Buck me up

[gemfyre]

The Zoo is advertising again. Recruitment pool for the Native Species Breeding Program. This is what I applied for last year and didn't even get an interview. Last time there was an actual position, not just a pool for them to consider you, but still, it's preferable to having nothing and being stuck in a goddamn lawyer's office.

I KNOW I can do this job and I'm pretty confident I can do it well. But Selection Criteria and interviews are not my forte. I see stuff that requires me to display my experience at things like public speaking and my heart sinks. I took the tours at BBO and that was good, I don't think I did too badly. I knew what I was talking about, so I was good at it. If I have to speak about anything I'm not fully confident on I get a bit weird, ala my presentation to the kids at Corrigin High School (which was followed by the actual trapping, which WAS a smashing success - despite me going "Oh crap, I never expected to actually CATCH a phascogale! How the heck do I handle this thing??"

I haven't been to Africa and worked with elephants or lions or whatever, which another applicant is bound to have. Sorry I haven't had the time or money to go there.

Essentially. I know I will have less/not as good experience as 50+ of the other applicants. BUT I CAN DO THE JOB AND I NEED TO WORK AT THE ZOO NOT FOR A STUPID LAWYER!!! It's so disheartening, I think, "Why bother? I'm not going to get a look in anyway."

Encourage me people. I should apply anyway, so maybe eventually someone will go, "Hey, this girl isn't as great as some of the others, but she applies EVERY time, maybe we should give her a try."

*sigh*

Comments

[tikibirds.livejournal.com]

apply for it :)

[stephbg.livejournal.com]

*encourages*

[vegetus.livejournal.com]

If this is your dream job, why *aren't* you applying for it?

[glittery-girl.livejournal.com]

Yes! Apply! See yourself girl. Look at how enthusiastic you are!

[moonvoice.livejournal.com]

You recently did those bird things, and I thought they were great. They were educational (even to someone like me who - while I don't go out birding as much as I'd like, still really enjoys identifying birds and researching them), succinct, entertaining and straightforward. And I saw the comments you were getting for them, people who previously thought mudlarks were baby magpies were following them. That's really awesome.

The zoo must get a lot of people applying, that's true, but I think you are a valuable employee and you work diligently and hard; and they'd be stupid not to put you in their pool. Seriously? If they didn't? What losers. :(

[stephbg.livejournal.com]

Those birding lessons are tremendous stuff. Every time you wrote one I looked outside and found something relevant amongst birds I'd largely taken for granted (e.g. butcher bird vs kingfisher). And although I wasn't really studying with any great dedication (some interest) you managed to jam a few facts into my head. That's good educational writing, sneaking knowledge under the guard.

[jet-ski.livejournal.com]

you have to keep trying, otherwise you will regret it :P

[possbert.livejournal.com]

I'm not on the selection panel this time (though I'd better not speak too soon in case they can't find a third person!).

Go for it. Remember that the first two names of the section are Native Species, so emphasise your experience.

[lotus79.livejournal.com]

TOTALLY go for it!

Did you ask them for feedback last time you applied and didn't get a call? I'm pretty sure you can do that and they should be able to give you pointers. (If you didn't, think of it like this: make a resolution to do so this time, and thus a refusal this year is an upward step towards acceptance next year.)

Maybe get professional help with it? It isn't cheap, but getting someone who knows how all that shit works to hold your hand, write a resume for you, coach you on selection criteria or even write them for you could at least prevent that annoying feeling that they didn't pick you because you fudged the application.

But yeah, I know what you mean about putting your all into an application and not even getting a call or an interview. It's kind of soul destroying.

And I am writing a ton of these things at the moment so I am kind of in the mindset - feel free to send any bits over for critique! (Though I am still unemployed so that's not a great recommendation, LOL!)

[gemfyre.livejournal.com]

Trust me to choose a vocation which has few positions, usually pays badly (the zoo, being government, actually pays decently) and is WAY popular.

[rdmasters.livejournal.com]

Go for it - and if you do not have formal experience in an area, use informal experience, or draw parallels to other experience that you do have.

It worked for me!

[leecetheartist.livejournal.com]

And how will you feel if you don't apply for it?
Never knowing whether this is the one you would've got if you'd only applied.

You took the tours at BBO. Whoo! That's hands on experience!

If you don't get it, and you may not, it's one more bit of practice for the next time. If this is really really your passion you want to be applying and not even questioning it.

Hope is a bastard. Just do it for the practice and then if you get it it's a really cool surprise!

[morningglorymlp.livejournal.com]

Do it. You have to. The worst that can happen is that you get disappointed and have to keep looking. Make sure you play yourself up in the cover letter. Go through each requirement and state why and how you meet it in the letter. I would think that giving tours would be highly valuable to the zoo since that is something that you will need to be doing on a regular basis with the visitors.

[wolflullaby.livejournal.com]

*waves a supportive banner*