Nice people thread part 6 - thrice by twice as nice :)

Doozergirl

lostinrates wrote:

Still wouldn't let a kid of mine say toilet. (which i used to say purely to make my 'mum' purse her lips:D)

I don't like asking strangers for directions to a toilet, but it doesn't seem to matter what word I use, people look at me like I'm odd and tell me where the toilets are, once they've worked out my language.

At home you'll just find everything referred to as a weeandapoo. DD thought that winnie the pooh was weeandapoo. None of us bothered to correct her, it was cute. Ended up expanding into our language!

lostinrates

SingleSue wrote: »

How does this sound as a personal statement?

"After spending the last 6 years dealing with the needs of my three children, two of whom have autism, I believe it is now time for me to return to work as their demands on me have lessened.
In the intervening years, I have built up a website forum which requires the ability to be able to work to a very tight deadline, manage a team of people (approx. 60 team members), work as part of that team, deliver a high quality, accurate service whilst also providing good customer service to our service users, all skills which I believe are highly transferable to a working environment.
I do have a disability which requires the use of a crutch but I believe that this will not have an adverse impact on my ability to do the vacancy for which I am applying for, as I need no modifications to my work station, work methods or hours."


Honest feedback please.....

Sue, its ages since i was applying for stuff, but personally, rightly or wrongly, i would take ALL the health stuff out. I think it risks reading as reasons you will need time off or to dash out early. I know you would not do that, but if you were employing you might fear there was risk of it. i would say career break for motherhood (i would not even say how many personally) returning to a sector you were successful in and enthusiastic about. The forum stuff is excellent and also perhaps looking at the transferable skills of systems you worked in and motherhood (but i might putvthis in a transferable skills section not in. The personal statement header.

That you use a crutch will be evident at interview, and that it does not impede you. Mentioning it is possibly (and wrongly) making them Concerned of something that need not trouble them.

Incidentally, you might need things like a different chair, and THAT IS OK, you have been good at your job before, you are worth a chair that enables that!:D

lostinrates

Doozergirl wrote: »

I don't like asking strangers for directions to a toilet, but it doesn't seem to matter what word I use, people look at me like I'm odd and tell me where the toilets are, once they've worked out my language.

At home you'll just find everything referred to as a weeandapoo. DD thought that winnie the pooh was weeandapoo. None of us bothered to correct her, it was cute. Ended up expanding into our language!

I thinkwe say loo kost often. But the dogs go out for a 'widdle' or a high pitched 'widdly wee'.

SingleSue

lostinrates wrote: »

Sue, its ages since i was applying for stuff, but personally, rightly or wrongly, i would take ALL the health stuff out. I think it risks reading as reasons you will need time off or to dash out early. I know you would not do that, but if you were employing you might fear there was risk of it. i would say career break for motherhood (i would not even say how many personally) returning to a sector you were successful in and enthusiastic about. The forum stuff is excellent and also perhaps looking at the transferable skills of systems you worked in and motherhood (but i might putvthis in a transferable skills section not in. The personal statement header.

That you use a crutch will be evident at interview, and that it does not impede you. Mentioning it is possibly (and wrongly) making them Concerned of something that need not trouble them.

Incidentally, you might need things like a different chair, and THAT IS OK, you have been good at your job before, you are worth a chair that enables that!:D

Thanks for that, I put in about the boys because it is the company, in fact, the same department, I was working for before, so they know why I had to leave...thought it best to explain the pressures are not so great as they were back then.

Nah, don't need a different chair, if it is a bit eek, I will just take a cushion, all I would need is a box under the desk as I am a little short bum and my feet don't reach the floor :rotfl:

Doozergirl

SingleSue wrote: »

How does this sound as a personal statement?

"After spending the last 6 years dealing with the needs of my three children, two of whom have autism, I believe it is now time for me to return to work as their demands on me have lessened.
In the intervening years, I have built up a website forum which requires the ability to be able to work to a very tight deadline, manage a team of people (approx. 60 team members), work as part of that team, deliver a high quality, accurate service whilst also providing good customer service to our service users, all skills which I believe are highly transferable to a working environment.
I do have a disability which requires the use of a crutch but I believe that this will not have an adverse impact on my ability to do the vacancy for which I am applying for, as I need no modifications to my work station, work methods or hours."

Honest feedback please.....

Use it to sell SingleSue directly to that company. I'd tailor it according to their business and your skills that suit the role.

Also, you're an intelligent, more than capable woman. You've used half that space essentially apologising for being a mum - not required, nor is your stick. If it isn't a problem, mention it somewhere else.

Lovely stuff about your website, put the number in your team directly into the sentence and knock out the bit in brackets. It's a short space to sell yourself, every word counts!

Your website is a working environment! It's proper hard graft!

SingleSue

Thanks guys, have now removed the health bits of the personal statement and made the changes you have suggested.

The skills I have mentioned in the personal statement in regards to the website are in fact, all very important for the role I am applying for...I used the skills I learnt from my job on my website in the first place, mainly because I didn't know any other way apart from the corporate role in a shipping line (accuracy of information was in very big letters on the job description)

chewmylegoff

SingleSue wrote: »

Thanks guys, have now removed the health bits of the personal statement and made the changes you have suggested.

The skills I have mentioned in the personal statement in regards to the website are in fact, all very important for the role I am applying for...I used the skills I learnt from my job on my website in the first place, mainly because I didn't know any other way apart from the corporate role in a shipping line (accuracy of information was in very big letters on the job description)

You may have deleted this bit now, can't tell, but "to perform the role" rather than "to do the vacancy" I think?

SingleSue

Good suggestion chewmylegoff...thanks

Edit - I had deleted that bit anyway.

LydiaJ

Agree with everything the other posters have said. Also, I think it's relevant that you transferred your skills from the corporate job to the website thing. Perhaps you could say so. Something like "Until [date] I was working as [role], and I used the skills from that job during my career break to develop and run a [brief detail] website. This involved...."

I also think your list of website skills is too long a sentence. Keep all the info, but can you put it as bullet points? Or else mention it briefly in the personal statement and list more details as bullets in the "experience" section. You want to maximise readability and memorability even if the person reading it is skimming fast.

It's so important not to be apologetic and defensive. Here's a story to illustrate: Years ago, 6 months into a new job, I heard that the other candidate had been more experienced, but had kept going on about how this wouldn't be a problem, and that wouldn't be a problem (including childcare for her kids) until in the end they thought all these possible problems must be a big deal and they wouldn't take the risk on her. OTOH, I had apparently given them an impression of being supremely confident and able to handle everything - a completely false impression, I hasten to add; I had no idea whether I could do the job, and was keeping quiet so as not to make unjustifiable claims about what I could offer them. :rotfl:

LydiaJ

Masomnia, that sounds very upsetting. Look after yourself.