Career Fair, Books and Upcoming Events

One of my first stops at the career fair was Children's Hospital Boston's table.  (I thought this would be a good start since it's hard to feel intimidated when one of my "employers" on my resume matches one out of the many institutions represented at the fair.)  After approaching the table, I greeted one of the representatives and explained that I had been a volunteer at CHB for close to 5 years, and my goal was to become a Child Life Specialist.  He learned through my responses to various questions that I had applied twice to the Master's Child Life program at Wheelock, but was denied.  I also told him how I was advised by the career education center at Simmons to gain some administrative skills because that would help me a great deal in the job market.  (I forget the sequence of events exactly because I was rather nervous since this was my first career fair.)  He asked me more questions and inquired about my roles and responsibilities as a seasoned volunteer on the inpatient unit.  When he asked if I had applied to jobs at CHB before, I told him I had, but never got further as far as an interview was concerned.  He offered to look over my resume even though they were not accepting them to see if he could offer me any suggestions.   After a careful look over, he handed it back and told me it looked very strong, strong enough in fact for an Administrative Associate I position, a step or two above an Administrative Assistant I.

I was pleasantly surprised.  After submitting so many resumes and applications to CHB without response, I thought I was worthless as far as employment goes.  It took a lot for me to contain myself and not cheer, but only smile and and say thank you.  I felt like I had been hired on the spot.  After learning the physical location of CHB HR, I made a mental note to visit tomorrow.  (I have always called, assuming they were in the main hospital.  I have also never had a real reason to visit the department in person until now.)  

I called my supervisor at CHB yesterday and left a message on her cell hoping to meet with her sometime this week, but it looks like it will have to be next week because she will not be in on Friday when I volunteer.  I really need to talk to her and pick her brain about Child Life practicums/internships and if I could do something independently at CHB.  


Also, another section was created for the online Medical Terminology course at BCCC so I am now registered.  Initially I though it began on the 1st (today), but thankfully it begins on the 6th so I have some more time.  I have the book from the last time I attempted to take it so I don't need to worry about rush delivery of a textbook.  


Speaking of books, I just received Child Life in Hospitals: Theory and Practice and Create Your Own Blog: 6 Easy Projects to Start Blogging Like a Pro.  I ordered Child Life because I have heard it is the "bible" for Child Life Specialists.  I also ordered Blog because I really want to make the most out of this.  I could have ordered the Kindle format, but when it comes to textbooks and manuals, I prefer to have the actual book so I can highlight and tab to my heart's content.  I also recently started Eat, Pray, Love although I have yet to finish The Female Brain.  I guess I really need to step up the reading if I hope to hit my goal of 10 books before summer's end. 

On Sunday, the UMDF (United Mitochondrial Disease Foundation is having a float at the 4th of July parade in Chelmsford.  I have a voice lesson on Monday and hope to meet a mito friend friend from Ohio who is seeing a doctor at Tufts.  I will be going home on Wednesday because Allie will be in NC July 8th-15th.  I also need to stay infection and Advil/Motrin free from Wednesday on in preparation for the Baclofen trial on the 12th.  Technically, the trial is the 13th, but I will be admitted on the 12th for baseline observation, and then I should be discharged on the 14th after the trial works its way through.  I will receive 50mcg of liquid Baclofen and the idea is it will relax my muscles better than oral Baclofen ever could without making me sleepy.  However, Baclofen delivered through the spinal fluid can cause other problems since it does not exclusively target my muscles.  It can affect other organs like my bladder and intestines, but obviously there is no way to know what the effects will be until we do it.  If there is no response whatsoever, my doctor and I will try 100mcg at a later date.    

Job Searching

On Thursday I meet with one of the career counselors at my alma matter, Simmons College.  The appointment was spent brainstorming and not actively job hunting online which caught me by surprise because I thought you could only be successful when you actively did something.  My career counselor advised me to talk to my supervisor Children's Hospital Boston, check Simmons College's job bank (jobs posted by employers who want Simmons Alums) daily, go onto Indeed.com and try Craigslist.  I also joined the Simmons College Alumni Group on LinkedIn.com and there is a career fair at The Seaport Hotel, Boston.  I pre-registered while writing this and plan on attending!  I am not moving back to PA with a stone unturned.

I applied to three jobs today: an entry-level temp receptionist position at a hotel in Cambridge, an entry-level temp Admin Assistant I position at a Boston non-profit, and a greeter at one of our Boston hospitals (all found on Indeed).  The temp positions are for 1 and 3 months, I just forget which position went to which time frame.  I emailed my supervisor at Children's Hospital Boston to see if we can get together for lunch this week so we can talk about my options in Child Life.  Simmons College's job bank, CareerLink is down for maintenance.  I found two Admin. Assist I jobs at Tufts, but it appears their website is having issues when I click on "yes" when asked if I want to apply as an external applicant.

The other issue at hand is housing.  My lease ends on 8/31 and I cannot renew because my rent is too expensive.  I applied to temp positions because it's better than nothing and like my career advisor said apply to anything, and so I did, but I'm not entirely sure how the timing will work should I get one of the temp jobs, especially the 3 month position.  It could start next month, or August, or even September.  What then?  Look for apartments with 2 or 3 month leases, if there are any?

I tried to register for the Medical Terminology at BCCC (my local community college in PA) and I am 8th out of 9 people on the waitlist.  If I can't get in by the July 1st start date, I may decide to postpone Child Life practicums until the next semester since the major reason for taking Medical Terminology is to strengthen my application.  I also want to take Child/Human Development again because the course I took while at Simmons wasn't as in-depth as I feel I need.  (Child/Human Development isn't offered through BCCC during Summer Session II and I couldn't find it online here in Massachusetts this late in the summer.