My friend Penelope....

I sent my friend Penelope my website link the other night. I told her about being surprised at seeing web books and job search articles mentioning getting a website and creating a 'web presence'. I told her how I felt about it. I told her how it so surprised me to hear “get a Facebook account”....and “if you don't have a website, why not?” and on and on about how awkward it feels to be writing websites about yourself.

“All I want is a job!” I whined. “It used to be you find a job you think you might like, you send your resume with a nice little cover letter, and that's it!” Alas, the internet has changed things according to the pundits. I spend my time while my current contract winds down searching for my next opportunity, knowing that my “days are numbered” and writing web pages. Feeling self conscious. Pompous. Egotistical - wondering why folks would want to read anything about ME. I don't even want to read anything about me. Not even secretly. I go on and on to my friend Penelope about how hard this all is, how I hate that I'm doing it because it's SO far out of my comfort zone. I told her I'd read one blurb that said “The wave of the future! Video Resumes!” and groaned in despair!  I told Penelope how the 'theory' one of the folks said, was if you are looking for a job, be up front about it. Sell yourself!  Sell yourself EVERYWHERE.  Eesh.  I said I was thinking I should contact Heidi Fleiss for my career counselor according to this fellow.

She listened. She nodded along as though she was right there with me (and she is actually, she's job searching as well). I didn't have the courage to ask her if she'd BEEN to the website but I wanted to. I wanted feedback, assurance. Support. As I was sitting with her in her den while job searching on the computer. There was one of those comfortable pauses in the conversation as happens often between friends who've known each other for sometime. She got up to walk to her kitchen for another beverage and I figured I'd just go to my website quickly to see if there were any comments on it's blog page (just one still) and to see if there were any 'nibbles' on my job applications. None.

She appears behind me. “Oh is that your website? Yah, I haven't been there. It's all about YOU, is it?” 

Friends. I love them. I need them. Even when I wonder why.....

---mmm