Last week I got a job offer, and a few days later, after discussing things with my wife and family, I accepted it! It is a good position as a test developer for a non-profit organization in Philadelphia that makes board certification tests for medical doctors. The tests are written by committees of physicians, and I will work with them as an editor and assessment specialist, shepherding several tests through their various stages of development. Thus I will continue my work in assessment, a field that I’ve been in for over 11 years now. I look forward to learning more about medicine and a new area of assessment.

We are sad about leaving our family and friends here in Minnesota but excited by new prospects and being back on the East Coast. Since my wife and I both lived in New Jersey before, we’ve spent time in Philadelphia in the past and like it. I will be working in downtown, or “Center City,” Philadelphia, so our options for places to live are many. We may choose to live in City Center, or we may choose a suburb that is on one of the many rail lines. We may buy or rent. We will have to sell our place here in Northfield.

My long absence form the blog is due to preoccupation with the tasks around my job search and the move that will result. My apologies.

Next step in my job search: speaking more effectively about my talents and skills. My friend Dean Sorenmann has urged me to write up and practice a “30-second elevator speech” – a concise statement about myself. He says that the more I practice it and internalize it, the more effective I will be as I speak with people.

I’ve already noticed how easy it is to speak in ways that fall flat or don’t elicit much of a response. I can improve much in this area.

I’ve been putting a considerable amount of energy into my job search lately, and at the recommendation of my friend Griff Wigley I’ve used the book What Color Is Your Parachute 2009 by Richard N. Bolles as my guide.

After a few months of unsuccessful job searching, I took some of Bolles’ advice to heart. He says that rather than spending all their time researching the market, networking, and applying for advertised jobs, people should look inward and do some self-examination to make sure they are finding the job that will make them happiest.

Bolles has some exercises that are designed to help with this self-assessment. The goal of these exercises is to come up with a one-page visual aid that is a guide to your ideal job. This is called the “The Flower,” because the diagram he’s created for it looks like a flower.

At the core of the flower are what Bolles calls “transferable skills.” These are the skills that you both enjoy and have experience using. His recommended method for identifying these skills is to write out seven stories about times when you accomplished something, overcame obstacles, and enjoyed yourself in the process. Once the skills are identified, he recommends making them more concrete by putting them in a sentence and adding adverbs and objects.

Below are the skill sentences that I came up with for myself; all follow the phrase “I’m good at….”

I’m good at

• researching complex topics thoroughly and finding useful information and solutions.
• reading a wide variety of sources and staying informed on the issues.
• writing effectively and eloquently for many different purposes.
• promoting new ideas in a way that will open up minds and bring down barriers between people.
• promoting change that will benefit communities.
• being physically active in ways that support my own health and vitality and inspire others

This list of skills has already helped me to focus my job search and think about what I most enjoy doing. Now we’ll see where it takes me. Next task: informational interviews with people working in careers and organizations that interest me.

If you have ideas for where I can put most or all of these skills to work, please leave a comment. Or if you know me and want to recommend changes and make other comments, please feel free to do so.

My friend and fellow church member Dean Sorenmann and I are organizing a job search group at Northfield United Methodist Church, 1401 South Maple Street, Northfield. It starts tonight, and anyone is welcome to attend. I know Dean is planning to share some useful information, and I will share what I have learned from sources such as the book What Color is Your Parachute?

Here is the description that Dean created:

The Re-Employment ministries is a weekly job club to support anyone look for work, preparing for a layoff, or looking to change careers. We will have our first meeting at the church on August 4th at 7:00 pm. Be prepared to introduce yourself to the group. All are welcome to attend. Future meetings this month are August 11 and 18.

I’m teaching my class, “The Practical Cyclist,” again this Saturday, July 18, 11 am, in Welch, Minnesota (see Google map). The location is the Welch trailhead facility on the Cannon Valley Trail. The class will be approximately an hour, then we’ll take a ride on the trail. Weather forecast: partly sunny, 72 degrees. Perfect!

Here is a course description:

The Practical Cyclist

Designed for those who want to replace car trips with cycling trips or simply travel sustainably and enjoyably, this classroom-based course will examine the advantages of cycling; potential obstacles; equipment and strategies; safety issues; and cycling advocacy. This is not intended to be a road skills course. Taught by Bill Ostrem, who has been a “practical cyclist” for over twenty years and has served as chair of the Northfield Area Task Force on Nonmotorized Transportation.

As our son approaches 18 months of age, I’ve begun to look for a permanent full-time job. For nearly five years now, ever since moving to Northfield, Minnesota, I’ve cared for our children and done freelance work in test development.

I hope to find work here in Northfield, the Twin Cities, or nearby, and I’m looking for a position that might use my skills in writing, research, editing, education, or educational assessment. I’m also open to opportunities in sustainable or active transportation, or in “green” issues in general, since I’ve done volunteer work in that field. If you know of opportunities, feel free to let me know via my contact page.

Earlier this week I attended a career development seminar in Minneapolis. I found that methods for finding work have changed since I was last on the job hunt. As with everything else, the Internet has changed the game. One of the speakers, a Minnesotan named Jill Konrath, strongly urged us to get on LinkedIn and to have recommendations sent there as well. This echoed what a friend recently told me. She also suggested having a blog or web site and writing on topics related to your professional field.

As with some other job search gurus, Konrath tells job seekers to “create a job” rather than simply fight for the few that are advertised. She advises people to emphasize the value that they can bring employers, to sell outcomes rather than simply themselves.

She has written a book called Get Back to Work Faster, which is available for free at her web site. If you sign up by July 31, you can get a free “Performance Style and Ambitions” assessment and a LinkedIn “networking success kit.”

Pete Machalek of SagePresence did a fine presentation as well about techniques for presenting yourself in a variety of job-search situations. He has a background working with actors, and his exercises were useful for seeing how to get past issues that block us, including nervousness and self-consciousness in interview situations.

I thought I should say a little bit about the lack of posts on this blog. I’ve not kept up with my recent rate of posting once a week. It would seem to be easy to micro-blog with brief comments on what I’m doing or thinking, but I don’t want to make posts too trivial, either. Some recent posts have been long, including those that I’ve done for Locally Grown Northfield, and then I seem inclined not to post for a while as I attend to other areas of my life.

Those other areas have me very busy, of course: family life, work, home maintenance and housework, church, and volunteer work on bike/ped advocacy. And more.

My test development work has been more involved lately, as I’ve taken on additional projects with stricter deadlines.

I’ve wondered whether I should end the blog or possibly move it to a free service such as wordpress.com. I’m a little bit frustrated that I’ve not learned more about maintaining my own web site. For now I’ll keep it and try to post at least once a week again.

Sometimes all there is to do is say what is: I am tired from a week of caring for our sick 1-year-old son. He is doing better, but after five days of diarrhea (with vomiting on the first three of those days), I want him to be well NOW!

Two visits to the doctor have reassured us that he is not dangerously ill. We’ve kept him hyrdrated, and he’s getting better.

When do I receive my medal for being a good parent? : )

I stumbled across this info at Whitepages.com. Not surprisingly, it shows that the highest concentrations of people with my last name – Ostrem – are in states where many Norwegian immigrants settled, mostly in the Upper Midwest:

Top States for last Name Ostrem:
1. Wisconsin: 70 listings
2. Iowa: 57 listings
3. Minnesota: 35 listings
4. South Dakota: 24 listings
5. Washington: 23 listings

My wife went back to work full time in September, and I only managed three blog entries last month and none so far this month, which is almost half over. My main excuse is that I’m caring for our 4-year-old daughter and our 9-month-old son. We have less child care than we did last school year, because we didn’t want to put our son in daycare yet and we have not found a baby sitter who can come to our home part time. I also remain chair of the Northfield Area Task Force on Nonmotorized Transportation, which can be demanding at times.

I continue to be struck by how demanding parenting is. I don’t have time to do many of the things that I used to do, and there are many other things that I can do less often. In that sense, there is loss in parenting – the loss of old habits and activities. But much is gained, of course, including being witness to developing children and giving and receiving their love. I must remember and be open to those rewards, which are easy to ignore among the many demands of daily life.

Being a stay-at-home dad has also made me appreciate the sacrifices that women have made over the eons as they have raised children and managed households. It can be a very difficult, even isolating task, and it is one that men have too often shirked. No doubt one purpose of patriarchy – the rule of men – in many societies has been to push the burden of child rearing onto women’s shoulders.

Although I’m willing to be a stay-at-home dad and generally enjoy it, I do wonder if women are generally happier caring for children than men are. My experience and intuition tells me that, on average, they receive more joy from being close to children on a daily basis.

Still, this dad receives a great deal of joy from his children, and there is much to appreciate in working under their demands rather than those of a boss or employer.