…that I go into when need be

…have the opportunity to work, meet and learn

…for it to be big enough to have several things going on at one time

…to have a creche

…a mixture of a work and education place

…a place where my boys can hang out too (instead of sending them to school)

…there could be classes/activities going on at all times where people/kids could dip in and out as they wish

…there would be space for messy, tidy, food, health, fitness stuff.

…there would be balance

…some things would be free, others would not

…people would do things for each other because they can

…people would learn from each other

…people would work together and build organisations

…it would be easy to dip in and out of so many things, experience and experiment

…people would have fun, good conversation and lasting friendship

…and much more!

It almost sounds impossible or unreal, but isn’t most of the above how life use to be?

I’m referring more to scenarios like people job hunting, finding clients and finding talent.  There are many other scenarios this could refer to - but basically it’s about finding the people you want in a trustworthy and non spammy way.

There are god knows how many jobsites out there. There appears to be never ending (ok, well perhaps quite a few) amount of project boards.  There are obviously lots of talented people (and CV databases) out there too, but why is it so hard to find them?  And why is so hard to get your skills noticed?

There are people I know job hunting.  The process of finding a job is horrible. Send CV after CV after CV with little or no response.  Does a CV really show how good someone is at their job?

Networking events can be useful, but within their title and visual perception they naturally have this given pressure to meet, meet, meet people.  Even if I don’t personally have the pressure, many of the other people I speak to do.

Twitter is a good example of what can work.  It’s not a jobsite or a project board, but people do find work and friends through it.

Do we need to stop thinking about building the better tools? Would it be more wise to think about how we can work together better - as social human beings?

I’m not shy in saying that I think the educational system here mostly sucks.  Of course that is my opinion and I don’t mind if you disagree.

However, there’s a bit of an uproar at the moment.  A government report has come out stating that all families that home educate must register annually.  This report has been in the pipeline for a while and  originally stigmatised the home education community by saying it was to investigate how home education could be used as a cover up to child abuse.

Rather than explaining it, if you are interested there is an article on the topic with plenty of comments.  There’s also a Facebook group.

• mumprenuer
• mumtreprenuer
• mousewife
• indeparent

Any others?

Once upon a time, in a land not so far away (Brighton) during a time not too distant (<10 years) I was young and eager to get out there into the working world.

I always considered having a family though never quite knew when it would happen.  Though I did think that even if I did that it wouldn’t effect my career prospects because it would be easy (enough) to create some kind of balance.

Turns out I started this journey at the age of 24…

Ahhh, it all seemed so simple back then.  Reality now is somewhat different.

Ever since being pregnant with No 1 I’ve had a hell of a time to finding a job I felt I could have a happy balance.  It seemed that every door I knocked on saw me and my kids and ran a mile.

As time has passed (both boys are now almost at school age) I realise that the more people I talk to, the more similar situations appear.  Many mothers appear to be immediatley excluded as ‘viable candidates’ by recruiters or mothers have somewhat changed their goals and no longer want what they wanted prior to having kids.

The only options many of us mummies have is to go it alone or opt for unchallenging minimum wage work that doesn’t even cover childcare costs…what’s the point in that?  You may as well take it easier and have the opportunity to see your kids grow up.

Some of us desperately try to hide our maternity gaps in our CVs.  Others are blatantly stubborn and proud and mark out these lovely times in bold.

It’s a really shame that it happens.  (And I could go on…) The disappointing part is that no one seems to talk about it. Many people see blatant discrimination happen, but choose to stay quiet.  I’ve been mostly quiet - till now of course!

Here’s a snippet of one story that someone recently told me use to happen at a well known technology & consultancy company which related to mothers who stuck to their contract, but were unable to stay late due to obvious family reasons:

So these working mothers started to get bounced around from project to project. Some PMs refused to take them. Others would take them then insist they were replaced after a few weeks. Inevitably they gravitated towards the least interesting and rewarding work, regardless of their true ability. Everyone felt guilty about what was happening to them, but everyone went along with it because of the pressure we were under.

The government is urging graduates to consider a spell working abroad, whether in internships or volunteering, to avoid the worst of the recession.

The advice is backed by the National Union of Students and is being handed out on leaflets at universities over the next couple of weeks.

Just to be clear - I don’t see anything wrong with graduates (or anyone) going abroad to work or volunteer.

However, it just doesn’t make sense to say graduates should go abroad because of the recession.  If we wanted to be patriotic and support our own country then surely the UK would be better off if these graduates stayed in the UK and volunteered for UK based companies to help them get through the recession.

I know that I could do with a volunteer or two to help me with a project through schux. Any volunteers? Ho hum.

I’ve long had the desire (and need) to address the issue that many of us face - the ability to work flexibly and often our own terms.

Personally for me it has been because I put my family needs before other stuff - like work.  Or I am unwillingly to sacrifice seeing my boys at essential times - like at bedtime.

However, it’s not just about family life.  Other people will have different reasons for wanting to work flexibly.

I’ve started a Google Group for those interested in discussing issues around this topic.  I’m not sure where it will go, but I am keen to think a bit more ‘deeply’ about this.

If this is something that interests you, then head over to: http://groups.google.com/group/flexiwork

It’s an open group to join, but you must join to see what’s going on…

However, I struggle.

I want to be there for my kids, but I also want to work. Kids have (lots of) holidays. Kids get poorly.

It’s often difficult to make it work legistically and quite often people run a mile when I state my terms of working.  I’m sure I’ll get there someday.

However, if I’m in this position.  I’m sure many other working parents are too.  I never stop thinking how I could try to make it work better for myself and then consequently other parents too.  There must be a better way that doesn’t involve setting up a franchise to sell baby stuff to locals or friends.  Yuk.

I’m sure if we looked into it deeply we would find a lot more.  For example, I know that in the past when I applied for work I felt I couldn’t tell people about my personal needs (ie. flexibility, work from home sometimes, etc).  I think recruitment agencies are especially responsible for not putting enough of us working parents forward for opportunities.  Louise Hewitt expressed it as well.  So hopefully it’s not just myself and her.

I know that as I build up my own freelance work and projects I’ll increasingly be in a stronger postion, but ain’t it hard?

The point of this?

Keen to hear from others in similar position, thoughts and stories.  I’m sure things can be improved and am working towards and experimenting with this at Lewes Werks.  It’s sometimes nice to know that I’m not the only one in this position

I stopped using it for quite a while mostly because of rude people, sob stories and people not showing up.  It seemed to happen all too often and was such a waste of my precious rosie time.

I’m going back to freecyle now as a result of having clearout stuff in an attempt to move to Lewes.  I’ve opted to take a systematic approach, which involves some or all of the following:

• deleting any sob stories, etc…
• I leave at least 12 hours before responding to anything.  I don’t believe in the first come, first serve rule that freecycle have (or had?)
• checking to see if the person has contributed to the freecycle community.  If they have they have a greater chance of getting the item. (This is the point with the greatest value).
• a quick Google search to see if I can find out who they are.  Admittedly this isn’t entirely fair, but the person I just gave something to is on Twitter, has a website and is involved in charity work.  That did help me make the final decision.

At the moment it is a real quality buzzing place and growing like I never expected it to.  There are some really top testers who hang out there.

As a result of getting increased recognition within the crazy online world I was asked to write an article.  I felt it only made sense to write something on improving the community and perception of software testing.

The article made it as a feature and as a result I got picture splashed about everywhere.  Ok, so not quite Vogue magazine, but good enough for me.