Update December 2006: Yes, I am still looking for permanent work. I’ve seen two jobs disappear out from under me at Large Company in Richmond, and my contract is up the end of the month. And I’m really tired of updating this post.
Update August 2006: I’ve finished a contracting tech writing position, and am still looking for permanent work.
The job that I’ve been temping in these past two months will not be going to me. I found out this week that the company is filling the position with someone who will work for far less money than I. That’s their decision, and though I think it’s not the best decision to make, I have no say in the matter. (Update: It isn’t going to anyone just yet.)
But I really need a job. I can’t afford to be unemployed. At all.
Here’s what I need you all to do for me, especially Richmond-area readers. Pass along this post, or link to it, or email the link to a friend (http://www.yourish.com/2005/10/27/235). (For bloggers, the trackback to this link is http://www.yourish.com/2005/10/27/235/trackback/ ). You can right-click and copy the link in most browsers. It worked for Scott. Maybe it’ll work for me.
To prospective employers:
I have spent the last year in web content management and technical writing (training documents, white papers, and programming guides). Clips are available on request.
I have an extensive background in publishing, both print and electronic. I have years of experience as a typesetter (Atex, AM Varityper) , a desktop publisher (Quark and Pagemaker), a web developer (HTML, Claris Homepage and Dreamweaver), and now I have experience on Vignette Portal and a proprietary content management system. I have experience with many of the major blogging tools (Moveable Type, WordPress, Blogger) and have been writing this weblog (until this year, in Dreamweaver) since April of 2001.
I also have experience editing, proofreading, and copy editing in the magazine and book industries. I am a superb proofreader and copy editor; you will have to look long and hard to find typos in my posts. I have written various pieces for company newsletters and intranets. I am a very fast writer–I once stunned a PR manager by giving her a 200-word story in 30 minutes after she gave me three articles about one of our corporate officers to condense and rewrite. (”You’re finished already?”) The article went into the newsletter without a single edit. Although I prefer the essay form (that’s why I blog), I have written dozens of news, sports, and feature articles if we count my college newspaper–which I also edited. I have done tech writing, including the sysops’ manual and help files for 2AM-BBS, a proprietary software system.
I was an entry-level programmer. My programming skills are rusty, but I never forget the basics of what I am taught. The following are skills that I am light in, but that can be brought up to speed if need be: C++, SQL, Java, JavaScript, ASP, VB, DB2, Oracle, and Access. I’m not really looking for a programming position, but I do have more than a passing grasp of what programming entails. I have a much deeper knowledge of HTML and CSS, and a smattering of XML.
There is a saying that someone’s knowledge of a subject is a mile wide and an inch deep. My knowledge of many subjects is a mile wide and a foot deep. In some places, it is several feet deep.
In most interviews, your candidate tells you that she is a quick study. It’s a cliché. Well, it’s not a cliché with me. I taught myself Adobe Pagemaker in three days for a job interview with the New Yorker. (The job went to a relative of the production manager; go figure.) I took the Microsoft Office skills tests when I registered with Kelly Services last year, and managed to pull out decent scores even on the programs I hadn’t used in five years. I have shaken the rust off my Powerpoint and Outlook capabilities since working for my current temporary assignment.
I built and maintained intranet sites for Lucent. I manage intranet content for my current employer, as well as deliver new HTML/CSS pages for the intranet. I am not an official proofreader, but I do bring discrepancies, bad grammar, and errors to the managers’ attention. I create graphics and adjust images for the intranet articles. In short, anything that needs doing, I will do.
I am a teacher and a trainer. I teach fourth-grade religious school, and I have trained people in the Atex typesetting system—a painstaking, three-month process—and can sit down with a 73-year-old woman and teach her how to download her mail from AOL.
As I said above, my salary requirement and departmental budget constraints are what’s keeping my current company from hiring me. I can supply references from current and past managers, including my manager from Lucent, with whom I still keep in touch six years after being laid off (in the first wave of Lucent cutbacks).
I don’t want to relocate. I like the Richmond area. If you have a job for me outside my area, telecommuting would be a great thing, but I am also open to traveling onsite on a regular basis.
In any case, I am a devoted, loyal, hard-working employee. If you think you have a position that I can fill, or know someone who might, my email address is meryl – at – yourish -dot – com.
I need a job. Do you need an employee?
Not that this will do you any good but if you were in the New York area I am confident I could get you a job in my company as I perform a lot of the things that you say you are accomplished at. We have a huge proofreading, copy editing, department.
Comment by Joel — 10/27/2005 @ 10:19 am
Help Meryl Yourish Find a Job
If you’re in the Richmond area and know of any job openings in the computer programming or copy editing fields, Meryl Yourish is on the market.
Scott Koenig and yours truly successfully found work posting our availability on our sites; hopeful…
Trackback by Outside The Beltway — 10/27/2005 @ 10:39 am
You don’t list it as an option, but your skill set makes you sound as though you should consider tech writing. The number of people who can write clearly and actually understand what techies are saying and can translate it into English is too small. Unfortunately, I don’t currently need a tech writer (alright, I can always use one but cannot pay one right now, which is much the same as you are concerned). Have you looked for this kind of work in your area?
Comment by russ — 10/27/2005 @ 11:06 am
If I could, I would hire you in a second. Sadly, I live nowhere near you, and you probably earn more than I do… but the notion of you being unemployed just seems wrong somehow. Like the universe is out of kilter. If companies in your area know what’s good for them, they’ll be fighting over you.
Comment by segacs — 10/27/2005 @ 11:08 am
Good point. I forgot about my tech writing background. I’ve updated the post. Thanks, Russ.
Comment by Meryl Yourish — 10/27/2005 @ 11:28 am
Meryl Yourish Needs a Job
Meryl Yourish Needs a Job
… and fast. Spread the word and lets help her find one.
Trackback by Elms in the Yard — 10/27/2005 @ 12:03 pm
Good luck Meryl. I’m just writing to say how impressed I am that you know Atex. Is Atex still in use? I thought, for no good reason, that desktop publishing software had replaced it, but hell, how would I know?
Comment by DBL — 10/27/2005 @ 2:34 pm
Job Needed
This is just so wrong – Meryl out of work. She is far more talented than I am at computer stuff. And as happens in the tech industry, they filled the position with someone who would work for far less money than she wanted. And she isn’t willing …
Trackback by Mind of Mog — 10/27/2005 @ 2:56 pm
are you willing to commute to DC?
Comment by MrFred — 10/27/2005 @ 3:08 pm
DC is a helluva commute, MrFred. I don’t supposed you’re talking about, say, a three-day work week. That I’d be willing to do.
Comment by Meryl Yourish — 10/27/2005 @ 3:37 pm
Quantico? Norfolk?
Check your email.
Comment by SMASH — 10/27/2005 @ 5:39 pm
[...] Yourish.com » Help Meryl find a job I need a job. Do you need an employee? // Used for showing and hiding user information in the comment form function ShowUtils() { document.getElementById(”authorinfo”).style.display = “”; document.getElementById(”showinfo”).style.display = “none”; document.getElementById(”hideinfo”).style.display = “”; } function HideUtils() { document.getElementById(”authorinfo”).style.display = “none”; document.getElementById(”showinfo”).style.display = “”; document.getElementById(”hideinfo”).style.display = “none”; } Search [...]
Pingback by Help Meryl! at white pebble — 10/27/2005 @ 6:19 pm
ew, sorry about the code spam…. my template is still in beta.
Comment by Patti — 10/27/2005 @ 6:21 pm
Rude to say…have you thought about Public Affairs? OPM.gov has a couple of PA jobs posted this week. Your skill set would be very handy (and it’s not like you can’t write).
Comment by drlivipr — 10/27/2005 @ 7:10 pm
Public affairs? But I’m not a politician–oh, those affairs!
I’ll go look. Thanks.
Patti, don’t sweat the code. At least I can read it. Been brushing up on my javascript lately.
Comment by Meryl Yourish — 10/27/2005 @ 8:33 pm
Well, I’m no help, Meryl, being out here in Cochise County, Az one of the poorest places in the country, but I’m sending very good thoughts your way. I’ve been in your postition and have found that everything always works out.
Comment by Maggie — 10/27/2005 @ 9:08 pm
I think that you gave drlivipr’s suggestion short shrift. You would make an excellent legislative assistant in Richmond from both your writing background as well as the good head on your shoulders. Perhaps you can get by for a time freelance writing for local papers until something you like comes along. Good luck.
chsw in ny
Comment by chsw — 10/27/2005 @ 10:52 pm
All of them are in the DC area. If I could find one around Fort Lee or a base closer to Richmond, I’d be interested. But I don’t want to move to northern VA. I may as well just move back to NJ if I do that.
Comment by Meryl Yourish — 10/27/2005 @ 11:05 pm
My Friend Meryl
YOU MIGHT NOT know my friend Meryl Yourish. After all, her site is the last one listed on my blogroll, if only because the names are arranged alphabetically. But if I were to re-arrange the list according to how important…
Trackback by The Indepundit — 10/27/2005 @ 11:24 pm
SITUATION WANTED
Meryl Yourish is looking for a job.
If anyone out there knows of work in the Richmond area with which Meryls considerable talents might be a fit, please contact her at meryl (at) yourish (dot) com.
Trackback by Blog d'Elisson — 10/28/2005 @ 12:40 pm
Help Meryl find a job
Meryl Yourish is now looking for work. Having been in that unfortunate position before, I’m willing to do what I can. I’ve forwarded the link to her online qualifications to a few friends of mine in the area, and am…
Trackback by Physics Geek — 10/28/2005 @ 2:18 pm
Bloggy desiderata
It appears that Lachlan and Bayou will be back, whether or not they’re able to recover their archives. (Bayou says, “I can’t even get into all that is lost or…
Trackback by dustbury.com — 11/01/2005 @ 9:17 pm
I think you need to post “Help Meryl find a job, or this kittycat starves.”
Comment by Laurence Simon — 11/09/2005 @ 12:34 pm
Bloggie Goodness
Okay, so Instapundit has cornered the market on referral posts. I’m not Glenn Reynolds, but I do play one on T.V. Project Hero: 1LT Brian R. Chontosh receives Navy Cross. God bless our heroes serving in Iraq. Don’t question Murtha’s…
Trackback by The Jawa Report — 11/21/2005 @ 10:08 am
I’m kind of late to the party, but just an idea…
A very skilled computer tech we know in Baltimore was in a similar position as you seem to be from 9/11 until about a year ago. He ended up opening his own niche business, I believe servicing small businesses and the like – perhaps you should think along those types of lines: Figuring out a way to contract out your obviously excellent skills at market (or above-market) value. If you’d like, you can e-mail me (email address is on top of my blog, within the header), and I could try and put you in touch with him – he can explain it better.
Comment by Ezzie — 12/07/2005 @ 4:06 am
The Blegging Continues
TAM is solidly not in last place. I thank you all for that. The next weblog infront of me…
Trackback by The American Mind — 12/10/2005 @ 4:17 am
Business Travel Sucks
I HAD A MIDDLE SEAT on the first leg of my flight, and a non-reclining window seat on the second. My second leg was delayed due to unspecified “mechanical difficulties,” eventually resulting in changing out aircraft. Despite having a reservation,…
Trackback by The Indepundit — 01/10/2006 @ 11:25 pm