Your resume

I am currently mentoring students that are in college or just recently graduated and a question has come up about how much work experience should I put on my resume. This is a hard question to answer because it depends on your age. 

Just starting your career 0 – 5 years

• Include volunteer work

• Co-op programs

• After school activities and groups

• Any part time jobs you have had (past 5 years max)

Have been working 5 – 10 years

• List the jobs that you have had through that time (5 – 10 years)

• Also volunteer work

Having worked 15 years

• Include jobs you have had in the last 15 years

• Include any volunteer board’s you have been on

In a lot of cases, it depends on the job that you are looking for, but it is important to show that you have experience. Why I am writing this is because I was chatting with a college student who is a mature student, and the college was telling them to only include the last 5 years of experience because employees don’t want to see anything past that. I have some to realize why the colleges are saying this is because a lot of students have just recently finished high school, so they don’t have a lot of work experience.

It was almost mentioned by another international student who I was mentoring that they shouldn’t put experience from back home on their resume. Only experience in Canada is what you should include, and I totally disagree with this because if you have experience no matter where it is from, it’s experience. 

It is so interesting listening to what is being taught because your resume can either get you a job/interview or be the issue of why you aren’t getting an interview. Of course, if the resume is being marked as part of a course, then I would follow the instructions that are given. Now, when it comes to applying for jobs, I would include past experience even if it is from another country because experience matters.

Your resume is what helps get you an interview so making sure that you are providing the necessary information to show you are qualified for the job you are applying for. If the job descriptions asks for 3 – 5 years work experience and you have been in school that long but you worked prior to going back to school, make sure you add that experience from before going back to school. 

So, how much work experience should you put on your resume, it really depends how long you have been working.

When patterns say 1 - White what colour do I use?

 There have been so may questions about what colour 1 – white is when stitching using DMC floss.  It is quite simple 1 White is Blanc not the new colour 01 which is White Tin. 

It has been asked so many times through the various groups that I belong to, and I understand part of the issue. When you look at a pattern you can see both 01 and 1 and you aren’t certain what is the difference. It is quite simple, 01 is one of the newer floss colours and 1 is the original number that has been shown for white (Blanc).

I know that with Heaven and Earth Patterns, they have a listing for 1 – white and so many people have continued to ask which colour I should use. It is quite simple when you look at the colour description if it says White, then you are going to be using Blanc. If it says white tin, then you would be using White Tin. 

It is amazing how many times this question has been asked and answered but it continues to be an issue. Of course, a lot of this issue has arisen given the charting software that is used, and it can be an issue to explain what colour you should use. When I see colour 1, I immediately know it is Blanc. I do have a pattern that is calling for 01 and it is described at White Tin so I know what floss I should be using.

When you see 1 – White as a colour on a pattern you should immediately pick up Blanc and not even think about using 01 – White Tin on your project.  Sure, you may have to look at the description of the floss that you are using so will see how things go. Make sure that when you are looking at the different flosses that are called for that you check both the description of the floss as well as the number. It might be a bit of a challenge to deal with the colours but spend a little bit of time checking on the floss that is called for and make sure you check both the description as well as the number.

When a pattern calls for 1 make sure that you know what the actual colour that they are calling for. Using 01 versus 1 can make a bit difference on what the overall outcome of the pattern will look like when you are fined. Remember 1 is Blanc and 01 is White Tin which is a newer colour.

Squishy Parcel

It is always fun when you get a parcel in the mail, and you know exactly what it is. We have a nice postman and always has a big smile on his face when he knocks on our door and hands us a parcel. It is always nice when we get a chance to say hi to him because we don’t get a lot of mail or parcels, so it is a treat. 

This parcel is something that I ordered during a sale, and I have been trying to wait patiently for it to arrive. Of course, I have been tracking the parcel since I got the notification that it had been shipped, and it finally said the expected delivery was “today”. It is going to be nice to open the bag and see what is instead. I know that I am going to be busy after the bag arrives, but it is always nice to see what is inside the bag.

The parcel is from Arcane Fibre Works and they are a Canadian yarn dyer, and I have loved their yarn since I got my first package from them. I started purchasing from them just after I heard about them on Facebook as I was looking at where I could purchase some nice fingering weight yarn, and it was available from within Canada. 

Now, getting this yarn also means that I am going to have to figure out another shawl that I am going to knit with it, and I am looking forward to doing that in the next little while. I do have lots of fingering yarn that does need my attention but getting some more to add to my inventory makes me feel good.

It is always a lot of fun when I get this bag and again today when this bag parcel arrived our postman knocked on the door with a huge smile on his face when I opened the door and got my parcel. Here are some pictures of what I received today.

Here are the colours that I got this time

Turquoise Treasures

Beaches Be Crazy

Stormy Seas

Being able to spend some time figuring out the next project or so is going to be a lot of fun and I hope to be able to get that done soon so that I can start working on one of these projects. It is always nice to receive a squishy parcel and now the next part of the fun begins as I decided what project comes first and then what yarn I will use.

Read reviews don't just look at the star rating

 Recently I purchased a product through Amazon, and I ended up returning it as it didn’t meet my needs at all. I purchased one of those watches that will monitor your sleep, count your steps, answer calls and a bunch of other things. I took a chance on a watch that was a very reasonable price. I received the watch and immediately charged it and then started to wear it as I am someone that does track my steps because it helps keep me moving and motivated.

I wore my new watch, and we went for a walk-through Ikea as it was a place I knew roughly how many steps I would get while doing that walk. It was interesting to see the outcome of this walk once we sat down to grab a hot dog for lunch. My step count was in the lower 800 steps while my husband was around 3,200 steps. The 3,200-step number is roughly when I normally get when walking around Ikea because of course we have to look at things and not just stay on the path. Seeing just 800 steps told me there was something wrong. We then did some other walking that day and I finally got to around 1,500 steps while my husband was over 5,000 steps. Yes, there was a problem with the watch, but I decided to try it a couple more days to see if things changed.

The result was the step count was way off, and I decided to return the item because it wasn’t working as it should. I also had made sure that I had entered all the information that could possibly affect the measurement of my step count. I have been wearing a tracking device since around 2014, so I understand what is needed to accurately track my steps. The return process was very easy, and the refund came quickly which also made me happy. I decided to do a review of the product on Amazon because I wanted people to know that the watch out that the watch might not be right for everyone. The review I left was a 1-star review and said my honest opinion about the watch. I thought it was over but found out differently.

About a month after purchasing and returning the watch and posting a review I received an email from the company, and they offered to send me a replace watch and attached the information on how to get the watch to correctly count your steps. The funny thing is this is the first thing I checked when the step count was wrong. So, I figured I would accept the new watch and at least then I would have a spare and one that I could wear when I didn’t want to damage my new watch that I purchased by a known brand.

I provided them my order number and mailing address and figured everything was going to be done. Well, I finally get an email that says that my new watch is going to be on the way shortly. What I didn’t like was the next part of the message and it reads:

“1.We have successfully registered a new watch for you. Once the logistics tracking number is successfully created for you, we will send it to you as soon as possible.

2.In addition, we sincerely ask you to re-share the review for us. You don't need to change the content, just change the star rating to five stars. If you are bothered by this, you can also delete the review directly. If you are willing to help us, we will be very grateful to you, and we are happy to send you two free bands. Please tell us the band code you want . Thanks.”

When I saw the just change the star rating to five stars, I know there was something extremely wrong with this. I then started looking at a bunch of the other reviews for this same watch and I saw that quite a few people had changed the start rating to five starts with the headings like these

• Not Great

• Product doesn’t last

• Poorly made

• Changed my review

All of these are for now 5-star reviews and all of them said that customer service was great, and a replacement was offered. It is amazing that replacement products have to be offered to so many people and the heading of the review doesn’t match the initial wording of the review.

I have left my review as it because I wanted to give an honest review and I have also told the company that they can keep their product.

So here is my word of warning when you are looking at a product that the price seems maybe a little lower than you expected. Sure, there may be a lot of 5-star reviews but go through and look at the heading of the reviews as well as what some people have said as you could learn a lot. Asking something to change their rating from a lower star rating to a 5-star rating is just trying to track potential customers that the product it better than it might be.

What is a stitch-along

 For people that do cross stitch there is a term that we use to explain a project that people are going to be working on at the same time and it is called a stitch-along, or as some people call it a start-along. When people are talking about doing one of these, they may refer to it as a SAL.

There are so many different stitch-along and it just depends on what you want to do. 

Mystery stitch-along 

There is mystery stitch-along where you will receive a piece of the pattern at a specific time, and you can work on that section and then have to wait until the next section is released. This can be a lot of fun, but you have to be willing to work on a project and not know what the final piece is going to look like until the final section of the pattern is released. This can be a lot of fun, but you have to be willing to not know what the piece will look like and sometimes these projects will be a 12-month project.

Specific pattern stitch-along

This one is an easy one to understand because you are given a specific pattern to work on and it can be divided into sections, but you know the pattern before you ever start the stitch along. There are designers that will do this, and they will give you the entire pattern all at once and the pattern is divided into sections so you can either stitch it following the sections or you can stitch it your own way it doesn’t matter.

Specific designer stitch-along

This one is you can pick any pattern from a specific designer, and everyone starts their pattern at a specific time, and it is just a way to motivate each other to get work completed on the design. This can be a lot of fun when people are posting which pattern they are working on as well as where they started the piece.

The idea behind a stitch-along is to help motivate you to work on a piece and try and get it done within a specific time people. The reason why some people call it a start-along is because in some cases if you have a lot of projects on the go you will start the stitch-along but you end up working on a bunch of other projects and the stitch-along piece doesn’t get finished in a timely manner.

For me it is interesting to figure out which stitch-alongs that I want to participate in. I have done most of the different stitch-alongs that I have listed, and it has been fun. I have done both the stitch-along and the start-along because things just got in the way of me finishing a project when it was the stitch along. I recently finished a 2019 Mystery Stitch-Along so what started as a stitch-along turned into a start-along but I at least got it finished. 

A stitch-along can be a lot of fun if you don’t put too much pressure on yourself. If you can’t keep up with the project that is fine because cross stitching is supposed to be for enjoyment so why stress about keeping up with something. 

Managing all the demands on your time

For most people there are always a lot of demands on your time, either it’s work, personal life, or a combination of the two things which can get a little overwhelming sometimes and making sure that you know how to manage the demands can make a big difference. Sometimes it may feel like you don’t have a minute to think because someone is always asking for a bit of your time.

Now that a lot of people are working remotely at least some of the time for work that can also impact how people see your time because you aren’t in the office 5 days a week. I know for someone that works remotely all the time there have been times when family figures that we don’t work, and we could just drop everything and help with an issue. Well working remotely means that you still have deadlines and meetings that you must attend. Sure, there are times when you can shift your work schedule a little bit, but it cannot be all the time.

Having a mobile device also means that both work, family and friends figure you are available to response to their questions no matter what time it is. The one good thing about mobile devices is you an put them on silent when you need the time to focus on something and in the evenings, you can put them on “do not disturb” so you don’t get those messages in the middle of the night from someone that just had a great idea that they wanted to share.

Being able to set priorities and manage them can be a challenge because when you are working remotely people don’t understand or see what you are working on which can sometimes be hard. Something that I have found that works well for us is to put things on our calendar and that shows people that we are busy doing something. Sure, you cannot put everything on your calendar but putting blocks of time when you are busy can help quite a bit.

Knowing how to manage the demands on your time is very important to ensure that you can continue to get everything done that you want to do but not feel overwhelmed. For me I know that I have a planner that I put things in, so I know what I need to do, and I also make sure that important items are on the calendar so that they are not forgotten and that there is time set aside to get those items done.

How do you manage the demands on your time, and does it work for you?

Using different pens

For someone like me trying out different pen types is a lot of fun and something that I do enjoy doing. I don’t do a lot of writing daily, but I do make notes in my planner and sometimes can write an entire blog or notes in my notebook that I normally have with me. Now being a lefty does have some challenges when it comes to some pens, but I think I have overcome some of those.

Here are some of the pens that I have used or am using and what I think of them.

• Pentel. R.S.V.P. (fine) – I have used this type of pen for several years but what I don’t like about it is even through it says fine it isn’t as fine a point as I would like. When you find the definition of that pen it says that fine is .7mm so not as fine as I thought it would be. (Staples)

• Uni-ball Signo DX (0.28mm) – here is a pen that I found, and I must admit that it is one of the pens that I love using. It is a nice fine tip and for someone that writes a lot they fit my needs. These pens are very enjoyable to write with especially if you write small like I do. Oomomo carries these pens, and they are reasonable and do last quite a while.

• Flex office (.38mm) – this is another pen that I use very frequently because it is a pen that writes smoothly, and it also have a nice fine tip. I have gone through several of these and thank goodness Oomomo carries these as I do go and pick them up on a regular basis, so I am never out of pens.

• Zebra Fountain Pen – (fine) – this is a disposable fountain pen and the fine comes in .5mm and .6mm and I have used it for a while, and it does write nicely but again being a disposable fountain pen they are a little pricey but at least they are a great way to find out if fountain pens will work for you. (Staples)

• Hongdian 2861 Stainless Stell Fountain Pen Extra Fine Nib – this is a recent addition to my pen collection as I wanted to try out fountain pens. This pen has a nice extra fine nib, and I have been enjoying using it for making various notes. The one thing that you have to be aware of is that you are going to have to load ink into the pen and that get a little messy if you are not careful. You can purchase ink cartridges for this pen. This pen now holds my turquoise ink, and I have been enjoying using it. (Amazon)

• Nicpro Fountain Pen .38mm Extra Fine Nib – this is another fountain pen that I added to my collection, and I have loved how it writes. This pen is a little heavier than some pens but that doesn’t bother me at all. Again, the precaution is you are going to have to load ink into the pen as it doesn’t come with ink cartridges, but you can purchase those. This pen now holds my black ink, and I have been also enjoying using it. (Amazon)

• Hongdian Dark Blue Forest Fountain Pen Extra Fine Nib .38 – here is another fountain pen that I have added to the collection and again whet the extra fine nib it is enjoyable to use and something that has been sitting on my desk and gets used quite often. This pen works with either bottled ink or cartridges, but I am using bottled ink, and this pen holds my teal ink currently. (Amazon)

Fountain Pens

 I just recently starting using fountain pens and I must admit that I have been really enjoying using them. I don’t think I would travel with them given I would have to ensure that I have enough ink with me. Being a lefty I was a little concerned about working with a fountain pen and would I smudge my writing, but I haven’t so far which makes me happy. I have only bought the standard fountain pens designed for “right-handed” people, but they have been working fine for me. I would like to see what the difference between a “left-handed" fountain pen and the ones that I own just to see if there really is any difference in how the pen writes.

Summary 

Yes, I do enjoy trying out different pens and seeing what they are like for me. Of course, everyone is different in what they like in a pen so these comments about the pens are just my opinion, and they might be entirely different that what you think. When you find a pen that you enjoy using make sure that you have a couple of them available because you never know when a specific type of pen will be discontinued or hard to find.

Edit: Since writing this blog, I was able to ask a pen shop about the different between the left-handed pens and right-handed pens and the difference is the angel of the nib. This only works for the medium nib so if you are someone like me that likes the 'extra-fine nib' you will not get any difference because as per this gentleman "the nib is just scratchy no matter what."