7 August 2017

The beginning of a post from 2 August 2017:

I’m sitting in an air-conditioned café, sipping an over-heated americano. 

It’s been a long morning. 

I woke up at six. Got ready. Had muesli for breakfast, then left the house around seven.

Oh how things change.

On the morning of the 2nd, I was waiting for my subtitles translation interview and testing session at iflix, where a former manager at Wall Street English is now working.

I had the interview, did the test, got the job. My future in the subtitles translation world was looking rosy.

Then my universe was turned upside down when, a few days ago, I was approached by the former National Service Manager of Wall Street English regarding a job opening.

As you may or may not know, I am not currently looking for a full-time job. I’m happy with my part-time and freelance work. 

But – and you’re going to think me shallow for this – it pays so well. So, so very well. Well actually if you take into account all the revenue I get from my freelance work I’m currently earning higher than the base amount. But salaries can be negotiated and the high base salary is an indicator of the significance of the position.

And that attracts me.

So I expressed my interest, sent off my CV and cover letter, completed the online personality questionnaire, and this morning finished my 10,000-word long interview answers. (Overboard? That’s me.)

The more I prepared for this interview and though about it, the more I want it (which is probably a good sign). The job is a coordinator position in a large multinational. It will be challenging. It will utilise all my skills. It will expand my business horizons and grow my potential. And hopefully I’ll be working with competent, passionate people if the HR department have been doing their job properly.

I think I can do it. I really do. I think my skills set is a good match for the position. I think it is about time I had a challenging job. I’ve been coasting along for the past few years, time to buckle down and do some serious work.

The interview is tomorrow, at 8:30am. I’ve arranged to meet my grandfather – a corporate veteran – in the morning to ask for his advice.

The rest of today will be me reviewing my answers and trying not to think about the interview. I’m on my way to three appointments: coffee with a dear, dear friend, an interview with a PhD student/university lecturer who’s doing research on subtitles translation for her dissertation, then dinner with my group of friends from school. Which I think is perfect. 

I wonder if I’ll be able to sleep tonight. I’m glad it’s happening sooner rather than later though. 

Phew.

*Deep breaths*

Here goes…

27 September 2015 (Part 2)

When it rains, it pours.

Wasn’t it only this morning that I described to you the nothingness of my existence? Well, that is no longer the case.

For the past two hours, I have been busy. Yes, busy. Unbelievable after 6 months of lazing around doing nothing of particular significance. Yes, I have been writing my novel, but that’s a task I set myself, not something that concerns a third party. So it doesn’t count in my definition of ‘busy’.

I was busy updating my CV and studying it. In two hours, I have scribbled two pages of A4 that explained the who, what, when, where, why of each entry in my CV. No wonder my finger hurts.

You may remember (from Part 1) that I was contemplating applying for a part-time waitressing job. Why must I work so hard on my CV to become a waitress, you rightly ask. The answer is simple. The CV is for a different job.

What job, you ask, surprised. Well, I am no less surprised than you are. Ten hours ago, I had no knowledge of the job whatsoever, and now I have spent a little over two hours preparing to interview for it.

The interview is tomorrow.

I won’t tell you what the job is. That might jinx it.

But please don’t be offended. And do rejoice in my opportunity to re-enter employment.

I will be back to let you know how it goes. Well actually no. I will be back if I have good news. I won’t let my misery tarnish your day.

Fingers crossed,

Val

 

 

3 October 2014

I was going to prepare for the interview. But obviously I’m not doing that, because I am here writing to you, my lovely readers.

As you might have gathered, I have an interview. As you’re about to find out, it’s happening in exactly 3 and a half hours.

And I’m nervous as hell.

It’s not a typical job. Certainly not one I planned on doing. But not one I can’t see myself doing. Did that make sense? Of course it did.

It’s a job I’ve done before and have enjoyed to a considerable extent. Not something I see myself doing as a lifelong career (though I wouldn’t be surprised if I do – it wouldn’t actually be too bad). But certainly a good opportunity, and one where I see myself (potentially) learning a lot.

I will give my CV another read-through in the cab. Or when I’m there waiting. Yes, I’ll do that. There will be time. I plan on arriving well and early. No rushing around on these heels. I am no interview expert, but I’m pretty sure a sprained ankle and/or sweaty palms won’t make for a good impression.

I don’t believe in being too prepared for interviews. It doesn’t work well for me. Of course, I read up on the company and the role, and make sure I understand what I am applying to do and what will be expected of me. But I don’t rehearse my CV or prepare stock answers to interview questions – you know, those questions.

Why? I believe in spontaneity. I believe in a good night’s sleep. I believe in a full stomach (I’m stockpiling as I type). When I go in to an interview, I don’t want to come across as ‘well-prepared’; I want to exude confidence.

I think that’s the best thing that can happen in an interview. Anyone can be prepared. Not anyone can ooze confidence and appear in control.

That’s why I’m here writing to you guys rather than hunched over my CV preparing answers to questions about my past educational and professional experience. This is my confidence pool. At no other times do I feel more relaxed and assured than when I’m writing here. For reasons fellow writers would understand, and which I’ve abundantly enumerated here.

Wish me luck.

Love,

Val

p.s. I got the job.

19 September 2014

No one told me job hunting would be fun.

So. Much. Fun.

No. Really. I’m not being sarcastic. I’m actually really enjoying the process.

This enjoyment comes completely unexpected – I had pictured job hunting to be a long and torturous process, a soul-destroying endeavour that takes and takes and never gives, and that ultimately saps away all your confidence and self-belief, leaving you with an empty shell, an unemployed empty shell.

Granted, my expectations were rather exaggerated. And deep down I knew it couldn’t possibly be that bad. But still, I had expected the process to be a negative one: time-consuming, energy-consuming, confidence-draining, so on and so forth.

It has turned out to be quite the opposite, which has taken me by surprise. But a good surprise, the kind of surprise you get when your boyfriend gets you a gift for no apparent reason (birthday, Christmas, etc.), just because he wants to.

*pause so you can go awwww*

Anyways, to get back to my point, I’m finding this job hunting business to be surprisingly stimulating and self-affirming. For starters, producing customised CVs and cover letters is turning out to be an extremely rewarding process. It gives me a legitimate reason to sit down and spend hours thinking about all the good things I’ve done in life and how I’ve learnt and grown from past mistakes – something you don’t necessarily have the time or the inclination to do when you’re busy studying, or working for that matter.

And then, with each job application comes a whole world of possibilities. I happen to have applied for very different roles. Picturing myself in these different scenarios is, I think, one of the few times in my life where I’ve come close to actually understanding the saying “life is full of possibilities”. And it’s an extremely empowering feeling/realisation. It’s amazing.

Of course, this brimming optimism is most likely due to the fortunate fact that I haven’t had an application rejected yet. So of course life is full of possibilities. Get back to me when I’ve had my first rejection – we’ll see how full of optimism and self-belief I’ll be then!

On an unrelated note, I got back into teaching. So I was rooting about in my teaching folder and discovered my teaching log from when I was giving English lessons – and what on earth was I writing in that log?!? I had painstakingly come up with a system of notation that must have seemed clever at the time but now just gives me a headache. Over-complicating things – how typical of old me. I’m all for simplicity now – simple and effective! That could be my rallying cry. I should start adding that as a tagline in all my job applications – what do you think? *chuckles Sheldon-style*

On another unrelated note, I walked into a plant today. And it hurt. Yes, it really did. The leaf (you’ll understand when you see the picture) hit me right in my left eye socket, missing my eyeball by an uncomfortable 5-millimetre margin. I was sweeping the leaves on the patio and thinking about which long article to work on for my other blog when BAM. There I go for not paying attention where I walk, for letting my guards down in the perceived safety of my own garden. I’ve learnt my lesson.

Meet the offending plant.

The ‘leaf’ in the middle of the picture is the one I managed to poke my eye with. It’s like walking into a block of wood.

I’m lucky to have escaped without a black eye. To have escaped with both eyes, even. So yes, sweepers beware – look before you walk. It’s not for nothing that they say most deaths occur from accidents in the household. Just think, I could have lost an eye. *shudder*

With love,

Val

p.s. Oh and do wish me luck for my job applications. I am taking my time, as I so emphatically wrote in my last post. But still, it’d be nice to have some offers for me to take my time considering. Choice is bad, but money is good. *evil grin*

p.p.s. How random was this post? How did I go from the empowering effect of job applications to a murderous plant?! I must be a torture to read. Thank you for putting up with my writing antics!