I Was Walking Behind A Woman For Five Minutes And She Got Catcalled Three Times.

Right now, I’m sifting through 50+ applications for a new entry-level position. Here’s some advice from the person who will actually be looking at your CV/resume and cover letter:

‘You must include a cover letter’ does not mean ‘write a single line about why you want this position’. If you can’t be bothered to write at least one actual paragraphs about why you want this job, I can’t be bothered to read your CV.

Don’t bother including a list of your interests if all you can think of is ‘socialising with friends’ and ‘listening to music’. Everyone likes those things. Unless you can explain why the stuff you do enriches you as a person and a candidate (e.g. playing an instrument or a sport shows dedication and discipline) then I honestly don’t care how you spend your time. I won’t be looking at your CV thinking ‘huh, they haven’t included their interests, they must have none’, I’m just looking for what you have included.

Even if you apply online, I can see the filename you used for your CV. Filenames that don’t include YOUR name are annoying. Filenames like ‘CV - media’ tell me that you’ve got several CVs you send off depending on the kind of job advertised and that you probably didn’t tailor it for this position. ‘[Full name] CV’ is best.

USE. A. PDF. All the meta information, including how long you worked on it, when you created it, times, etc, is right there in a Word doc. PDFs are far more professional looking and clean and mean that I can’t make any (unconscious or not) decisions about you based on information about the file.

I don’t care what the duties in your previous unrelated jobs were unless you can tell me why they’re useful to this job. If you worked in a shop, and you’re applying for an office job which involves talking to lots of people, don’t give me a list of stuff you did, write a sentence about how much you enjoyed working in a team to help everyone you interacted with and did your best to make them leave the shop with a smile. I want to know what makes you happy in a job, because I want you to be happy within the job I’m advertising.

Does the application pack say who you’ll be reporting to? Can you find their name on the company website? Address your application to them. It’s super easy and shows that you give enough of a shit to google something. 95% of people don’t do this.

Tell me who you are. Tell me what makes you want to get up in the morning and go to work and feel fulfilled. Tell me what you’re looking for, not just what you think I’m looking for.

I will skim your CV. If you have a bunch of bullet points, make every one of them count. Make the first one the best one. If it’s not interesting to you, it’s probably not interesting to me. I’m overworked and tired. Make my job easy.

“I work well in a team or individually” okay cool, you and everyone else. If the job means you’ll be part of a big team, talk about how much you love teamwork and how collaborating with people is the best way to solve problems. If the job requires lots of independence, talk about how you are great at taking direction and running with it, and how you have the confidence to follow your own ideas and seek out the insight of others when necessary. I am profoundly uninterested in cookie-cutter statements. I want to know how you actually work, not how a teacher once told you you should work.

For an entry-level role, tell me how you’re looking forward to growing and developing and learning as much as you can. I will hire genuine enthusiasm and drive over cherry-picked skills any day. You can teach someone to use Excel, but you can’t teach someone to give a shit. It makes a real difference.

This is my advice for small, independent orgs like charities, etc. We usually don’t go through agencies, and the person reading through the applications is usually the person who will manage you, so it helps if you can give them a real sense of who you are and how you’ll grab hold of that entry level position and give it all you’ve got. This stuff might not apply to big companies with actual HR departments - it’s up to you to figure out the culture and what they’re looking for and mirror it. Do they use buzzwords? Use the same buzzwords! Do they write in a friendly, informal way? Do the same! And remember, 95% of job hunting (beyond who you know and flat-out nepotism, ugh) is luck. If you keep getting rejected, it’s not because you suck. You might just need a different approach, or it might just take the right pair of eyes landing on your CV.

And if you get rejected, it’s worthwhile asking why. You’ve already been rejected, the worst has already happened, there’s really nothing bad that can come out of you asking them for some constructive feedback (politely, informally, “if it isn’t too much trouble”). Pretty much all of us have been hopeless jobseekers at one point or another. We know it’s shitty and hard and soul-crushing. Friendliness goes a long way. Even if it’s just one line like “your cover letter wasn’t inspiring" at least you know where to start.

And seriously, if you have any friends that do any kind of hiring or have any involvement with that side of things, ask them to look at your CV with a big red pen and brutal honesty. I do this all the time, and the most important thing I do is making it so their CV doesn’t read exactly like that of every other person who took the same ‘how-to-get-a-job’ class in school. If your CV has a paragraph that starts with something like ‘I am a highly motivated and punctual individual who–’ then oh my god I AM ALREADY ASLEEP.

Commissions Open

Hi everybody! I’ve recently found myself out of work and unsupported, so I’m opening writing commissions to compensate. (You can also buy me a coffee if you’re feeling particularly generous, everything counts.) 

Prices (approx. $8 an hour, includes editing + revision):

$2 per 100 words, so

500 words = $10

1000 words = $20

1500 = $30

Maximum 4000 words 

I’m willing to write for most fandoms, or even OCs if you can provide me with character and plot detail. However, if I’m being asked to do extensive research (watch a show, read a book, study a wiki about your obscure fav, learn the nuance of your OC), I will need to be compensated for time

Smut is extra and will be calculated after discussion 

I will not write:

Character x reader

Rape/non-con

Incest

Pedophilia

I reserve the right to decline any commission

How to commission:

Prices in USD, payment via PayPal

Email me at bipercabeth@gmail.com (which is also my PayPal) with your request

I’ll send a confirmation email and ask for clarification on any details

Commission price will be paid in full before I start

General info:

For examples of my work, browse here or on my AO3 

I’ll write any genre (angst, fluff, hurt/comfort, etc.) and nearly any trope (only one bed, friends to lovers, you know the works), just be sure to specify what you have in mind 

I’ll write for most fandoms, pairings, and characters, but my strengths are with PJO/HOO and The 100. Feel free to browse my tags page to see what other content I’m familiar with!

If you have any questions, feel free to send them to me either here or via email

This is the biggest news to come out of the 2020 election so far!!!!

**Two Senate runoff elections in Georgia means WE CAN STILL TAKE BACK THE SENATE!**

WE CAN THE SENATE RIGHT OUT OF MITCH MCCONNELL’S DISTURBINGLY PURPLE HANDS.

**It’s a long shot, but if Democrats win both seats, the Senate will be 50-50.**

If you live in Georgia, go to votesaveamerica.com/register to register to vote if you haven’t already. Then remind three friends to register or check their registration and VOTE AGAIN! The special election for both seats will be on January 5th. 

Everyone else, get ready to organize/volunteer/call every single voter in Georgia! Let’s take back the Senate!

The Horse and the Gun

“Men come West for one of two reasons, they’re looking for something, or something is looking for them. Which are you?”…

…“Looking for something,” he says.

The Sheriff tilts her head back, looking down her nose at him. “What’s your name.”

“Percy Jackson.”

“Well Mister Jackson, you’re full of shit…”

A percabeth western au

anon drop mandalorian au link!

hero

May 18, 2020. João Pedro Mattos Pinto was murdered by the police IN HIS HOME in São Gonçalo, Rio de Janeiro. he was only 14. when the police murdered him, he was PLAYING in his own backyard. his house now has at least 72 bullet holes in it’s walls. and his mom’s heart has one giant hole, that one type that is impossible to be ever filled again.

this happened exactly a week before George Floyd’s murder. João Pedro was black too.

it doesn’t matter where you from. all cops are bastards. all of them. brazillian ones. us cops. even the ones from your country. all of them serve the same racist purposes. 

João Pedro should be remembered. his life and Floyd’s matter so much.

so much respect for the protesters in Minneapolis. 

trembling hands / saccharine + any pairing 🥺

Percy doesn’t know how to do this. 

He should know, right? It’s Annabeth. The girl who he held at the bottom of Siren Bay, who kept him from dissolving in the Styx. He held up the sky for her at fourteen, but he can’t make a move on her now that she’s his girlfriend? 

But it’s Annabeth, and he wants to do right by her. He knows her, sure, but he wants to know her in this new light, this soft glow of almost-love. 

They sit together on the dock, their toes teasing the lapping waves that glint in the setting sun. Annabeth leans back on her hands and tilts her head to soak up summer’s swan song. The water slaps the dock like a kick drum underneath the cacophony of camp in the background. It’s more chaos than anything, but it’s music to Percy’s ears: the survivors all in the same place for the very last time. 

It’s that thought that drives Percy to reach for Annabeth, even if it’s with trembling hands. Sunlight caresses her with a bravery Percy doesn’t quite have yet. Someday he will touch her just as gently. 

He lacks finesse, but his fingers slip between Annabeth’s steadily enough. She eyes open slowly, her pupils adjusting to the brightness and then dilating once more at the sight of Percy. He’s half expecting her to laugh at him for grabbing her hand and staring at her all doe-eyed, but she just beams. 

For someone who said she wouldn’t make things easy, Annabeth is an easy person to be sweet on. Her cheeks betray her, turning as red as the strawberries growing in the distance. She’s just as saccharine, just as soft and homegrown. It’s easy to slip a hand to the soft skin of her neck, to tilt her jaw, to press his lips to hers. She tastes like nectar, a home that warms his chest. She tastes like healing. 

things she has to deal with I swear😭😂