Expectations

Hello there!

I hope you all enjoyed my poem. Evidence of my productivity when trying to produce something else completely different; otherwise known as procrastination. In my naivety I thought that possibly this was something that I would be able to transfer into my job-seeking, post-graduation...the productivity, not the procrastination.
 Unfortunately this has not turned out to be the case. When I graduated I was aware that finding the right job would take time. I'd seen my older sister and two cousins spend at least a year working, doing odd-jobs before they found something relevant to what they wanted to do.* In that sense at least my expectations, though not necessarily low, were realistic.

Rule 7: Realistic expectations are important.

Though I must point out that I have always been a glass-half-full empty kind of girl. Realistic expectations don't stop you from 'realising your dreams' but they do help in trying to stop the abject despair that can so often come hand-in-hand with trying to find a job (having said this it didn't stop me from falling straight into a pit of it whilst working in my previous job). Finding a career that you want to be successful in will take time, patience and hard-work. In today's society that can often seem quite frustrating, but when looking at people you admire remember that you will rarely see their struggles only their successes.

Try breaking down your goals. Things will be more achievable that way.




*please note the use of the word 'relevant' in the sentence. It took  a little bit longer before they were in jobs that they were really passionate about.

Procrastination

Time does not stand still for those
who waste their hours, though they know
The stress it causes, time and time again
It shall be a lesson never to amend.

YouTube, Facebook and Twitter
Have ALL taken me to the shitter.
They shall be the end of my degree
It's THEIR fault, you see?! Not me!

Alas! No self-restraint nor focus have I
But if this is the case then tell me why
I have written this poem, is that not suprising?
Not really. Because I should have been revising.

 R.H.W

Seven months

Seven months into my life as a graduate and the inevitable happens, the conversation you dread the most;

"So...when are you going to get a proper job?"

The pit of your stomach curdles when you hear those uneasy words, everything else in the room disappears except for you and the questioner; my Mother. Like a Stasi interrogation it's a battle; reveal enough information to survive but withhold the most crucial.  

To be fair to my mother; what she actually said was:

"So I thought you said that when you got this new job you'd have time to look for a proper one..."

So yes, it was ultimately my words which prompted this conversation and as conversations go it wasn't that awful. Although I did speak hurriedly and was quick to bring the conversation to an end. However, as I sit here writing this I can't actually remember what it was that I said. I think words like 'un-paid internship' or 'volunteer scheme' were involved and something along the lines of me needing to keep my part-time job in order to do these sorts of things was said.  

Somewhere deep inside I knew the time would come for this type of conversation and I didn't really answer the question just avoided it with style I'd say. When the equivalent happens to you I hope that you deal with it much better than I did. If you've been applying to jobs and researching then you'll be prepared in your answer, in my case...well...it was not the case.

I have to admit that recently a mixture of complacency and apathy has washed over me, finding myself in a retail job that I don't despise as much my previous one leads me to become almost content in my situation. Then I become aware that I don't even work full-time (which is why my reading levels have increased  in order to counter my lack of productivity and mental stimulation) thereby prompting previously discussed questions from The Parents. The apathy comes from perusing various job websites and gearing up to apply to these vacancies only to talk myself out of it. Telling myself that I won't get it and there isn't any point in applying. 

That's not really a way to behave. Nor is it a good mindset to have in this situation. Especially because I believe that you can learn much more from your failures than successes. So I'm gonna start trying again. Make an effort. 

Have you had similar problems, or am I the only one?

It's Been A While...

Hello there, you millions and squillions of people that read this magnificent blog. Yes. It has been a while, a very, very long while. Those months that I disappeared from the blogosphere were spent pondering and procrastinating. 'What from?' I here you ask, well my friends, I am still finding the answer to that question...


many things,of note have happened which, I have felt ashamed for not informing you about, though none of them have been particularly exciting.


Obviously I won't be divulging all the (non) exciting news in one dose. Like all the best drug- dealers I'll release my sage advice like they deal crack; a little at a time so you get hooked on my job-weary woes.*


Looking forward to the next few posts!


Ru




*I don't really know whether this is what they do. Though it might be a possible job option for myself.

Staying Positive...

...is hard work.


Rule 6: TRY to stay positive.

My Plan: update

My Plan My New Plan
a) make my part-time job my full time job thereby earning money whilst...
b) looking for new (less soul-destroying) part-time job, applying for work experience, volunteer stuff and internships.
c) make contacts through aforementioned work experience, volunteer stuff and internships and get permanent job.
d) quit previous soul-sucking full-time job with some sort of clever/self-aggrandising outburst at manager. (hair-flip non-essential)
e) become astonishingly successful and rich.

Managed to find new (less-soul destroying) part-time job! Which, I have realised, makes part d) of My Plan redundant! Though I do enjoy a good hair-flip. 


Temp jobs are funny though, because your constantly on edge wondering if you'll get a permanent job out of it. 
 
I was offered a promotion with my old job too which would have been a route that I would seriously have considered had I not spent over £9000 on university fees and zero effort looking for jobs. 


Hopefully something will happen, if not I can always go back to that promotion. 


Rule 5: Back-up's are always a good idea.
 

Graduate Fairs

So in an effort to find a new job, or at least, make it appear to my parents that I am looking for a job. I went to the Guardian Graduate Fair. 

With a group of job hungry friends we were prepared, ready and dressed to impress*. Included in these preparations was making sure we'd all signed up beforehand online to ensure early entry. However upon arrival there was a realisation that not only were we prepared, ready and dressed to impress but that so were a thousand other students. The queue to the conference hall was so long that it snaked around the building and down onto the high street. 

It was then that it suddenly dawned on me that all these other people were looking for jobs too.

Once we had gotten into the fair we went to a talk entitled  'Media Moves: broadcast, digital print and social media.' the questions that were asked only ceased to make me feel inadequate as the students that were there had written blogs with huge followings, had written articles. To me, it appeared that they were already so much more far ahead in their career paths than I am. 

Wandering around the booths was fun but my advice is that you need to have some kind of goal and idea of what you want jobwise. Sure its fine getting as many free pens, badges and chocolate coins as you want but ultimately to go to a graduate fair you need a goal and you need to be focused. Both of those things I did not have, the chocolate coins were nice though! 


*to dress for a graduate fair can be difficult. I ended up going overboard, mainly because the smart clothes that I own are super smart and I didn't want to look like I was attending a funeral. My friend said something quite wise about dressing for a graduate fair which was to save your best outfit for the interview. So graduate fair = smart casual.