CeciKay's Xanga

Self Professional Evaluation

Thu, 20 Dec 2007 01:36:23 GMT

**Updated 01/12/2008 @ 9:24 pm**

I was simultaneously blogging and filling out applications online as I, once again, continue the search for a new and hopefully lasting career. I decided to attempt government employment. In this process, I was forced to perform a self professional evaluation. I decided that this might boost my confidence and allow me to see myself with much more accomplishment. When I complete my previous post "Strength From Loss," you will better understand the necessity of this boost. We will see if this new self perspective will produce a positive outcome.

Disclaimer: I have purposely removed the all the position titles and company names. Of course, I copied and pasted from other documents. However, I carefully selected the arrangements and wording that best reflects my self image.

Now the evaluation:

I am extremely interested in the position at the company. I cannot imagine working for a better company to secure a situation that will fully use my acquired skills and further develop a professional expertise in Administrative Management. I love new challenges and work well with a diverse group of people. I would like to join a friendly office team that not only works together, but also appreciates the hard work of each of its team members. However, I previously found comfort in working alone under the direction of a supervisor as well. I am easily trained to perform new tasks and have worked in many different industries. I quickly adapt to new environments, yet I continue my search for the company with which I will be most useful.

Within the past eight years, I specifically sought out to gain experience in a broad variety of administrative processes so that I may perform a full range of routine and miscellaneous clerical tasks simultaneously. I often worked for companies that had difficulty meeting staffing needs; many times I was forced to assume multiple roles in order to complete my assignments. This experience taught me to appreciate the assistance of others and value the efforts of associates because these efforts often directly or indirectly affect my productivity.

During my most recent work experience, I was promoted twice within the first six months of employment. Although the wage I earned was lower than I preferred, I was granted the opportunity, with unlimited overtime, to continue special tasks, research, and data analysis that resulted in the improvement of quality and safety to obtain greater compensation. Frequently, I chose to sacrifice personal and family time to accept challenges and prove my abilities in order to earn a justified salary. I supported shift, quality and safety, training, account, human resources, payroll, general, and regional managers concurrently. Therefore, it was important that I understand their roles to meet their specific and dissimilar administrative needs. It was imperative that I separately develop professional relationships with each manager so that I can better assess their strengths and weaknesses: some may require daily reminders while others prefer only that their online calendars are updated regularly to meet time sensitive correspondence or priority responsibilities. It was also important that I keep all files, logs, and other records extremely organized and accessible so multiple managers can validate my varied reports or conduct their own researches. I was responsible for “hosting” weekly managers meetings: sending reminder memos to include the meeting’s topics, confirming who will or will not be in attendance, preparing the conference room with adequate seating and necessary presentation equipment, duplicating materials and reports for each attendee, providing note-taking materials, and occasionally preparing refreshments for lengthy meetings. During these meetings, I take the opportunity to present any reports or update my progress on continued research. Usually, I would prepare my weekly reports of time and attendance records to separately evaluate the subordinate staff of each manager as well as evaluating as a group. This allows managers to reward their top performers and discipline those that may not be following procedure. Often, my reports initiate managers to submit staffing requirements to HR to meet operational needs. After the meetings, I would document all new goals set by the meetings and forward to appropriate people. I am accustomed to drafting, proofing, and editing memos and letters of both confidential and non-sensitive matters. I proudly enjoy editing any form of literature for grammatical errors.

I prefer a well supplied office. In preparation of numerous office supplies orders, I keep in mind that most budgets do not reflect a realistic availability for office supplies. I tend to place monthly orders in bulk to reduce overall costs of supplies. It is a success when supplies last for the entire month without having to place an emergency order for toner or paper and have been known to ration and monitor supplies in order to achieve this monthly victory.

I learn quickly and am very consistent. I make a conscious effort to replace all responses of “I don’t know” with a response of “I’ll find out for you”. I am not afraid to ask questions, especially so that I may completely understand new tasks and ideas. I have been distracted by countless paper jams, fax transmittal errors, and other office equipment failures. Although I am frequently asked to use my troubleshooting skills, I welcome the guidance and knowledge of numerous technical support professionals that have generously contributed to my handiness.

I would describe myself as an ethically motivated, highly organized, independently proactive, career focused team player. My personal goal in any office setting is to end each workday prepared for any random audit. This frame of mind allows for a smooth transition when advancement opportunities are presented. I am confident that the position at the company appears to be a good fit. Furthermore, I fully appreciate the opportunity to request consideration, yet I realize more qualified candidates may also apply for this position. Additionally, please do not hesitate to contact me or pass on my resume for other vacant positions that might be more appropriate.

Duties From Company A

Conduct weekly payroll audits and process valid adjustments prior to end of each pay period. Input approved manual time confirmations. Input temporary position and pay data adjustments. Update permanent changes of schedules, positions, and pay data in both on-line and off-line databases. Research payroll discrepancies and offer explanations of accepted adjustments and denials. Prepare weekly presentations of employee attendance and performance analysis. Initiate requests for PTO balances and process authorized employee leave requests. Manage communications to and from employees, supervisors, managers, payroll, human resources, and corporate offices. Prepare personnel action and disciplinary action forms. Provide one-on-one and group employee consultations regarding company policies and procedures. Organize file material and validation records for multiple managers to reference with ease. Export and prepare reports from multiple data bases. Conduct searches and other follow up action. Coordinate job fairs. Review new hire and incumbent employee applications and conduct initial interviews. Process immediate hires and schedule 2nd interviews. Track results of pre-employment screening and fingerprinting. Conduct New hire orientation and training. Schedule and conduct recurrent testing and retraining. Submit, track, and file employee and passenger injury claims. Test and develop operating procedures to improve quality of service and productivity. Monitor property inventory and maintain accountability records. Monitor functionality and schedule maintenance of all office equipment. Order and distribute office supplies and uniforms. Screen documents, forms, and letters addressed or routed to various offices. Maintain spreadsheets for tracking and reconciliation purposes. Receive, sort, distribute, and schedule the delivery and pick-up of interdepartmental mail. Maintain calendar of appointments and meetings for managers. Schedule travel arrangements.
*Accomplishments: I clearly expressed my aspirations to advance and received my first pay increase before the standard 90 day evaluation. With a manager who shared a similar image of productivity, I was able to creatively organize a more functional work space with little supervision. I accepted new and increasingly difficult tasks. After working for only six months, I was recommended to join the Start-Up team of a new division of the company in Houston, TX. I traveled weekly for two months and served as an executive assistant to the new regional manager as other team members could not spend too much time away from their home divisions. With unlimited overtime, I was able to successfully staff 350 employees, including supervisors, after processing over 500 applicants. I prepared new employees to begin working several weeks before originally expected. I was offered the Human Resources Manager position for Houston even without formal background or training, but I could not relocate my family.

Duties From Company B

Calculate daily, weekly, and biweekly hours from stamped time cards.
Submit time and attendance data for payroll authorization. Perform daily audit of transactions.
Reconcile credit card transactions.
Maintain logs for tracking petty cash transactions and reconciling bank deposits.
Analyze and submit performance and occupancy reports.
Organize and file hard copies of daily reports.
Establish and maintain administrative operations.
Monitor functionality and schedule maintenance of all office equipment, indoor pool, elevator, smoke detectors, and fire extinguishers.
Order office, breakfast, and maintenance supplies.
Monitor property inventory and maintain accountability records.
Update employee work schedules.
Conduct training for front desk representative and housekeeping positions.
Complete housekeeping, laundry, maintenance tasks when staffing inadequate for daily operations.
Respond to routine questions, walk-in customers, employees, and telephone callers.
Input reservations and sales.
Check guests in and out.
Perform security checks throughout the property.
Prepare deluxe continental breakfasts to accommodate occupancy.

Duties From Company C

Establish and maintain administrative operations.
Organize office, lobby and break area.
Purchase office, lobby, and break area supplies.
Monitor functionality and schedule maintenance of all office equipment.
Monitor property inventory and maintain accountability records.
Purchase supplies as needed between scheduled orders.
Update posting of employee work schedules.
Calculate daily, weekly, and biweekly hours from stamped time cards.
Perform daily audit of transactions Reconcile credit card transactions.
Maintain logs for tracking petty cash transactions and reconciling bank deposits.
Organize A/R and A/P files.
Prepare all payment and payroll checks for signatures.
Verbally initiate collections of direct bill accounts and hand-deliver aging bills.
Respond to routine questions, walk-in customers, employees, and telephone callers.

Descriptive List of Skills, Knowledge, and Abilities:
(in alphabetical order to avoid selecting between synonyms)
*requires re-wording suggestions

Accepts Challenges*

Analytical

Appreciative

Articulate

Assertive

Attentive

Broad-Minded

Capable

Career Oriented

Challenging

Committed

Communication Skills

Competent

Competitive

Conscientious

Consistent

Cost Conscious

Creative

Critical

Curious

Decisive

Dedicated

Dependable

Detail Oriented

Diligent

Diverse

Easily Trained

Effective

Efficient

Enthusiastic

Ethically Motivated

Exceptional

Experienced

Explainer*

Extensive

Fair

Flexible

Focused

Goal Achiever

Goal Oriented

Grammatically Cautious

Handy

Imaginative

Implementer

Improviser

Independent

Informative
Innovative

Instinctive

Intelligent

Interpersonal Skills

Knowledgeable

Leadership

Loyal

Mature

Meet Deadlines

Motivated

Multi-Tasking

Objective

Observant

Organized

Original

Outstanding

Patient

People Pleaser

Perceptive

Pleasant

Poised

Positive Reinforcer

Precise

Proactive

Problem Solver

Productive

Professional

Proficient

Quick Learner

Reliable

Resourceful

Responsible

Self-Directed

Self-Motivated

Self-Reliant

Sincere

Skilled

Strong

Successful

Tactful

Take Directions

Team Player

Thorough

Thoughtful

Tolerant

Troubleshooter

Trust

Trustworthy

Under Pressure

Understanding

Unique

Versatile

Well-Rounded

I obviously described myself at the end of the begining of the evaluation before I compiled this descriptive list and will probably edit that with a more personalized description.

Have you had enough for today? I think I need to get in the bed now. Good night.

Strength From Loss

Wed, 19 Dec 2007 21:18:53 GMT

*** Updated 01/12/2008 @ 9:30pm ***

It has been a short while since my previous post. I was doing pretty well with posting in October. This is what happened . . .

Disclaimer:
For those who do not know or experience much loss, I hate you! No, I don't really hate you, but I want to arrange a meeting so you can let me kick you . . . or possibly just slap you with some Oscar Meyer ham! If you do not understand, you're just going to have to search old posts or something.

Let's get back to topic:
October ended with Halloween and November began with a costume party at Sherilyn's and Allston's.

All seemed well, as far as I can remember, during the first weeks of November. I planned on spending some time with Sherilyn, but somehow it just did not happen. Mid-month, I began to worry a little although a little irregularity did not trouble me so much in the past. I came to a realization that the days of the past are long gone. New days require a different perspective. These and future days have high expectations and necessarily demand cautious behavior. Open your mind. See what might have previously been missed. Hear what might have been previously inaudible. Discouraged by the decrease in new postings for interesting opportunities, my lack of interviews, and the plummeting of confidence led me to another realization: my new perspective may not be the right new perpective. My open mind, seeing eyes, and listening ear thought, saw and heard more than my heart would accept. The problem, evidently, was that this new perspective turned out to be a wild imagination. Good thing I realized this, or all I know would be in serious trouble.

Moving on . . . directly after a realization often follows change. Or promise to change. With promise, comes obligation. With obligation, comes a necessity of communication (if at least to courteously request an extension or touch base with progress of meeting that obligation). Lack of this communication will only result in disappointment. It is amazing how people expect your trust as they continue to disappoint you. Have I ever disappointed you? Have I apologized and made up for it, yet? Sometimes people are unaware that their lack of action disappoints. I admit that I too am guilty of this.

So, at what point do you put your foot down and demand attention? When is the appropriate time and place for an ultimatum? Or is the lowering of expectations the only method of protecting yourself from disappointing people? Well, this is what happens when you choose the expectations lowering method: you lose!

However, what you you get from loss? I will definitely get back to this topic, because I did not even get near the place where I wanted to take this title. Due to time constraints, I must abandon this topic and begin a new one for now. Maybe I'll post the new topic separately to avoid confusion.

New Addition to this blog: (01/12/2008 @ 9:30pm)

Let's elaborate where I left off: when I said to protect yourself from disappointing people, I do not want you to misunderstand. I did not mean to lower your expectations so that you do not disappoint others, rather I meant to lower your expectations to protect yourself from people who would disappoint you. Maybe I should have worded that better, but then again, why not vent when you are venting?

Back to Loss: What do you get from loss? Contrary to poular beliefs, I have experienced much loss. Therefore, I will not need to arrange a meeting with myself to either kick or slap myself. The end of November and the begining of December brought a great deal of loss for me. Thanksgiving 2007 was not the best. I was feeling pretty lethargic at odd hours of the day. I had trouble sleeping at night. My senses were hightened and I could not stand the smell of ice. I lacked motivation to complete daily tasks and lost most confidence to succeed in anything. I spent hours sleeping away my depression thinking I would wake up to a better outlook. Soon after, I was starting to believe that it was making things worse. I spent several unconsecutive hours contemplating a way to get it together. I found that the shower is a great place for these hours as it imaginatively washes away the negativity. I was begining to feel sorry for myself, my girls, my husband, my family, and my life. I had to snap out of it. It's a difficult place to be.

I felt guilty for not seeing my family on Thanksgiving night. Dad came into town, but I just didn't feel like going to Atlanta. The next day, Jill and Nicole went to Union City to get something done on Nicole's car.

Falling asleep at the computer . . . To Be Continued . . .

If only it was not a category. . .

Sat, 27 Oct 2007 01:45:04 GMT

Today, Camille's school had their first "I CAN Achieve" awards assembly. It was about 8:15am when I spoke to Lola to pick up Celene and I. The ceremony was scheduled to begin at 8:30am. I hoped the kindergarten classes went last. I watched her stand up and sit down as her teacher called out the names for each category. Camille was the only student in her class that was recognized in 4 out of 5 "I CAN Achieve" categories: Initiative, Excellent Conduct, Perfect Attendance, Notable Effort, and Academic Achievement. I noticed that she kept getting called, but Lola noticed which one she missed. If you know me, then you know which one it is. Unlike the End-of-the-Year ceremonies I grew up with, no trophies, no medals, and no certificates were presented; then again, school has only been in session for 9 weeks. Only the second through fifth graders with all 4s received t-shirts. We left after congratulating Camille and went to Waffle House for breakfast. Lola missed a call from one of her co-workers only stating in a hushed tone, "the cat is out the bag. I repeat, the cat is out the bag." Of course she had to explain. Debating on whether we were going to visit Camille for lunch, we went to Books-A-Million in The Avenue. 11:05am rolled around and we decided not to have lunch, and Celene and I went home. I didn't sleep well last night, so I was grateful that Chris picked up Camille from school as I napped on the couch with Celene. To my surprise, Camille brought home a certificate that indicated her achievement categories. A double surprise was that the "2nd Mile Award [was] presented to Camille Bennett for going that extra mile in showing INDIVIDUALITY." I asked her why she didn't tell us, but she said that she forgot. The note attached said the following:

"Congratulations. your child has been chosen as the classroom recipient for our 2nd Mile Breakfast sponsored by Chik-fil-a. Our 2nd Mile student breakfasts have been a lot of fun. We serve orange juice and a donated Chik-fil-a biscuit to one student from every class who demonstrated the word of the month. Each classroom has a procedure for choosing their student. So far, we have celebrated students for showing responsibility and individuality. Your child was recognized on Thursday for Individuality. Great Job!"

Camille said that Dorothy got the responsibility award and got a breakfast too. Upon completion of my analysis of the ceremony, only one student got 5 out of 5 "I CAN Achieve" categories and that was Anna. Camille talks about Anna all the time. Her other frequently mentioned friends Lauren, Jordan, Dorothy, and Reese each got 3 out of 5. Since Camille also received the 2nd Mile Award, I think that she ties with Anna in the number of achievements received for this first 9 weeks. If only one of those were not a category, she would have had the most recognition.

Chris and I are so proud of her.

Witch Fingers!

Thu, 25 Oct 2007 21:07:59 GMT

Today, I made my first batch of Witch Finger Cookies: I'm practicing for Sherilyn's Halloween Party. I also wanted to make some for Mom, Nicole, and Jill to take to their jobs. One batch is supposed to yield 5 dozen cookies: we'll see. They turned out pretty good. The dough chilled for more than 30 minutes because of a few episodes of Law&Order: Criminal Intent, so it was tough to separate the batch into 4 parts. I let it rest at room temp for about 10 minutes before I could work with it. I only used about a third of 1 of 4 parts of the batch and ended up with 10 cookies. At that rate, I may end up with 10 dozen cookies from only one batch! the end product was a little fatter than I expected, but it did not only happen to me. I got the recipe online and they warned about the fattening of the fingers as they baked. I thought that I formed the dough pretty thin, but obviously not thin enough. Camille and Celene helped me put on the almond finger nails. The recipe also called for the cookies to bake at 325° for 20-25 minutes; however, if I didn't get them out at 10 minutes, They would have been so burnt that only the garbage could eat them. After baking, the girls both helped me paint the Witch nails with the blood red candy paste Celene and I made earlier. We'll try again tomorrow.

Feeling Better :)

Tue, 16 Oct 2007 19:14:00 GMT

I'm feeling much better today. No pain. My face is almost back to normal. I'm taking my meds as directed by Dr. Jill and Dr. Nicole. Exercise has decreased over the last two days. I guess I should get off the computer and get on the elliptical. More later . . .

My Monster Face :(

Fri, 12 Oct 2007 13:31:54 GMT

Another toothache! I guess I shouldn't be surprised. Everyone told me to go to the dentist. They are getting worse and worse. The last time was really bad. I couldn't sleep for days. The throbbing was non-stop. Medicine did not help. The pressure building up in my jaw was unbearable. Then, the monster face appeared. You would think I learned my lesson. Jill and Natalie came down. They helped me find the Fayette Care Clinic. When I called them to set up an appointment, the next available was 6 months away! I think because my face stretched from the last time, I didn't feel too much pressure this time. My face just started swelling up. I made the mistake of applying heat for a few hours when it was small before seeing it online to keep heat away. It did relieve the pain temporarily, but as soon as I removed the heat, the pain increased and so did the size of my face. Ice made it numb and reduced the size a little. Thanks to Chris for getting me Aleve: every 8 hours is working pretty well. I read that exercise will help. For the most part, it actually does. You should see me on the elliptical: crying until my heart rate is up. Once the workout becomes aerobic, then it actually feels good. Now if I could convince myself that exercise will keep my toothaches away, I may reach my wieght goal. But that's another topic. I know it's going to get worse before it gets better. I hate not having that cushion to take care of these emergencies. I need a job . . . FAST.

Slapped by a slice of Oscar Meyer Chopped Ham!

Tue, 09 Oct 2007 18:24:29 GMT

Why does Chris do the things he does? Today, he let me know that I got a MySpace message from Keshena asking if Chris was the same Chris or if I got married again. A little offended, he thought he should reply right away. I told him to just say, "yes, it's the same Chris." Simple enough, I thought.

Instead he writes, "Thats Chris we will have been married for six years come March." Now we all know how I am about being grammatically correct. First, "That's" is a contraction of "That is" and should not be written without an apostrophe. Also, there are two sentences but no period to separate them. "We will have been" and "come March" are two phrases I would not say. He stood over me, smiling, as I read what he wrote. He found it quite amusing, so I decided to write about it. I would have said, "Yes, that is the same Chris. Also, we plan on renewing our vows, but we just haven't set the date." So, I ask again, why does he do the things he does?

Yesterday, Chris and Celene were playing in the living room. I sat down on the couch just in time to see Chris slap Celene in the face with the slice of ham he was eating. I exclaimed, "Don't do that. Why would you do that?" Then, SLAP! Right in my face with the slice of Oscar Meyer Chopped Ham! I grabbed the ham with intentions of slapping him back. Chris laughed uncontrollably and pleaded for me not to do it. Today, I asked Chris why he did it. He said that they were playing and he offered her a bite. When she declined, he thought it would be funny. To him, it was so funny he decided to do it to me, too. I must say: I am a better person because I put the ham down.

Elijah & Camille - Window models @ Model Productions.

Mon, 08 Oct 2007 02:01:29 GMT

I took Camille to her Model Productions Contract Orientation yesterday. She was excited when we left. It took us right under an hour to get to Discover Mills Mall, but when we got there, the first thing we see is Midieval Times. Complete with a large castle Draw Bridge. I told Camille I would find out more about the castle once we finished her auditions.We listen to the president of Model Productions conduct the orientation. She explained the next steps of accepting the contract and what 2 parts of the audition will be about. As they split up the group into 12 & under and 13 & older, Camille decided she didn't want to do it anymore. She said that she changed her mind. I started to get frustrated when I couldn't get her to want to get up there. In my frustration, I threatened her with a "Big-Time-Palo" if we leave before she auditions. We call Chris several times and she begins to cry. More and worse crying when she's talking to him, of course. She tells him she is going to do it for him, hangs up the phone, then tells me she is not going to. We go outside and a nice lady tells Camille how cute she is. Camille cries more and the lady wished her good luck and left thinking she made it any worse. She decides she'll take the whoopin' when we get home. We get all the way back to the car and Camille is once again on the phone with Chris. She agrees to do it. We get back inside and practice in front of the entrance to Midieval Times. I take some pamphlets about the Tournament Shows. $50.00 per adults and $35.00 for children. Dinner is included, but still pricey. I explain to Camille that in the olden days, princes will gather from all over to Joust in a tournament. The Champion wins the Princess for his Bride. She asked, "What do they do now?" I replied, "Boys now say, "I love Camille." and the other ones say, "No, I love Camille." And after all the boys tell you they love you, you get to pick which one you want." She laughed and said they should joust again. So I questioned, "What if the champion was hairy and stinky? Then you would have to marry him just because he won the Tournament." She laughed again and said she didn't know.

Back to the Audition:

The first part is a photo shoot for Old Navy Window Models. Camille was partnered with this tall 4 year old named Elijah. Together, they were to pose and hold until the photographer told them to change positions. I think they did really well. Then the next part was the script. Of the 3 options, Camille chose the "excited" lines. She forgot them once she was up there. Expecting me to tell her the lines, she kept looking to me for the next one and the next one. Also, Elijah stood behind her pretty close and his mother kept telling him to move back. I think this was confusing Camille who may have thought she was talking to her. Other than that, it was fine. When she got down from the stage, she said, "I couldn't remember the lines, but that was better than a whoopin'."

Not So Productive Planned To Be Productive Day

Fri, 05 Oct 2007 20:13:15 GMT

I couldn't sleep last night. I was up late and woke up pretty early. I sent out some resumes and hope to set up some interviews soon. I think I'll post my childcare ad again on Craigslist at the end of next week. We got to the house today and I decided I wanted to forget all that I planned on doing and finalize the tile design for the bathroom. I had to re-measure the area and make note of the location of the fixtures. I want to make as few cuts as possible. My goal is to pass grout lines through the faucet, shower, and handle. Specialty cuts are more difficult if you have to cut into the middle of a tile. Plus, I have 4 different tile types and have to create a custom pattern using what I have so that we don't have to buy anymore. I'm playing around with it now on Excel.

Fill in the last year or so with Yadda Yadda Yadda.

Thu, 04 Oct 2007 23:02:53 GMT

I realize I haven't written in over a year. It was intentional. Looking at life as it is today, and I also realize that so much has happened in this time that I don't even want to attempt to bridge the gap. So, let's just start with the present and move forward. I am currently a full time mother and wife. Camille is in Kindergarten and Celene is with Chris and I all day. The dogs are back on RAW. The Wynnmeade house is coming along. We hoped to move in this weekend, but are still waiting on Martin to install the carpet. We have to tile over the bathtub. Tomorrow, we should be replacing the outlet plugs and light switches before putting new plates on all of them. Law & Order is on, I'm going to have to leave the computer. I will write again soon.