After graduating from High School, I thought about how carefully we choose what we “show” to the outside world. What dream will we share with others or what story about ourselves will we want to tell.
At first, I thought I was reading a book about a boy named Rafe Katchadorian who just hates school. He is in sixth grade at a regular American high school. Of all the subjects, he only has a satisfactory grade in drawing; in the rest, everything is much worse. Of course, Rafe does not forget to justify himself: “Who needs this social science anyway?” or “Science is for nerds.”
He has best friend Leo, with whom they come up with “Operation DVP”. Rafe tells us about his diary and says that all the drawings in it are left by Leo, who records in detail how their operation is progressing: in the pictures we see a table with points that are awarded for violations of the rules, a special suit for the “DVP” and even how the school fire alarm squealed as they turned it on.
Rafe likes his classmate Jeanne Gallatta and she seems to like him a little too - she invited him to help at the charity sale? But when he tries to invite Jehanna to eat pizza, she... refuses. Either way, Rafe didn't get upset about it for long. It seems that he generally prefers not to dwell on anything for long. Plus, there are still so many school rules waiting to be broken.
But gradually another Rafe is revealed to us, whose life is a series of troubles. He lives with his sister, his mother and her new husband, nicknamed Bear. Rafe thought that he could always trust his mother, but that was before she said that from now on Bear would check his homework in the evenings.
This other Rafe has only one imaginary friend and no real ones, and the school bully Miller Killer takes away a very important notebook from him, forcing him to buy it back page by page. In addition, he was left behind after school and forced to fight the Dragoness. Okay, there wasn't a real dragon there, but that's how Rafe sees his forced time away with Mrs. Donatello, his English teacher. All he wants now is to make enough money selling soda to get his notebook back and go to seventh grade - Rafe thinks that then all his troubles will end. At the same time, Rafe thinks that he is in a vicious circle and he does not have a single chance to get out of there. He pictures an ideal life in his imagination, but does not believe that what he has imagined is truly feasible.
When Rafe's mom asks why his grades are so terrible, he replies that maybe they're teaching them the wrong things. And on the same day, the final draft of the fiberboard operation is born in his head. Of course, he will be punished for the huge mural he painted on the school wall with a marker. But Mrs. Donatello (the same Dragon), like Rafe, believes that in Hills Village they simply don’t teach him that. She says that next year he should go to Eybroek Art School, which is for artists. He just needs to send his portfolio there, and sketches for the DVP operation are perfect for this. And, of course, he needs to finish the sixth grade with grades that will allow him to move on to the seventh. Rafe can study well if he sees why he should try.
We will not immediately find out what is really going on in Rafe’s soul. This is revealed to us only over time and is very different from what we see at the beginning. The thing is that Rafe prefers not to talk about it. Not with my mother, not with my sister, not with my readers, not with anyone. He hides from everyone. And troubles keep happening and happening until he finally has to speak up. In fact, of course, it is his mother who tells the director everything, and not he himself. But he can no longer pretend that all his problems don't exist. He has to allow the real world to penetrate into the world created by his imagination. And in the end it turns out to be not so scary. Nobody blames Rafe. Nobody tells him that this is nonsense. The principal even allowed Rafe to paint a real mural for the school. And this conversation is enough for Rafe to believe that his dreams can come true, and stop hiding. And then readers finally saw the boy for who he is. And I liked what I saw.
Maria Dorofeeva, 16 years old
______________________________
James Patterson, Chris Tebbetts
« high school. The worst years of my life"
Artist Laura Park
Translation from English by I. Yushchenko
Publishing house "Career Press", 2017
Without exaggeration, the system for protecting untouched nature in Russia was one of the best in the world. Think for yourself, in what other country, if a nature reserve or national park is created, then its area from the first second of its creation is inviolable and it is prohibited to reduce it?
This is how it was in Russia. So far, national parks have not become a tasty morsel for investors of various levels and developers of all stripes.
They tried to cut off a piece in the Yugyd-Va National Park in the Komi Republic. And only the Supreme Court was able to protect him. The Ministry of Natural Resources and Ecology, which by law must maintain the inviolability of the protected area of the national park, cut off a piece for gold mining from it. What is the law for?
Now the “sword of Damocles” hangs over the Darwinsky and Kologrivsky Forest reserves; new draft regulations on these reserves propose to allow economic activity there, the ban on which is the basis of the Russian reserve system.
But these are still projects, but the Samarskaya Luka National Park is already under a very real threat.
The Ministry of Natural Resources has reduced the reserve and specially protected zones of the Samarskaya Luka National Park by 7 thousand hectares. Now you can build anything on these lands; the habitats of valuable animals are left unprotected. And there are already hunters for the national park. Tourist and entertainment complexes are planned in the “exempt from protection” territories. Such as, for example, the huge “Zhiguli Pearl”.
They have been trying to tear Samarskaya Luka piece by piece, as far as I can remember, almost from the day the park was founded, for more than 30 years. The dachas of the then nomenklatura grew there, there were many poachers, and ideas for construction were constantly coming in.
But in past years, it was possible to restore relative order in the park and defend the unique territory. Now the problem of the ban on development of the Samarskaya Luka National Park has been solved in a radical way: they have begun to remove the park’s territories from protection.
The Samarskaya Luka National Park is unique; plants from the pre-glacial period have been preserved here. However, what the mammoths did not eat can be destroyed by humans.
On the Internet you can read a lot about the uniqueness of Zhiguli. The Zhiguli Mountains are one of the oldest in the world. Here, as archaeologists joke, wherever you poke a shovel, there are ancient monuments everywhere. Samara Luka is the holiest place in Russia. It's clean, beautiful and environmentally friendly. Such a place should not be without security.
I kindly ask you to take two minutes of your time right now and send a letter to the Minister of Natural Resources. So far, construction projects have not begun to be actively implemented, if there is a chance to achieve the return of the territories withdrawn from protection to the corrected regulations on the Samarskaya Luka National Park.
All bitches live by this motto, without fear of appearing immoral or at least strange. Laws and morality invented boring mediocrity. But conventions must be broken skillfully, so that the law itself, and not its violator, seems wrong. There are plenty of examples of this. In the twelfth century (you know that emancipation appeared a little later), Eleanor of Aquitaine successfully ruled Aquitaine, accompanied her first husband, King Louis VII of France, on the Crusade, and when her husband stopped paying enough attention to her, she filed for divorce and received it. This is in the twelfth century! Two years later, Eleanor married Henry Plantagenet and became Queen of England. But years passed, and the young husband took a mistress. Eleanor did not forgive the betrayal. She turned her sons against their father. They made an alliance against Henry with the king of France - ex-husband Eleanor. Henry paid a high price for treason. He spent the rest of his life fighting with his own sons. Eleanor managed to elevate her beloved son Richard, who was popularly nicknamed the Lionheart, to the English throne (after the death of her husband and eldest son). The Great Queen lived to be eighty-two years old (and this at a time when thirty-five was considered a very old age), until the last moment dealing with state affairs and issues of European politics. In today's parlance, Eleanor might have been the Miss Universe of the twelfth century. Songs and knightly tournaments were dedicated to her. Eleanor always welcomed people of art at court and sought to revive forgotten knightly traditions. A beauty who was not afraid to lose the throne of France in order to become the Queen of England. A woman who proved that she was born for public affairs. Was she happy? We can only guess. Bitches don't like to talk about these things out loud.
Women are great at everything that requires not a revolutionary breakthrough, but careful work day after day, aimed at achieving one goal.
Probably, without women, all countries would have long been in ruins due to endless squabbles over any issue. Woman and stability are synonymous. Take, for example, Queen Tamara. How many years have passed, but she is remembered as the founder of the strong state of Georgia. For the Georgian people, Queen Tamara means more than Catherine the Great for the Russians. Although their names are associated not only with great political victories and educational activities, but also with vice. Queen Tamara ascended the throne when she was not yet twenty years old. Imagine yourself surrounded by not very friendly horsemen, each of whom dreams of taking your place. But Tamara, even if this confused her, did not last long. From the very first day, she begins systematic work to create a strong state. There is no unnecessary cruelty, but there is no weakness, there are no radical changes, but there are personnel changes. Tamara’s reign is a river without waterfalls that flows along a pre-laid bed (isn’t this what many businesswomen dream of?). But, as often happens, smart and successful women are not always happy in love. Men are lost against their background and, unable to withstand the competition, manifest themselves in vices or the desire to humiliate their outstanding wives. Tamara’s first husband, the disgraced Russian Prince Yuri, was expelled from Georgia by her for drunkenness, revelry and sodomy. Tamara then said: “I should not rest under the shade of the desecrated tree.” The stupid husband sunk into oblivion after several unsuccessful attempts to punish the rebellious queen, remaining in history only thanks to his marriage to an outstanding woman. And Tamara, throwing away conventions, married David, with whom she had been raised since childhood. This marriage united two like-minded people. The strong army that Tamara and David created defeated the Persian army, and Georgia received a huge tribute. Tamara wisely ordered that it be spent on the construction of defensive structures, roads, bridges and temples. No matter what men say, foresight and thrift are typically female character traits. Queen Tamara, like Cleopatra, was an educated woman and understood that not only the construction of schools, but also the creation of a national culture was of great importance for the country. During her reign, masterpieces of Georgian poetry were created. Shota Rustaveli was in love with the queen and chose to become a monk, not hoping for reciprocity. Legends remain about the murdered horsemen who took the secret of the queen’s love to the grave. Today it is almost impossible to judge whether this really happened or whether envious gossips defamed the great ruler. I am inclined to believe that Tamara’s too righteous appearance required some kind of secret, a piquant fatal detail. Maybe she herself started a rumor about cruelty and passion in order to create an aura of mystery and intrigue. So today, politicians and pop stars inflate scandals around their not very significant persons in order to attract attention. The difference is that after Tamara there remained great Georgia, bridges and roads, poems and temples. What will remain of our contemporaries? Time will show…
There is a striking character in history - the “godmother” of the mafia. Maria Licciardi headed the family clan - the Camorra. Without a twinge of conscience, like an ordinary company manager, she took on the drug trade as if it were a pizza production. The women's mafia did not stage loud showdowns and shootings. She was doing business.
Trust your intuition, don’t be afraid and believe in your strength.
Joan of Arc is the best proof of this. According to legend, she had a vision that she would be the one to save France from the invaders. I won’t tell the story in detail; a wonderful film was made on this topic with Milla Jovovich in the title role. An amazing, fragile and feminine girl infects both the king and battle-hardened commanders with courage and confidence in victory. She gallops ahead of the troops with a flag, invents military operations without knowing military science. Another example: Queen Isabella of Spain believed Columbus and gave him money to organize the expedition. How would history have turned out if she had not done this? Faith works miracles. Everyone has their own. Self-confidence is inseparable from the realization of any, even the most unrealistic dream.
Surround yourself with those who are better if you want to become like them, and women who are not more beautiful than you if you don’t want to seem ugly.
In terms of management and wise advice, women have always intuitively relied on men, creating excellent “teams” for themselves, welcoming educated and creative people. You don’t have to look far for examples: Catherine the Great became Great precisely because of the correct “bet” on smart and devoted people. Queen Victoria was famous for her ability to choose faithful people, whose advice made her an extraordinary person in history. And as far as women's things, the famous English Queen Elizabeth Tudor, who hated beautiful women and only allowed ugly women into her courtyard. There were rumors that the queen's hatred of the beautiful Mary Stuart was explained not by state or religious interests, but by ordinary female envy.
If God has not given you outstanding talents, you can become famous by associating with celebrities and earning their respect.
There are many examples in history of how ordinary women, but who knew how to listen and heed geniuses, became famous for this alone. Ladies who hosted famous writers and poets in their salons received the best lines and declarations of love. Mistresses became more famous than wives. A striking example of how a woman who did absolutely nothing outstanding (and didn’t even try to do it!) got into history is Madame Recamier. She organized a salon with her husband's money and hosted celebrities of her time there. The mistress of the Prussian prince August and the poet Chateaubriand, she became famous thanks to her rare gift of attracting extraordinary people. Without writing a single line, without changing history, she remained in it forever, as a lesson for not too outstanding, but ambitious bitches. Talent is not required for success.
Bitches also have rivals and even bitch rivals. The most patient, smart and... beautiful wins.
Example: the story of the struggle between two bitches - Diane de Poitiers, the favorite of Henry of Orleans, King of France, and his wife Catherine de Medici. For twenty years, Diana held the palm not only in terms of personal relations with the king, but also in political affairs. But she was twenty years older than the king! The romance, which began when the king was not yet twenty, lasted until his death. Sixty-year-old Diana somehow managed to be better than the young favorites who appeared on the horizon every now and then. And so the king dies. Catherine de Medici, bitch and queen, takes power into her own hands. The dissatisfaction and bitterness that have accumulated over these twenty years find vent in cruelty and dirty court intrigues: St. Bartholomew's Night, the murder of one's own sons and an inglorious funeral in a common grave. Both remained in history, but Diana – as a symbol of femininity, wisdom and unfading beauty, and Catherine de Medici – as a symbol of cruelty and deceit.
Be able to bear insults and endure until your finest hour comes.
In Christianity there is a concept of pride, and there is a concept of arrogance. We are often “put in our place.” But sometimes we deserve it, because we lack experience and knowledge, and our ambitions are too much. Upon arrival in St. Petersburg, Catherine II was modest and flexible, converted to Christianity, and diligently studied the Russian language and the culture of the country to which fate had thrown her. She patiently endured insults and humiliation from her narrow-minded husband and the capricious, unbalanced queen. After the death of Elizabeth and Peter, this knowledge was useful to Catherine. She deserved and suffered for her reign and the love of the Russian people.
If you don’t blindly follow fashion, but tastefully wear what suits you, you can not only be considered fashionable and elegant, but also become an example for others.
One story about the French ballerina Taglioni, who became a trendsetter in Paris, serves as confirmation of this truth. One day, her maid turned back the brim of her hat so that it would not wrinkle, and the frivolous ballerina, not attaching any importance to it, dressed it like that. The very next day, Parisian fashionistas were sporting hats with bent brims. If you do something extravagant, do it easily and without hesitation. Isadora Duncan became famous thanks to a new style of dance. She became fashionable because she found the courage to break the rules. Any fashion trend is based on a contradiction with stereotypes. Coco Chanel created a unique style that revolutionized twentieth-century fashion. In order to become Coco, it was enough for anyone to realize the changes in the worldview of a woman of the new century and feel a new rhythm of life, which no longer allowed changing clothes five times a day and paying too much attention to individual parts women's wardrobe. But only she could feel and do it.
Where a woman lacks the ability to change circumstances, she creates a show or scandal, attracting attention to herself.
Sarah Bernhardt's career is a continuous performance, attracting attention to herself and the ability to create a scandal out of nowhere. But even more “ancient” celebrities knew how to surprise people in order to become famous for centuries. The famous Lady Godiva is famous only for the fact that she rode through the streets of the city naked as a sign of solidarity with citizens outraged by the introduction of new tax legislation, which, by the way, was introduced by her husband.
If you don’t represent anything special, keep quiet and pretend to be mysterious.
There are several mysterious female characters in history who have done nothing special for their country or even for themselves. For example, Princess Tarakanova. What is known for certain is that she definitely was not Tarakanova, but simply loved money and entertainment (which is not very original, is it?). The contradictions in her words and actions (I am inclined to believe that behind this lay impenetrable stupidity or even insanity) did not bother her supporters at all, and an impostor who was not Elizabeth’s daughter tried to claim the Russian throne. “The Princess” managed to be in the right place at the right time (or in the wrong place, given her sad end). The legends that Tarakanova invented about herself were continued in popular rumor after she died in a prison cell from consumption. To this day, ordinary people feel sorry for the unfortunate Princess Tarakanova, considering her a victim of the absolute power of Catherine, who did not suffer the claims of the pretender to the throne. A stupid bird that flew too close to the sun became a symbol of unhappy female love and a victim of male betrayal. No, Tarakanova is not a bitch. She just found the strength to take the first bitchy step and thought that this was enough, for which she paid. But even this step made such an ordinary person famous. It’s scary to even imagine what would have happened if a smarter woman had been in her place...
Of course, one could argue that most of these women were born to become queens. From childhood they were brought up at court and could not help but be imbued with a sense of responsibility for the entrusted state. But how many queens have remained in history as a pale copy of their famous husbands, and how many absolutely unborn persons have become famous due to their originality, bitchiness, in the end! Not each of us would be able to take responsibility and have the courage to make this or that decision. How many tears, doubts and sleepless nights did the famous bitches have to go through to remain in history forever? This is not written about in textbooks. We are used to counting outstanding people special, superhuman from birth, and sometimes we forget that they also loved and suffered, but broke existing rules and, first of all, themselves. They were distinguished from ordinary women by their irrepressible energy and desire to succeed. We envy the strength and determination of Catherine the Great, the education of Ekaterina Dashkova, the sacrifice of the wives of the Decembrists, the success of ballerinas, which is backed by years of training at the barre. Do you still think it's luck? I prefer not to envy celebrities and not to attribute to luck what is actually hard work and self-improvement.
They say that our time is fast: the frantic pace of life steadily leads to daily bustle, haste and depression. Let me disagree with this. Today, the rhythm of life and career are built with the expectation that a person will live for seventy years, or even more. Our ancestors did not have access to such luxury. We put off making important decisions, fearing that we do not have sufficient experience and material resources. But our ancestors lived a little differently: they tried to do as much as possible in their youth, while they had strength and health. It’s hard to imagine how history would have turned out if Napoleon had been put off for longer. mature years their conquests. Poor medicine, unfavorable living conditions and illnesses pushed people not to procrastinate, to live life to the fullest and to accomplish as much as possible. Today, a person who achieves success at the age of forty is considered a successful young businessman. In those years he would have been treated like a very old man. Ballerinas, athletes and actresses should become famous before the age of thirty. Numerous researchers of women's success have come to the conclusion that the real age of victories is from sixteen to thirty-five years, and not only in sports and a modeling career. At nineteen, Françoise Sagan wrote her first novel. Estee Lauder, at twenty-five, created a company producing cosmetic creams, which was the first step towards creating a modern cosmetics empire. Alexandra Marinina wrote her first detective story at the age of thirty-four. Stella McCartney (daughter of Paul McCartney) showed her first clothing collection at twenty-six and immediately became known as one of the leading fashion designers. By the age of thirty-three, Margaret Thatcher had made a career as a lawyer and was elected to Parliament. Linda Wachner, America's most successful businesswoman, earning three million dollars a year, became vice president of a large company at age twenty-nine. Irina Khakamada, at thirty-four, took up entrepreneurial activity and became the head of a cooperative. Thirty-year-old Svetlana Sorokina decided to change her life and came to television (her first education is a landscape designer). At thirty-one, Olga Dergunova headed the Microsoft office in Russia. You don’t have to write about numerous models, singers, actresses at all; you yourself see their young faces every day on the screen and on the covers of glossy magazines. I try to follow the example of the greats and live as quickly as possible, filling every day with new people and events. I often hear from friends: before you know it, a year has passed. Such thoughts never occur to me. When it comes New Year, then it seems that three have passed, not one. So much has happened that it could last a lifetime for someone. And the main thing is that although you get tired and groan in the morning from “lack of sleep,” you can’t live any other way.
I don’t trust other people’s opinions about gender differences and the traditionally subordinate position of women. History suggests that women are not so different from men, no matter how much the latter would like it to be. Much depends on the culture and religion of the people. For example, in Iceland, women already in the eleventh century had the right to file for divorce, and rape was punishable by death. The Lutheran Church allows women to become pastors. In countries with the most high level women occupy half of the seats in parliament. Margaret Thatcher, Golda Meir, Vigdís Finnbogadóttir (the first woman elected head of state by universal suffrage) - aren’t there enough examples that a woman is created not only to serve a man and raise children? Myths about male superiority are cultivated in the east and in countries with a low level of culture. Unfortunately, Russia today is classified as one of these countries.
I have several books on great women on my bookshelf. When I give up and don’t want to do anything, when I doubt whether he loves me, when I think for the hundredth time: “Why do I need all this?”, I take a book from the shelf, climb into a warm bath and re-read about other people’s suffering, courage and faith that everything will work out. And the next day I get up early in the morning with the confidence that I am no worse than those I read about, and yesterday’s pessimism is the blues of a tired woman who at some point wanted to calmly go with the flow, like everyone else. While still at school, I began collecting statements from great women. They helped me become self-confident, tolerant and wise. It's always nice to know that you are not alone in your problems. Some well-born person from distant kingdoms was just as biting her elbows when her beloved king was exchanged for another favorite, just like a simple Russian woman who caught a man in the hayloft with her neighbor. Times and morals, fashion and outlook on life change. But women's problems are unchanged: the choice between career and personal life, issues of raising children and men. How to seduce and tie a man to you for many years? How to unlock the secret of “eternal youth”? I have learned a lot from the greats and will share my accumulated knowledge with you.
Notes from my bitchy diary, behind each phrase is a separate woman's fate. The destiny is bright, ambitious, built with your own hands. Listen to women of success.
“Forgive me, monsieur, I didn’t do it on purpose.”
These were the last words of Marie Antoinette, the Queen of France, who, before her execution, accidentally stepped on the executioner’s foot. What is behind these words - stupidity or good manners, which unknowingly splashed out even on the scaffold?
“And the weak all died. Only the strong survived."
This is how Akhmatova answered the question, where did everyone go? gentle women, attracting with their helplessness and modesty. Maybe she meant bitches – the most biologically perfect species of the weaker sex?
“I would like to love a man, and for him to love me more than all other women. I want to get married, help my husband, raise healthy children. But the trouble is, I can’t love enough.”
Margaret Mitchell wrote these words in her early youth. Having become a housewife, she always remained an ambitious bitch at heart, which finally “came out” when Margaret wrote the novel “Gone with the Wind.”
“A woman should dress in such a way that you want to undress her.”
Coco Chanel knew what she was talking about. Looking at her photographs, you understand the true meaning of this statement. Seductive elegance, special charm... When I look at beautiful women, admiration fights envy and spurs the desire to be at the proper level. Each phrase of Coco hits the target:
“When taking care of beauty, you must start with the heart and soul, otherwise no amount of cosmetics will help.”
“Luxury becomes a need when other needs are already satisfied.”
“Fashion only becomes fashion when it goes outside.”
“Coquetry is feelings tamed by reason.”
“Beauty remains, but good looks disappear. But for some reason women don’t strive to be beautiful, they want to remain pretty.”
“Age is not the most important thing for a woman. You can be amazing at twenty, charming at forty and remain irresistible for the rest of your life.”
“Bad taste has limits, only good taste is endless.”
“Oh, madam, you embarrass me. Yes, yes, you, with those little binoculars. Please don't look into it. Don't lose your illusions."
With these words, Josephine Baker, the famous black dancer, addressed the audience in the hall during the dance. She was seventy years old. And she danced and cared about the impression she made.
“By the age of forty, a woman gets the face she deserves.”
Bravo again, Coco! Extraordinary insight and observation. She deserved - so much in this one word: both the way the woman took care of her face, and the emotions that created wrinkles on it...
I often remember and quote her words. Sometimes it seems that I came up with this myself, because you couldn’t say it better:
“Everything is in our hands, so we can’t let them go,” “To be irreplaceable for a man, you need to constantly change.”
“When falling in love, I always surrendered to my feeling. But when I had to choose between a man and my dresses, I chose the dresses. I have always been stronger than my passions; work was a kind of drug for me. But I doubt that Chanel would have become without the help of men.”
“My legs are not that beautiful, I just know what to do with them.”
Marlene Dietrich knew what to do not only with her legs. Let her words become your motto. Nobody is perfect. But some people know how to present their imperfections as a masterpiece.
“There is no harder job than looking beautiful from eight in the morning until midnight.”
When asked why she behaves like a bitch, actress Lara Flynn Boyle did not hesitate to answer:
“Because I am a bitch. I decided that it was better not to pretend to be an angel. I used to pretend to be an innocent lamb, and I was sick of myself. And now I realized that you just need to be yourself. Some people may not like it, but I will sleep peacefully at night.”
She is not shy about admitting her natural bitchiness. I don't have the courage to admit that being a bitch is not only useful, but also very, very pleasant. However, why hide it?
There are no ready-made, established forms in employment: do it this way and get a job, do it differently and don’t get it. Finding a suitable vacancy is a creative process, depending on the circumstances and even the mood of the employer. Often our attitudes that come from nowhere prevent us, for example, from successfully passing an interview. Thus, we ourselves build obstacles on the way to our cherished goal. Let's get rid of stereotypes together.
So, do you think that for successful employment you need:
1. Have acquaintances (relatives), since well-known companies (firms, enterprises and organizations) are closed to people from the street.
Quite a common opinion. Even if such a job seeker sees an advertisement for a vacancy, he still will not believe his eyes, since “this cannot happen, because it can never happen.” Or he will think that this is a cunning trick, supposedly to create mass participation and democracy. In fact, the announced competition or tender will be won by the one with the shaggiest hand... And, as the smartest, he will not even try to send his resume. But in vain! Many companies, indeed, try to hire people they know to fill vacant positions, but not in terms of connections, but in terms of work, that is, from their own contingent. For example, a switchboard operator may be transferred to the vacant position of department secretary, and the boss may be selected from among successful managers. But this state of affairs in no way detracts from your merits, an outsider. Many employers even think that new employee will bring a fresh spirit to the activities of this enterprise. And it is quite acceptable that the company has its own more experienced specialists. But still, an employee who has recently joined the team is still attractive because of his mystery: it is not known what kind of person he is and what he is capable of professionally.
“What if...” such an employer thinks and hires an employee from outside, sometimes somewhat exaggerating the newcomer’s potential. This phenomenon is well known in psychology, when a man, having a smart and beautiful wife, gives preference to a vulgar stranger. This does not mean that your candidacy is obviously worse, no. It’s just that, according to the nature of the human psyche, it seems to us that the new is better than the usual, hence the statement that tomorrow will be better than yesterday. What does the applicant need to do? Regardless of the statement in the title, actively offer employers your excellent candidacy. Of course, a guarantee from an authoritative employee of a given organization or another respected comrade has never prevented anyone from finding a job, but this is, as it were, secondary. And it’s not a fact that without it you won’t be able to take the desired position!
2. Strive to get a job in only one specific company.
Determination and knowing your goal are wonderful qualities. You can drive employers into a frenzy, like one Japanese lover who sent his own severed finger to the father of his chosen one... And then you can be hired (one chance in a thousand) or mistaken for a madman (99.9%). If your character allows, try to get a job in the smallest position, even as a janitor, but wherever you want, and crawl like a turtle to your cherished professional heights. Patience, my friend, just patience. But here everything turns out differently: either you will be lucky and your diligence will be noticed, or... your patience will burst and splash everything around so that even you yourself will not find it enough. You can also collect points in other companies, and then, at a certain time, ride a white horse straight into the coveted building of your dreams.
But a person assumes, and... then you know the saying yourself. Who will give you a guarantee that you are striving exactly where you are destined from above, where success awaits you? Here one ancient commandment is violated: do not make yourself an idol. Disappointment can be very costly. Thus, an excellent programmer Boris F. dreamed of getting into one international holding, let's call it S, and, wherever he worked, he always compared his activities with possible work in this organization. Although the comparisons were purely speculative. He was never in the service of S! His resume and passionate desire to get there for the time being lay in a recruitment agency for employment, where, under an agreement, candidates for vacant positions were selected for an international holding company. And then, less than two and a half years later, Boris’s wishes and S’s requests coincided... He was simply an ideal candidate, and then it turned out that in reality everything in the holding was not so beautiful: tyrants are in charge, programs use outdated slogans about health and deceitful beauty, etc., etc. What is the conclusion? Don't be so straightforward and, excuse me, naive, and also obsessed with one single company. Don't limit yourself, your personality and your abilities. Be a real commander, capable of retreating if necessary. And most importantly, always have not only one solution, but several backup options...
3. Have a higher education diploma.
There is only one piece of advice here: look for a vacancy where experience is valued, and not such a formality as a higher education diploma. (There are also plenty of formalists among employers.) Where you immediately need to join the team and work, where there is no time to retrain a high school graduate. Remember, like in that old movie: “Now forget about everything you were taught at the institute.” Please note that many of our outstanding businessmen do not have a university degree, but at the same time they manage their companies well! Car tycoon Henry Ford generally considered it the height of stupidity to know a lot, why? After all, he has specialists for that. The famous book publisher Ivan Dmitrievich Sytin did not even graduate from parochial school. And you will find thousands of such examples. Of course, there are companies where it is better not to go without a diploma. Foreign companies are especially guilty of this, demanding a certificate from applicants, but one should not overestimate its importance. Alas, all over the world, not only here, the bulk of the unemployed are people who have a higher education, or even more than one...
4. Write a resume correctly, that is, according to the classical scheme.
What does it mean? According to a certain form, template? Of course, your resume must indicate the vacancy for which you are applying. And, of course, your personal data: last name, first name, patronymic; year of birth; marital status, presence of children; address and telephone. Then education, work experience, professional skills, additional information and mention personal qualities. Everything is competent, concise, precise and... boring to the point of impossibility. The last addition is probably deeply subjective, but imagine the picture when a lot of resumes are received for a good vacancy and they all look the same. The unfortunate HR manager simply exhaustively erases the standard questionnaires that arrive via soap, or even throws the resumes constantly faxed, written like a carbon copy, into the trash. Sometimes applicants send recruiters a small photograph of themselves: the fax itself disfigures it, tinting it as necessary. In my professional practice, there was a case when a candidate sent a classic resume, printed on a black background with white letters, and it immediately attracted attention. I remember that we hired that employee then. He turned out to be good psychologist, and such a specialist in the customer service department is simply necessary.
But you still shouldn’t shock the recruiter with your resume. Remember how Tom Cruise's character in the movie "Cocktail", tired of looking for a job, writes a profile in the form of an obituary? An obvious extreme, but there should still be something in your message that hooks the employer! Thus, one applicant learned that his future boss was an avid hunter, then in additional information about himself he wrote that he was a master of sports in shooting with an air rifle and a Margolin pistol. This was true, but had nothing to do with his immediate future position. And what do you think? It worked! Or another example. One girl, knowing the management's passion for Hollywood, noted in her resume that she had an IQ level like Sharon Stone. She even looked somewhat like her. Another comrade framed his message to the electronic computing company as a theorem, at the end of which he modestly summarized that in all respects he is what the company needs, all that remains is to give him a chance to prove it. You can come up with something more interesting. For example, a resume in the form of your original website. This extraordinary approach to business is especially relevant for people in creative professions. This is where you need to think creatively. In any case, when working on your resume, be original, use everything that will benefit you or set you apart from the general background of standards.
5. Be sure to get a job on staff.
“Oh, you’re out of state! Oh, poor thing, that’s what it’s all about...” - they look at you with sympathy, but do not envy you. It’s like they discovered the terrible secret of your illegitimate birth. In fact, at the present stage, all this, forgive the frankness, is nonsense. Many organizations do not want to increase their staff beyond what was originally stated, or even directly limited to Russian market, others take workers, as it were, on lease from an employment agency to complete a specific project, and you never know why they make certain positions out of staff. Let's say you are a freelancer performing auxiliary functions: processing data for professional analysis. For example, for a thousand respondents you get a thousand rubles. What confuses you? You do not have social benefits, but you don’t go to work, don’t sit in the office from 9 to 18 o’clock. And in two hours you “click” on your home computer and... are free! In the case of leasing, there is nothing to worry about at all; there is an agreement with a recruitment agency, which, in fact, is the employer. Pay attention only to the presence of a link that indicates another agreement: between the agency and the client-employer (you directly receive tasks from the latter, and he controls their execution). And what difference does it make to you where you are listed?
Much depends on the company itself. But, as a rule, freelancers do not feel like they have a lot of rights if they work under the supervision of competent managers. That is, those who do not, excuse me, run around with chalk to draw a line between their employees and these freelancers. In my professional practice, a trading company hired freelance sales managers. So our salary depended on the results of their activities. We - the administration (staff), the trade sector (freelance workers) carried in our arms, as long as they gave milk! So being one of the non-permanent employees is not always so humiliating. In such cases, you only need to be afraid of verbal agreements. An example from life: for many years two friends were inseparable.
They lived nearby, studied together, got married. The husband of one of them created a travel agency. He made his wife a co-owner, and invited her friend to work freelance. Like, let’s get promoted, become a partner, and so on. He promised mountains of gold, in a word. As a result, the friend worked not only outside the state for a whole year, but also outside the cash register, until she finally quarreled with the “owners”.
The five examples given are just the tip of the iceberg of the existing barriers-statements that you erect on the path to successful employment. Remember, there are no rules here (exception: no one has yet canceled decency and culture!), if you really want to get a job, but it seems to you that you won’t succeed because... (see above or add it yourself). With a creative approach, anything can be done! Be flexible and loyal to yourself, find that pain point of the employer that you can click on.
Between us: they are naively looking for the ideal employee, although it does not exist in nature, but you try to show it to them. First, look at yourself in the mirror and read your resume out loud and with expression. Well, it just turns out to be a variety act... In general, there are no insurmountable barriers! If the bar for finding a job is too high, crawl, like Maxim Perepelitsa, on your belly, and believe: nothing bad will happen to you. The only impenetrable thing can be your self-inflated self-esteem...
Sometimes I wonder how these or those “folk phrases” appeared, which in large numbers roam around various pseudo-philosophical groups like “Fuck Normality” in VKontakte.
There are two phrases that irritate me most: “every exception proves the rule” and “rules are made to be broken.” They irritate me, first of all, with their utter stupidity and complete illogicality, but, nevertheless, for the most part, they spread across the Internet in exactly this form under the heading “age-old wisdom”, they are included in all sorts of discussions as a decisive argument - in general, complete abomination.
The first phrase turned out to be quite simple. Its roots are legal; it has nothing to do with normal life. I had to tinker with the second one, but thanks to my dear Ever and its source was discovered, this time purely literary.
Let's start with the exception, which, as we know, confirms the rule. This expression was formed as a paraphrase from Cicero’s speech in defense of Lucius Cornelius Balbus the Elder. They accused him of having received Roman citizenship illegally. The case was heard in 56 BC. e.
L. Cornelius Balbus was a native of Gades (modern name Cadiz), served under Pompey, with whom he became friends and became friends; Pompey was the sponsor of his citizenship. The background to the accusation was, as in most high-profile cases of that time, political. Although Balbus himself was politically active, the blow was certainly directed at the triumvirs of the First Triumvirate (Caesar, Crassus and Pompey).
Not only Cicero, but also Pompey and Crassus spoke in defense of Balbus. The case was won. Balbus always tried to pursue a pacifying policy, to find a common place between enemies. He became the first naturalized (not born) citizen to become consul in Roman history, in 40 BC. e.
In his speech, Cicero makes the following argument. In some interstate agreements on the mutual recognition of Rome with neighboring countries, there was a clause that explicitly excluded dual citizenship: residents of those countries could not become Roman citizens without first renouncing theirs. Balbus' citizenship was dual; this was the formal side of the accusation. Cicero says that since some agreements have such an exception, those agreements that do not have it are subject to the opposite rule, namely, dual citizenship is allowed.
In other words, if there is an exception, then there must be a rule from which this exception is made, even if this rule is never explicitly stated. Thus, the existence of exceptions confirms the existence of the rule from which these exceptions are made.
Thus, the original phrase is nothing more than a legal case applied in defense of a person 2000 years ago.
The second phrase – rules are meant to be broken – unfortunately, does not have such a rich history. Its source is young, and the author died only half a century ago, so we can say that the phrase is in some sense the same age as you and me. The founder of the main wisdom of all idiots is the respected Erich Maria Remarque, who in his book Drei Kameraden (“Three Comrades”) put the following phrase into the mouth of his hero Gottfried Lenz:
Prinzipien muß man durchbrechen, sonst machen sie keine Freude.
What does it mean in translation:
It is necessary to deviate from principles sometimes, otherwise they do not bring joy.
“Damaged phone” made the original phrase almost unrecognizable, and, of course, completely distorted its meaning.
