Friday 29 August 2008

Jobby-Job Reject

Dear Wonderful,

Thank you for coming in for an interview for the position of Event Assistant.

Our candidates for second interview had a better understanding of our awards than you were able to display in your interview and for this reason I regret to inform you that on this occasion you have not been successful in your application for the role.

I would like to thank you for your interest in working at Emap Inform and I wish you well with your future plans and career.


Whatever...

Tuesday 26 August 2008

I Need Me A Jobby-Job V

So... I had my job interview as an Events Assistant today, and I'm not sure how I think it went.

I was interviewed by two women, which I thought would be a little intimidating, but fortunately it wasn't. I was on time. I was smart, but fashionably dressed. I was polite, maintained eye-contact as often as possible, didn't slouch, and was as friendly as I could be.

I thought it was all going well until they decided to give me a test. Now I'm not very good with tests, unless they're spelling tests, and as my luck would have it, this test consisted of 33 percent Microsoft Word, and 66.6 percent Excel. I hate Excel. I am absolutely no good at Excel - especially the formulas. I got an 'E' for Maths GCSE (twice!) - Mathematics is not my forte. What they wanted me to do was compose a letter in Word, informing a nominee that they are up for an award, and asking for images to be used on the night. Piece o' piss. Then I had to transfer booking information onto an Excel spreadsheet. Not too bad. Then - I had to use Excel to work out how many tables had been sold, how many more were to be sold and at which price in order to reach the sales target. To be extremely honest with you, I did my calculations using the laptop's calculator, and wrote down my answers. It was the best thing I could do to show that I tried, otherwise I would have just sat there staring at the woman's face when she walked back in the room (the other woman had another meeting to attend halfway through). I told her that I did my best, and she said 'Oh don't worry too much about it, it's fine, we have very good Excel training here.' False sense of security methinks...

The whole session lasted about an hour in total, and I came out feeling... I don't know how I felt actually. It was good in some parts, and not so good in others, so I guess all I can do is wait. Apparently I will hear from them by Friday, so fingers crossed...

Monday 25 August 2008

Carnival Queen

Today was an absolutely great day. SP and I participated in the Notting Hill Carnival, in full costume and all. It was so good, and I have to say that we looked spectacular.

This is the third time we've taken part, but this year our costumes have been the most elaborate we've had. The title of the costumes was 'Bird of Paradise,' and that's exactly what we looked like! And it was the first (and possibly only) time that I have been brave enough to do the bra and shorts thing. The only way to take my mind of my lack of clothing was to indulge in plenty of free alcohol. And I mean plenty. SP brought a bottle of Malibu that she’d received as a birthday gift, I bought the orange juice, and we mixed the two into an empty litre plastic bottle. Within an hour we had no care in the world. There were also free drinks on the truck for those of us taking part. Good times.

‘Playing Mas (Masquerade)’ at Carnival is a very long, but extremely fun way to enjoy the day, and the only way I’ll be attending the Carnival in the future. We go on the road from about 12pm, and dance the route until about 9pm. Fortunately for us it only rained while we were on our way to the meeting place, and it stayed dry and quite warm for the rest of the day. Yesterday I was praying for it to be sunny today, but I’m quite glad it wasn’t, because being that I’m one of the original Sweaty Bettys, I would have melted and become just a pile of feathers.

The only trouble that occurred came right at the end when there was a riot between the police and revellers, but I’ve heard that the police practically provoked it with their presence and unnecessary stop-and-search tactics. Luckily for SP and me we were on our way back to our coach to gather our belongings and head for our lift home.
My legs are aching and I’m scared about how they will be tomorrow for my interview. But I’ve had a very good day, and they don’t come along often enough, so let’s hope that tomorrow is another one….

Thursday 21 August 2008

I Need Me A Jobby-Job IV

I have a job interview next week!!! I can't believe it. I only sent off my CV last night, and I received a phone call this morning while at work.

It’s for the position of Events Assistant at a famous magazine publisher. I’ve applied for loads of jobs there, and obviously since I’m still working where I am, you can see that I’ve never been successful with my applications.

The lady who called me was really nice, and she gave me a short telephone interview, asking me why I want to work in Events. I told her that I think it is an industry where there is a high level of job satisfaction, and you can look back and see the success (or not!) of the hard work you put in. When she said, “I fully agree with everything you’ve just said,” I wanted to scream!

My appointment is for next Tuesday at 11.30am, which is perfect because I have already booked Tuesday off work. Pray hard for me! Now I’m off to do as much company research as I can!

Monday 11 August 2008

Post-Holiday Blues

Today… is my first day back at work… after my holiday in Barbados. And those words… were not easy for me to write… without my lip quivering.

I loved it there. I belong there. It was beautiful. The people were so polite, the weather was lovely (apart from the few times it rained, but it is rainy season, so we were lucky it only rained the few times it did) and they know how to party HARD! We did the party-through-till-daylight-then-no-sleep-that-day thing, and it was difficult. I’m clearly not as young as I think I am/used to be. As a result of serious fatigue, I damaged my camera by leaving it in a pool of apple juice in my handbag (don’t ask), and therefore my photos for the last few days are very sporadic, to say the least. I have blank spaces where Carnival and Boat Party activity should be. But I won’t fret, because the others got some good photos, so I’ll just right click on them when they put them on good ole Facebook.

We stayed in a lovely apartment in Dover, Christchurch, which is basically the area close to most things, but also the more expensive area, because it is where the tourists go. Of course with the British Pound being as strong as it is, we didn’t feel the expense too much. That sounds so boastful doesn’t it? But it’s true. We also had a supermarket next door, which was the most convenient thing ever, the beach right across the road, various restaurants along the road, and taxis practically at our beck-and-call. The taxi drivers really know their country. They literally double as tour guides, and it’s so impressive. It was the life I tell you.

Being in the Caribbean you know that rum was at our fingertips. And we feasted on it! As soon as we’d finish breakfast, we could have a tipple before going out for the day, and because we weren’t going to work, we didn’t need to feel guilty about it! “I feel tipsy – so what?!” I brought quite a few bottles home with me… for the family of course… and… you know… social gatherings I may have… and the like… Leave me alone, I'm not an alkie!

The only thing we thought would be slightly tricky was finding out what events were happening where and when, but fortunately for us Salop’s friend Dom took very good care of us. He was literally a Bajan “It Boy”. Everywhere we went it seemed he knew everyone! He practically had our social agenda mapped out for us, and even if he wasn’t going out on a particular night, we had people there who had also come from London and knew what was going on, because they are what can only be described as veteran Barbados holidaymakers. Some of the things we did were: Carnival (of course); a tour of the island (with a taxi driver as our tour guide, naturally) where we visited a historical cave; a Boat Party on the Harbour Master Boat – and I went snorkelling during that party! I can’t believe I did it, but I had to just to say I have. I was SO scared, because I can’t swim, but luckily there was a really nice lady who held my had for most of the time, and when she let go, I was given a float by another guy. I’m not ashamed to say it – I’M 30 YEARS OLD AND I NEEDED A FLOAT.


I definitely, without-a-doubt, want to go back there again. It was a good group of people I went with, no drama, no arguements, exactly how it should be. Hopefully they'll want to return too. Now I'm going to wallow in the withdrawal I'm experiencing, so please give me some time...