Portfolio

When I was in 6th grade we made portfolios and learned how they will help us get a job.  Even then I knew that I needed A Job when I grew up.  That has been my whole focus, like an arrow shooting towards a target, my entire life.  Get all A's in high school so I can get scholarships to go to college.  Get all A's in college so I can get A Job.  Go to graduate school so I can FOR SURE get A Job.

I have never ever spent time thinking about what A Job is.  A job is where you go all day, do shiza, then get paid.  You need to get paid so you can do what you actually like doing.  I didn't even know what A Job could be!  As far as my experience went, one could be a lawyer, an insurance agent, a politician, a doctor, a teacher, self-employed, a construction worker, a mechanic, a vet, or a farmer.  If you weren't one of those you worked in retail or at a restaurant.   I tried asking a friend's husband once what he did all day in his job as a social worker.  He said "sit in meetings all day".  I could not comprehend what one did in meetings all day that warranted getting paid. 

Now I have my job and I understand.  There are two job types out there, accomplishing stuff with your hands and accomplishing stuff with your computer and emails and meetings.  Guess which type I think I prefer?

I've been going back and thinking about my long term career and what it is I actually want to do.  Then I wonder if it is even possible for me to do what I want?  And I've come to the decision that, yes, yes it is possible, but it might require being brave and working really hard and starting from the bottom.

I want to work for a mine, long-term, as a mine geologist, but I want to start out (and probably continue on my "easy" days) driving those large dump trucks!!  And the other mining equipment!  If I can't do that, I want to drive a garbage dump compactor (GIANT bulldozer) and work my way up to solid waste program manager.  Maybe I can become trained in driving CAT equipment for construction companies or state/federal road service programs. 

I think the hard part will be getting the men in charge to take me seriously.

Anyways, I spent the last 15 years, since 6th grade..we're going to assume that's 15 yrs,  wondering what the hell it is I should be saving for my portfolio, where is my portfolio, why don't I have an up to date one, and on the edge of freaking out because I don't have one and if I don't have one how will I get a job.  Just like during high school graduation when the speaker went on and on about networking and that's how you get a job, and I knew nothing about networking!  I even have researched it and read up on how to do it in the past 10 yrs.  But, today, of all days, I have figured it out.

Networking is hard but it isn't about making friends.  It's about meeting people and remembering them and being non-annoying business friends.  Business friends and regular friends are different.  Do you know how you can tell the difference?  You burp and wear jeans and faded tshirts in front of friends.  You are polite and dress in heels in front of your business friends, and never ever talk about farting.

And, let's just say I have one sweet portfolio now.  I have 9 certificates since I started working here.  Two are from the last two weeks!!!  Traveling has paid off.  Certificates are better than cash (almost).  AND whenever I do a large project, I write down all the notes from it and examples of my work and save it in my personal file.

Because all of this will help me reach my goal of driving the vehicle with the largest tires.