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comment by Devac
Devac  ·  1842 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: Pubski: March 13, 2019

As it turns out, my university offers various types of job interview coaching and similar stuff, but I only found about them very recently because of how goddamned well hidden is that place, both physically and on the web. Even if I was studying on that campus (humanities, 20 minutes on bus from sciences) I'm not sure if I'd ever wander behind all those other buildings to discover it. Their SEO is even worse than physical location.

Anyway, the first meeting concluded with some general remarks on my overall outlook, which they guesstimated as 'good' due to a relative lack of experience with STEM students – though at least they were upfront about it – and some tips on body language. I came off as too aggressive and both people conducting my mock interview felt closely scrutinized. I guess it can't hurt to give it a try, but I doubt much can be accomplished over a few sessions every two weeks or so.

I have a new RPG group formed from a bunch of people who wanted to try it, but for whatever reason couldn't play. There are surprisingly many of those, three people reached out the same day I put it on student announcements board, and I love the enthusiasm. They seemed stoked about Warhammer Fantasy, but I'm OK with whatever at this point. Can't wait for Saturday.





OftenBen  ·  1842 days ago  ·  link  ·  

    As it turns out, my university offers various types of job interview coaching and similar stuff, but I only found about them very recently because of how goddamned well hidden is that place, both physically and on the web. Even if I was studying on that campus (humanities, 20 minutes on bus from sciences) I'm not sure if I'd ever wander behind all those other buildings to discover it. Their SEO is even worse than physical location.

My partner has long wanted to do a project where she makes a comprehensive list of all of the resources that her university makes available to students and creating simple search filters like 'Where is this office?' 'What are they actually able to do to help a student?' 'What documents do I need to bring to accomplish my goal for visiting this office?' etcetera.

We started doing a survey and promptly gave up. There is simply too much ongoing change in personnel and inconsistency in what one representative of the university says they can do compared to a different person, in the same office, in the same week. This was true of basic administration (Scheduling classes, arranging payments for tuition), financial aid, academic counseling and university mental health resources.

I am thankful to hear that you found a resource that feels like a value-add for you.

Who is running the Warhammer game? You?

goobster  ·  1842 days ago  ·  link  ·  

    where she makes a comprehensive list

I guarantee the intranet and various school web servers are littered with exactly these tools... and exactly zero of the links and info will still be working.

The hard part about the library sciences is not FINDING everything... it is keeping the index up to date.

OftenBen  ·  1842 days ago  ·  link  ·  

There never was an index to begin with, that's the part I'm trying to communicate.

We looked online and the whole system is essentially word of mouth.

Devac  ·  1842 days ago  ·  link  ·  

We have (had) a similar problem with discovering publication access from home (uni IP is recognised everywhere, fortunately), which is hidden behind a login screen and two menus in a section of the Central Library website that's titled something along the lines of "what we offer". Plus it's so unbelievably slow that I've been using sci-hub to get my hands on things that my uni paid for anyway (and it's so broad that I can't recall a publication I couldn't access… which definitely isn't cheap). It's so incompetent that I'm lost for words.

    I am thankful to hear that you found a resource that feels like a value-add for you.

Thanks! I have no doubt it's going to add value. It's just a shame I discovered it by mistake on my last semester.

    Who is running the Warhammer game? You?

Yup. We're meeting at one of the study halls on Saturday. The plan is to make their characters and introduce the setting, explain the rules, and – admittedly being quite optimistic timewise here – maybe give them some sort of prologue while we're at it. I plan on starting them with a slightly changed Return of the Lichemaster from the first edition (we're playing WFRP 2nd, it's a lot more streamlined), and see where we'll go from there.

darlinareyousleepy  ·  1836 days ago  ·  link  ·  

I can't wait for Saturday either.