I’ve got some skills. But not that many.

This is a test of my recently downloaded version of Microsoft Word 2010. In my ignorance, I assumed that using one Word program was as simple as using another Word program. And, I guess, that is a mostly true statement. However, it is not all fun and games when you are trying to remember skills that have not been practiced for more than three years now. It is not that Word 2010 is some revelation of new technology, but I think my lack of familiarity with the format of the program could potentially hurt me in my job search.

It is sort of like heading back to your old home town after moving away 10 years ago. You know where everything is…but there has been some rapid suburban development since your departure, and you can't quite get your bearings. When did they build that new grocery store? Didn't that used to be a corn field? Oh…I was headed to the Dunkin' Donuts on Main Street, but I guess they closed that one down and built a new one over on 8^th Street? Now, I know how to get from the High School to the Mall, but now they've built a new freeway entrance, and I can't figure out where to get on the stupid thing!! It's confusion, but not a void of knowledge. You've been away for quite awhile, things have changed, and now you have to find your way around again. For example, this Word 2010 now has a Blog Post feature. What the heck is that and how do you utilize it?? So , that brings us to this entry, and my attempt to use the thing and become the Word Wiz I once was.

That's another thing, I used to be the girl in the office, in my early to mid 20's, that could guide all of my older coworkers on the complexities of Microsoft Outlook and the mysteries of the Mail Merge. I was the girl who fixed the printer problems, and could manage the computers with confidence and ease. Just goes to show…in today's world…you take 3 years off to be a stay at home mother, and the train of technology speeds off without you. Progress waits for no man…nor woman either.

Now I fear I may be the one looking cluelessly at my blinking curser in the new Excel format. I don't want to be that clueless person, so I guess I'll do my best with my 60 day Free Trial of Office 2010, to learn all there is to know and be ready when they ask me (at my next job interview) If I actually KNOW what I'm doing around a computer, or if I just surf the net and update my Facebook profile all day. Hopefully, I can say I'm a pro at "all of the above".