It’s over. It’s done. It’s finally done.
Yes, after almost a week of writing, rewriting, editing, and re-editing the most important document of both mine, and most definitely Tina (my perpetually perfect wife)’s lives.
And, really, it doesn’t have all that much to do with me, either.
Big Deal
The document in question is actually an application form for a job Tina is applying for. This is a big deal, and when I say big, I mean massive. We’re talking King-Kong to the power of Godzilla big, here, possibly squared.
Those of you with the dubious pleasure of following this blog for any amount of time will know of Tina’s battle with her mental health, her depression, her anxiety, and the breakdown she suffered nearly two and a half years ago.
Thanks to some excellent support from a wonderful Community Mental Health Nurse and a support group I was recently lucky enough to meet a few members of (the course finished a few weeks back, but for Tina, but I think the friendships made there will last forever), Tina has made an excellent recovery from those dark days, and although not the finished article (which, lets face it, none of us are), feels ready to dip her toes into employment once more.
On The Job
As the organisation she has applied to is the same one she received her treatment through, this represents a chance to work for a service she knows the value of, and which she can personally advocate as a real life-changing experience.
Always assuming, of course, she’s lucky enough to get the job.
The first stage in this process was, as mentioned, an application form, and my word was it a doozy. As I mentioned, applying for the job is a big, big deal, and the form does not disappoint in relation to this. We’re talking all the usual questions of education and employment history followed by a four part evidentiary questionnaire asking the applicant to match one set of essential criteria and one set of desirable criteria to their Experience both in and out of work, with a 5000 (not, as we first thought, 500) word limit for each section. This was then followed by the same exercise with different criteria to demonstrate not experience, but Skills and Knowledge. Again, the criteria had to be demonstrated in 5000 words, and not one word more.
Thanks to some excellent support from a wonderful Community Mental Health Nurse and a support group I was recently lucky enough to meet a few members of (the course finished a few weeks back, but for Tina, but I think the friendships made there will last forever), Tina has made an excellent recovery from those dark days, and although not the finished article (which, lets face it, none of us are), feels ready to dip her toes into employment once more.
On The Job
As the organisation she has applied to is the same one she received her treatment through, this represents a chance to work for a service she knows the value of, and which she can personally advocate as a real life-changing experience.
Always assuming, of course, she’s lucky enough to get the job.
The first stage in this process was, as mentioned, an application form, and my word was it a doozy. As I mentioned, applying for the job is a big, big deal, and the form does not disappoint in relation to this. We’re talking all the usual questions of education and employment history followed by a four part evidentiary questionnaire asking the applicant to match one set of essential criteria and one set of desirable criteria to their Experience both in and out of work, with a 5000 (not, as we first thought, 500) word limit for each section. This was then followed by the same exercise with different criteria to demonstrate not experience, but Skills and Knowledge. Again, the criteria had to be demonstrated in 5000 words, and not one word more.
Well, we had all sorts of fun with this.
As I mentioned, due to the reading comprehension of Mr Magoo perusing a fine print copy of War & Peace in the original Russian, we initially thought the word count was 500, and tailored Tina's answers that way before having it pointed out, by friends giving us priceless feedback, that this was nowhere near enough.
So we started again
STAR Power
The same examples, with more meat on the bone, worked much better, and with the invaluable help of said friends, my sainted mother, and professionals in the industry we know, we kept tinkering, re-wording, cutting, and re-shaping, (the whole thing had to be in the STAR format, or Situation, Task, Action/Achievement, & Result which took some work) making sure that we did so with one eye to mental reserves, and one on the deadline (which we also got wrong, initially).
As I mentioned, this whole process took nearly a week, partly to make sure Tina wasn’t overburdening herself at any one time, and partly to make sure we got things as right as we possibly could.
Today that week is at an end, the deadline is tonight, but the online form has been submitted and there is no going back. The main task now is to forget all about it until the hopefully good news comes by email, and we can start prepping for an interview.
Hopefully, that might be slightly less torturous.
Until next time…
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Hey, there! If you enjoyed reading any of the above, why not take a look at some of my published work? Below you’ll find links to a number of short stories I’m lucky enough to have included in anthologies. I’d love to know what you think
New Tales Of Old
Death Ship
Pestilence: Drabbles 1
Reaperman: Drabbles 3
The Musketeers Vs Cthulhu
Eldritch Investigations
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