crazy day/ job essay/ career fair

Sept. 22 Crazy day: I go to the bus stop as usual, and I was able to catch the earlier bus. I got to work before 8am, and a lot of the lights at the building were out. I thought that's what happens before 8am. I then get to my restaurant, and it's dark. The workers and I are sitting and talking.

The servers get sent home and the hostess and I stay to do some work like set the tables. There weren't any customers at all due to the power outage, so I didn't make any tips today.

Job essay: On Sept. 20, there's a section in the Globe and Mail called "The Essay." It's where people talk about a personal experience and how it affects their life. There's one called "Unemployed and nearly 50" by Dawn Jardine. She got laid off from her job. Her essay reminded me of the months I was unemployed back in 2010.

She talked about getting rejected and staffing agencies (paraphrase): "Recruiters are hired by companies to find people that fit their needs. When they do, the recruiters get a commission and that's the driving force, and not finding the right employee for the company."

There's one recruiter that told her that the interview will be held in a house because the company was rapidly expanding, they ran out of office space to rent. She gets hired, and then it turns out it was a start-up company being held in the house where she was interviewed. Like the recruiter should have been straight-up about how it was a start-up company and not because it was a huge company that ran out of office space.

Jardine then talks about being "trapped", and she got a call from a good company. She could work at the good company on a contract basis, or a bad company but it's full- time with benefits. So she took the good company job because it fit her experience. She learned her lessons to save her money and that professionals with skills can be unemployed too.

Clay Shirky: I got this blog video through my blog. Clay Shirky talks about "How Cognitive surplus will change the world." He talks about this daycare example. The experiment is that there are parents who are late to pick up their kids from the daycare. How can you prevent that from happening or not as often?

If parents pick up their kids late, the parents will get a fine and will be added to their daycare bill. After that fine was introduced, even more parents picked up their kids late. That punishment doesn't help. I thought that sounded familiar, then I thought: "Freakonomics?" I then looked at the book by Steven D. Levitt & Stephen J. Dubner, and it was mentioned on pages 15 and 16.

The parents are thinking: "$10 fine? So what?" That's why they'll continue to be late.

http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/eng/clay_shirky_how_cognitive_surplus_will_change_the_world.html
Sept. 23 Job interview: Today I went to a job interview. It's in a part of town where I have done 2 interviews before. The interview was average, but right after I left I felt like I didn't get the job.

Publishing: A few days ago I submitted the short story "Chase" to the Poetry Institute of Canada and they told me they had an 850 word limit. I had 1,459 words. I had to delete 609 words. It took me an hr and a half, but I did it. I then submitted it.

I had written that story for Creative non-fiction in college back in 2007. Now that I edited it, I realized there was some repetition and deleted it. I had to make it a tighter story. The narrator told the audience what her situation is, and then tells the girl on the phone, and then tells her brother. I cut it down to her telling the girl on the phone.

You can read the original "Chase" short story on the Oct. 5, 2008 post on my blog www.badcb.blogspot.com Now you can read my edited version of it on my Sept. 23, 2011 blog post. You can compare and tell me which one you like to read.

Sept. 24 Rape: I got this through Facebook, and it was from my friend Omar. He posted this article from GQ magazine about an 11 yr old girl who was gang- raped. It was a well- written article and I think all of you should read it.

http://www.gq.com/news-politics/big-issues/201109/texas-gang-rape-11-year-old-girl-story

Job expectations: I think this guy is going to get dismissed. He's been here for a couple of months and he shows up an hr late to work, or don't show up at all, and doesn't call. I have low expectations of him. This is part of a big company, and I know he will get dismissed.

When I was working at the Soup place which is a mom-and-pop place, there's a worker who misses the same 1 or 2 days a week without calling. They said they will give her one more chance to show up on her shifts or at least call. It was good for a couple of weeks and then she goes right back to her old habits. They never dismissed her. In a small establishment with a specific kind of people who are nice and easygoing, she can get away with it.

Career fair:

CSIS: It stands for the Canadian Security Intelligence Service. The Canadian version of the CIA. I went to the career fair, and this booth was there. The website is: www.intelligencematters.ca

There are a lot of careers available there. All I can think of are spy shows like Alias, She Spies, and the CBC comedy show InSecurity where agents work at a fictional place called NISA. I've watched the first two shows, but not the last one.

Forestry: Also at the career fair is workwild.ca. The business card is a circle and it looks like it's cut from a log. The positons are class 1 drivers, laborers, senior operational planner. If you or someone is interested, go to the website.

Pason.com: Their booth ran out of business cards and they gave me this folder where you can cut it out and create this little paper automatic aiming system. It's a kind of arts and craft project. They specialize in data management for land- based and offshore rigs around the world. It's based in Calgary.

Sherwin-Williams: This sells paint. They were advertising Management/ Sales Training Program and Internships. You can apply at: www.sherwin.com/mtp

Pengrowth.com: This is an energy corporation in Calgary. There are a lot of engineering, finance, IT positions.

Glasses: I was reading in the Globe and Mail, an article written by Katrina Onstad. She talked about how a British study said that "wearing glasses to a job interview leaves a stronger impression of professionalism and intelligence than going bare." I wear my glasses all the time and to job interviews. So at least I'm doing one thing right. lol.

Sept. 25 Law of attraction: Earlier this week I was listening to my Sky cd. They're a Canadian pop duo that came out in 1998 with the song "Some Kinda Wonderful." I then tune into Lite 95 FM and they're playing that song.

The law of attraction is focused positive thinking. I read The Secret: Teen Power last year. However, I was kind of practicing it back in 2009. I wanted a job that I could work on the weekdays, and work on the restaurant on the weekends. That lead me to my job at Call Centre #3 that totally worked for me.

Well it was good for two weeks when they gave me full-time hours, and then started giving me part-time.