Sunday, April 4, 2010

career search/ jokes/ rant

Apr. 4 Career search: Get ready for a job heavy email. It's weird. For the past two days I haven't been working on my weekly emails or going on twop.com. Instead for the hours I spent on the internet, I was looking for a job at the bank. I went to Servus Credit Union and Bank of Montreal, and there were no jobs there. I went to Sunlife Financial and set up a new profile because I forgot my password. They said they will email my password to my email account, but it didn't work. I set up profiles at banks I haven't been to their site before like CIBC, and Royal Bank. I looked for careers at ATB Financial, TD Bank, HSBC, and Scotiabank.

Basically the past two days are go on the computer in the morning for two hours and look up and research jobs. Then in the afternoon I go out to the mall and apply for jobs at the mall. Then I come back and go on for another two hours to look and apply for jobs on the internet.

Jokes: On my breaks, I watch TV. This is kind of related to my career search. On MadTV, Stuart was talking to a social worker.

Stuart: You're ugly.
Social worker: I know. I work for the government.

I'm sure my friend Leslie is reading this and she's thinking: "That is the most offensive thing I have ever heard." She works for the government. It's just a joke. I'm sure Leslie will be having the last laugh with: "I still have money and respect from this job." lol.

This was a couple of weeks ago, but I was watching The Simpsons where Mr. Burns casino implodes. The old casino employees now work in retirement homes. I totally missed that joke, and Patrick explains that casinos and retirement are where scam artists exist.

Job tip: My mom told me that I should look for a temporary government job. It's easier to get a temporary job than a permanent one. As long as you have one temporary govt. job under your belt, you can build up on that experience on your resume and the govt. will more likely hire you for something permanent.

Bluecross.ca: I went to Bluecross.ca and applied for some jobs there. There are some I don't qualify like you need to be in medicine and have a college diploma in a computer program. There was some stuff I could apply for like call centre positions.

RCMP.ca: I went to rcmp.ca and there are other jobs than being a cop. I can apply for administrative like Criminal Investigative Analysis or Strategic services. There are Scientific, Technical, and Operational.

Rant: I need to get my negativity out. A few weeks ago I was talking to my dad, and he said that the only reason I got that bank job in the first place was that I had a reference from an employee who works at the bank. That was a slap in the face. However, I have gotten used to the proverbial slap in the face from my sister.

Sure, my resume was good with the help from my friend Angela and I did well in the interview. I even asked if my resume qualifies for this position because I thought you might need to be in business in college to get this job. The people who interviewed me assured me that my resume was fine.

I know my dad wasn't being mean. He was expressing his opinion and was being brutally honest. I'll add that to my sister saying things like: "The stuff you learned in Applied Math 30 is the stuff I learned in Pure Math 10." Yeah, I know in Applied Math 10, it was gr. 8 and 9 math. Is there a nicer way that my dad could have said that? No, not really.

Though he says that I could do better than retail, restaurants, and call centres. I can get an entry level job at a good company and work there for a long time.

A couple of weeks ago, my dad was driving me to work, and I told him that all my friends know that I'm looking for a job. My friend Angela said there's a administrative assistant job at the University of Alberta. My dad said I wouldn't be able to handle it. True, I was thinking the same thing. The position needs to be able to multi-task, stressful, and needs two years of administrative assistant schooling at CDI or MacEwan.

ADD: It's hard to focus on my job search on the internet with my ADD. Sure, take some breaks. You can watch TV, but it will only remind you about what you're going through. Last week I was watching some Desperate Housewives, and Preston was telling his parents Lynette and Tom that he got a job as a gutter at some meat factory.

Preston: It pays $14/hr, and it has benefits.
Tom: That's good.
Me: Yeah.
lol.

I thought the Soup place was going to close down at the end of the year because I saw that it expires on Dec. 2010. Steven told me that they get a new license at the beginning of every year. It also reminded me of Desperate Housewives when the Scavo's pizzeria closed down a couple of seasons ago. I imagined what would happen if the Soup place closed down.

Money: On the second to last day of the Soup place, this guy said he's been eating here for the past 3 years. He then gave us a $50 tip. Seriously.

Shopping: I see that the store Get Set closed down in City Centre mall. I applied there before on my job searches. Looks like I dodged another bullet when I didn't work there.

I applied at BCBG as an assistant manager. You need two years of retail experience. There are actually medical and dental benefits, but I think only for managers and assistant managers.

Unintentionally funny: Well the whole email can't be all about jobs. I was watching Flash Forward, and on the show, they mentioned the newspaper The Globe and Mail. I thought that was so funny because they were in Toronto for that episode.

I was watching the Canadian TV show The Bridge the other day. It showed a fat guy running, and a cop chasing him. I laughed out loud at that one. Fat guys running is funny.

Dark jokes: I have one more abortion joke I remembered from watching American Dad. The mother and father Francine and Stan invite this other neighborhood couple over to their home.

Stan: So I believed you had an abortion back in college?
It's dark in the way Stan said it so casually like he's trying to start a normal conversation with someone.

Food: In other news, I have been eating mayonnaise that expired 2 months ago. I haven't gotten food poisoning at all.

Inspiration: I was reading my old blog post about how I first got that bank job, and my parent's reactions to it. My mom was very happy. My dad was cool about it, but I know he was impressed. I need to think of my parents' reactions to inspire me. It took me 3 months to get that job back in 2008. Then it lasted for a month.

Then I started looking for an office job again in Jan. 2009. By Oct. 2009, that's when I got that call centre job. Which is kind of a step up, middle of the road job.

It took longer to get a call centre job, because of the recession. Banks aren't doing that well. I remember my manager Steven saying that Scotiabank laid off all the part-time workers. I know for sure in the US, it's not doing well. I've been reading the business section of the newspaper, and 104 banks have closed down in a year.

True Blood: This TV show is on Space Channel at 8pm on Sunday nights. I saw the first two eps on dvd. I missed the 3rd episode last week, but I got to see the 4th ep tonight. There is a more subtle reminder to look for a job as I see Sookie wait tables. It tells me: "You have to look for an office job or you'll be waiting tables for the rest of your life."

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