help wanted

I'm starting to think I'm addicted to looking at job postings and checking email. It's like an incessant craving that I can't seem to satisfy. If a few hours go by and I haven't checked my email, then I start to feel like I've missed out on someone emailing me for an interview and I haven't responded quickly enough... yep, I can see this spiraling all to hell.

Check ben ça - I have to wait until the end of the week for a company to make a decision on if I'll get the job of a 2 month contract. Seriously?! Even Mrs. Titanides thinks this is odd. She also said she doesn't think I'll get it because my boss would be younger than me so that'll make her get her back up. Christiane is older than her boss and they get on just fine.

Ethan's going through some shenanigans at his work - Ethan's boss is someone who gets off on being the 'man' at work and since Ethan is challenging that by (get this) doing his job properly, he's getting a 30 day warning to shape up or ship out. Ethan thinks he's done something wrong however it can't be - who gets in trouble for actually doing your job right?

Why do some people treat work as their sole social outlet? Sure, you may meet some colleagues that may become friends over time... maybe even significant others (I have been guilty of dipping my pen in the office ink from time to time)... yet at the end of the work day, it's just work. End of. It's not life - at least, not for me. Work stays at work. Just because they spend 8 hours with you doesn't make them bosom buddies. I'm starting to feel like I don't fit in on the playground because all the kids have their friends already and no one wants the new kid around.

I'm going to go play by myself in the sandbox. You know that the kids that were left out in school are most likely to turn out to be the gazillionaires...

shop shop shop

You ain't gonna believe this! Last week I'm in the mall spending my hard-earned dole and I happened upon a contest to win a $1000 mall gift card.

I ACTUALLY WON!!!! NO FOOLIN'!!!

I nearly busted poor Ethan's eardrums when I told him the news. He's really happy for me- more so because he feels I needed some good news. Tomorrow I'm going to pick up the card and do a bit of me shopping then I'm going to buy some stuff for Ethan later on in the week. Love how he's all like "I can only shop for 30 minutes but I want to get 2 dress shirts and 2 pairs of dress pants." Uh-huh. If there are any men who can debunk this, I'd love to know.

We had a good chat on the weekend about fear and the excess amounts I feel every day. It's like this - I fear moving on from HR. I thought that's what I was supposed to do on this earth yet I think the universe has other plans for me since I've run into all kinds of foolishness with my CHRP designation. Now I'm seriously considering scrapping the four letters altogether to move onto something else. I do embrace change yet I have a hard time letting go of HR. I feel like it'll all have been for naught, you know? I did learn some very important lessons during that time... Christiane says it's OK to close that chapter of my life and move on to something else.

But what? is the $64,000 question.

According to this test thingy on oprah.com, I'm a creator and an influencer. I do enjoy creating things and coming up with new ideas. I used to write a ton of poetry in my messed-up-head days but I put that aside for some unknown reason. Nowadays this blog is where I can be really creative.

(I've been clicking back & forth to the mall website to see what I can see. I'm so excited!!!)

Why do I have all this fear? I am the only one preventing me from moving forward. That's why I came here in the first place - to move forward.

Tomorrow I shop. Woot, woot, woot, woot!!

confessions of a disgrunted statistic

Gamerz officially stinks.

So this job is now posted three times on craigslist and elsewhere in cyberspace. After trying to email these yahoos to see what the heck is happening, they keep giving me cryptic answers. What's the big idea? Are you too cool for school? Can't give a straight answer? For the love of Pete.

Whilst in my cybertravels I came across another job posting that seemed viable so I set out to faire parvenir mon CV. I was checking out the company location when I noticed that the address on the posting is different from the address on the company website. That's right, kids. Where in the name of heaven is this place supposed to be? Come on. Such an error could have huge repercussions if that information was sent to the wrong party.

Employers put so much responsibility on us job seekers to have the perfect CV sans typos, etc. You know, job hunting is just as much a hunt for the employee as it is for the employer. Why can't employers take the same time out to check their postings and ensure they're sound? How about keeping your website up to date? It's called candidate marketing. I know this because I've done it before for a company that I hated more than life itself yet I had to come up with ways to attract the best & brightest.

To all my fellow statistics out there pounding cyberpavement - don't settle for any crap from employers. In an interview, ask them how they've been affected by the toilet-like economy. If you hear words like "reorganization", "workforce reduction", "new strategies" - run for the hills. They don't know their left from right and have no clue what's going on (ProServ comes to mind). If you see that the job has been reposted, fear not - this means they don't know what they want in a candidate and likely need a double-double and a couple of Timbits to figure it out.

I know I'm a competent candidate. I got skillz. I believe in myself enough that I'd be an asset to any company. As of this very moment, I REFUSE to put up with employer shenanigans! Statistics of Montreal unite! Let's send a message to employers out there to clean up their act and then maybe we can get jobs and pay our bills!

(dammit)

turkey, turkey everywhere

Thanksgiving was wonderful. I spent it with Ethan and his family and it was lovely. I called home on Saturday and looks like I didn't miss much at the Titanides homestead - more drama and other ish.

Ethan and I were discussing my job situation and he thought I should host a cooking show for broke folks like myself. I know this sounds odd, yet it strangely relates to this vision I had where I was telling someone "I never thought I'd be writing for television". Personally I'd rather have a talk show where I could tell people what's up... à la Jeremy Kyle.

So my interview with Gamerz went nowhere. They've reposted the job and have neglected to return my calls. I kind of wondered about this yet I have to believe it's for the best. The universe is looking out for me and knows I won't put up with any workplace shenanigans.

Now off I go to watch The Biggest Loser.