Monday 23 August 2010

Interview Interschmiew

I can't recollect how many interviews I've had.  Actually wait, I can because I've hardly had any because life sucks.  I've had about 4.  4 interviews, 1 offer, 2 cancelled interviews and several epic agency applications. The rest of my job applicating experience has involved hundreds of rejection letters, calls and emails.  And those the ones who bothered to let me know at all......

Finally I sign up with an agency that seems promising.  They're keen to get me work as I have an interesting CV.  My clerking experience certainly gets me kudos but I've learnt to stop telling people I'm a writer.  I'm now pursuing a career in Office Management by working my way up.....blah blah blah.  I just want a job with a decent rate of pay.  Is that much to ask?  Unfortunatly so do the thousands of other graduates and now to add to this A Level students aren't getting their places at college and are now going to add to the list of unemployed people.  I can't stand this unemployed malarky.  Okay, so I do have a job to go on to now but it isn't ideal - it's a 'stop gap'. 

Last week I had an interview for what would be my ideal job.  I thought, 'yeah, this will be an awesome opportunity, even if it's only a fixed term contract' but still, it seemed great.  I spent hours on the application form and was over the moon to get an interview.  I went to a lot of trouble to photocopy all the necessary documentation I had to take along with me.  I put together my portfolio, dressed up in my smart suit and walked into the room bearing my most confident smile and posture. 

Faced with a panel of 3 people, 2 of which I'd never be working with, I answered a whole FIVE questions.  FIVE questions.  Wow.  What a way to tease out the best from a candidate huh?  I felt patronised if anything.  I just wanted to explain how I would be perfect the job, not list 5 things a good customer advisor needs to have to carry out good customer service.  That is high school stuff for goodness sake.  The interview was unfair in my opinion, I had gone to a lot of trouble to find out more about the organisation, remembered facts and figures, had examples of my previous experience all thought out etc.  There was an opportunity to sell myself at the end, which I did but come Friday morning I was tearing up the rejection letter.  What do these people want?  My blood?

So perhaps this part time job is the way forward.  At least I'll have the opportunity to prove myself.  Who knows, ongoing may turn into permenant and 15 may turn into 35 hours.  I hope so.  Otherwise I'm gonna have to claim housing benefit and I'm not altogether sure if I'm entitled.  I'm never entitled to anything like that. 

On the road to somewhere (just not sure where)...

Oh how I heart money when I have it and hate it when I have none which more than often the case.  I think I'm destined to work hard and never have any. 

Today is one those days.  It's pouring down with rain outside and quite frankly, matches my mood.  I woke up bright and early, tidied up my room - I've just moved and my belongings are in a state of chaos.  I don't think I stored enough in dad's shed.  I left the house to take a few things to the post office. 

Item number one is yet another epic job application form for a position with the Open University.  I haven't a cat's chance in hell but I'll waste 2 first class stamps sending it anyway.

Item number two is a parcel.  I ordered some bits of jewellery on asos.com only for them to send me the wrong thing.  These are Xmas presents so fair enough, no immediate rush but still - you'd think they could get the order right.  Thankfully I don't have to pay for the postage for this.

Item number three is something I sold on ebay and didn't charge enough postage for because I'm a jackass.  I better get good feedback.

While standing in the never ending queue I remembered the last of my bursary is due in my account this week.  After sorting out the parcels I checked my balance.  Not in yet.  Damn it.  I need this money to live off, don't these people realise how crucial it is for us jobless graduates to get our bursaries asap?  Especially us hard working jobless graduates.  Stuff the lazy ones!  I bet all the lazy ones have got theirs now and they're all living at mummy and daddy's house so they're all spending it on clothes.  Another thing to annoy me today.  Grrr.

Then I went to the old house to pick up the two last possessions residing there.  A plant and a push bike.  Now getting a push bike into a citreon saxo is a skill.  I managed to get in there when I picked it up but can I do it again?  There I was, in the pouring rain, my jeans getting wetter by the second as I tried to get the bike into the car.  The chain fell off so the option of riding the bike to my new residence went right out the window.  In the end I took it back inside and rescued the plant J's mum gave me.

The plant is meant to be planted in a flower bed and left to creep up a trellis.  It's a honey suckle plant.  Because I didn't know whether I was coming or going I left the plant in it's pot and is has done rather well considering.  As I stepped into the garden I realised the rest of the garden life had done well too.  The wet grass was up to my knees....jeans are well and truely soaked by this point. 

I got the plant into the car without too much trouble and carefully transported it to mum's house.  She has a trellis in need of coverage, I think she'll love the honey suckle.  Did I mention I don't warn my parents about these things?  They're not in today, they're at the hospital learning about Type 2 Diabeties.  I wish I could have been there too - I'd like to know more about it so I can look after my dad when mum goes away in October.

While at mother's I'm checking my emails and writing this blog.  I have no internet sorted out yet.  I think I've persuaded my ever suffering parents to buy me a laptop for my birthday or at least half of one to put with the money I'll attempt to get for my PC but one cannot assume things can one?  So a writer without a computer and  without the internet is a frustrated writer who is going to forget everything that is stored up in her little head.  I do write things down but I feel lost without my spell check.  My stories take forever to write by hand and then I'll have the tedious task of typing them all out.  Yes I can copy type over 65 words a minute but that isn't the point is it? 

So there you have it, I'm all angsty and annoyed.  I've also forgotten the point of this blog.  I have got a job.  A crap part time admin job.  A crap small number of hours for a crap hourly rate.  Crap.  My word of the day.  Still, people keep telling me that it wouldn't do me any harm to get my foot in the door at this place so I guess it's worth a try and hell, it's better than nothing and I won't have transport costs because it's a stone throw away from my new home.  So if I don't get that laptop for my birthday, I guess I can always sell the car but then that restricts where I work in the future and I can't get to mum's house and I'll need it when I look after dad.........you see, I hate money when it isn't on my side.