Resumes have been flowing in lately as we seek to temporarily replace an ace reporter.
Ed White is taking some parental leave in 2008 so someone has to hold the fort in Winnipeg, for an eight-month stretch starting in February, until White returns.
It’s rewarding to receive and examine job applications from people eager to work for the Producer. It appears there is no shortage of journalism talent waiting in the wings.
But one can’t help wondering if this first encounter with prospective employees, read before any personal meetings, is a true reflection of the writer’s skills.
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Doubtless they are truthful or at most mildly embellished.
But I guess because of the season, these resumes put me in mind of Christmas letters that some families used to send – the kind that extolled the virtues of the sender’s family and made the letter recipients feel inadequate by comparison.
“Our son, Bob, was valedictorian at Harvard Business School last year. He barely made it back from Nepal in time for the ceremony, having just scaled Mount Everest without oxygen. Maybe you read in Reader’s Digest about how he saved several hypothermic climbers on his way up?
“Our daughter Amanda plans to participate in the next round of Canadian Idol, where we are sure her combined skills on the piano, cello and glockenspiel will rocket her to stardom.
“Since my husband won the Nobel prize, or nearly so, things have been quite hectic. However, I did manage to uncover the secret of life. I’ve temporarily misplaced it, but I’m sure it will turn up soon.”
Fortunately this tussle with cynicism about resumes and yuletide bragging was dispelled last week at a banquet to honour scholarship recipients.
Trish Jordan of Monsanto Canada read the attributes, or resumes, if you will, of 12 of this year’s 60 Canadian scholarship recipients, each of whom received $1,500 and each of whom is a farm kid enrolled in post-secondary, agriculture or forestry-related education.
All had achieved at least an 80 percent average in high school, and most had more than 90 percent. There were yearbook editors, captains of sports teams, science fair winners, drama award recipients, school leadership stars and debating team wizards.
These same youths, in off-school hours, devoted time to 4-H, curling clubs, church youth groups, hospital volunteerism, music festivals and coaching youngsters.
If your faith in the future of agriculture is ever shaken, a recitation of the achievements of these recipients would certainly restore it. The people entering agriculture today are quite clearly up to the task.
Now, back to those resumes.
