Age Should Never Be the Issue When Doing Job Hunting.

One minute you’re just a kid then the next you’re told to grow up because you’re such and such an age and should know better.

You can’t win!

At 13, I was on the cusp of having the time of my life with friends, make massive mistakes and learn so much.

Can you remember how different you were from say 13 to 15/16? It’s a whopper!

I wouldn’t change anything I’ve done or not done, I think the past is the past and it should stay there. No what ifs.

If I had to give any advice to a young person (which can happen as an assistant youth worker) I would say, give yourself a break, it’s tough.

Believe in yourself, look after yourself and enjoy life as much as possible as hitting 16+ with work, exams, hormones etc it really will feel tough! Lol

I know there are sadly some young people who don’t have the luxury of such a care free life. I was lucky. My home life was stable.

Bear a thought for youngsters who are already having to be adults, responsible for caring for example, already working and finding life rough…. Or find that their not being cared for as they’re entitled to be ~ in a safe, loving home.

My overall advice? I guess it would be Believe in Yourself. No matter what.

L

Xx

I am at week 4 in my new job. Recently I completed my timesheet. Sitting at my desk, I peered down at my total number of hours worked for the fortnight. It was 42. Uncontrollably a broad smile filled my face which soon turned into laughter. This was crazy; I only worked 42 hours in two weeks. Before I had decided to take my gap year, I would work more than that in one week. I was stressed, grumpy and tired, uninspired and felt unappreciated.

Although my income is significantly less then it once was, I didn’t think it mattered because I am happy. But I am beginning to wonder whether I am missing some of the challenges that come with a higher paid job……

Last night I attended the high school awards program for graduating seniors at our local high school.  Our school is relatively small compared to many, but talk about potential! The printed program listed three pages of scholarships and monetary awards for the college bound and even a couple for a kid whose goal it was to work in a profession that didn’t require higher education. There were recognitions of graduates entering the military. Last night was a celebration leading up to the ultimate celebration that flips the tassel from kid to adult in one easy step. Then what?

‘Where do you want to go today?’ will be on their minds every morning for a long time. How about the rest of us?  Where do I want to go today?  Where do you want to go? We joke about the little poem “I owe, I owe, so off to work I go” because it’s partially true. Way back in an Organizational Behavior class I was taking, I learned about intrinsic motivation and extrinsic motivation. In case you’re wondering:  Extrinsic motivation means the reason you work is to do more things and have better toys.  Extrinsic motivation says “Money doesn’t buy happiness; it just lets you look for it in a lot more places.”  Intrinsic motivation means the task itself and the environment you’re in brings you pleasure and that motivates you. Intrinsic motivation says, ”Find a job you love and you will never work a day in your life.”

Ecclesiastes 3:22 says “So I saw that there is nothing better for a person than to enjoy their work, because that is their lot. For who can bring them to see what will happen after them?”  Not all work is pleasant; in fact take any day of the week and there will be frustrations, miscommunication, conflicts, and 12 hours of work to fit into 8 hours of time.  Some have a long commute, others travel away from home when they’d rather be at home. Real life is like that. Somehow we ended up where we are.

To the graduating seniors and to each of us, I would say this. Where do you want to go today? If every day we find ourselves on the same path and aren’t enjoying any of it, maybe it’s the wrong path. A few years ago a graduating senior pondered her future I remember repeating to her the same words I’d heard my dad tell kids in our youth group back in the 1960s. “If you get up each day and do what God wants you to do for that day and repeat that every day of your life, you will end up living a lifetime inside God’s will.”  It’s a daily commitment. We all get off track. Some of us are so off track at times it takes the equipment of a surveyor to guide us back.

Where do you want to go today?  I want to enter my mission field, equipped with wisdom, understanding, and joy.  James 1:5 “If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you.”  I want to live like Philippians 2 “Therefore if you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any common sharing in the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and of one mind.  Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves,  not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.

That’s where I want to go today.  Good morning, world!

The frustration with bed wetting can often arise because of the parents having unrealistic expectations of children – just because a child successfully masters potty training in the daytime doesn’t necessarily mean that the child will stay dry all night. While potty training is generally done by the time a child is 3 or 4, around 15% of 5 year olds wet the bed, along with 7-10% of 7 year olds and 3% of ten year olds. Around 15% of bedwetters grow out of it each year; only about 1% will still wet the bed by the age of 15.

While it is common for parents to blame bedwetting on the child being a deep sleeper, the problem is actually quite complicated and has a number of causes which are medical, behavioural, physiological and environmental in nature. Genetics too is important – children are more likely to wet the bed if at least one of their parents were bedwetters. It is also important to keep in mind that there is no one good explanation for this problem – there are a number of factors in play. For children with primary nocturnal enuresis (who have rarely or never had dry nights). If your child was dry for a period (at least six months) before he or she started wetting the bed (secondary nocturnal enuresis), or has accidents during the day as well, you should consult your paediatrician.

The use of a bed-wetting alarm can help to decrease the number of occurrences. In conjunction with a Malem enuresis alarm having your older child clean the bedding and change the bedding can also help, although this should not be seen as a punishment. Some treatments involve bedwetting alarms – these are a particularly effective treatment for bedwetting. They include a moisture sensor (usually attached to the sheets or to the child’s underwear) and an alarm that goes off when wetness is detected. The alarm can wake up the child and/or a parent who can wake up the child if necessary. These alarms can have some problems, though – they can take a long time to work (several months sometimes) and they won’t work for every child (some children will relapse after use of the alarm is stopped). The alarms, which can go off multiple times in one night, can also wake up others in the house and cause stress for the family.

Tomorrow (technically today) I have my first job interview in almost two years. I have only had only one job–working in a local fast food restaurant. I am the Assistant General Manager of the Guest Services Department. I am not kidding, that mouthful of morphemes is my job title, and no, it doesn’t even fit in the space labeled “Job Title” on work applications. Does my tone sound snarky to you? It should, just a little.

So maybe I’ve been a tad obsessive thought-wise about this upcoming interview, but I’ve to admit that I am so nervous. When I started at said fast food restaurant, I was hired by the second worst store manager ever. She would sit in the office all day long and do only God knows what, the store was a disaster, sales were low, we were the ghetto store. The other stores that were owned by the same guy were all in a chain with us. They make almost triple the amount we do even now, and two years ago, it was much worse.

Anyway, I was badly trained and was pretty much left to my own learning devices. Then the worst possible thing happened, my best friend in the whole world and who also got me this wonderful job (don’t forget I’m being snarky tonight) left me to go to AMDA LA–the American Musical Dramatic Academy, Los Angeles campus. Then as our previous manager “retired” and the new guy showed up he was worse. Much worse.

He became our hell on Earth. Now, when I started at my job I was getting a good 35 hours a week. Not exactly full time, but enough to pay my meager bills. After he showed up though, my paycheck was probably around $150 for two weeks worth of work. I was minimum wage and still considered a new hire. There were only two girls that were in a similar situation to mine and all the other girls (yes, 99% of the employees were female) were under the age of eighteen. Jona, Haley and I became lowest on the pay scale. The little 16 year old bitches were getting more hours than the adultolescents and we were the employees who actually survived off our own money and didn’t have mommy and daddy to back us up for the month if we got our hours cut. It wasn’t fair, but I didn’t complain. . . much. So I just worked harder and tried to not think about all the negative crap all the time. And guess what? It totally paid off.

I enjoy working, it passes the time. Have you ever not had a job before? I have. I was jobless for almost a year playing homemaker with my (thank goodness he’s gone) ex boyfriend. Not having a job is horrible. You might think: but not having a job means being able to lounge in your pj’s and watch endless TV and go out with friends! Which, let’s be honest that was great for the first. . .month? Then the boredom sets in. All the shows are boring, you’ve colored all the coloring books you have, you’ve cooked your way through a cookbook. So all the awesomeness of joblessness faded quickly. Working is fun and I’ve gotten quite a few compliments from those who are not so rash to judge. Once, a lady told me, “if more people in the customer service industry were like you, there would be more happy customers.” I almost cried that night because I had been so down on myself and it was such a huge confident boost.

So as I was getting 12 hours a week of work and a slim paycheck, I sought out different jobs. No luck, no one was hiring. My friends were getting laid off left and right from their jobs, and I was hoping that the economy wouldn’t totally plunder through our store as well. It didn’t, apparently we were in luck. I was in luck.

One of the managers got caught with another manager giving him a handy in the back room. Not kidding. This was not the first warning, or the second. The third was transferring one of them to a different store. This was the fifth warning. And they finally got caught for realsies. They were both promptly fired, and then there was an open position for manager. I didn’t get it. One of my more established coworkers took over as general manager for the guest service department. But I was bumped up to crew trainer, where I basically got to boss around the other crew and I was happy. Less than a month later though, my store manager decided to hire another manager, yours truly.

Now from the way I just told that story, it seems as though he found my work ethic jaw droppingly incredible, and couldn’t wait for me to become a manager.That was not the case.

This is actually how it went down:
(His name starts with an N so that’s how we will abbreviate it)

N: So Eddy quit last week. We need you to do some of the manager work. Like closing. I will give you his keys. You’ll get your new uniform in a couple weeks. Gabriela will train you tomorrow.

Me: Oh, um okay. I guess?

N: Good. I was going to ask Monica, but she’s still a minor.

Me: Um. Okay? Thanks. (side note: I always say some derivation of “thank you” while talking to any person of authority, even if what they say isn’t nice).

And that’s how I became a manager. Not because I am good at what I do. Not because I have worked my ass off at that place when no one else does a damn thing. But it’s because Monica was still a minor.

So here I am, four months later. Miserable. Hating my work life more than I thought possible and I am ready to quit. I have never been a quitter, but I am ready to quit this job. And then my phone rang today. And now I have an interview for a shoe store, and I am so happy. I have never been so ecstatic to quit and start over somewhere fresh. Even if I don’t end up getting this, I will have put my first foot forward. Getting back out there, getting my name back out there. It’s as though I’m breaking up with my job to start dating another. And my new job is the equivalent of a shirtless sexy man. I can not wait for my future.

If you’re looking for an amazing challenge in IT Recruitment with one of the best companies going, check out their website for more info: http://www.vertex-solutions.co.uk You won’t regret it!

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Para sa mga tanong or interested, pakitext nyo na lang ako : 09183139320

I just don’t know how to start ???

SOOO YUMMIIIE!! DDDDDDDDDDD

XOXOX //Maddie

Keep it simple
A CV should be no more than two pages of A4 paper. Make your CV look interesting to read. Use bullet points and keep sentences short and to the point.

Use a personal statement
Use a short personal statement after your name to explain why you are the best person for the job and summarise your key skills.

Include everything
Leaving gaps on your CV will make potential employers question your work history so always explain why these gaps occurred. It is important to be honest on your CV, do not lie as you will inevitably be found out and this will have a serious impact on your credibility.

Keep it up to date
Keep your CV up-to-date whether you’re looking for a job or not. Whenever something significant occurs in your career, note it on your CV.

Check spelling and grammar
Ensure your CV has no spelling or grammatical errors by using a spell checker or asking someone else to read through it. Employers DO look for mistakes and if found, they can make you look very unprofessional.

Don’t be shy to shout about your achievements
Your CV should sell you to a potential employer so it is important to include all your achievements – professional or personal. If you have significantly and consistently exceeded targets or won awards etc., note this as it will demonstrate the level of candidate you are.

Make it keyword friendly for job boards
If you’ve uploaded your CV to a job site, keywords are very important. Job titles and job buzzwords will help a search engine pick out your CV from the pile. If you’re not sure, have a search online and see what words are commonly mentioned when you input your job title.

Ensure your contact details are on your CV
Make sure you enter at the top of your CV a telephone number to be contacted on and an email address. You would be amazed at the amount of people who don’t include these.

However, being in a position where I have to deal with a lot of people trains me how to shape those wishful thinkings in others’ heads. Unconsciously, the sweet talks are applied outside of work too. When I see old friends or talk to them (via Whatsapp or other messengers *not the real kind of talk), I will sweetly say promises I don’t think I can keep. I know I’m a bad girl, but giving people hopes enlightens me.

Conversation example (at work):
Customer A: Mam, when can you submit document Z to us?
Me: Soon.. It’s in the process of checking at the moment and I’m hoping to submit it to you within next week. [The truth would be: it was still a blank document and nobody has touched it yet]
Customer A: Good. Let’s talk about it more on our next meeting then..

Pheeewww..

Well there are several ways to answer that questions, because it seems that different people mean different things when they answer it. Some take meaning as the driving force behind ones personal life, they mean, what is their purpose in life, others look at a broader picture, and their inquiry really means what is the nature of a human, and what does it seek, and yet others mean something entirely different, they believe that there is some ultimate goal which we all strive for and that there is simply a hidden meaning behind it all. So, what the hell, let’s tackle all three…

What is the nature of being a human being ?

The nature of any animal can be quite easily understood by looking at the tools with which it is equipped to deal with reality. How does it adapt to it’s environment, and what is it’s natural environment. Many animals are specially adapted to specific tasks, such as a fish is adept at swimming, a woodpecker is adept at boring holes in trees to search for bugs, a cow is adept at extracting every bit of nutrition it can from grasses with very low nutritional value. What then are humans adept at ? Perhaps the greatest gift of all, they are adept at thinking, understanding, creating concepts, and bringing those concepts into reality. What then is that nature of a human ? To conceive of ideas, to understand, to rationalize, to learn, and to create what the mind comes up with. We are actually quite ill equipped otherwise to even survive in the world which we inhabit. We do not have thick furs to keep us warm, claws or fangs to tear the flesh from our prey, our speed is not that significant compared to many other animals, yet we have become the dominant predator on this planet through the use of our minds. And our nature is to use our minds to learn, to share our ideas, to pass on our knowledge, to conceive of new ideas, to create new things, and to advance our species further than the past generation so that we may leave our children a slightly better world than was left to us.

What is the purpose of the individual life ?

Well this is the more difficult question to answer because people have different purposes. The ability you have will largely determine your purpose, but a sufficiently self-motivated individual can go quite far in life even with a limited intellect and lacking great abilities. Before you can find your purpose, you must try out a number of things and find something that you enjoy to do, and which presents you with challenges that stretch your mind to it’s limits. Ultimately the most rewarding purposes will be those which you must exert a great deal of effort to fulfill, something which you can look back at afterwards and be proud of. The greater your ability, the greater a task you must undertake to find that fulfillment. There is no magical answer to what purpose is, because it varies so much from person to person. You must try many things, try something new each week, do things that you think may be beyond you, learn about new things, and sooner or later you will find your calling. When you do, you will know it.

So what is this ultimate goal ?

Well, I don’t think there is some ultimate goal, I think that our nature and our purpose are our goals in life, and that to look for some ultimate goal is a waste of life. I think that if we ever manage to find ourselves, and to learn to enjoy our lives for what they are, then we will find that the human race is capable of some amazing things, and that we may create our own goals which all of humanity will strive for. However, so long as we remain divided into religious, political, or class factions pitted against one another in some sick game, then we will never realize our true potential, and we will simply be the servants of the parasites that use god, politics, race, and class to keep us divided and to prevent us from showing the world what it really means to live.

I don’t believe in a god, because I don’t think that there could have been a conscious being before there was something to be conscious of. If I’m wrong, I certainly don’t expect to pay some ridiculous eternal price for it. If there is a god, he would be all knowing, so he would know and understand why I believe what I do, he would be all loving, so he would forgive me for what I believe, he would be all powerful, so it would make no difference whether or not I believe, and anything less is not worthy of being called a god.

I don’t believe in politics, because I don’t believe that the majority of politicians are there to do what is right for the people. History has shown us that it is the corrupt parasites, whose purpose is to bleed the wealth of a nation that end up being its political masters, there are of course exceptions, but they are increasingly rare.

I believe that the thing holding us back from our potential is the system designed to hold us back. That there is a deliberately constructed world of mindless indulgences out there, television, video games, drinking, gambling, drugs, and a myriad of other ways to waste your life on meaningless temporary happiness which far too many people get caught up in. If we are ever to find a common purpose, we must first learn to live our lives fully, not for the moment, but with an eye to the future, and what we can accomplish. On that day, we will truly know what it means to be human, and we will discover that maybe it is us that are the gods.

Anyways, so my resume has always been what I consider a “universal” resume. It has my contact info, education, work experience and details about what I did, and other skills and certifications. I applied to around 10 jobs and a few internships, but so far… nothing. Recently, as though on a whim I created an account on customerservicejobs.com because as most writers will agree, barely anyone makes it big and has writing as their main source of income when they first start. At first I thought of it as a careerbuilder, indeed, etc. but then after making an account and uploading my resume they sent an email saying that my resume will be critiqued. That was a nice surprise! Today, after a few days, I got an email saying that my resume critique is ready for viewing and after clicking the link, I was impressed. They gave a rather nice insight to how you can improve your resume and how to tailor it to the profession you chose as the one you want to apply to. It was funny they gave my resume a  71% grade and I didn’t think it THAT bad, but apparently it was. Customerservicejobs.com advised for me to get a professional resume writer’s help, namely their’s for a little over a hundred, but as a writer and a lover of problem-solving, I would at least want to try myself before enlisting the help of others, especially for that price. So the past four hours I’ve been spending my time writing, editing, proofreading, and redesigning my resume. I’m laughing at it now how different the two are. It’s like day and night. For any recent grads or anyone who wants to get into customer service jobs that wants their resume critiqued, I recommend making an account and I’m sure you can do as I did, since their critique is thorough enough that if you do a little research you can definitely make your resume better and stand out at least a little more in the piles now.

Hopefully with my updated resume I can get a job soon, because student loans aren’t gonna pay for themselves… T^T

But anyway, hey ho, time to make the best of a bad situation! I’ve decided ill be making some summer resolutions (kinda like New Years resolutions but for summer..) so that I can keep on improving myself and carry on learning just as I have done over the past few months! So here goes…

1. Teach Myself Premiere Pro & After Effects
I mentioned this in a previous blog (Give it a read here.) and I really am determined to do this! I’m fed up of being useless and only knowing editing basics and I know it will come in handy! Personally I already know how frustrating it is when no one else in your group can use a certain program and therefore it’s all up to you and so I just want to make sure I can widen my skillset in a way that will benefit myself and others!

2. Get a New Job and Save Some Goddamn Money!!
I am SO bad with money, bloody terrible. Even when I was 4, if my brother and I were both given £1, it was guaranteed mine would be spent within a couple hours, whereas my brother would stash his and never spend it until he really wanted something. This year I’m the furthest into my overdraft than I have ever been and I really am quite concerned. I worked my arse off coming home every weekend for 2 months to earn some money at the start of this year and yet it’s already all gone! Every bloody penny! (Maybe it’s because I buy stupid things such as massive teddy bears). Unfortunately I don’t really get enough shifts at my current job and even if I do they are such unsociable hours (up at 5am or leave at 11pm) that if I’m constantly working I never get a chance to spend time with my friends that all work 9-5! I’ve applied for plenty of 9-5 admin jobs but to no avail. Someone employ me pretty please?

3. Visit Southampton Regularly
I used to see going back to Southampton a chore but actually I’ve started to find the drive quite relaxing and since so many people are staying there over summer I think I should make a bit more of an effort! I genuinely love being there now, when I left on Monday I actually felt like I was leaving home, not returning!

4. Lose Some Weight
Don’t worry, I don’t believe in miracles. Since coming to Uni I’ve gone up pretty much 2 dress sizes and this just isn’t good enough! But I realised a while ago I’m far too lazy to get up and go to the gym in Southampton, it’s too far for me to motivate myself to go! So this summer I’m going to do exactly what I did last year, lose just over half a stone and hope that is enough so that when I return I don’t get much larger than I currently am! It seemed to work the last two years.. I would make more of an effort to stay slim at uni but the way I see it, without regular exercise and with the amount of alcohol I drink, it’s already a downward spiral, so I’m sure as hell not going to be giving up alcohol any time soon!

5. Apply for Work Experience
I bet you this one won’t happen. The idea of paying for accommodation in London for a week makes me feel a bit faint but I know that’s the only option.. It needs to be done!

Well there we go then. This has certainly wasted some time today!

It just seems like forever ago, and so, I am still waiting for the them, once again, to arrive at the day care.

3 AM . . . Tonight I am not sleeping . . . not that I don’t want to, I’m just not.

Being up this early, even way before the sun rise, the cat will probably think it is time for breakfast and start begging for chicken.

I have actually been getting up early the last two days like I was going to work, and unfortunately, have had to take a mid-afternoon nap each day!!!

Sooner or later, I will adjust.

So, I guess I will have a cup of tea, add another page to a website I am designing, perhaps sit on the balcony for a bit, and then maybe catch a nap before the sun comes up.

Always something to think about when we reflect on the dreams we’d when we were young, and how we are/are not fulfilling them now…

There are moments in my work day where I would be completely alone in the office, and those are the times that I would consciously remember to take a moment to sit-look-and absorb the fact that wow, God has entrusted this team to me…He actually believes that I can manage this centre and impact the lives of all that come across my path. Wow is sometimes an understatement.

When I decided at 19 years of age that I would definitely want to be in the non-profit line once I graduate, helping the less-privileged, it didn’t once cross my mind that it would come to this. God has for sure surprised me with the extent of His favor and blessings, and I’m thankful for the wonderful and meaningful experiences I’ve had along the way. The joy, the pain, the tears, the miracles. It has indeed been a dream turned reality, which is now being moulded day after day. Who knows what will happen in the future?

I only know He holds my hand, and step by step, as He leads, I know He only has great things in store for me.

What is your dream?