Rawr

Tuesday, Wednesday tread through muck

Thursday maybe eat a duck

It’s Friday, Flat as Fuck

I'd individually render the poses to get that early 3D shine ✨ Here's some of them at their original resolutions! I would work from text descriptions from Toby, and sometimes there'd be a Paint sketch to help out. Gigi drew the concept that I modeled from and some poses too!

I had a lot of fun pushing myself to match the dynamic poses Toby had in mind for Tenna - making him so crazy and expressive was something I couldn't have done without his prompts. He'd draw the faces on afterward too, which really brought Tenna to life!

(lots more after the Read More cut...!)

I've been putting this off because I didn't want to jinx myself but I GOT THE JOB so here we go.

Disclaimer 1: I work in biotech which attracts a lot of awkward nerds so the bar for "normal" behavior is probably lower than other fields. Disclaimer 2: It took me over a year of job searching and dozens of rejections before I got this position.

Your "about me" statement

Every interview you go to is probably going to open up with "so tell us a little about yourself". You can mentally prepare this ahead of time because it's basically gonna be the same damn thing no matter where you interview. My last boss called it your "elevator pitch" (fucking business majors). Here's the general outline I follow:

Your name (and pronouns if applicable/safe) (YOU DO NOT NEED TO OUT YOURSELF IF IT'S NOT SAFE)

Little biographical factoid as a segue ("I grew up in [region] and have lived in [current region] for [X] years")

Education - university, major, graduation year a. If your major is relevant to the job, mention a couple things about the coursework you did within your major b. If your major is not immediately relevant to the job, mention a couple things you learned that could be transferable skills (ex.: wrote a lot of essays in school -> good communication skills; took a laboratory course -> ability to follow detailed protocols) c. If you don't have a university degree, I unfortunately don't have any advice on how best to present your educational history, BUT that just means that you should look somewhere else for advice, not that you aren't a good candidate.

Work history overview a. If you have a lot of previous jobs, just mention the most recent or most relevant ones; you don't have to give a full debrief of your employment history b. For example, I worked a retail job for one year after I graduated uni and then worked in a lab for 6 years. I never mentioned the retail job at any of my interviews during this round of job searching because it was not relevant at all.

Short list of relevant skills

The whole thing should only be a few minutes long (maybe like 5 tops?).

WTF are my "relevant skills"?

When you looked at the role description for the job you're applying for, you (presumably) said to yourself "oh hey, I can do that." What parts of your past experience/personal abilities made you say that? Those are your relevant skills. The specific skills you choose to talk about will likely vary from place to place because you want to tailor them to the position you're interviewing for.

Example 1: I applied for a job at a lab. Many of the tasks expected of me at the new lab were things I had done at my old lab, so those were my relevant skills.

Example 2: When I was applying to lab jobs fresh out of uni, I obviously did not have any prior experience in a professional lab. I cherry-picked my relevant skills from my uni coursework and some stuff from my retail job that I translated into Corporate Bullshit (see below).

Corporate Bullshit translation guide

I usually wind up taking the lead in group projects because people are stupid/lazy = strong leadership skills and initiative

I like to chat with my coworkers = team player, good communication skills

I hate talking to my coworkers = strong work ethic, diligent about completing my work

They used to do things in a really stupid way so I started doing it in a less stupid way = good problem-solving abilities/innovation/creative thinking

People are frustratingly vague and I have to ask a lot of questions to get things done properly = attention to detail

I wish people would just keep track of their shit and actually tell each other what was going on = belief in strong communication, diligence, careful documentation

I had to do like three people's goddamn jobs = responsibility, expanded/varied skill set, ability to prioritize tasks

What the hell do people mean when they say you should lie at interviews

It's not "lying"; it's more "twisting the narrative to make yourself look better". You definitely don't want to say anything that they can prove is false (ex.: don't put a higher GPA on your resume, don't say you worked at a place/held a certain position when you didn't). But you can definitely dance around certain details or gloss things over.

Example: In my field, it's very common to be asked about grad school if you don't already have a masters/phd. The thought of going back to school right now makes me want to rip my skin off, but I don't want the interviewers to think that I'm stagnating myself/unambitious/don't want to learn new stuff. So I make vague answers about how I'll probably go back to school one day but right now I am looking for real-world experience and new skills to help guide me towards my future grad school choices.

Example: If they ask you why you left your last position, it's not "I hated everyone there and my boss was an asshole and I was ready to blow my shit clean off", it's "the position was no longer a good fit for me/I felt stagnated and I want a new position where I can learn and grow." Or alternately, it's not "I got laid off because of cost-cutting", it's "there was a workforce reduction/department restructuring and I was unfortunately one of [number] positions removed."

If you had to leave your job for health reasons or due to some other personal reason, they don't need to know the details of that. Literally all they need to know is "there was a health/personal/family matter that needed to be attended" and then you make some vague assurance about how it's all handled now (even if it's not) so they don't worry about you leaving suddenly a short time after you get hired.

Jobs hate training people who are only going to be there for a short time, so make the interviewer think you're in it for the long haul even if you know you aren't. Once you're hired, they can't do shit about it if you want to leave after a month (unless you sign a contract saying you have to work for a certain period of time). But they aren't going to hire you if they think you aren't going to be a good investment for the time/resources it'll take to train you (🤮), so let them think you're there to start your new lifelong career, or at least be there for several years.

Asking questions at an interview

Asking questions shows that you are really interested in the job/company. When the interviewer asks if you have any questions, you should have at least one prepared. These are my two go-to's:

What does an average day in [position] look like?

What direction do you see the company taking in the future?

The first one is especially good because it'll give you a better idea of what you'd be doing, and depending on what info they give you, it can be a really good jumping point for additional questions. At my last interview, I asked that question, and then was able to ask about their weekly sample throughput, the type of automation equipment they used, etc.

Bonus tip from my dad that has served me well:

Before the interview, go through the company's website, especially their news/updates/"in the media" tab if they've got one. If they've recently made a breakthrough, presented at a conference, been in the news for something positive, you can mention it or ask a question about it and the interviewers will be like "oh damn this person knows their stuff".

LITANY OF ACING JOB INTERVIEWS ↓↓↓

quotes taken from the source

and no, this isn’t me saying “write that messed up, disgusting thing” because while, yes, write it if it’s what you want (I myself enjoy writing dark fics, something I believe would be considered “vile” to a lot of people), this is me saying in a world of censorship and capitalism, ao3 really is a treasure.

honourable mentions

i think this is…actually the most extreme stupid dove nest I’ve seen.

Imagine you're coming home after a long day of hunting, and the first thing you hear is your seven shitty kids screeching at you for no reason, how pissed off would you be, I'd immediately fly away too

Imagine you're the oldest of seven and a fucking HOA member broke into your HOUSE and SHIT AN EGG and is BITING at your siblings, but your dad shows so you try to tell him the problem but you're very little and you don't speak English and he doesn't speak English either so you can't communicate that a fucking GOBLIN is in your HOUSE and the only reason he doesn't know is cause his ASS was on that bitch's HEAD and he must've assumed it was one of your brothers and sisters but it was actually that FREAK WOMAN who got in, and now your dad is flying away 'cause he has no idea what's going on

Imagine you're a parent and you've calmed down and gone to get McDonald's for your seven kids, and you come home expecting to get cheers because you know the D's are always a winner, but when you fly back in through the door the kids are all still screaming, and it's not even excited screams but you don't know what's wrong so you just look into the camera like you're Jim from the Office

Imagine you're one of the small middle children and probably the one that this HOA WITCH was BITING after she broke into YOUR HOUSE and SHIT an EGG and you tried to be a good host by cuddling with her to congratulate her on her egg but then she started BITING and taking over your ROOM and threw out all your GOOSEBUMPS books and your eldest sibling couldn't call dad so you all just had to wait, and then dad comes home but your STUPID FAMILY won't stop SCREECHING to explain what's going on so your dad leaves but then comes back and he's brought McDonald's which is like yay but there is an INTRUDER, and finally your dad looks around the house and notices BITCH BIRD KAREN IN YOUR BEAN BAG CHAIR, and you're like ok dad can handle this but then you learn he's more scared than you?????

Imagine you're a dad and you just got home with McDonald's and WHO THE FUCK IS THAT IN MY HOUSE but luckily you have seven children and the mean one is willing to fight this bitch and you're just gonna chill in this corner until this problem is resolved even if your other kids are straight-up judging you

Imagine you're Kevin McCallister and you're doing Home Alone except you're not home alone 'cause your dad is home too but he's not helping, he's just holding a bag of McDonald's, so you have to be the head of this house at eight years old 'cause you're home alone emotionally but this FREAK ON AN EGG isn't leaving so you decide to screech at your dad and he's more scared of you than she is

Imagine you're a dad and your child has publicly shamed you in front of your other kids and this ASSHOLE KAREN and you decide you're not gonna take this shit anymore so you tell your kids that you paid for this McDonald's with your hard-earned bird money and they're gonna damn well eat this, so everybody stop looking at that side of the house and just eat your fucking french fries but then that fucking MONSTER starts BITING your only child willing to go into battle so you recognize this is a lost cause and throw the burgers on the counter and you remember you're an ADULT so you grab your car keys and fly the fuck away

Collective soul cat

> The internet, the video camera, that song and cats, where invented for this soul purpose.

> I needed this video.

> I laughed so hard I drooled. I can’t wait to see Pearl Jam Horse.

> This is why I come to Tumblr.