I wish there was such a thing as an employee search. Then all you'd have to do is submit one comprehensive CV onto a website or to a recruitment agency and employers would look for YOU, gather up a bunch of likely candidates, interview them and select their employee. I think it would save jobseekers a lot of time looking for jobs, applying for them, finding out that the job has been grossly misrepresented and you are therefore unsuitable... Of course, this system would have to co-exist with the current system so that jobseekers who are currently unemployed would have something to do and also so people who don't have great written skills or access to the latest technology can still apply for jobs. Or maybe they'd just go to an agency where someone would comprehensively interview them and then write up. I'll have a think about this and start my 'Unfinished Business' blog with this idea.
Anyway, I only say this because I've just spent the better part of today (plus two hours on Friday night) completing an application form for a local government position. I understand that recruitment is an important decision for any organisation but after you've read an 11 page description of the position and organisation, completed a four page application form, written and revised a six page 'Claim for Position' answering to the 'Job & Person Specification' and submitted your usual CV - taking 5 hours to do so - you'd better bloody well hope to get an interview. This turned me off applying for a position going at Sutherland Council for a 'Publications Co-ordinator' but for some reason this Marrickville Council job (as a 'Communication Assistant') feels right and I actually want the job. Unlike half the jobs I apply for that I can do but will probably dislike. I didn't get the Kyodo position (thank god!) so at least fate is agreeing with me.
Pretty cruisy midweek last week, as usual. Stuart and I finally got to spend some time together on Tuesday and then I went to the volunteer mates muster at the Glenmore Hotel, which was pretty good. Had an uncanny conversation with some volunteers where we found out we were all connected to each other through various means and people. Good to actually have a conversation with people who I've seen around but have been too busy to talk to as we go about our duties. Surprising, really, I'm not at all a social person like that. But then I suppose working for yourself has rather dire social prospects. Not that I dislike my own company, mind.
Wednesday and Thursday was spent catching up on some rest and clearing out some junk (mostly the huge stack of magazines I've collected as a freelancer hoping to contribute), taking photos of some clothes for auctioning on eBay and posting them up and general admin stuff like sorting out bills.
Friday I was back in town to man the Sydney Festival info booth at Circular Quay with Ann Mac (who's great company if you can get her to stick around) and then inexplicably took two hours to get home. Well, not inexplicably - I stayed back half an hour extra to 7:30pm so Ann could go and close the Martin Place booth so I missed the last M2 bus from Wynyard and the train, caught the next train and then had to wait for and take the last bus and walk, bringing me home at 9:30pm. Light dinner, then spent two hours on aforementioned job application.
Saturday was pretty big. Had two shifts for Symphony in the Domain - chair assistant in the early afternoon and after the concert and VIP attendant in between, during the evening. After putting out all the chairs, Gloria and I sat under a tree before our second shifts just chatting about our career future. She's just started at EY (with all the grads and interns) and hopes to later go into microfinance in developing countries, which I thought was rather philanthropic of her considering some of the consumerist attitudes of people in the finance world. I then had to go to the VIP marquee to start my shift. We had around 950 guests come through to wristband and tell them about dinner and seating so it was pretty full on. We were supposed to eat before the interval but they'd run out of food boxes so we were given a food voucher but by the time we hiked out to the stalls at the outer rim it was time to deal with the interval crowd so we only got to eat in the second half of the concert.
Still, it was good and the four of us - Ann, Deb, Jen and I - were smart with our vouchers and pooled together so we could get a meal and some dessert (though not without some misunderstanding from the berry ladies) and enjoy Tchaikovsky's 1812 Overture. Then guard the chairs because apparently people try to nick them. After packing up (in record time!) a bunch of us went to the Becks Bar at the Hyde Park Barracks for a beer and a boogie, though I got tired by 12:30 (having started my shift at 1pm) and took my cabcharge home.
I slept in yesterday, read the Saturday paper and the Sunday magazines, did some job hunting and worked on my application then picked Assumpta and Sireesha up to go to the CODA gig at the Becks Bar. Managed to get discount parking at a parking station but it closed at 11pm (not midnight, like I thought) so Sir and I later had to hotfoot out of the gig and move it onto the street (when the parking rules stopped applying). Luckily we only missed two songs that we already knew. Met Jade and Stuart there, had a drink, chatted a bit, enjoyed the gig then went home, which was a pleasant way to spend time with friends. Gig review posted on Centre Page.
Looking ahead, possibility of some data entry work with Jade's old workplace which might be a good temporary earner while I launch into yet another round of job applications. There's an editorial job going at Object for their gallery and publication but it's only paying $36K. While that's a little more than I was getting at POL, it looks like at least a POL workload, which means I can't freelance on the side to reach my financial goal and finally move out. So at the moment anything under $40K is out if it looks like I can't freelance to make up numbers. I'm wondering whether I should be so fussy considering I'm earning very little (because certain publications haven't paid me) but I've decided that longevity in a career that you like is better than short term pocket money. And finding a career to have longevity in will take time. Though I'm also considering the marketing assistant position that's going at Random House in their children's books department as I think that would be a super cool career that I could definitely stick to. But we shall see. I'm rather overqualified for it and I doubt it'll pay much.
Ok, I'm going to fix the wireless network now so I can post this.
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