Monday, November 20, 2006

Why are there no job descriptions under "Lara Croft"?

Funny thing this, looking for a new job.

What is particularly odd is being someone who has job skills that none of your friends can imagine you doing.

Yeah.
I push paper.

I'm damn good at it, too.
To the left and to the right, I make paper do my bidding.

Frankly, I never thought I'd be a paper pusher.
It has always seemed the least likely thing in my life I would ever do.
"Administration".

I had my dear friend 'Pol have a look over my resume a while ago, and she exclaimed that it was very strange to see an old friend of hers have a very different type of working life outside of our relationship.
A kind of working life she never really expected to see, there in black and white in front of her.

Let it be said that my working life does not truly reflect ME.

So what did I want to do with my life, exactly? I mean, before this 'other' office-type persona took over.

Well, it involved things like swashbuckling and swinging from vines; race car driving and flying helicopters.
I'm really very good at walking across fallen logs that span rocky chasms, and I can scramble along damp, mossy cliffs that fall straight down to shallow river beds without a second thought.
To mention nothing of the sword-balancing!
There's got to be a job with that kind of description somewhere, hasn't there?

Surely Angelina Jolie needs a stunt double now that she has a multitude of children to care for.
I'm more than willing!

Hollywood stunt person.
I think I missed my calling.

Oh, and the other thing I'm really good at?
Reading.
Give me a comfy chair (minus the Spanish inquisition) and a hot cup of tea or a good glass of red wine and I can read just about anyone under the table (on so many levels).

Aren't there jobs out there that simply require someone to read a book and say, "This was great" or "This totally sucked"?
If so, I'm the hot ticket.
I can't spell and my grammar is atrocious but, "Hire me!"

So, anyway.
Back to my original thought.

Finding one's place in the world.

How is it done?

Some people seem born to be able to do what they love best.
In grade five, I knew a girl that everyone just knew would be a rocket scientist. (As an adult she's a microbiologist. Kind of the reverse of outerspace, she studies innerspace, but my point is not lost.)
And then there was that nine year old I went to school with. Everyone, teachers included, knew he was going to be a criminal.
Sure enough, he and his little brother are often featured in the 'most wanted' portions of the local papers.

And so I keep returning to my initial query.

How do you know what you're called to?

AND, if you're called to something that there's no 'calling' for, how is that translated into a viable, life sustaining 'career'?

So...if anyone has any logs that need walking over, or a filing system that needs overhauled, I'm your girl!

Oh, and I just found out today that I can type 69 words a minute. Wonder if I'd be able to do that with a sword on my head. Gotta be a market for that...right?

15 comments:

Anonymous said...

As the significant other of a bonafide archeologist...I am obligated to refute the Lara Croft stereo type of female Archeologists (although I still think guns strapped to bare legs with tight shorty shorts is a good look for any woman, regardless of profession. A better question may be...why are there no job descriptions under "Laura Palmer"?

Anonymous said...

PS
Was that little 9 year old Darren Watson??

Tai said...

Adman. Responses.

Yes. Guns strapped to bare legs 'good'.

Who the hell is Laura Palmer?

Yes. That would be correct. Now let's hope he never sees this and sues me for defamation. (or, as he might put it, "Godamn bitch talkin' shit 'bout me. I'll git her fer that. C'mon Ryan."

kimber said...

I, having studied to become a Lara Croft, can attest to the difficulties of securing such a position, even with credentials. Perhaps this is for the good of society, tho, as I'm afraid the sight of me, in tiny shorts exposing a goodly amount of fish-belly pale skin, might cause a large percentage of the population to go blind. Also, a tight t-shirt on my torse would certainly show a lot of curve, but not in the same places as Ms. Crofts.

Pol* said...

hmmm.... I seem to remember when we did that aptitude test thingy in highschool, YOUR best chances for work for your personality type (according to your answers at the time) involved the military (guns helicopters, lifethreatening adventure) AND clerical work (-) ..... very interesting! I remember being absolutely dumbfounded that they would put those 2 things together on the list, and there you are! I guess you really are a Lara Croft type! A well-read, confident, sexy adventure seeker!
As for the job, they say "do what you love and the money will follow" Does Indiana Jones' need a secretary? Ask at UVIC? The Royal BC Museum?

Anonymous said...

Your calling isn't something that you can do now easily, it is something you are compelled to do no matter how hard you must work at it. My advice is to work on your spelling and grammar (if you really think they are atrocious). ;)

Anonymous said...

Typical work in typical places seems to be a venue for working off karma. Yeesh! :)

Peace,

~Chani

Jo said...

Well, living in Victoria you could always get a job with the BC Gov, then you could belong to a union, accumulate a pension towards your retirement...

...Omigod, my life just flashed before my eyes.

Do you have a degree? Have you thought of teaching?

Anonymous said...

Hi Lara

The jobs don't come to you until you've robbed a few tombs first...

Can I be the geeky guy who has the robots and lives in the trailer outside your mansion...

And to think I've been "playing you" all these years and didn't even know it...

Mike said...

I know exactly how you feel. Just replace Lara Croft with Indiana Jones, or maybe Batman, and this could be my post.

Follow the Frog said...

From what I understand (which isn't very much, admittedly), deciding what you want to do is partially about thinking logically and partially about having blind faith and making leaps. It's tough!

I'm in the midst of starting my second career--from marketing to medicine. So these are things I think about all the time.

Dr. Deb said...

I think you can do it all!!!

Anonymous said...

ok, maybe you are missing the 'rich heiress' part on your resume.

Don't ask me how we find where you fit - I'm still looking

Mathieu said...

hummmmmm the lara outfit. Good!

It's hard to find one's calling. I remember those tests.

I'm supposed to be a librarian. Or in the army. I ended up an accountant and I'm struggling to be a MA teacher.

haha, life.

I remember struggling to find something that called to me in school, I was good at everything. Why accounting? That remains to be seen. :-) Hope you find a good job. If you need a sidekick, count me in.

gordaboo said...

I just found a paper that I had written 21 years ago and it said I wanted to grow up and be a photo-journalist. Yeah....um...that didn't happen and I happily push papers from one side of my desk to the other for the last 11 years of my life.