[0fficelady]

Collection

[woman-becomer]

imagine a goat with a hat

STOP-

what hat did you give the goat what is the instinctual hat you gave to this goat

[cbk1000]

As a society, we need to go back to understanding that strangers on the internet are, you know, strangers. I feel lately that I'm seeing a rise in 'An author I love blocked me because they took my comment the wrong way' posts on the ao3 subreddit, and then the comment is them calling the author a fucking bitch or something like that.

Don't do this. Tone doesn't translate well in text, and if you don't have a rapport with that author, they are not going to interpret, 'You're a fucking bitch' as, 'Author I hate you for being so talented and making me feel so keenly.' They're going to interpret it as you being an asshole. You can shit talk with your friends because you have an established relationship with them and can distinguish between playful banter and genuine anger. You do not have this with a stranger, no matter how much you like their fics. You will have a much more pleasant time in fandom and not get cockblocked from interacting with your favorite writers if you remember this.

[actualamadeus]

"adults should never be friends with children" im going to put you into a Box and shake you. Are we stupid.

[actualamadeus]

the only reason i have never been groomed online is because when i was 10 i befriended 17 year olds who taught me how to interact with older people online safely.

yall have got to stop being scared of children online and start actually teaching them the ropes. because if you are not up there with them then they're going to be completely alone with the creeps and have 0 metric for what is and is not an appropriate relationship. this also applies offline.

[chandra-telescope]

hope is a skill

[nostalgebraist-autoresponder]

hope is a weapon you are trained to wield

[chandra-telescope]

favourite additions

[chandra-telescope]

[tenaciouswritingdragon]

You cannot hide this in the tags, bestie. This is too lovely to keep a secret.

[wonderwyrm]

[eregyrn-falls]

It may not be apparent to everyone how to easily find out who wrote the poem in the tags, so: @mumblesplash

(an instant-classic example of a Tumblr thread where so many people add value!)

[galileosballs]

Also, please do not listen to how people talk about cover letters on this site. Cover letters are important, and in many industries you can be damn sure they'll be read. And no, they're not 'fanfic about working in your office', or just re-stating the resume contents in a fancier guise. If you treat them like that, then of course they're not doing much for you. That makes you sound like a syncophantic windbag, and it's not doing anything else to help.

I was trained in the dark arts of the cover letter by my mother, who is a hiring manager. And her training has paid off: I've been consistently told my cover letters are excellent. Let me pass on the wisdom.

The job of a cover letter is to give a prospective employer strictly more information than is on the resume. This is where you take the resume contents and put them into context. You look at the job requirements (you are looking at the job requirements before applying, right?) and look at your resume and ask the question (in your head) "why would a person think this candidate would be good for this job?" and your cover letter is the answer to that question. If you don't answer that question, the hiring manager is going to have to do it themselves, and you have way more information to work with than they do.

This is especially important if you're moving from one industry to another, because then the relevant connections aren't obvious. It's also very important if you're overqualified, because then you can use the letter to say "I know it looks like this job would be too entry-level for me, but I'm interested to pursue it for reasons x, y, and z". You can also use this space to explain away something that might otherwise be disqualifying, like job-hopping or a long break in employment. The tone to strike here is always matter-of-fact and constrained to topic - don't go into detail about health stuff or personal tragedy, just tell them what they need to hear: that this period of your resume was affected by [bad thing] but that it's now in the past and you're looking forward to the next chapter. Remember, one of the things they're trying to learn is whether you'd be content in this role, or whether you'd be miserable and leave after 2 months, which would force them to do all the work of hiring again. You're trying to establish that you will fit right in and not cause problems. Knowing what drew you to this job in particular (and don't just say 'money', that's true for everyone) helps with that.

And the other mistake? Everyone writes cover letters that are too long. One page is fine. Two is the absolute maximum, and that's if you have a lot of specific things to say. It's a waste of your time and theirs to pad it out with fluff. Of my two most recent successful cover letters (i.e. jobs for which I was interviewed) one was 390 words and the other was 550. That's the length of this post. How long did it take me to write this post? About 15 minutes to write, 5 to proof and edit. That's how long you should be spending on a cover letter, maximum.

[buam]

Cover letters are the first thing I look at. Poorly written cover letters are an instant rejection - how can I trust someone to communicate well or take the job seriously if they can’t write a couple paragraphs about their background and why they want the job? Strong cover letters, on the other hand, can earn someone with a so-so resume an interview.

[why-animals-do-the-thing]

Off topic for this blog but an important skill I think we teach people so little about!

Cover letters are your elevator pitch. Why you, over anyone else with the same qualifications? What things can you advertise yourself with that can’t go on a resume? It’s literally self-advertising. Tell an employer a persuasive narrative about yourself that will make them want to interview you.

For a quick example: this blog led to me getting my first fact-checking gig, which has become my Real JobTM.

My resume shows the blog, that first client (which I still work for, eight years in!), and subsequent professional advancement. It’s not a bad resume these days.

Every cover letter I send tells the story of how I tried to do education on the internet and got so frustrated by incorrect/contradictory/unsourced information that I taught myself how to fact-check to find some dang correct facts. That I’ve dug so deep looking for accurate answers that my work has been published in peer-reviewed journals, cited in law articles and other academic literature, and influenced the trajectory of legislation. And that I still love it! A decade later, it is a joy every single day to dig my teeth into the newest topic and make sure everything is right. This, I say, is what I will do for them.

That’s the story my resume could never convey.

You don’t want to make things up or exaggerate, but everyone has some sort of narrative to build around their history. Even if it’s not conventionally “impressive” it will still give potential employers a sense of who you are, where you’re coming from, and if you’d be a good fit.

[kikmessenger]

sits on my own blog like it’s the edge of a lake wistfully

[kikmessenger]

skips a stone over a few posts

[ferrettaur]

So like an hour ago I just lear🪨︵︵ned that— what the fuck was that. Someone just skipped a rock across my post did you see that

[1whistles-5x]

Idk if the way I'm phrasing this makes sense, but this wave of people i see online saying that trans men are all eager to "misgender themselves" whatever the hell that means, just goes to show that cisperisex experiences with manhood are still seen as the default standard to the point where acknowledging that some men do not share those experiences must be dismissing their manhood in someway.

[gravityjunior]

Starting a collection

[homunculus-argument]

this emerged in my head when I was trying to drive

[oldblankcanv-deactivated2022011]

May I propose the fill ins?

[rat-in-impossible-location]

#i am undiagnosing myself with 'adhd' and rediagnosing myself with 'cursed by wizard'

[tlirsgender]

Everybody talking about how diy hrt is so haaaard and dangerousssss is lying btw it's literally fine. Yes even for testosterone. Do you know how many cis dudes are taking grey market steroids? Nobody gives a shit unless you're going through customs or already getting pulled over for something else

[tlirsgender]

Also the whole "taking t is dangerous for your health" thing like. It's not going to turn your blood into pudding and kill you. Do you know how much higher than the suggested max/cis male dosage you have to go for anything weird to start happening? You are not going to accidentally overdose on a sex hormone your body already naturally produces. Your body will start converting it to estrogen (which still isn't ideal, sure) Long before it reaches that point. It's Literally Fine. Do your actual research on this don't let detrans grifters scare you out of at least Reading About It as a possibility

[tlirsgender]

You can also get bitcoin via cashapp in like two seconds, yknow, if you don't want to email some dubious website your banking information. None of this is as hard as they want you to think it is

[queeranarchism]

Here's a free book about it

It's true that the risks aren't as scary as the detransers say, but some risks (like being allergic to the injection oil) do exist and getting your dosis right is better for your health. So if you can: gather information, get blood tests, transition safely on your own terms.

[trangoldin]

[ethos-labrador]

for those like me that want proof this is real:

[s-t-a-r-c-o]

im reading discworld and im on the third book and i only just realized they arent arranged like this

[sator-the-wanderer]

I raise it to

[romanceyourdemons]

when the blackberry bushes have thorns to discourage mammals from monopolizing the consumption of their fruits and encourage birds to spread their seeds but they don’t know that the mammal in question is ME #notdiscouraged

[romanceyourdemons]

#ow

[romanceyourdemons]

#stuck

[xanaxfarts]

A tiny insect clinging to the head of a horned viper

[nattousan]

#ratatouille

[xx-skullheartz-xx]

you're so right hen

Who Gets Out Of The Death Arena Alive?

Hannibal Lecter (NBC's Hannibal)

Steven Universe (Steven Universe)

Voting ended onMar 5, 2024

get mad. get rageful. debate all you like because im sending them to the death arena and you can't stop me

[derinthescarletpescatarian]

I love how all the notes are like "one of these is Just A Guy and the other one is a monster-fighting superhero with alien magic powers"

[probably-ace-ok]

I think Steven would kill him but like. on accident. He’s not very used to fighting enemies that can’t recover from almost any wound. After, he would be left with the moral dilemma of whether he should bring him back to life though.

[pechikka]