Lots to celebrate

It's Monday and today I'm waiting for a DHL shipment, working on my virtual work and editing. I also need to figure out a Valentine's blog post or video... hmm. Speaking of video, I haven't edited my previously filmed videos yet, I should really get to that, but a few things happened and I'm pretty burnt out!

Last Friday I started a temp PT gig at my old workplace... I will be working on some website stuff for them for the next few days... until I start my brand new job!

The past two months of networking, commenting on and sharing LinkedIn posts, as well as just letting people know that I'm looking for work, and being passionate about what I do/want to do, really, really paid off.

I had only applied to a few positions and got an interview with a fantastic company, did really well on the interview, and signed the offer just last week. And it's remote work too! How awesome is that?

I also got more client work and had the virtual company reach out to me to ask if I would consider working FT for them in their office. In addition, my mortgage broker reached out to me and asked if I would be available to work for them FT too...

There's surprisingly a lot of opportunities out there!

I'm very happy that my hard work these past few months has paid off. I've never done anything like this before, because I was inexperienced and didn't know how to use the tools/let people know what I'm searching for. But wow, it really helps!

The weekend recap:

Friday - Worked at my old job for half the day, worked a bit on my virtual stuff and then went out to our friends' place for a belated birthday dinner for the boif. I was pretty exhausted.

Saturday - We had a very chill day and went to meet a friend to chat over some hot drinks and to catch up. Afterwards, we volunteered for the evening and I was pretty tired the next day.

Sunday - I felt like a zombie! Since this was one of the first hardcore weekends in a while, my body was not prepared and was so sluggish. We took it very easy and relaxed at home in the day and filmed at night.

Today I'm glad that I'm working at home today... and also taking time to recharge. I found that I get burnt out pretty easily if I don't do something for a longer period of time. Which is why I really need to get a better schedule going on in the next few weeks.

I also need to go to the gym more often. Have been slacking a lot!

My sleep pattern has been much better recently, but I do find it takes me a long time to fall asleep still... I'm going to have to adjust my night routine soon to fix this, that probably adds to why I find myself really exhausted!

First week on the job!

I am so exhausted! Right now I'm quickly trying to put together an edit for two episodes to output for my volunteering for next week. I need to figure out a good schedule for volunteering, it's taking some time to adjust because I was so used to having lots of spare time during the day to work on things, and now I have mostly evenings and weekends instead.

Way too tired, it's midnight. I will finish these episodes tomorrow evening.

Any way, first week on the job was this week!!

I started on Tuesday and I really enjoy my new job :)

Everyone is so nice, easy to talk to, I'm learning a lot, and there's so many cool things to do! Since I am training though, we're mostly focusing on the administrative tasks, which I don't really enjoy as much... but it's a stepping stone to get to the cool customer service and marketing stuff :)

It really does not feel like work at all, which is good!

I'm super tired, time for bed. I love my job :D

Hard work, determination and curiosity pay off!

I GOT A JOB!!

I have been keeping it on the down low for a while (only telling family and some friends), but I was interviewing with a company (now my employer!) for the last month. There was a phone interview, then an interview with a couple of team members, and then an interview with the hiring manager.

I had the hiring manager interview this Monday and was advised I would hear back by the end of the week. The day after (yesterday!) they offered me the position.

I am so happy!!

It is a position that has everything I'm super interested in doing. This company is extremely awesome and I have already been able to experience a little bit of their culture already. I was asked to provide a bio and a few photos of myself for their websites. So awesome!

I start next week :)

Before the interviews, I actually went to go see an HR director for some advice, and I even asked some of my friends to be honest with me. A lot of feedback I got was about me being quiet, so I took that feedback and made sure I was enthusiastic and passionate. I also realized practice is so essential, so I literally sat in front of my computer for a couple of hours rehearsing and memorizing answers and questions. It really calmed my nerves and allowed me to be prepared for any kind of question. Also, curiosity is a good thing. I came up with questions of things about the company that I was really interested in, and asked those as much as I could. I am very proud of myself for pushing out of my comfort zone!

New job, thoughts, interview...

Wow, it's been two months since my last post in June.. I have been up to so much since then.

First, I didn't get the job I had interviewed for in my last post, it sucks because it really sounded like a perfect fit for me... I think I got rejected because of my salary expectations. I realized since I was just starting, the salary wouldn't have been so bad. It's actually better than what I am currently making now, with my new job.

Yeah, I got a new job. My contract with my employer ended at the beginning of August, and I had this job offer on the table for the last few weeks. I accepted it, but I am still not entirely sure if I really want this job. It's with a start-up company and so far it's not as organized as it should be. Also, I am not making very much and the employer is very restricting and won't allow me to work a part-time job.... I need the extra income right now as this job is a significant decrease from my last salary. Also, even though I am just starting, the work is a little administrative so far and that's not what I had wanted in the first place.

I also feel like I'm not really being 'trained', I'm more being told the background and how things she go, but there is not a lot of showing me the process of how each thing should be done. I want to be walked through a few times so that I can be more comfortable working on my own. The employer usually asks me if I want to work together with them on it first or if I want to do it on my own.. I don't think that's how it's supposed to work on a new job. :(

The employer also seems a little inexperienced as well, so this is why I am not so sure about this position/company.

I had this kind of gut feeling before with my last job.. on the first day I panicked, and thought it was only the first day, so I should give it time. I did, and I was so miserable at that job.

I want to find a job where I am happy doing the work, learning lots, and receiving proper training and support.

I have an interview next week for a part-time position, and it's a new field I haven't worked in before, so it'll be so exciting if I get the job. I'm already working on putting a portfolio together for the interview. I hope it goes well!

For now, I will go through the training for this new job and see how it goes.

Should probably start now...

It's been an interesting four weeks on the job. What I like about the job is that it's busy and not too slow (although this week has been a bit slow) but at least I got a sense of what each month is like while working there. I like how there's always a lot to do, but I think I need to ask for more work, although I found out that when I do ask for that, it happens lol so I need to be prepared to take on lots of work. The middle two weeks of the month are pretty busy, lots of reports need to be done and lots of requests need to be taken care of promptly. The last week is pretty busy too with invoicing and accruals too. I think the first week of the month is probably the slowest, but I think for this job it really depends on the requests coming in.

What I wish could improve at the job is having other people in the office with me. I think I've gotten to used to working in solitude in my last few jobs, but I've always had people around me. When I was job hunting, I was looking for a job that would allow me to work in an area that was surrounded by cubicle mates or office mates beside me, etc. I accepted this job because I needed it, but I also knew already that it wasn't what I was looking for in an environment... It's ben a challenge for me to get used to calling my co-workers on the phone every day throughout the day. I'm so used to having my emails replied to quickly, or just being able to get up and walk over to the person that I need to speak with. I need that again. I feel lonely.

Also, I'm getting a little concerned about company procedures. I wasn't presented with an employee handbook or anything because I'm a contractor and I'm employed by my recruiting company. I mean don't they have policies they'd like me to know about? :S I had to ask about casual fridays and I had to ask about which days they recognized as a holiday... it really irks me when I need to ask every single little thing. Sometimes I don't know what to ask about unless I'm told something, then I will ask more about it.

The point of these thoughts is well.. I think I'm not afraid to job hunt right now. My main goal was to secure a FT position. That means no contracts, no temp to perm Just perm, direct hire, that's what I would like. Also, my goal four months ago wasn't to get an admin job. And here I am... working in an admin job. Well, I guess it's not too admin-y, but I'm still doing reception work and taking care of office essentials, so it's still administrative work. I'm going to find a job in a field I want and doing the work I want to do. Time to start writing up cover letters and resumes again. If I can land an interview and get a new job, that's great.

What was holding me back was the fear that employers would cringe if they saw that I've been working only for a month for my current employer. But I would let them know I'm trying to secure FT employment, and do the best I can to wow them. Also, I wish I had gone to that interview I turned down three weeks ago... but oh well, I learned my lesson. And what's starting to make me hesitant now is that my company is starting to let requesters know my position... so I'd feel really bad if I took another position, they would have to start all over again. :S

But I now know that it's a contract and I'm not held back by anything. I need to apply to places and get that job that I know I'm capable of and that's FT.

There's the risk of bridges burning with this company, which I understand. But if I can land the job and do well, it'll be worth it.

Oh and it'd be really nice to be able to go on vacation too. Woring on contracts and in office admin jobs in particular, I've found that there's really no opportunity to go on a one week - two week vacation. Mainly because it's hard to find coverage for the role during a short time for a contract position, and also because it's office admin... and for this company in particular, I can't get coverage for my role in person, because there is no one else. o_o

The New Job

I've been delaying this post for a while.

Mainly because my experience at my new job wasn't what I thought it'd be. Could be more of my lack of initiative to press on issues, but maybe it's them.

My first day... in a nutshell, was chaotic. In the morning, my manager briefly gave me a rundown of what I needed to do that day. WHAT I NEEDED TO DO THAT DAY!! It was obsurd, usually on the first day you're told to read a bunch of stuff and do a little filing, stuff that is easy... Okay, yes, the tasks I was given were menile. However... they became chaotic because I didn't have enough supplies/information to complete them until near the end of the day. Also, my manager left the office and won't be back until tomorrow. I managed somehow.

I was also told to phone other people in our intra offices. Okay, sure. But what I wasn't prepared for is that I'd be doing it most of the time, because I am the only staff... WHAT??? It feels just like my last job, where I was always on the phone being trained. I hate it. I really do. I want face-to-face interaction, I want co-workers that sit near me and I can talk to them about work and fun stuff. Can't do that here. :( It is a 6 month contract though, so I'm staying because of the skills and experience. Hopefully in my next job, I will be working together with lots of people, and won't really have to be trained on the phone all the time.

I feel like a hermit. When people actually do come in, I'm awkward. This probably because I don't spend a lot of time with people at work. And also because it just adds to my hermit personality...

After my first day, I was seriously considering quitting. Yup... everything was just all over the place, and no one really knew where the last person put things... I told my recruiter how I felt, and she told me to give the next day a try and let her know if it doesn't work out.

That day I also got a job interview call... I missed the call twice, because I was at work, then the third time I picked up after work had finished. I had to decline though... but I think back on it now, maybe I should have accepted it, it was a FT (no contract) position...

My second day went a little better. Got some training over the phone on our content management system, and I felt productive.

Today... was pretty blase. I felt like I sat at my desk not doing much for most of the time. I took the initiative to call my manager an hour ish before closing, and was able to get some training and questions answered.

Still not sure how I feel about the job... but I think I will feel much better when I actually get more training.

There are nice perks though.

My lunch is flexible, and apparently it was only supposed to be a half hour lunch, but I asked about an hour, and my manager said I could take an hour if I don't take breaks, or if I do take breaks, I'd have to stay half an hour longer. Makes sense. Also, on Fridays we get off early if we don't have work to do for the last half hour. Pretty good.

What I don't know is, if there is a casual Friday... I will have to ask tomorrow. Next Monday is a holiday too, but there hasn't been any announcement, so I'm unsure of that as well.

It's going to take me a while to get used to picking up the phone all the time to ask for help. At my previous jobs, I've always just used email or talked in person, and I find that email was easier for them and they would respond right away.

Here... people don't respond to their emails right away...
But they do for their phone, so I need to get used to it.

I emailed my recruiter today regarding my timesheet. Yay, paycheque soon :D