Applying for an expat jobWhat type of job are you looking for? The type of job I'm looking for is one that will utilize my creative skills in a service or hospitality occupation. I also have a background in sales and I am currently getting my teaching certification to teach secondary education. What nationality are you? American What languages do you speak (and at what level)? I speak English, which is my native language and can speak a little Spanish, which I took all four years in high school. I am currently learning Tagalog from friends and family. What country or area are you looking to work in and why? I'm looking to work in the Philippines because my wife has dual citizenship and we are planning to move there. What countries have you worked in? I have worked in the United States. What countries do you have a visa to work in? Philippines What field do you currently work in? Transportation and sales for an electrical supply company with three different locations in the greater Chicagoland area. What fields have you worked in before? I have worked in sales, healthclub membership services, customer service. I also have experience in the hospitality industry and some experience working in the field of audio/visual. In college, I also spent several years coaching different sports teams for the local park district. What qualifications do you hold? I have a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology from the University of Iowa. I am curently attaining a teaching certification from North Park University in Chicago, Illinois. Which do you consider more valuable? Formal education or skills and why? Both are valuable in their own right. Education gives one a roadmap to gain valuable insight and history to the job or career they want to have. But you need to have both to ultimately succeed. It's hard to tell someone who hasn't had the benefit of a formal education beyond high school that their skills they've attained through job training is any less valuable to their employer than those of a department head in their company with a college degree. Look what Wall Street executives did to the American economy. Their education didn't serve them or the American people well. Education prepares you for what to anticipate before you enter the field you studied. You don't become better at that job until you've practiced and sharpened those skills. Sometimes just working hard in conjuction with a desire to succeed can propel you to great heights. My mother is an example of that. She never completed a full year of college. After I was old enough to care for myself, she took a temp job with an event planning company. She worked hard, paid attention to co-workers and clients advice and gained their respect to the point where she became a senior account executive for the company. She later started her own company and is highly respected by clients and those in the industry. Describe the benefits of working with others Working with other people gives you a better feel of a group dynamic. It allows you to observe other people's strengths and weaknesses, which is beneficial if you find yourself in a position to micromanage and disperse responsibilites to help every person in the group succeed. Working with others can also help in completing tasks and projects quicker than by oneself, depending on the size of the task. Working with others also helps improve communication and intrpersonal skills. Describe the benefits of working alone Total focus and attention to ones task is a primary benefit of working alone. There are no distractions that can sometimes happen when working with other people. Since a person working alone knows themselves best, they can have the autonomy to complete tasks in the best manner they know how. Working alone also gives a person the opprotunity to accept responsibility and accept credit for when things go well. They also can learn humility and taking blame when things go wrong. What was your worst working experience? My worst working experience is driving my delivery truck for my job during the hot and humid summer months in Chicago because it has no air conditioning. Driving between eight to ten hours a day in the heat without the benefit of air conditioning can get pretty exhausting. What is the most important lesson you have learnt throughout your career? Listen to people. Many of the answers you seek can come from those around you. People can unwittingly tell you alot about themselves. Being observant can help you read other people and situations without having to look too much into them. Being flexible is important as well. Being amenable can be to your benefit if someone else is willing to be reciprocal. What unique skills do you have? I am able to read people well. I've developed that skill through my different jobs and internships. One internship was selling educational books door-to-door for nearly 80 hours a week in Michigan. Another internship was with Walt Disney World where I had a cashier sales job along with attending seminars on communication and managing cultural change among others. What would you consider as your 'dream job'? Radio host for a sports talk show. I used to listen to radio programs in the morning before and after school. I listen to them live or streaming from my laptop. Its a forum where you can entertain without any stage fright. What are the most interesting aspects of your field? Delivering to job sites a majority of the time, I got the opprotunity to see how different bulidings are built from the foundation up and how all the different contractors have to work independently and with each other to get them built to quality standards. I also get to learn about some of the cultures of the different ethnicities of the contractors. Chicago has a sizeable Polish and Irish community, many of them working in the trades. What are the least interesting aspects of your field? The down time in between my delivery runs make the job boring. Since the economic problems arose, business has been slow. In between my delivery runs, I'll fill orders for customers and do some inventory. But the opprotunities to keep myself busy are not there anymore. How can potential employers contact you? You can reach me by U.S. postal service at my address: Jay Donnell 5717 N. Glenwood Ave. 2N Chicago, IL 60660 Cell phone # (847) 840-9560 e-mail: jdonnell08@gmail.com | 
