A Few Ups And Downs...

Well, this week I had an interview...

I know right? But please, exhale from your astonished gasp now and I will tell you how my week is going. I think this week is a busy week in the life of me at the moment - well I say that, I have a daily unpaid routine of housework and my own work that I aim to do, but this weekend was filled with Borderlands 2 as illustrated by myself in this week's Badly Drawn Adventure on wearethewritingpeople.co.uk

So, after that quite relaxed weekend, well relaxed as can be with housework and you know, other family members, Monday came around and I was blissfully alone again.

I applied for some jobs, wrote a review of Borderlands and set it away to IGN.com, I sent away a few comic strips to the Seaside News, and then I got on with the game. Now keep in mind that I had done all that before midday, so yay me!

1pm came and I got a phone call asking me whether I would be interested in an interview on the Tuesday (the day after), I enthusiastically replied and we agreed the time, and that was that, I returned to my game with even more achievement in my mind.

You should also remember that I've only managed to acquire 1 interview in all my 8 months as a Job Seeker, so to have a second was excellent news.

Anyway, Tuesday comes, and here's where it gets messy...

I woke up early, calculating my daily schedule - I had a Prince's Trust meeting at 11am and the interview wasn't until 2:45pm so I had time. I got up, dressed, readied myself.

UP - I got a lift to the station from my father, who offered.

DOWN - I completely forgot my PIN at the station to buy a ticket, so I had to resort to cash before I locked my card, at the station.

UP - in Cardiff I had time to spare so I went exploring to find the place of my interview and an ATM to practice my PIN, I got it right and I was a bit chuffed.

DOWN - I got to the Costa I was meeting my Prince's Trust Mentor in, and I typed in what I thought my PIN was, but it turned out the ATM had tricked me, and I managed to lock my card. I paid for my coffee in coins, and I was skint. 

UP - my meeting with the Prince's Trust was very productive, informing, and useful. I'm encouraged to set myself some goals to achieve before the next meeting hence having written, edited, and sent away Real Magic, and sent away my comic strip, etc. I also applied for a Grant from the Prince's Trust for £250.

DOWN - I had time to kill between the meeting and the interview, in the rain.

UP - I waited in a comfortable chair in the bank while I sorted out my card problems. I've got a new PIN and Card in the post, somewhere.

DOWN - it rained almost all the time between my bank issues and the interview, so I was a bit wet.

UP - I filled out the form they wanted me to, making sure my contact details were correct, and up-to-date. (It was a bit awkward writing in the employment section - Unemployed.)

DOWN - So what interest do you have in Sales and Marketing?...erm. Now I don't know about you, but those sorts of questions scare me. The Job Application didn't actually say anything about Sales or Marketing - it was more along the lines of '!FILM AND GAME FANATICS WANTED!' - I tried to research the company as well, but their website was a bit dated, and their press releases, and I committed them all to memory - there were only three - were about 1. Businesses need Social Networks, 2. Cardiff Business School's New Building, and 3. NASA make a Comet Harpoon. 

I obviously couldn't put two and two together, linking Sales and Marketing to NASA, but there you go.

My interviewer, giving me the hard sale, told me that it was basically a door-to-door sales person position trying to sell LoveFilm to households. There were two things flying around in my head when I was told that, I hate the door-to-door salesmen, and I'm a Netflix customer (LoveFilm's main competitor). 

I didn't say any of that by the way, it was just a quick 15mins preliminary interview, and he said that I would get a phone call later on that evening, whether or not I had acquired a second interview on either Wednesday, Thursday, or Friday. 

I got home and waited...

And waited, and waited, and waited...

It's Thursday now, and I think it's safe to say that I didn't get the position. Oh well, it was a commission only position anyway, and I don't think I could work hard at something I don't particularly want to do, with no guarantee of getting paid at the end of the day.

Anyway, that was that. And I got to go to a Job's Fair in Bridgend Recreation Centre yesterday. Which basically went something like, all the unemployed people in Bridgend descend upon this one place in the hopes of getting a job. 

The thought went through my mind that it could have been a trap and we were all just going to be culled to reduce the unemployed statistic. 

Anyway, I was there, with all my unemployed brethren, and upon speaking to the majority of people - the GoWales and Bridgend College people were useful - I told them that I was a Graduate of Creative Writing, and their eyes shot open with fright. 'And what do you want to do with that?' they asked, as if I was being a stupid person, 'Well, I'd quite like to be a writer,' was my reply. 

Needless to say, the construction industry, along with nearly all the recruitment officials there were could not help me. 

I did bump into a very nice Work Experience Journalist for the Gazette on my way to the Job Centre though. She was trying to find people who had watched 'The Valleys' or whatever it was called. We talked a bit about work experience and such and she had managed to get 3-days out of the gazette. 3-DAYS!

I'm sorry, but people at the Gazette, 3-days is just not good enough. That's not an experience of work, that's hardly a taster. She wasn't even mentored (I suppose you don't actually have to be to write, but still).

So in the last fortnight I've managed to apply for 2 Grants, get nominated for 2 Awards, and I'm going to be published in the Seaside News soon. But I'll probably tell you all about that later on.

Carpe diem, until next time bloggers...

CV Updates...

Well that was nice while it lasted...

Over the past fortnight I was 'employed' at Seren, in Bridgend. And it was really good fun. I got to read many things that weren't published yet, and some that will never be (due to my opinions) and I enjoyed that power.

I proof-read Owen Sheers', 'The Gospel of Us' - and that's the novel version of that thing he did with Micheal Sheen...that's this man:

...last year during Easter time. He was Jesus or something, in Port Talbot or something, but that didn't come across in the book, honest (Hi Tag - you should read this, it's full of real world magic).

And I got to actually format and 'proof' a book all by myself (well practically) which was a collection of poems by Keidrych Rhys:

...yeah, I don't know who he is either, but he does some good poetry - only some mind, he does go a bit loopy towards the end of the book during the 'Unpublished' poetry section, and I can see why. And I was told by my boss, the Publisher, that he had a meeting with one of the local Authors and my father's name was mentioned - which is very strange. I still don't know who the author was.

During my last week there, there was also another work experience person (we were called Interns, which in itself is very cool...I mean professional) who was called Alex, he was doing English Literature in Cardiff and did this in his reading week (ah reading week, I remember you). I felt like a kind of mentor to him, as I walked him to the Train Station most evenings, and he was talking about everything I worried about in my first week (I'd only been there a week, and listen to how high-and-mighty I sound).

So that was that, and now I'm trying to relax after a busy weekend of Rugby, Booze, and 18-Year-Olds not knowing how much they can drink. And how am I relaxing I hear you say...

(No Tag, not like that...)

...I am being this man:

Where in actual fact I look something more like myself, though just as kickass I assure you (Tag stop laughing, Cherrybelly slap him for laughing...oi! Both of you stop laughing) - the nose is almost perfect...

Carpe diem, until next time bloggers...

The Week That Never Was...

Well last week was fun, but it didn't feel very much like a week at all...

Monday I had a meeting to join up with a local editorial group - CHECK

Tuesday I had a driving lesson which was loads of fun - CHECK (I should probably book my test after this)

Wednesday I had a meeting at the Job Centre - CHECK

Thursday I had to catch a train to Dark Horse's, where HB drove us to G's with my helpful, if slightly misleading directions - CHECK

Friday I had to enjoy the journey back from G's, directing as I went - CHECK

Well, as you can see, obviously I didn't think it was a week, after all I was only doing something on the first three days and had a small holiday on the last two. The week before however, HB had work almost all week so I was, dare I say it, bored out of my mind.

Anyway, this week I'm on Work Experience at a Publishers in town. One day down, and I'm enjoying it so far. Believe it or not, I have been reading all day. Which certainly makes a very pleasant change to everything else I've been doing recently - namely job seeking. I managed to read the best part of three manuscripts, and review them.

Well I say review them, the Publishers seemed more interested in my opinion and how I would try to sell the story. Which is quite an interesting way of approaching a review, don't you think. Though, saying that, I am slightly ashamed to say, that I might have shot down the dreams of those three manuscripts today, though my opinions might not have been bad, but they weren't the best - and that was certainly the case with the final one I looked at today. I sat at that desk reading and writing for almost eight hours, and I didn't take my lunch break, mainly because I wasn't hungry when lunch came round. It was quite pleasing to share my views on the first one with the Publisher, only to have him agree.

This is going to be an interesting week. I hope I'm working quickly and efficiently and doing what they ask correctly. It was all quite bizarre. I wonder what's in store for me tomorrow and the rest of the week. I'm sure I'll keep you up-to-date.

Also, this editorial group thing I'm a part of ('Bwsted') also got back to me today, setting up meetings with me, and praising me for my two of three articles they posted on their website. I don't know whether I can keep this up, but I will certainly try - I'm already tired.

It feels good to have done a proper day's work on something I enjoy.

Carpe diem, until next time bloggers...

P.S. You can read my articles at these locations: 'The Networking Society' and 'Mass Effect 3: Take Earth Back'