September Life Update; Losing My Job

As a new season arrives and nature begins to change, I have to face the realty that my life is about to also under go a dramatic transformation. Come this time in two weeks, I will have lost my full time job on reception at the youth center. It's a blow I wasn't quite expecting, so I'm in shock and very emotional. 

I've been volunteering and working there for close to five years now as I started a few months after The Factory opened. Since then, I have worked with so many great people and good young people, I have passed on my skills and helped some children by being a friendly, trustworthy person who'd listen to them. I have learned so much, changed as a person and realised I could do so much more then I first thought. I love this place, it's become my second home and family. So, saying goodbye is going to be very hard.

I still have my other two part-time jobs, but that's only 8 hours a week and with future plans brewing, I need a full time job and a steady sum of money. I'm no longer going to find that at the youth centre. So, I'm facing a flash to the past in my re-joining of job hunting. However, unlike last time I'm in a far better position to get a new job. All my previous skills have advanced, I've gained lots of new skills and my confidence has improved. I don't quite feel hopeful about the future as my past is lingering but at least things might be different this time. 

I think what also is making it tougher is the fact they are going to replace me with volunteers which doesn't sit well with me. I don't think they've thought it through. Where are they going to find these volunteers all year round? They can't make them work long hours, so other staff will have to help out thus not getting their own jobs done. Who will train them and supervise the volunteers as only I have been doing it? Who will cover other receptionists holidays and sickness etc? Who will do all my other tasks? I can see it just falling apart so fast. However, it's not my problem! 

I love this quote below. It keeps me going when I'm feeling down and it reminds me that because it's not my problem it's not my worry. 

Sadly, my boyfriend is in the same boat. He'll be made redundant about the end of this month. So, we'll both be on the hunt for new jobs. One of my plans is for us to try and find jobs that are in the same or close by area so we can move in together. If we both get jobs close to his house, I could move in and we could see if living together really works for us. That would progress the relationship then we could look at getting a house together. But right now, just moving on and getting any kind of full time long term job is my goal, no matter where it is. Though, it's worth having a look and trying to move closer to that plan.

The hardest part of applying for jobs is all the stuff you have to physically do like writing your CV and doing cover letters. They say the best way to get an interview is to tailor them both to fit the job you are applying for and to not send out the same all the time. Which is fine, but I get tried of doing that quickly. Plus, I hate having to fill in forms! This is basically your CV that they want but they get you to expand on key parts of it and I can spend maybe 3-4 hours doing something like that. Then you have to look through all the job ads across different places and apply for ones that you know you tick all the boxes for and also some which you might not get but it's still worth applying for. 

I was told at some point that job hunting is like an actual job and it feels that way to me. I guess I should be grateful that everything is online now and it's easy to just email your CV and to type out the forms. I'd struggle if I had to hand write everything and walk around going into places to give my CV in. Though there's still no harm in that because you can get luckily. - It's not worked for me though! 

Yeah, so at the moment, I've applied for 30 jobs or there about and I've had one interview which was today. It went okay, but I'm not sure the job is suitable for me. Seemed like too much demand and pressure, which might sound odd, but I got to look after my health. I'm still waiting to hear back, so for now I'm going to look at more jobs and try and not spend any money.      

I know I'll find something eventually and I can already see how a new job would be good for me - more money, better hours, more stable. But still leaving The Factory behind is going to be tough. It made me who I am today, in a strange way and it proved that I could hold down a full time job and I'm capable of doing many different tasks. It's like there's a piece of me there now. It's just a shame they are making me move on.

At least it's going to be there still and I can go in and see everyone and maybe volunteer again if I have the time. So, that knowledge should help. I need to try harder to turn away now and think more about what I really want to do and how to get there.

I just need to stay positive.

Please check out my other blog; https://thestoryfiles.wordpress.com/

Images from Pixabay.  

Down a Snake and Back to Square One

I quit my job today, yeah the one I had my first official day of yesterday. I'm ill at the minute and well this morning I was depending to phone in sick. But I had a lot of time to think last night and I decided that even though my first day had been bad, that clearly the job wasn't for me. No almost of time training or actually doing this job would have been able to change my personality and my beliefs. I'm naturally a shy, quiet bookworm, who sometimes comes out of her shell to discuss the world and help people. Only my close friends know there is a whole different side to me and that's my crazy, wild side which I'm scared to show the world because I know I'll be rejected. I've never ignored the realities of the world though or believed that all problems can be solved in books. I love stability, being academic, my comfit zone, my boyfriend and chocolate.

Now, finding a job that I'd be fine to do is proving to be tough. I'm young, bright, eager to learn, have great skills and knowledge, I'm creative and like working in a team just as much as working alone. I don't mind repetitive tasks, because I can daydream story ideas or else wonder about the meaning of life. I like helping people and leading them. I find I can inspire and get them to see things differently, but what I can't do is deal with people who won't/refuse to listen to me. As of yet, I'm still struggling to deal with reject and finding the will to stay positive. It can be a hard thing when all you can see is the negatives, somehow in this situation they always out weigh the positives. But, when I think about it once again I've done a lot with my life and have a lot to look forward to still. This is just...like a dropped stitch in a knitted jumper, waiting to be picked up and placed in the right line. Problem is the waiting game is getting to me and also I don't understand why employers don't want me. I know I'm being over looked and push to the side like so many other people because of two main things; My lack of experience in the work place since my only jobs have been student guide work for uni and Charity shop volunteering, so employers think I won't be up to the job or else they don't offer training.  Secondly, that I've been through a lot of eduction and got great grades, which means that employers think I might get bored and don't want to be in the job for a good length of time, because I'll want more. Though that's true, I'd aim for a natural progression up the pyramid.

I've no solutions to these problems other then the downgrading one of taking my MA and BA off my CV. I've heard that this can work for people, but to me I want to be proud of my achievements as going through uni hasn't been easy. No one should have to do that to get noticed, but with twice as many people applying for the same job, sometimes doing whatever it takes can give the best results. My current plan is to seek help from the job centre, reflect on what I want to do for the next few years and where I'd like to be in the next 2-5 years, apply for as many jobs including, graduate and internships, as possible but knowing what I'd be able to do and would best suit my skills. Carry on writing and trying to get somewhere with that. I published a 3rd short story today and am just waiting for amazon kindle to release it.

So, the dice I cast out have returned to me and now I'm busy waiting to throw them out again. Hopefully, I'll have more luck next time.

On The Job Hunt

 

 

So, today I finished my dissertation and one week tomorrow I'll be handing it in. I'm really excited to have finished it now, but also a little sad because it now means that I've nothing else to do and I'll have to face up to the true adult world and get myself a job. The step up from student-hood isn't going to be easy, but I know it's going to be just as exciting and fun, if I stay positive.

 

Problem is I know how hard it is to find a job, let alone your dream job! I spent the 6 months in between finishing my BA and starting my MA looking for one and had only rejection replies or heard nothing at all. Now, I face being back on that pile and stuck like most people in the vicious circle of being out of work, not finding anything, getting depressed, giving up, living off the dole, deciding to give it one more shot, still finding nothing and still being out of work.

 

I watch the news and know that there's so little movement in the job market, that employers are only taken the best of the best, that now because they receive three times the number of applicants that they can offered to be so fussy in their choosing. Also people are not actually moving up or out of their current jobs, due to the lack of new jobs and people getting promoted. This means that there is hardly any openings and when a new job appears its a bit like a gold rush- everyone applying, but only some getting the reward (interview and job)- I know not a lot can be done about this issue and it's all to do with the economy and money. Things that when you are young don't bother you so much.

 

 I think people fresh out of uni with a BA or MA are very employable. Perhaps we lack on experience, but we are very determined, easy to train, brighten up places, have new ideas and can bring so much into a work place that maybe an older person can't. Like I said though, employers can now be so picky and it's hard work making yourself stand out all the time. How else though can you get seen in a crowd of similar people?

 

When I write my CV I think of all the things I've already accomplished in life. My eduction doing an MA, getting a 2.1 in my BA, my A-levels, animal care, GCSEs. Years of eduction and hard work trying to prove that I can do things. My working as a student ambassador, guide and blogger, all those countless hours working at UCAS and HE fairs, open days, applicant days, school visits, writing posts about uni life and what I've been up to. Also volunteering in a charity shop for the last two years. My work experience, how I've over come difficult problems in dealing with people or having to do lots of things at once, working as a team and being a leader when called for, problem solving when I've to. My skills and hobbies, Writing- novels, short stories, poems, blogs, diaries, reading everything I can, editing, crafting, computers, being creative, gardening, cooking, pets, socialising, music, movies, history, nerd and dark things.

 

It's surprising once written down, how much has happened and been achieved in life.

 

 

 

My dream job would be to become a full time novelist and be earning lots of money to live well. That's a long, hard road and often full of disappointment, emptiness and loss of ones self before anything is truly accomplished. On reflection many writers wonder why they go down this road and a few give up even before they have fully started or after a few years. Most earn enough to become stable, but take on other jobs like teaching and editing to earn more, whilst the lucky few get to become famous and make thousands. I've never imaged myself in the lucky category, I think of myself has being almost the most. All I've ever wanted from my writing has been to share it with the world and for people to receive the same joy reading it as I've got out writing it. I've seen the money as a bonus, but not a way to survive.

 

Issue is I find myself questioning what else can I do. Writing is me, my life and world, without writing I feel like nothing. For whatever reason I feel that my place on the planet is to write and share stories, inspire others and perhaps make someone else's world that little bit more special. Yes, I've lots of skills I can apply to other jobs with and maybe I'd make a good teacher or manger, but no matter what I do, writing shall always be a large part of me. With that I guess I better go and start the job hunt.