Progress, yay!

Received an e-mail that I have to come in to sign a form and then pick-up my pay this afternoon, asked if I could come in tomorrow. Hopefully will get a response soon.

I applied for a marketing job today through a recruiter, and a few minutes later I received a call. :) The recruiter personnel turned out to be the same person who I interviewed with about 6 months ago for a different position. They invited me to come in for a chat about the position tomorrow, since they said they already know me from when we last met/talked. I'm excited, this is the first time I have had a meeting with the same recruitment firm twice.

The position is a temporary position, so I'm ready to learn more about the role and about the company.

I have to wake up early tomorrow, lately I have been having a bit of trouble sleeping, I usually get a couple hours of sleep, and then I wake up and try to sleep but it doesn't work out. So I become really tired after running my errand and then take a nap right after. I think it's because last time I tried to go to sleep a few hours too early than I usually do, so I think tonight I will go asleep around 11:30 or midnight.

I am definitely getting better at applying for jobs that I am qualified for/interested in/have to do with the fields I want to go in. :)

Goals, goals, goals...

I had to exchange some money for my upcoming vacation, and exchange rates can be pretty expensive... I'm still waiting to get paid, hopefully I will get paid within the next week, as I was able to get an update earlier today.

It got me thinking about my goals... what kind of activities do I want to be doing when I am employed again? What do I want to do in the evening and during my weekends/holidays?

I want to...

- Graphic design each weekday (Lately I haven't been able to keep up with that, not feeling it. :()
- Go out more with my friends during the evening and weekends (This usually requires money!)
- Continue volunteering
- Purchase new makeup, new clothes (especially stuff that's on sale right now, ah so tempting, but I definitely cannot afford it right now.)
- Study Japanese
- Learn/study different topics
- Workout at workout facilities (This also requires money too~)

I mostly thought of this because I saw some really neat clothes on sale today, for buy 1 get 1 50% off and for 50% off... I was sooo tempted, but I honestly cannot spend anymore until I get paid. If I want to pay my bills/loans, I have to budget very tightly until I get paid/have a new job.

So sales, PLEASE stay active by that time!!

I think the sales will last a month or so... it's mostly fall and winter stock being on sale to make room for spring and summer clothing. A lot of the fall/winter clothing can transition pretty well into the other seasons, and they are my style, so no issues with that.

It's funny, because now I wonder why I didn't do any of these kinds of goals during the time I was employed last year... Well, I did spend a bit on makeup and clothes, but most of the clothes were for work... and I don't wear my work clothes out often outside of work, since they're business casual. I did also spend it on film equipment... so hey, I did support my hobby/career interest a bit!

I guess it was because I was mostly spending my evenings gaming or trying to find a new job in order to keep my options open for after my contract. Yeah... I gamed A LOT. Nowadays, I rarely game, lol. I spend my time searching for jobs, watching dramas/YouTube videos, designing, chatting with friends, blogging... all sorts of things, or napping.

It's interesting, because work/life balance really does mean having a balance between the two, for me, I think I have to be happy with both to make them both work out. Does that make sense? Because my work life was sub par, I did not do much in my free time to balance it out... since I was trying to find a new position to make my work life less sub par... which is why, for my next job, I hope to have an awesome job that isn't sub par, and that would actually help me achieve my goals in my personal life as well.

:D

Well, maybe I am much closer to my dream job than I thought!

A while ago I applied to a film-related job. It involves both customer service, and maybe some video editing, and it's sort of within the film industry. :) A few days later, I got an e-mail asking for a phone chat from the employer! We've schedule it for the upcoming week. Hurrah, opportunities!!!

Also, I decided to apply to a posting that is looking for freelance video editors. I thought, why not? I can still build my portfolio and the schedule would probably be more flexible, so I could work on the weekends or evenings, and since I'd be using my own equipment, I could just work at home on my own time/while I find a new job.

I must start rehearsing for my phone interview.

Oi, oi

Job hunting is a challenge.

I post ads up on Kijiji and I get responses, a few responses are usually from start-ups. I am trying to stay away from start-ups because I want to gain experience with a medium to large sized company first, as start-ups usually rely on an individual's expertise, and they might pay lower than usual.

I need to keep on smiling and be positive.

Employers will get back to me for sure.

I just need to keep applying.

I've actually applied for so many jobs already... 20 or so... I need to keep up with each job I'm applying to. I know I won't receive responses to all of them, but if I can receive one or two replies, I will be really happy!

My typical day goes like this:

Eat, search and apply for jobs
Eat, watch dramas, do chores
Search for jobs again
Make some graphics or do other stuff
Sleep

Job hunting is a full-time commitment. It's very hard to be selective about jobs too. I am really trying to stay away from reception jobs, and invoice jobs... I'm good at those roles and tasks, but they aren't my favourite. I want to work within a team.

Short term goals and long term goals

And so it's been two days of job hunting and applications. I have not receive any callbacks, but it's the week right after the holidays so companies are probably catching up with work first, before making any hiring decisions. I understand. The timeframe feels sooo long to me, but for them, days go by.

My short terms goals for a job are:

Get any part time or full time job that pays well and makes me happy. 8 - 4 or 9 - 5 kind of job, no weekends/evenings, still allows me to pursue my volunteer and freelance interests outside of work hours. Industry does not matter right now. No invoicing work. Admin is okay, reception is okay if it's in an industry I want to get into.

I need to get a job within a month, to fund my future goals for this year.
I am applying to admin, assistant and film/marketing related roles at the moment.

My long term job goals:

Find a full time position in a happy job in a marketing or film related role, such as Graphic Designer, Video Editor, Marketing Assistant/Coordinator, Communications Coordinator, Digital Media Producer, etc...  and if it pays well, that's a bonus! I would also like a job with benefits, and definitely no weekends/evenings unless a lot of notice is given in advance.

Would be super awesome if I can meet my long term goal within a month too! But if not, then I can meet this goal after I have completed my short term goal to provide funding for my future goals for the year. :)

So far, I have been doing well with my new year resolutions. I am keeping more clean, but I have yet to do a super clean. I'm still easing into it, but I try to clean up as soon as I can after I'm finished eating/using something. I have not worked out yet, but I stretch everyday and do tiny bits of exercise, so that's a start! I am also drinking tea more often now (wasn't a resolution, but it's much healthier). I have also thought about doing graphic design at least once a day to build a portfolio, and am finalizing my schedule for gaming streams and YouTube. :) Now, as soon as I can get a job, a lot of these accomplishments might be easier, because then I can fund for the things I will need/allot appropriate time to each activity!

Start the New Year

Well... I did it.

I quit my internship.

I manned up today and had my meeting with my mentor. Tried to get a pay date, did not get one. Instead, got a rude remark from my mentor, they said that it's not the board members' priority to pay a new grad right away. That they would not pay some new grad right away. WTF? Seriously? It doesn't matter if I'm a new grad or not. I am employed by your organization, I still need to get paid. I have bills and necessities to pay.

After that I brushed it off and did my work as my mentor left the office.

But then I was looking through my work e-mail, and noticed a 'read' email....

It was a response to my previous e-mail from my personal e-mail. Why did my mentor not send it to my personal e-mail? Did they deliberately leave it out? I read the message, and one line in it was so ridiculous, I wanted to cry and quit right there. I'll paraphrase it, "On Monday you will give me a list of employers that have a twenty-something dictate employment terms, administration and funding agency. You can also call any ___ shops and do a poll of how many employees dictate their individual hours" I had to censor the kind of shops for anonymity.

After I read that line, that was the last straw. I could not work with this mentor, AT ALL. First, they would not give me a pay date because the board member who had to sign off on the cheque was out of town. I still need to get paid. My mentor said he could give me a loan, but no, I don't want a loan. That's not ethical at all. I want to be properly paid and on time.

Then after I read that message, and after that new grad comment, I realized I could not work there anymore. The environment is so toxic. I was not learning anything. I was not receiving any training and it had been more than three weeks.

My mentor was scheduled to come back to the office later in the afternoon. But I could not stand the bad management and honestly, I did not want to resign in person, because I probably would have broke out in tears. So, I wrote my resignation letter and I picked up the phone. I called my mentor and resigned. They asked me if I wanted to think about it, and I said no, I had thought about it for the last few days. They didn't expect it, said I was bright, and that they were sorry to hear that I was leaving the position. I then asked about what I should do about the files I've worked on, we took care of that and he said I might as well go home. (Because I said my last day at the job was today.)

I still feel pretty rocky about it, as I am currently jobless. But, I know I can get an interview very soon and I will find a much better, non-toxic environment to work for. I will find a great job!!

I have been applying to a bunch of jobs today. Right after I left, I went into the food court to sit down and apply/job search. I found a few administrative positions, and just applied for them. I don't mind admin, as long as it leads to bigger, better things and that I don't have to do invoices. :)

I will focus on my job search, cleaning my room, volunteering and just take time this week to reflect on my game plan.

I actually had an interview scheduled for tomorrow that I received today, but I turned it down since it was located in a distant location and not the right kind of job for me.

So I am pretty confident I can find a new position very soon. This time, a better one.