A New Author

Or so I thought. I added Niece Natalie as an author on this blog as she, like me, is in the unenviable position of finding work. We come at this challenge from vastly different angles.

If you imagine our lives as your basic pie charts, I've been all the way around to 9 o'clock, with about half of that including work experience.  Enough, in fact, that I remember the days when potential employers would inform you of their disinterest either by letter or face-to-face (as happened with me in high school when I alone among my friends was unselected to detassle corn then faced the further indignity of not being taken on as an apprentice brick layer).

On her pie chart, Nat's barely at the 3 o'clock position in age with a sliver of that being work experience. I know from talking and texting with her that her last employment was less than intellectually satisfying. The previous Starbucks barista gig got her through college at the University of California, Santa Barbara, and living in the style indicated by her residence in the off-campus town of Isla Vista.

Nat and I have much in common. We're Northrups, for one, Nat being my brother's only biological child. We're both tall - at her high school graduation, the school handed out diplomas in increasingly vertical size order so Ed warned me that is daughter would appear near the end of the ceremony. We both have the distinctive Northrup sense of humor and share a moderate cynicism. Both of us have Bachelor's degrees in anthropology, mine a B.A. in cultural, hers a B.S. in physical. Both of us are adept with the written word and loath passive voice. Neither of us has much use for organized religion; good thing, that, or our sinning ways would end us up in hell. 

In employment-seeking land, our differences stand out. My vast experience equals, I'm sure, to, "We don't want to hire some old fart who's set in her ways." I've mentioned before how obvious it is in many employment notices that only young people need apply. Nat's work experience, by contrast, lacks much in the way of demonstrable success (experts encourage resume writers to include measurable accomplishments such as, "Drove product sales up 1,000% in six months."). She has a working knowledge of Spanish and I am a total doofus gringa. I had to learn all things computer and apps to keep up at work. Nat was born with a cell phone in her hand.  In fact, Nat taught both Dad and me how to text and take selfies.

I invited Nat to join me in blogging about the work of finding work. Stay tuned.