New Mexico Jumping Mouse Habitat Story Can help a Seasonal Wildlife Technician get a permanent job

New Mexico Jumping Mouse Habitat Story Can help a Seasonal Wildlife Technician get a permanent jobNew Mexico Jumping Mouse Habitat Story Can help a Seasonal Wildlife Technician get a permanent jobNew Mexico Jumping Mouse Habitat Story Can help a Seasonal Wildlife Technician get a permanent jobJohn, the seasonal Wildlife Biologist at the Forest Service at Sacramento Ranger Station forgot that he caught two New Mexico Jumping Mice in order to get them on the Engdangered Species List this season. By managing a team of wildlife technicians in managing the Jumping Mouse project, he proved certain Knowledge, Skills and Abilities for his federal resume. The KSAs for a Wildlife Biologist are knowledge of biological practices, techniques and procedures Teamwork Data analysis and research and writing. This example of the New Mexico Jumping Mouse capture would prove these KSAs in his resume and could help him get Best qualified and Referred if a permanent Wildlife Biologist would come up.But Jo hn has never written about his specific wildlife biology or habit projects before. Until I came into the classroom and asked him to write about a project that he lead this season. As a federal career trainer, one of the biggest problems I have seen is the fact that the term or temp employees just cant write a resume that describes their specialized experience, knowledge, skills or abilities or background enough to get Best Qualified when the position is offered as a permanent position. Therefore, they might stay a season or temp or term employee for 10 years or more. This is really sad because they do have the KSAs for a permermanent position, if the resume DID demonstrate the specialized experience and KSAs.The turning pointI interviewed John about the New Mexico Jumping Mouse story when I was teaching federal resume writing at Sacramento Ranger Station in Cloudcroft, New Mexico. I had a class of Hot Shot Firefighters, Wildlife Technicians, and Trail Worker Technicians in the class . They have been dedicated to the Forest Service mission at Sacramento for up to 10 years seasonal, temp or term A temp or term position does not give the employee the year-round benefits or paycheck that could help that quality employee maintain their family or livelihood.During our class, we started out with writing accomplishments. This is a typical active-learning lesson that I implement to get the class members thinking about special projects, problems and successes that they have achieved in their positions within the last 5 years. I had them look at their resumes to find any accomplishments that are written in the resume, and almost nobody came up with anything written already.New Mexico Jumping Mouse Accomplishment Can help to get referredThen, I had the group write an accomplishment at their table and then share the accomplishment with small groups. Heres a couple of accomplishments that I heard during this accomplishment freewriting lessonWillis wrote about a project t hat he lead to catch the New Mexico Jumping Mouse. Heres how it looked like after revisionsConducted research to help secure future of Environmental Species Act candidate New Mexico Jumping Mouse while serving as Lead Bilological Technican at the Lincoln National Forest. Developed original protocol to capture the mouse from a wetland, under deadline due to lawsuit over wetland water use. Lead team of four biologists, set out 200 traps, captured and studied two mice from this notoriously trap-shy species within two months. Gathered, analyzed and wrote reports on data, presented findings to community groups. Prepared final report for possibility of endangered species designation, determined suitable habitat for future conservation.John wrote about a trail building project that involved teamwork, safety lessons and meeting deadlines. Heres how it looked like after revisions As Recreation Tech, led building of three-quarter mile trail near Sacramento Lake, New Mexico. Determined best lo cation for trail, considering steepness of land, fallen debris and conditions of ground. Managed and ensured safety of five team of unskilled trail workers aged 15-to-18. Assigned tasks based on skills of team members, cleared debris, obtained building materials. Supervised installation of chipper materials and rock for trail laydown. Installed tables, fence and signs. Trail from parking area to picnic area was completed within two weeks and is now open for public use.Both of the Forest Service workers admitted that they had never written about a project in their resume before. Both of the employees decided that they could write about projects there in the Sacramento District as parte of their resumes.We found keywords for their resume form the USAJOBS announcement andI taught them how to match a job announcement to their resume, including analyzing keywords from the KSAs and Specialized Experience and the duties section of the resume. When they analyzed their resumes against a targ et announcement they found that they had almost zero matches between the HR recruiter keywords and their resume keywords.Do not deflate your questionnaire answersThe class members learned about the Questionnaire Self-Assessment Test. They learned that they needed to give themselves all the credit possible for the questionnaire. I taught them how to not deflate their score, but to give credit based on experiences throughout all of their positions. The Questionnaire answers are scored automatically and are the first cut in terms of the qualifications for the position.Do not upload your resume, copy and paste into the builderAnd finally, another big change in their federal resume writing strategies was that they would copy and paste their resume into the USAJBSO builder, instead of uploading their private industry resume into the USAJOBS system. Some of the FS workers did not include months and years for each of their positions. In fact, one of the employees just wrote 2000 to present and described ONE position. They did not break out the positions by season with months and years. The HR specialist who is looking for one year specialized experience would not find the right information in this One Block work experience section.Create a separate job block for each seasonal position, with months and years and duties/projectsThis wildlife biologist will now have 6 Job Blocks, one for each season, describing the duties, projects, teamwork and responsibilities for each seasons work. The HR specialist will add up (literally with a calculator), the one year experience (52 weeks, 40 hours per week) of this work, and determine that he has the specialized experience for a certain grade level. The details of the Work History section for HR are critical to showing qualifications for a certain position and grade level.The class was a total success and a turnaround for FS seasonal, temp and term workers who would like to apply for permanent positions with a more competitive fed eral resume.Forest Service is moving from Avuecentral.com to USAStaffingAnother good news item is that the Forest Service will be moving to USAStaffing instead of the www.avuecentral.com system. The employees feel that the USAJOBS and applicationmanager.gov systems are easier than the former avuecnetral.com automated recruitment system.

Computerized Special Operations Resiliency Test (CSORT)

Computerized Special Operations Resiliency Test (CSORT)Computerized Special Operations Resiliency Test (CSORT)When you first visit a recruiting office and you know you want to join Navy Special Warfare, you should know you have to ace the fitness test, score well on the ASVAB, and the C-SORT. You cannot study for the CSORT, but you can and should prepare months in advance of your first recruiting office visit having studied the ASVAB and practiced the elements of the Navy Special Warfare/Operation Physical Screening Test (PST). Testing Resilience in Special Operations Recruits The C-SORT or Computerized-Special Operations Resiliency Test is an online test recruits will take at the recruiters office and is created to assess a future SEAL recruits ability to handle stress. Some call it the Mental Toughness Test or the Resiliency Test, but the test is actually structured to assess the recruits ability in the following areas Performance strategies The use of stress coping tools such as self-talk, breathing, and goal setting abilities are tested in this section.Psychological resilience How a recruit deals with stressful and unpleasant situations as well as mental challenges and threats will also be tested in this section.Personality traits This section is mainly used for statistical analysis as there are many personality traits that make it through SEAL training. A recruit can only take the C-SORT one time, and there is no study guide.The best advice is to read the questions carefully and answer honestly even though there may be more than one answer to questions that fit your character.The C-SORT is graded on a scale of one to four (1 to 4).If you score a 4 on the C-SORT you are considered to have a high resiliency level. Navy SEAL Physical Screening Test The recruits Navy SEAL Physical Screening Test (PST) is also considered as part of the entry-level grade to get into SEAL training.The BUD/S PST consists of the following events 500-yard swim (10 minute tim e to transition to PT area)Push-ups - Max effort in 2 minutesSit-ups - Max effort in 2 minutesPull-ups - Max effort (10-minute transition to run area)1.5 mile timed run The two cardiovascular endurance events of the PST - the 500 yard swim time and 1.5-mile run - are timed and added together and then combined with the grade of the C-SORT.If you score well on both, you can quickly qualify for SEAL training after NavyBoot Camp.However, a score of 1 on the C-SORT is the lowest, and you will have to combine a much higher physical screening test (run and swim time) score to prove you have the ability to work hard with a strong foundation of fitness. Recruits take the PST several times while in the Delayed Entry Program (usually 2 to 3 times a month) with a SEAL Mentor in the recruiting district.By showing the recruiters you can work hard and improve your fitness test scores, you can get to SEAL Training (BUD/S) even without a high C-SORT score. Having high scores of near 8-minute swim or less and a near 9-minute run or less shows effort on the recruits part and a will to work hard to achieve those scores.Recruits will also have to score high on the ASVAB as well. Advice for Recruits Consider your first PST with the SEAL Mentor in your recruitingdistrict YOUR job interview.You will be placed in one of two groups after taking this test for the first timethe passing group or the failing group. If you fail, you will be required to train on your own and come back multiple times until you pass it.If you do not pass the PST eventually, you will be sent to boot camp anyway having not pre-qualified for SEAL training and you will be forced to do a different job. Be patient and train hard prior to walking into the recruiters office the first time. You should be able to master the competitive scores on the PST and have taken the PST on your own dozens of times that you can pass it with ease the first attempt. Once you pass the PST and score well enough to be competitively selected in a nationwide draft, you will get your shipping out date to boot camp and then onto the follow-on training called Pre-BUD/S. This is a 6- to 8-week course that physically prepares you for the events at SEAL training and SWCC Training.After Pre-BUD/S, you will be shipped to Coronado, CA and attend SEAL training.

An Introduction to Graphic Design and Its Applications

An Introduction to Graphic Design and Its ApplicationsAn Introduction to Graphic Design and Its ApplicationsIn essence, graphic entwurf is The art or skill of combining text and pictures in advertisements, magazines, or books. Also known as visual communication, communication entwurf, and commercial design, modern-day graphic design was birthed in the early 20th century. The touchstone is the1936 signage created for the London Underground, considered a masterpiece of the modern era. It used a typeface specifically developed for the project by Edward Johnston, and is leise used today. Germanys minimalist mid-century Bauhaus school of design took the art to the next level and set a strong foundation for todays graphic designers. Of course, designers like Paul Rand, Saul Bass, Adrian Frutiger, Milton Glaser, Alan Fletcher, Abram Games, Herb Lubalin, Neville Brody, David Carson, and Peter Saville took graphic design to a whole new level. Graphic design now serves a crucial role in commer ce, pop culture, and many aspects of modern society. Applications of Graphic Design Look around you. Graphic design is everywhere, from the wrappers on candy bars to the logo on your favorite coffee mug. In fact, you see hundreds of examples of graphic design every single day, and fruchtwein of the time, you dont realize it. Graphic design can serve many functions. Just a few of the uses of graphic design include SignageCorporate identity/brandingPackaging (from waterbottles to appliances)Printed materials (books, flyers, magazines, newspapers)Online art (banners, blogs, websites)Album coversFilm and television titles and graphicsT-shirt and clothing designsGreeting cards Designs Can Simplify or Disrupt On some occasions, such as signage design, graphic design must provide very clear and easy ways to convey information. The New York City subway map is a prime example of this. The design simplifies something quite complex, making it easy to navigate and get to your destinatio n. If the design were overly complex or artistic, it would impede the function of the map, rendering it useless. In other instances, design can go in the opposite direction. It can be jarring, hard to read or make a statement that takes a while to understand. This is often seen in the artwork on album covers, as well as poster designs, greeting cards, and other forms of disruptive design. Design in a Digital World Increasingly, graphic design and web design go hand-in-hand. Magazines must have an online presence, and so do newspapers, grocery stores, hospitals, and other kinds of business and institutions. Therefore, graphic designers must create and maintain a consistent look and feel across many disciplines. Most often, the digital design guides how the rest of the identity is created and executed. Graphic design is not just pretty or prettys sake. It is a crucial part of commerce and life. Five Notable Graphic Designers Its impossible to consider graphic design without re ferring some of the greats of the industry. While there are hundreds of talented designers over time, the following five men created work that defines the industry Saul Bass If youve ever seen a Hitchcock film, its likely you know the design skills of Saul Bass. His work on North by Northwest and Psycho was truly exceptional, as was other work for directors including Billy Wilder, Stanly Kubrick, and Otto Preminger. Bass is also responsible for some of the most famous logos in brand history, including Bell System, ATT, Continental Airlines, and United Airlines.Paul Rand Best known for his work on the IBM logo, Paul Rand (born Paul Rosenbaum) was a creative powerhouse that gave many brands their identities. Perhaps the most famous story about this revolved around the late Steve Jobs, and his company NeXT. Jobs approached Rand and asked for a logo, expecting him to come up with several options. Rand said No, I will solve your problem and you will pay me. You dont have to use the solut ion. If you want options, go talk to other people. Jobs did not talk to other people and paid Rand $100,000 for his work. Milton Glaser Glaser is famous for two iconic pieces of graphic design theI ? NYlogo, and the psychedelic Bob Dylan headshot poster, which he did in 1966 for Dylans Greatest Hits album. In 2009, Glaser was awarded the National Medal of Arts by President Barack Obama. Glasers work continues to influence designers to this day.Alan Fletcher As one of the founding partners of Pentagram, Fletcher is not only considered one of the greatest designers of his generation but of any generation. His work spans decades and is an exercise in simplicity, smart thinking, and understatement. His work on Londons Victoria and Albert Museum- the worlds leadingmuseumof art and design- looks as good today as it did in 1989 when he first created it. Herb Lubalin If the name sounds familiar, you have almost certainly used the Lubalin font at some point in your career. Herb Lubalin was a n exceptional designer and typographer who created many fonts that are still widely used today. His font creations include ITC Avant Garde, Lubalin Graph, and ITC Serif Gothic. His logo for Mother Child magazine is considered a masterpiece.