Francitude Finds A Job

Happy Birthday Video

francitude — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 18:14:24 +0000

It includes interviews with family members and a slideshow with music. It could still use some work but after fighting with the format last night this is a good fourth video.

working on further video editing

francitude — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 13:18:46 +0000

So, the last two days I’ve come up with a great project. There’s nothing more I love than a good project.

My brother’s birthday is Thursday so I’m making a video using:

1. Still photographs!

2. Candid action shots!

3. Various music!

This is a great project because I get to show off my technology skills to my little brother (computer programmer), make an awesome birthday present and use the same technique news channels are using –switching between stills and film — for the recent earthquake coverage.

So far I’ve got all the still photography done and all of the video shot. The hardest part right now is sticking it all together. QuickTime does not like the different formats.

Bam

francitude — Sun, 28 Feb 2010 04:29:19 +0000

Edited video. With music. Starring Francitude’s lovely mother.

Editing video!

francitude — Sat, 27 Feb 2010 19:55:36 +0000

First attempt at editing video. More to follow.

Do I have experience shooting and editing video, Potential Employer?

Why, yes. Yes, I do.

Craigslist “farretts”

francitude — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 21:35:16 +0000

The number of great Craigslist jobs are piling up with gems like ferret wrangler. Posting offers $20 to haul 70 pound tank and stinky “farretts.”

I’m not applying, but it’s great to read.

cover letters

francitude — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 18:31:28 +0000

Almost all professions have some sort of screwy introduction sequence. It’s the initial “Please hire me, I promise I’m not an axe murderer.”

For service jobs, this is an easy task. Employers want to know you’ll be around for several months. One manager hired me because I told him I’d have to be there for three months — I had just signed a lease. I ended up spending more than three months at that restaurant and having a great time.

For journalism jobs, this is harder. I think I’m good in person, but on paper, well — I’m not really sure what editors see when they look at the required cover letter and resume. My clips certainly say the right things, but what do you do with a writer who worked on a Vermont cheese farm and cleaned motorcycle parts in San Francisco?

I think it shows initiative and daring and a well-rounded nature. Of course, I’m biased.

I got cover letter tips from the ever helpful Joe Grimm at poynter.org

http://www.jobspage.com/?p=1123

Bad move?

francitude — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 18:13:17 +0000

I took a risk on one job and it might not pay off. Between a waitressing job and a journalism job, I’d much rather be a journalist.

But what to do if there’s the possibility there could be a journalism job just a few short days away?

Although I’ve got major guilty feelings, the answer is I’ve got to wait.

anxiety

francitude — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 00:01:57 +0000

I’ve got two good, solid shots at landing a job in the next week. Good jobs. Jobs that mean things I’ve come to hold dear: an apartment, an ever-expanding bookshelf, a dog.

I’ve gone into over drive thinking about both, as well as all those other job possibilities hovering at the edge of almost.

In response, I’ve bought — and likely will read — several books. I’m on No. 4 in about 24 hours.

Last night and today I read:

“The boys’ Sherlock Holmes,” a selection from the works of A. Conan Doyle. Arranged with Introduction by Howard Haycraft.
“Obsession” by John Douglas and Mark Olshaker. The FBI’s legendary profiler probes the psyches of killers, rapists, and stalkers and their victims and tells how to fight back.
“Candide” by Voltaire. Translated and edited by Robert M. Adams. A Norton Critical Edition.

I’m working on “The Professor and the Madman,” by Simon Winchester. It’s about the making of the Oxford English Dictionary.

Please forgive me if I hold off on the video for a while and go missing on posts.

My favorite quote so far comes from the nurse in Chapter 12 of “Candide”:

“I would not even have mentioned my own misfortunes, if you had not irked me a bit, and if it weren’t the custom, on shipboard, to pass the time with stories. In a word, my lady, I have had some experience of the world, I know it; why not try this diversion? Ask every passenger on this ship to tell you his story, and if you find a single one who has not often cursed the day of his birth, who has not often told himself that he is the most miserable of men, then you may throw me overboard head first.”

I love this quote because it illustrates several things I hold true in journalism:

Most people inflate their standing.
There’s a skeleton in every closet.
All it takes is the right time, right place, right person and those skeletons will shoot out like they were raised from the dead — and that’s where I want to be.

another interview and editing video

francitude — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 20:39:49 +0000

Editing video, along with shooting practice, is on tomorrow’s agenda.

I’ve got another interview lined up for Monday/Tuesday. Good stuff.

Oh Snap!

francitude — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 20:34:25 +0000

I uploaded my first video. There’s no question that it sucks, but it’s the first step to answering that blasted interview question of “Do you have experience shooting and editing video?” with an affirmative.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wqsTmN0AVf8

I tried to capture some Canada geese (yes, it’s Canada and not Canadian, ask your nearest ranger or wildlife professional — mine is two doors down) flying into a pond. It sounded like I rubbed wool across the camera’s microphone.

Instead, I ramble about Hertford for a little bit. I’m going to try to put the video directly into this post. No promises; it is just practice.