Too Close For Comfort

Since starting my interim role in September  for a charity, I have been in the rather weird situation of being based at one of my former employers' offices.  So literally I have an ID card, be it a contractor one, can get into all their buildings, bump into former colleagues and friends constantly and so on.

I guess it's been rather weird as I was let go but in some ways have gone full circle.  None of the mad complications of my former employer but in a familiar environment.  Well next week is all change as we're moving East and will have our own temporary home in a week.

A positive in many ways - moving away from the familiar to fully embrace my new job challenge. Distance should make things a bit easier to move on cleanly as at the moment I am a bit too close for comfort.  This won't stop me meeting up with people though.

The main downers comprise of location - not being in central London for the shops and social opportunities plus being so easy to get back home.  Moving Eastwood is certainly going to add to my journey time - having to hop on the Jubilee and Northern line during rush hour means I'll have to awaken from my slumber earlier to battle my way through town and then fight it out on those pesky trains - NNoooooooo. Esp as I've been off sick for past month or so I'd got to the stage where the overall cramped cattle truckesq state of the tube had somehow slipped from my mind.  Next job must be in town or North London please - will add to my list of resolutions :)

2010 - What Next?

I try not to make resolutions about any aspects of my life as I'm not the best at dealing with failure so best not to set myself up for it and therefore I don't use the word resolutions. So 2010 is now in full swing - my life has kind of been on hold for the past month or so as I had an operation and have had to have time off work.  As well as recovering the time spent cooped up at home has meant that I've had more time to think than any sane person would really want. The upshot is that I've looked at 09 and worked out what things I liked work wise and thinking about what things are going to be good to aim for 2010.

The main things are that I like being back in work and the fact that in my present job I can just get on with things without crazy buereaucy or game playing that was and still is rife in my former employer.

Career wise I have reached a bit of a plateau so this year one of the keys has to be to try new things and get back into learning more so that I can progress a bit further up the career ladder and to keep my brain ticking over. The need to learn new things applies to both the marketing and fundraising disciplines.  Social media as part of an overall strategy is defo of interest plus applicable to both areas - I have had a book for 6 months  about this topic and all I need to do now is actually open it.  Looking at the cover just doesn't seem to transmit the information to me for some reason!

Ultimately I want to move into fundraising for a charity so this year I plan to make inroads towards this.  The main things will be:
1) Head to lots of fundraising networking events and work the room a bit.
2) Get back in touch with people who I volunteered for last year and do more of the same
3) Approach people I know who run fundraising committes and volunteer my time
4) Apply for Marketing and Fundraising roles - combined piggybacking on my marketing experience will be the best way for me to get into fundraising.

Wish me luck.

Goodbye 2009, Bring on 2010

Well 2009 was one of the most turbulent ones for me for a rather long time that's for sure.  In my mind as I saw in the new year, barely keeping my eyelids open in San Francisco (I was ill so early night was as wild as I got), I could neer have envisaged I'd have done so much this year and come out of the other side happy.

Without doubt the biggest thing to be thrown at me this year was hearing that I was being made redundant in March and then heading out of that door on April 8.  It was a shock and in many ways scuppered the plans that I had been devising in my head for the year (save a deposit to one day buy a place being the main one).

Looking back now it certainly was not the end of the world and life certainly does go on. I got to travel to South East Asia exploring part of a world that I'd always dreamed of going to; I got to spend a lazy summer in the main doing what I wanted (whilst looking for work granted but with lots of downtime too) which resulted in impromptu walks and dates around town with my then new man, heading out to dinners, seeing old friends and hitting the gym whenever I wanted during the day (yes my buns were certainly made of steel as summer drew to a close).  I've never had a summer like that so it was definately nice.

OK, I can't deny that there were down sides too. Namely hearing the redundancy news, seeing friends suffering a similar fate, having to deal with the endless monotony of looking for work and their accompanying sad feelings.

As the year draws to a close I have an interim role until March which I am enjoying - working for a chhaarrriiiddee, am figuring out what things I want to accomplish  next year and to me that's just so exciting as I know that no matter what life chucks my way I can handle it so bring it on.

Hopefully, the economy will pick itself up but to me it will never return to what it was.  There will be a new state of play and rules that govern society so it's certainly gonna make for an exciting year.

Is There Any Such Thing As A Dream Job?

In the pub last night, was talking to one of my friends about whether there is anything such as a dream job. You know that thing that makes you want to jump out of bed in the morning, all bright eyed and bushy tailed.

There must be people out there who have found their calling and are so enthused by what they do but I have a feeling the true figure may be rather low. I've enjoyed aspects of all the jobs that I have done but in truth most of the things I have enjoyed about work have been connected with the people I work with as opposed to the job itself.

In my current job, I am enjoying the team that I am part of but it has to be said that I am kind of doing lots of things that I've done in the past so is it riveting enough that I just want to leap out of bed in the morning to get to work - not quite but at least I am enjoying it. One of the cool things about having a 6 month contract is that I can start exploring and trying to get my dream job and make it happen.

Then I got to thinking about one of the best marketing campaigns ever - Queensland Tourism's best job in the world. So simple but pure genius. The job only lasts a year but the knock on benefits from such a simple idea are immeasurable. The idea of being stuck on a beautiful island does sound kind of appealing come to think of it maybe I'll apply next year although I'm not too keen on water so that could hinder my chances of success.

Sell Sell Sell

Woo hoo - had a meeting with my boss the other day and everyone is pleased with my work and have offered me a 6 month contract. I said yes as the job is nice and it's nice to have a bit more security.

Not sure precisely the role that I was looking for but it makes use of my built environment industry knowledge and is working for a charity so that's all good.

Was funny that the offer came out of the blue as I had just had a 2nd interview for a job that I went for when I just got back in July. It was a business development job for a real estate company - I had to give a presentation about the how I've successfully helped deliver bids and how I added value. I did my usual in depth preparation -2 days before had a quick think about the structure. Chatted it through with my fella then wrote it the next day. For a change I didn't practice and just talked it through.

The 2nd interview was good. I felt very relaxed - I guess as that was interview number 8 I was getting more confident about talking about myself. I answered their questions and asked insightful questions about their business and how things are going in the current climate. I nodded in the right place, ooh and how I laughed in just the right places.

Anyway, a week later I found out that I didn't get the job. Basically I was neck and neck with another candidate and if there were 2 jobs I would have been taken on. Not sure if that is a positive things or feels a bit like salt being rubbed into the wounds. In the end the decision boiled down to me being quite relaxed and not selling myself as much as I could. I have had this criticism before so it came as no surprise. I work hard and am very conscientious but I guess I don't always acknowledge that being one of those people who goes over and above to get things done is a big deal.

So from here on in I will sell myself more (not in rude way obviously :)).

Sell Sell Sell

I will realise what my unique qualities are and be a bit more forthcoming. Being a shy retiring type won't help in the quest for a perm job although I can't see myself selling my soul to the devil and becoming a pushy career focussed bitch somehow. I like to giggle, have fun and be silly or else it all will just seem too much like hard work.

The perm hunt

Heaven

Having a new job is fab and my first pay cheque in 6 months will be arriving on 30 Sept - woohoo. A new pair of shoes may well be what the doctor ordered.

My role is interim and although my company will be advertising for a permanent person I still am keeping all avenues open and on the hunt for a perm role. I guess it's the nearest I can get to security in these challenging times but it would help to make me feel a tad more secure.

A past interviewer has got in touch to say that they would like to see me again for a perm role so that's good. Also been looking at different roles in charity fundraising as that's my dream job. Had been a bit unmotivated in terms of looking for a perm role once I'd secured something interim but then I went to an event last week about how to find a job in charities which inspired me to keep on going for the completely right role.

I now have a new mini job plan, have joined the Chartered Institute of Fundraising and set myself a networking events diary - so bring it on!

Got One!

Well sort of - it's interim for 2 months for now but hey at least I have work - woo hoo. It's a reason to get my lazy arse out of bed in the morning which is no bad thing.

The job came through a friend who was approached about the role as a Comms Manager but she wasn't in a position to go for it so it sent it to me. See it does pay to head out for a lunchtime burrito with friends. Is it me or in the past year has London turned in Mexican central - no bad thing in my eyes though. Can never go wrong with meat, cheese and tomatoes.

My interview was on a Friday and I started the following Tuesday. The weirdest thing is that 50% of my time will be spent based at the offices of my old employer. This part slightly messed with my head but at least I can hang out in my old stomping ground and hang out with my mates, yay. I do like to head out and party.

The whole concept of returning to work has been a bit strange especially having to focus my head and produce things. But hey, won't take long to get back into the swing of this work thang!