She’s got skills and she knows how to use them

July 28, 2009 | Filed Under Personal

I have to admit that my online life as of late has been rather… quiet since I became “unemployed“. That’s not to say that I haven’t been busy. I have been. Incredibly so. I’ve been doing a little consulting here and there and spending some much needed quality time with the family. I’m also in the middle of moving. Do you feel the “happy-happy-joy-joy vibes” I’m sending you as we speak? In between the hours filled with rice krispie treats, packing tape, hide-n-seek, and laundry, I’m job hunting. Sometimes I’m even doing all 5 at the same time. Ask me to prove it! You’d be surprised at how well I can multitask.

I had a very difficult time updating my resume. It had been a very, very long time since I last needed it. Luckily I have acquired all sorts of new little tricks that have shaped me to be the marketing nerd I am today. As I started recounting my daily tasks and listing out my highlight abilities, I found my self doing more deleting than adding. I mean, you cant just as well add Monkey Training, Unicorn Hunting, or Master Time Slayer on your resume can you? No really… can you?! It got me thinking about all the stuff I really can do but just don’t seem to fit. Things I can do outside my typical “marketing-gal” skills anyway. I made a list.

Things I have the ability to do but don’t list on my resume:

1. I write resumes for other people.
- Kinda ironic hu? Considering I have been experiencing an extremely high level of anxiety writing my own. For some reason, helping other people write their own resume comes easy as pie to me.

2. I am a ghost writer.
- I have had companies send me the meat of their topic and I have done the keyword analyzing, researched the topic for filler content, added some spicy verbiage of my own for personalization and viola! I return to them a meal they can blog about.

3. I have bought domain names, arranged hosting, and set up wordpress for many sites.
- Yes, mostly for myself or for friends but I have done it enough times now that I can do it with my eyes closed while juggling a ham.

4. I am an amazing “idea person”.
- I’m not sure where these ideas come from and often times my problem is the lack of resources needed to follow through with these oh-so-grand ideas of mine. In the past I’ve had the good fortune of partnering up with some people who have allowed me to run with some of my ideas and I don’t recall one of them going totally awry. Well, minus the banana costume idea I had but I blame the boss’s dog on that one.

5. I can photoshop any idea thrown at me.
- I’ve had a few opportunity to flex my graphic designing muscles but the places they seem to have gotten the most appreciation is when I’ve used my skills to someway, somehow, pull a rabbit out of my hat and design something someone simply described to me. The desired results where typically a comic or funny of some sorts, something to express an opinion or convey an emotion and I have always been one for the challenge. I’m not too sure how this could be used in the real world but who couldn’t use a comic of themselves battling Darth Vader on marshmallow island?

6. I can tweak the crap out any wordpress theme.
- I am not fluent in CSS or HTML but I know just enough to come in machete-a-blazing and make a theme my own. Yes, I’ve built one all on my own but it took me months upon months of researching, screaming, cussing, reading, and coffee to figure it out so… kudos to all you coders out there. I can however, comfortably tweak an existing theme to fit my own basic needs.

7. I can learn.
- Now I know that just sounds silly but hear me out on this one. Once upon a time I was in a position that required me to do a little resume reading of my own. I sifted through many one trick ponies that didn’t seem intent on bending their skills to fit the bill before settling on a moldable pre-grad student who was at least willing to learn what she didn’t know. Few people are comfortable going outside of their little circle to take on a new set of skills or at least learn about them. I, however, live for that stuff! If it effects the results of my marketing efforts then I want to learn about it. Even if it is only to better understand my own role. I have acquired a fine list of things I can do because of this desire to adsorb as much knowledge as I can get my hands on.

8. I can social network my butt off!
- Simple enough really. I network all day long. I’m not sure if this is a talent but I like doing it so its on my list.

I have skills. Lots of them. I just don’t know if anyone needs them.