Phone call

I got my answer via phone call yesterday evening. My heart was pounding when I picked up the phone and heard the recruiter call. They rejected me over the phone. I'm disappointed I didn't get the position. But they said I interviewed well which was good, and they'll keep my resume on file as they will have more opportunities in February.

Today I was trying to update my resume to apply for a position and I had accidentally applied before I could update my resume. So I called the recruiter to ask if there was anything I could do. She informed me that I could resubmit my resume by email and she immediately asked what salary range I was looking for... Because she didn't have a chance to look at my application, I just gave her a range and she said the position definitely fits that range and that she will pass my resume on to her colleague who is taking care of that position. I'm hoping I will get a call! Another position was posted shortly after that I'm interested in, so I'm going to apply in the morning. My goal is to get a new job within the next two weeks! I know I can do it!

Waiting

A lot of the job postings in the past week haven't been of the jobs I would like to apply for. I have to keep telling myself to stop looking at administrative work, because it's easy to do, but I need to be selected and find a job I'd be happy with.

I followed up again today about the interview I had. No immediate response, hopefully I can hear something before the end of the week. I'm also hoping to get call backs for interviews. Job hunting can be so tough in this field/industry...

Ideally I'd like to get into marketing/media, so that's the type of job I'm looking at right now. There's a lot of entry-level, no experience positions being posted, but I had an interview at one of those agencies and it didn't feel right at all. Lots of red flags.


I'm hoping there will be a lot of postings I can apply to this week. I haven't been meeting my quota of one application per day. :( It's really hard to be selective, but I really shouldn't settle for less. A lot of my friends love their jobs, and I want to be like that too. Love my job.

Freelancing is ok for building experience, but it's really unstructured at the moment, and the work I get varies.

Schedule

I really need to get my shit together.

For the past month I haven't stuck with a proper schedule for anything, which is probably why I'm having such a difficult time figuring out things/doing things I should be doing.

I do have a schedule for what days I do certain projects, but that's not enough. I need something that's by the hour.

My current schedule is mostly sleeping around 3am or 5am, and then waking up at 1pm, unless I have to go out, which I would wake up around 11am.

Obviously these times are pretty darn late, so I've been trying to improve lately, but my body gets really tired so I end up taking a nap... then the cycle continues.

I know I take naps because I'm just bored. I don't have motivation to do the work I need to do, which was my fault in the first place for accepting this work. :( But I need to make money/get a real job.

Tomorrow I've got a meeting with a friend on a video project we're doing. Originally it was scheduled for the morning, but I've asked to reschedule for the afternoon, so we'll meet then. I did that because waking up early is a challenge for me. But you know what? Starting tomorrow, I'll aim to wake up around 9:30AM, and then slowly aim to wake up around 8AM... etc.

As for my sleeping pattern, I will aim for earlier.

For my schedule, it should play out like this:

9:30AM - get up and get ready to work
10:00AM - eat breakfast
11:00AM - work
12:00PM - have lunch
1:00PM - Work or do whatever needs to be done during that day
12:00AM - go to bed

That's how it should be. But on some days it's not like that because I have to work with other people's schedules. Here goes to trying to stick to this schedule! I need structure in my daily life. Fit in there job hunting as well! (That can be the 'work' part if I don't have anything to work on.)

In other news, the position the recruiter contacted me for, went to their first candidate, as they were no longer taking interview candidates in. Makes sense I guess, since the position started/starts this week. I also haven't heard from my interview yet, I'm thinking of following up again next Monday, but perhaps to the hiring manager this time. I usually get some kind of notification after an interview after following up... but I haven't heard anything. I'm hoping it's just because they are busy, and not because someone is away, or that they really don't want to let me know.

I've been contacting a bunch of agencies to ask if they're hiring, let's see if they will reply. I also applied to a job posted from a recruiter, so maybe that will turn up too. It's really hard not to just give in and settle for anything, but I need to remember if I do that, would I be willing to stay in that position for a few years? I definitely need to be sure that when I apply, I will be happy. Because if I apply even though I don't think the job will be that great, and I do get an interview and an offer, then well, you know me, I'd be very inclined to take the offer because that's usually the only offer.

I applied for a position yesterday as well, at a company I had interviewed for a while back, but didn't get the position because it was being reworked. I've been networking with a contact from there, so I'm hoping I can get an interview!

Red flag vs. experience

I realized that no matter how much I keep telling myself I won't make the same mistake of accepting something that isn't of my standards, I still do it!

I am currently doing some freelance work, that's really not helping me except to gain extra cash on the side. :( I accepted it out of the moment, when I should have said, "Sorry, no, I don't work on these projects." or rather, "The amount offered isn't going to work." I think what also bugs me so much is that I don't have a lot of time to work on it, like I did with a previous project of this type. These kinds of projects are really personal and sensitive too, so it would've been more helpful if we briefed on a background... but that's my fault for not asking more questions.

Maybe I should've just said, "I only work with local companies. I hope you can understand, but I can try to find you someone else."

But my first mistake was replying to the request even when it mentioned the type of videos I would be working on.

Ahhhh.

Why am I so silly?

The only thing I can do now is, work on the first project and complete it. Then afterwards I'll determine if I can work on the other projects.

In the future, I'm definitely going to think about the type of project first, and then get to it. Maybe I just felt like I had to accept, because the client needed these videos done right away and had a backlog.

I asked for an extension by e-mail but I haven't gotten a response. :( I will just try to finish this one project as soon as I can. Then I'll go from there.

Anyway, there's good news. Today I was called by a recruiter for a position I was actually interested in. It's funny because I was going to call them about it to apply... but they happened to call me!

I applied right after being given the job description. It's an assistant position but in an industry I want to work in. The position is temporary, and would start sometime next week. If my cover letter and resume are great, then they'll arrange an interview. The recruiter said she'll get back to me tomorrow.

Still waiting on the other job though. Hmmm. Everyone I've spoken to say jobs usually take longer than usual to get back to... but from my experience I usually get the response right when they say they would respond.

Hoping for good prospects/news

Tomorrow will be the mid-week point that the interviewer advised me they'll be making a decision. I will hear good news! Yes!

I also have a freelancing gig too. I said I would get a project in by this Thursday, so I'm going to start working on it tomorrow after volunteering.

Then I'll apply for some job postings I found today and over the weekend. Must be positive! I will find a good job. :)

At least I know...

I didn't hear anything yesterday, so I followed-up with an email. A few minutes later, I was notified I wasn't short-listed for the test and that there were over 100 applicants. I thanked them and asked for some feedback, they advised it was the depth and breadth of my experience... so I guess I've learned a lesson... I can definitely get the interview, but I got to make sure I back it up all the time with experience. I think experience is what a lot of people are looking for nowadays. Sure, if you're a great fit for the company, that is great, but sometimes I feel companies don't want to spend extra time training n a lot of things for one candidate, that another candidate already has experience in.

This is why I want to get my foot in the door and gain experience in the field I want to be in, so that I can be experienced to get those dream jobs.

But of course, this is a case-by-case thing, and not all companies/positions are like that. Some people will hire even if you don't have much experience. It really depends on the other candidates.

Despite being disappointed, I received good news. Today, I managed to speak with the recruiter for another job. I did the phone interview, and immediately she asked me to come in for an in-person interview, next week! I'm stoked because I am a fan of this organization, and the position is very relevant to my field, and uses my education, as well as my background.

After all these interviews I've gone through, I feel like I can just truly be myself from now on, and stop worrying so much, and just do what's right for me, but of course focus on telling how my experience will benefit the company.

I was doing a lot of research into the position and of those who have held it in the past. It looks like not a lot of people are in the position for very long, and move onto other positions. Gah. I wonder why that is. Maybe it's too stressful? Or they were on a contract? Or they went on a maternity leave (there was a gap in their work experience for about a year until their next position)?

Well, worrying doesn't help so, I'm going to not worry. I'm going to take some time tomorrow and throughout Friday/the weekend to research and rehearse. I'll think of some good questions as well.

I need to study for my casual job too. Then have training on Friday for a few hours. Also need to finish editing my project and then start editing my next project. Is this what YouTubers feel like when they edit videos often?