Dana Bell

Over a week ago, I got my layoff notice at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Tyler. I was one of 60 people selected for that privilege. Today I began the long process of updating my resume.

It is a long process because there are so many things that I can do, and because I have so many interests. One thing leads to another and that to another until after three decades I'm all over the place, and can adapt to any number of situations. In printing I developed an interest in design as well as operation management. Then when I started using computers in the 1980's, I developed interest in programming. Computers merged with design and business interests, and Design evolved to include photography. And, of course, I began writing when I was in high school, and now I have so many things to write about.

I suppose I inherited a lot of that ability from my family. High levels of intelligence, and good business skills are characteristic of my extended family. Then there is the fact that I was raised by my grandparents who instilled in me a strong work ethic. And, finally, I suspect my faith has something to do with my choices, and willingness to serve. That's not to say that my independent nature didn't have something to do with it. I didn't need to take a class in Photoshop to learn and get certified in it, or InDesign. Everything I learned about computers was before I took any computer classes. I don't need a teacher, or a class. Give me a book and I'll learn from it, and figure out the rest. That's not to say education is worthless, but to me it is so slow, and boring.

It will also be a long process because it might be easier to start my own business. Diversified Business Services is the name I used for much of my previous after hours work, and I could easily (relatively speaking of course) expand that. So I will be working on both.

And, finally, off-line resume development will require that I create separate resumes for each area. Employers don't understand the concept that a person with a broad range of skills can learn and adapt to most any job without having specific job qualifications. I've spent enough of my time cleaning up after some of those qualified applicants to know better. But that is another discussion topic.

This post is really a plug for my resume. If you are local and want to contact me about a position, use the contact form on my resume. In the past couple of years I have discovered that it is difficult to solicit response on a web site because of the amount of form spam. I get as much as 30 spam messages a day on one of my email accounts. I could employ more vigorous spam control, but then there is the risk of losing valid email messages. So be sure to use a name, subject and content that doesn't look like spam.