Favorite bits of my job applications

Ok, so I’ve been working on a lot of job applications. And you know what? Most of them are the same. I treasure the few which ask fun questions. Here are two of my favorite responses to job application questions. The first was for TechQuest‘s last question on what experience had prepared me for a TechQuest internship:

In Middle School I was the only girl who did a full contact sport. While the other girls played Soccer or Gymnastics, I was learning Shito-Ryu Karate Do. This difference between me and my obvious peer group forced me to seek out other kids who were “different”. The experience of consciously choosing my peer group and learning how to build and maintain relationships with men and women from different backgrounds prepared me for many of the interests I have today.

I like the thresholds of things (where technology becomes law, where security becomes technical, where emerging technology defines public policy).

Because I learned at a young age the power of combining diverse people for a common goal, I find myself creating technical solutions for non-technical problems because non-obvious pairings come easy for me.

But my favorite question by far was from Kepler’s bookstore: “Please list the five most personally influential books or authors that you have read. Briefly, tell us why.”

Sunshine by Robin McKinley
Sunshine’s voice is so clear and unique and her story is at once Beauty and the Beast and a vision I have never seen before. Sunshine’s life is made up of stories, baking and community and when magic forces its way into her life she must draw on all of those resources and ones she had hidden inside herself. She is a great rolemodel.

Baking Illustrated by Editors of Cook’s Illustrated Magazine
This is the chemist’s guide to baking—the authors explain why they make each of their ingredient and preparation choices, which is good for me because I always want to know the why of recipes.

24 Italian Art Songs and Arias
This book gives me and millions of other aspiring opera singers immediate common ground. The pieces are timeless and this book’s place in opera pedagogy is monumental.

The Economist
This magazine has fed, if not inspired, my love of politics. The breadth of its topics and the clarity of its reporting are important to me, but most of all I treasure the funny, angry and sardonic tones of its reporters.

The Autobiography of Malcolm X As Told to Alex Haley
Malcolm X’s voice and values are the power of this book for me. How he believed in argument as a way of finding the truth; how he fought for his truths; how he changed his life after prison, his expulsion by Elijah Muhammad, his trip to Mecca.

Wish me job hunting luck!

Inspirational Quote:

“There’s only one corner of the universe you can be certain of improving, and that’s your own self.” Aldous Huxley (not the person who wrote the Autobiography of Malcolm X)