 3,000 euros in debt and 200 euros in his bank account. Continue reading “Career counseling #5: the illusion” →

Career counseling · Not too personal · Old blog

How I will job hunt from now on!

Codrin PO1 Comment

I’ve been unemployed for almost 5 months now. In the meantime, I applied to a few jobs and went to a few interviews. At one company, the recruiter invited me to the interview because she hadn’t seen a resume like mine before (a whole bunch of studies and experience linked to the field in every kind of organization). She just wanted to chat with me unfortunately. I passed a couple of interviews at that specific company, but didn’t get the job because my profile didn`t fit the job description.shutterstock_48556021

Right now, I am no longer applying for jobs where I don’t fit the profile perfectly. I did that in the first couple of months because I was desperate (I’ve never been unemployed and always like to work on new things). But, as I said, I only got a few interviews and a lot of “We are sorry to tell you that…” messages.

Thus, my new job hunting strategy involves only two things: Continue reading “How I will job hunt from now on!” →

Blog · Old blog

Global Citizen: Food Security

Codrin PO

Supporting the Global Poverty Project: Let`s build a world without hunger. There is enough food in the world for everyone. Locally-sourced solutions will ensure that everyone has enough to eat and families can build their communities without worrying about securing one of our basic human rights. Continue reading “Global Citizen: Food Security” →

Not too personal · Old blog

What I`m up to!

Codrin PO

New Year`s Eve has come and gone. Almost all persons have written their resolutions and most of them have already forgotten them.

Well, it was the first time when I`ve written them so here is what I`ve planned so far, sticky notes and all.

Here is what I have planned for the next couple of weeks.

Daily schedule (and I mean daily, aka 7/7):

≥ 1 hour/day German learning;

≥ 1 hour/day Excel VBA Programming;

≥ 1 hour/day French learning.

Each of these I will replace, as I have considered I learned as much as I can, by other languages and/or computer software.

Beside them, I scheduled time for reading literature, start practicing Tai Chi and writing blog articles (this on a bi-weekly basis). I will also start writing down (when they occur) all my literature related ramblings (like the 2nd part of my short stories collection).

Looking forward for a merry good time :).

Old blog

My New Year`s Resolutions

Codrin PO

I never wrote my New Year`s resolution down. I always wished, in my head, to do something in the new year that I didn`t do or achieve in the one that passes.

But now, because I really want to do them, I will write them down and update them on this blog as I complete each.

1. Have a baby

2. Learn a new language at least at conversational level.happy-new-year-2015-wallpapers (16)

3. Find a new job.

4. Don`t redesign this blog in the new year.

5. Write twice a week on this blog, at least in the first six months.

6. Write the second part of my short story and get it published (on Smashwords). The first part is called A dreamer`s guide to reality.

7. Start working out (I really need the exercise, but, so far, I was too lazy).

These are my New Year`s resolutions. I`ll update when completed just to make sure that I follow-up.