Personal

Life of the unemployed has reached a new level of boredom.

/ Lisa / 1 Comment

I am so bored. Ridiculously.

I feel I have nothing to do with my days anymore, no purpose to get out of bed and actually leave the house.

This is the downfall that is the life of the unemployed. Many might think it is dandy, you can do whatever you like whenever you like. But really that is not the case.

Not only do you have no money to go out and do anything, you actually start to crave the normalcy that having a job creates. You have a purpose to everyday that you get out of bed. There is also only so many times you can watch so many TV programmes or movies. Or clean the house.

The last few days I have taken to cleaning #geekflat. It has to be one of the filthiest flats in Wellington. It took me probably close to an hour yesterday to scrub the stove top to white again. Even though it is looking much better, I’m still not 100 per cent happy with it. Other duties I have done include changing the bed, washing those sheets, clothes washing, vacuuming, dishes etc etc. I’ve definitely earned my keep this week.

And yet, it does not satiate the boredom.

Before any of you start to wonder whether I should be looking for work. Yes I am. That is my main priority, but with everything else you get bored after doing that for awhile so you want something else to do. Plus, once you’ve applied for all the jobs, you can only wait until more are advertised.

So I am currently suspended in a state of boredom. Perhaps why this is my third blog post of today? I’m really trying to keep my mind active.

In anything I begin to have an issue with, I put in place a plan.

The plan: continue applying for jobs (obviously), but try and find some other freelance work to replace what I lost from Oh, The Scandal! (this will fulfill the mental capabilities). It has been suggested over twitter that I begin volunteering at a few places. I thought I might make contact with the SPCA, because what would be better than playing with puppies!? I’m also going to try and clean something everyday and read a little every day.

So for now, I’m going to say goodnight and go and read some Harry Potter.

Word.

Interviewing – what I’m now going to be doing.

/ Lisa / 3 Comments

This post is a few days late, but Tuesday was another WINZ appointment. We discussed interviewing.

I’ve started to feel that the interview is where I have been losing the job. I’ve been getting interviews with my cover letters and CVs, but I just never get the job after the interview.

Now it may be that I’m just not the right fit for the job at hand, but there must have been something about my skills and experience they thought would make me a good fit, but I then fell short after the interview.

I’ve never had many job interviews before. Trying to find a journalism job is my first real experience in job interviewing.

I’ve had nine interviews to date for journalism related jobs and have another one on Monday. I’m hoping it will be my last for awhile.

After the seminar on Tuesday, I feel more confident about the interview process. It gave me a few tips to prepare myself better and possible questions that may come up so I can prepare some possible answers.

I have gone through possible questions in the past, but I’ve never really done it all that well. So hopefully by following the advice I was given on Tuesday, I can do it better this time.

I don’t really have a problem with looking presentable. I make sure I pick out an outfit that is fairly business attire and have time to do hair and make-up before the interview.

To the interview, I usually take my diary and a pen, so I can write down anything I need to know and also it is where I’ve written the details of the interview and questions I would like to ask. I also take my portfolio with me, so that I have the examples of the work I sent them with me. If they ask about them, I can pull them out and show them.

One thing the seminar said was that you should take the cover letter and CV that you sent them with you. I’ve never done this before. I don’t take my CV, because I know what’s in it – my education and previous employment. I always think that that is not going to escape my mind, but you never know when you’re nervous. From now on, I will be taking one with me.

I’ve never taken my cover letter with me either, but I will be from now on. I might even print out the job ad.

It is also about phrasing what you say. No “I believes” and “I think”, it is time to be sure of what you want and your skills.

In most interviews they are going to ask about weaknesses. It’s a question you can’t avoid. Pick one, not in conflict with the job, and provide a solution to it. Sounds easy, right? Which weakness do I pick?

Another tip from the seminar was using the STAR approach – Situation, Task, Action, Result – as a means to answer a question. You explain the situation, the task that you had, what action was taken and what resulted from it all.

By putting these all together and practicing in front of a mirror with my poker face, I’m hoping it will make me a better interviewing candidate, which will result in me being employed this time next week. Hopefully.

The one where I point out the glaringly obvious.

/ Lisa

As a journalist, you know what’s what when you read an article. Usually you can find the mistakes hidden within them too, that the journo and the editor (if one has looked at it) haven’t managed to catch.

I often find many mistakes in various articles across the various media sites. I once read a CNN article that was littered with mistakes, like the journalist didn’t even know the first thing about punctuation. I probably could have gone through it with a pencil and marked all the mistakes and corrected them. It was definitely more than just style differences.

Now tonight I came upon a TVNZ article. Rather brief and hastily put together and once again, I see the mistakes within it like a pimple on the end of your nose.

I don’t think I am being cocky here. The last thing I would ever call myself is cocky, I lean more towards the not believing in myself more than anything (thankfully that is changing though). But why, when I can find the glaringly obvious mistakes in articles by respected media organisations, do I still not have a job?

You could say they were a silly mistake. Sure, everyone makes mistakes. But a quick read through out loud of the TVNZ article, you would notice the mistakes quite easily. It would barely take 30 seconds.

I guess I’m just bitter more than anything else. I have this awesome education, which I worked hard for, for five years to get and I have just passed the 18 month mark of being unemployed.

It just doesn’t make sense. It never does.

This entire post is a round-about way of saying, I AM BORED OUT OF MY MIND.

Calling voicemail – 404: not found.

/ Lisa

With going to WINZ employment seminars I thought it was about time to do one of the things that I’ve been told to check – that of my voicemail message.

If you’re looking for work, your voicemail message on your phone could be the make or break point. You don’t really want a possible employer calling you hearing a loud burping sound and then a beep, do you? Or being told to F-off, I’m not going to call you back.

So not having done anything with my voicemail since I got my first phone eight years ago, I thought it was about time to double check what my message said. Cause frankly, what could 16-year-old me possibly have recorded?

This was easier said than done.

I tried to call my voicemail, something that I have been able to do in the past, no problems. But it asked me for my phone number, sure, enter that. “Your number is not listed.”

Say what now?

Yeah, my number wasn’t listed. Does not make sense as I have received voicemails before and have used the service many times.

I got Man Piece to call my phone to see what my message said. It just hung up on him.

Not a good look for prospective employers.

So I called Vodafone. The first guy I talked to was pre-occupied with the last time I had actually received a voicemail and thought that me changing from pre-paid to plan might have cancelled my voicemail.

Yeah, nah. Same number the whole time. Plus, I changed to plan at the beginning of October last year. Turns out, I hadn’t received a voicemail since November last year. Now that didn’t seem right. But I’m usually pretty good at picking up my phone and usually when I have a missed call it’s usually from someone I know like my parents or sister.

So this guy went on saying my voicemail had been turned off. No explanation for how that happened, cause I sure didn’t do it. So I asked him to turn it back on. He said he did and to call 701 to set up my voicemail again.

So I called and got the same, “Your number is not listed.”

Thanks dude.

I called Vodafone again. This time I got a very helpful young man who wanted to talk about the weather and the rugby. He saw what the problem was and actually turned my voicemail back on. This time when I called 701, I was able to record a message. One that I know no prospective employer is going to take offence at.

Ah, the things an unemployed journalist with nothing to do on a Saturday night, while Man Piece plays games on his PC, does.

The end just creates a new beginning.

/ Lisa

I had some sad news yesterday.

The website that I have been writing for, Oh The Scandal! is to be no more.

I began writing articles for it back in February when I came across an ad saying they wanted more people to write for them. With finishing up my job at the beginning of December and not having done much over the Christmas/New Year’s period, I jumped at the chance.

I really enjoyed my time writing for it and it really helped me continue with my writing when I had suffered a set back.

I guess now I’m in the same position, but I’m hoping it is not going to be a set back – I’m going to find another publication to begin writing for. Possibly get back into reviewing CDs and movies, which I really love doing. Or go to one of the community papers here in Wellington and see if I can do some casual work for them, where they don’t necessarily have to pay me, although that would be a bonus.

In the end, it gave me another good six months of writing experience, which has helped me stay on top of my skills, which is the main thing. I am sad that I won’t be writing for it anymore – two articles a day, Monday to Friday – but it was a really good experience.

Time for some bigger and better things! Stay tuned.