The Business of Blogging, Ageism and Expressing your Courage

Author:  Karen Mount
              Administrative Professional

I have been a blogger via my dream journal for many years and that is how I liked it. Through that method, I was able to say how I felt, believed, and inspired to, without anyone telling me, what I had to say, was not valid, or intelligent enough. I grew up with a strong mother of four energetic children, who used that famous parental expression, “if you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say it at all”. Does this sound like something your parents would say to you?  That voice, led me down the path of least resistance, to Customer Service, which was fine for a period.  But now, with age, comes a certain amount of dismantling of previous notions which is scary, but exhilarating. It is like losing your job and having to start over again.

I like to write, be it emails to potential companies, or sending out a few articles to sell to magazines in my younger days. Life however, gets in the way and we focus more on the basics of work, to make payments on our bills and to afford some items that seem sometimes to call us by name.

Having been in client relations for years and trained to keep disconcerting thoughts to myself to maintain those relationships, our former companies valued, it is now time to break the mold and respectfully, express our views.  Blogging is a great way of expression, where we can edit our disconcerting voice, so our audience hears our main points.  Mine, is the pros and cons of being a temporary/contract worker.

Having been a temporary office worker on and off for close to three years, after my layoff from an advertising content company, close to five years ago, I learned some lessons. I worked for two agencies and found that even though they kept me employed, most of the time, with a steady stream of income, I made mistakes and took some chances on industries and companies.  And I did some great things, which I believe needs to be repeated:

• Take classes whenever you can to learn. It will make your bruised ego feel so good and brain feel even better. If you are the least bit interested, what does it hurt to learn, from a day or just a week class?
• Take chances on jobs as a temporary or contractor, to see if you are considering that field or job. I did and some worked, some not so well, but I learned, if my interest was really there. I actually hated one company and the job after a few months.
• Link up with more than one recruiter and agency be it temporary or a permanent job.  This is similar to selling your home. If you do not like what they are doing for you, find another. WALK AWAY.  I have even found the courage to turn down jobs from my current agency and revamp my resume and linked in profile to recruit other agencies to find better. Go find your better.
• Last point- Do not do this alone. Ask for help. It does not make you weak, it makes you a heck of a lot smarter than the one who is trying to do it on their own. There are exceptions, but do you want to find out later or earlier with help?