Tuesday 17 August 2010

The Search Begins.

I reckon Neighbours Below might be Flat virgins. It seems their penchant for bassy beats extends through the weekend, and into Monday nights from the hours of 9:30pm onwards. Thus last night's Entourage indulgence (Season 3 a go-go) was soundtracked twice. If there's one thing I hate, it's other people's music being inflicted on me. Begone, swines. Begone into the firey pits of Hackney, and the even firey-er archives of my blog.

Thankfully, the noisy little scamps vamoosh during working hours. I vaguely remember doing a similar thing myself. You know, getting up at 7 while mumbling the obligatory announcement of "I don't want to go to work", leaving the house, funding TFL's lifelong engineering works for a bit, and then sitting in an office for 7.5 hours, filling my desk with post-its and empty cups of tea.

At the moment, the prospect of any such routine seems a lifetime of searching, applications, interviews and decision making away. My two weeks self-imposed UK readjustment time was up, so I set myself a goal of applying for three jobs a day.

I set myself rules: that said jobs must interest me and send a little tinkle-tankle of excitement through my fingers. Well, just enough to spur genuine rather than faux enthusiasm into bigging myself up. There will be no churning out of the same covering letters; there will be tailoring of CVs. I am boycotting the terms 'can-do attitude', 'effective communicator' and 'self-starter', because bloody hell, I hate those terms. Simply put: there will be effort made.


And so, here I am on Day Two of the work search. Up at half past 7, in the office / sofa / kitchen table by...ok, 10am. My Google search box is awash with Editorial Assistant, Social Media Intern, Digital Communications Assistant, err 'Help with not sounding like an absolute speng in a covering letter' and 'Attach covering letter or write in body of e-mail?????' type sentences. Let the excitement and subsequent disappointment commence.

Wish me luck. Twitter me witty asides. E-mail me tips. Comment me advice. I have an inkling I'm going to need it.

9 comments:

Blonde said...

Best of luck. That's all I've got. The fact I landed mine was pretty much a fluke.

Please Don't Eat With Your Mouth Open said...

Thanks Blonde. I'm going with 'bombarding the masses' and 'statistical inevitability' as my method of choice. We'll see how it goes.

Anonymous said...

I don't think they're flat virgins as much as selfish fuckers. Lots of people just don't care.

London Lass Blog said...

Good luck with the job hunt! :)

They say getting a job nowadays is tough, but I still say that if only one person can get the job, why cant that `one person' be you? (I also take this approach re. my lottery numbers - the fact I've played 'em since I was 18 and havent had a sniff of anything more exciting than a few £10 prizes can be casually brushed aside for now)

The Unbearable Banishment said...

Do you have a Linked-In account? I'm not sure how useful it is in the UK but here in the US it was a tremendous help to me. It's strictly for business contacts. None of the foolishness you see on Facebook.

Please Don't Eat With Your Mouth Open said...

Anonymous - That is, come to think of it, a much more accurate description.

LondonLass - This is my first foray into the world of permanent work, I've been a bit of a hoppy-temp-type for the rest of my working life. So we'll see how it goes. And good luck with the lottery.

Unbearable - After you said that, I joined up. I have been invited to it a few times, but never really caught on to what it was about. However, when I did, horror of horrors, it somehow linked up my personal and blog accounts with whatever clever little contact finder they have. Until I work out how and why it did that, I had to deactivate for the time being so that the two don't merge.

Ellie said...

Good tip from UB ... LinkedIn is definitely big in Spain, in my industry. What type of work are you open to? (I assume something to do with writing, but are you open?).

Please Don't Eat With Your Mouth Open said...

Ellie - Yeah, my attitude towards work is slowly changing the more I search for jobs. Especially since I've been reading articles on media websites, where the realities of the sort of career I'm looking for are out in the open. In that, it's hard going. I'm keeping my options well and truly option, to anything other than a receptionist / secretary role.

Bender's Better Brother said...

I'm guessing, but could be wrong, that LinkedIn is following your email addresses and linking them through Google/Blogger with the blog.

Check the settings in Gmail/Blogger and see if it makes a difference.

And good luck with the hunt.

 

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