Saturday, August 11, 2007
So it finally happened, and it was so easy.On thursday I walked into the local recruitment agency, and half an hour later, walked out with a job.
I start on Sunday night.
It's nothing fancy by any means... just work in a local warehouse, though being in the internet department is rather nice, and does apparently have opportunities to move up.
Anyway... after far too long, it'll be nice to be doing more than only just scraping by... or even worse than that, as it's been recently. Andrea's been carrying me far more than I had any right to ask or expect, so now I can set that straight.
While I'm working, I'll also be building yet another new website, though this one won't be nearly as ambitious as Benway's World.
The reason I find myself conventionally employed again is Google. They changed their setup, so that search results are dependant on the country you live in.
So... I have a .co.uk domain name, and almost all of my search hits now come from the uk... I lost all of my US hits... and most of my income came from US visitors.
To fix this, I'm gonna have to set up a .com website, and then probably wait 2 years for enough incoming links to make google notice me.
I can see why google have done this. It's for business websites. If you're searching for say... a window cleaner... you don't wanna be given a list of american window cleaners if you live in the uk. That's just fine if you want real world services and products, but in the online world, where you want a worldwide audience, it means having a local domain name will be something of a disaster.
Labels: work
Steve 11:15 AM [+] (3) comments
Saturday, March 18, 2006
Games and an interview.First, the interview.
Andrea spotted an ad for a job, just by chance, that she thought would suit me perfectly. Can you believe they actually pay people to be chatroom moderators? I've been doing that for years, just for the fun of it.
So on friday, I made my way by bus to this little town I've never heard of, in the middle of I dunno where, to have an interview in a hotel lounge. Quite an odd experience, it must be said.
I dunno how I did, to be honest, but it certainly wasn't one of those excruciating interviews where you walk away feeling a complete arse.
Fingers crossed.
The games.
1: Black.
First person shootemup with lots of guns, lots of people to kill, lots of stuff to blow up, and very pretty graphics.
It looks absolutely awesome, and is brilliant fun to play.
But....
It's too short by far, and to compensate for that, to make the game last longer, they implement wholely unfair game save points. There are places where if you don't reach the end of the level before you turn off, the next time you play, you'll have to replay over an hour's worth.
That's just wrong, in my book.
2: Shadow Of The Colossus.
I've only been playing for a couple of hours, and having killed one colossus, am really enjoying it.
It's original in the extreme, it's breathtakingly beautiful, and it's bloody hard.
Also... and this is something you wouldn't expect.... when you finally manage to kill a colossus, it makes you feel quite sad. It's not like beating an end of level boss, so much as killing an innocent creature who's only sin was being big.
Most unusual.
So the PS3 is still around 8 months away, and the PS2 is by no means a dead format, but I do believe that these two titles will be the final top quality, triple A, 'must have' games for it.
If you don't buy many games, sticking only to absolute top quality titles... these should both be on your shopping list.
If you only want one game this year though... make it Legend Of The Colossus, simply coz you'll never see anything else quite like it.
Labels: games, interviews, work
Steve 8:27 PM [+] (0) comments
Friday, October 08, 2004
So I was in town yesterday and this guy in a suit walks up to me with a clipboard, and I think "here we go... insurance salesman or somesuch."I was about to do the usual thing, say "not interested" and keep walking, but he asks something entirely different. He asked if I was interested in full or part time work.
Now this struck me as an odd way of handling recruitment, but i decided to see what he had to say. In typical salesman style, he spoke very quickly and was vague on details to say the least, but assured me that if I gave him my name and phone number, someone would get back to me in the evening with full details. Out of curiosity, I gave him my number. I don't really need the work as such, but something part time might add a bit of stability to my life that's rather lacking just now.
So in the evening, the call comes through, and they give me their address and a time for an interview, but were still very evasive when I asked what specifically their operation was. Like... was it an agency or what? The nearest I got was "It's a call centre. All of your questions will be answered in the interview."
Mmhmm. This didn't feel quite right to me.
So this morning, half an hour before the interview was due, they phoned me again to confirm that I would be attending, and I told them I didn't think I would. When asked why, I replied that the idea of attending an interview when the people concerned wouldnt even tell me what the job was, and the contact number was a mobile phone, jsut didn't seem quite on the level to me.
The woman asked if I'd reconsider if she told me exactly what the job was. I said I'd consider it. So she starts off with "It's a call centre... though not exactly sales..." I interrupted, "So it's cold calling?" Hesitation... "Yes."
"Well, since it's clear that your company's policy is one of deception, just from the way you handle recruitment, I really don't think I want any part of it, so I most deffinitely won't be attending any interview."
You can spot 'em from a mile off.
Labels: annoyed, interviews, work
Steve 8:27 PM [+] (0) comments
Thursday, November 13, 2003
I haven't posted in a few days, so it's probably time I did.Kinda hard to find anything to write though. I guess the words that comes to mind right now are consolidation and evaluation, along with a huge helping of procrastination.
I should probably go find some proper work. I just did a calculation, and assuming my income remains stable where it is right now, I can *just* afford to make ends meet, but it's a very fine line, and not one I'm entirely comfortable with.
We'll see.
The prospect of actually working for a living (or part of my living) rather fills me with horror and dread.
Other than that, most of the rest of my life is conducted online, with the occasional intervention by 'real life' friends dropping round to make sure I'm still alive, and to keep me up to date on gossip.
Labels: work
Steve 3:28 AM [+] (0) comments
Monday, March 24, 2003
Very much as I expected, my manager wouldn't let things lie, much less admit she was wrong.She wasn't there today, but had instructed the supervisor to discipline me, firstly for talking back, and secondly for failing to achieve the (revised) target.
Hah!
I explained to the supervisor exactly what had taken place on friday, and she understood my position entirely, but still had to follow her instructions. Needless to say, I informed her that I would not accept any form of reprimand, especially as the manager didn't have the guts to do it herself. I then told her I'd stay to the end of my shift, purely so she wouldn't be left short-staffed, but that I would not be returning.
On talking to her just as I was leaving, the supervisor told me she didn't blame me for leaving at all. Dozens have already quit for exactly the same reason, and that she was looking for a new job herself. She also told me the only reason nothing is done about our manager is because her daughter is a senior manager. Don't you just love nepotism?
Seems I was right about the place from the start. Totally Mickey Mouse.
Steve 11:46 AM [+] (0) comments
Friday, March 21, 2003
Did I say unprofessional when I mentioned my boss the other day?I should have said totally bloody stupid.
She set us a task today, and then just to make a straightforward job more difficult, she makes it a contest to see who can complete an equal share of the task in the fastest time. So there you have a group of people working against each other instead of with each other, and in such a way that completey dissrupts the normal working routine. That's bad management if ever I saw it. Anyway, she gave us a time limit of 4 hours, which myself and the guy I work with achieved easily, only to be told afterwards that we'd missed the 'real' target time by some margin.
Needless to say, I was not happy about this, and when I queried it with her, she said we'd missed the target and that was that. I asked "what about the 4 hours YOU set us?" She waffled on for a moment, at which point I expressed my displeasure in no uncertain terms saying that I was perfectly happy to work to a target, but for her to move the goalposts afterwards was unacceptable. She walked away.
This probably isn't going to be the last such episode, and it's only a matter of time before I leave. It's a real shame, because I enjoy the job, and like all the other people I work with... I just can't stand to be messed about by an incompetent manager on an ego trip.
Steve 11:42 AM [+] (0) comments
Friday, March 14, 2003
Not the most enjoyable working day of my life.The management are rather cracking down on the attainment of certain targets, and even though I've only been there for 4 days, I got the lecture along with 2 others. I was however able to sit there rather smug in the knowledge that I'd attained my target for the day.
What I didn't like though was then being thrown head first into a situation of which I have no experience, no training, and hadn't been provided with a fraction of the information necesary to do the job effectively. To me, that's bad management, and I don't appreciate being put in that position.
I'm rather coming to the conclusion that the whole operation is a bit Mickey Mouse, and if it continues like that, I won't stay there long. It's not like I need my hand held the whole time I'm there, but I would like to have certain tasks explained to me, at least once.
The word that comes to mind is unprofessional.
Steve 12:16 PM [+] (0) comments
Monday, March 10, 2003
First day in the new job was a doddle. It's a complete no brainer, and so easy it's funny. I think I can quite happily go in, do my (pleasantly short) shift, and come home again without giving it a second thought. Perfect.After work, I took myself down to the doctors to get this dodgy vein in my leg, and the cough that's been bugging me for the past couple of months checked out.
The vein is 'probably' nothing to worry about, and the doctor agreed with me when I said I thought it was most likely down to being sat on my arse all day every day on the net, and that now I'm working and more active, it should be okay. Still, he did say I should keep an eye on it, and go back to see him if it gives me any more trouble.
As for the cough... he couldn't hear anything abnormal in my chest, but considering I smoke, and have been coughing for quite a while, he's sending me for a chest x-ray just to be on the safe side. Truth is, he figures if there's anything at all wrong, it may be mild asthma.
Too many cigs is my theory, but whatever, I'll go get the x-ray done this week just for my own peace of mind.
Labels: work
Steve 2:58 PM [+] (0) comments
Wednesday, March 05, 2003
Woo!I just had a phonecall. I got the job.
It seems while one of the references I was given by a previous employer was excellent (and I know exactly who that was), the other was not so good. Nasty, devious, backstabbing assholes. Should I ever need references again, I won't be putting their name down.
Needless to say, I was given the benefit of the doubt on the strength of my good reference and positive attitude in the interview, and have been given a 3 month probationary contract, which is pretty much standard these days.
Am I thrilled? No, not really. The wages aren't great, and there are aspects of the job that I'm not keen on, but the hours are very flexible and it opens up a number of doors for me, so it's certainly not a bad thing.
Now I need to go buy some new clothes, as what I usually wear is wholely unsuitable, and then I start on monday morning. Should be interesting.
Labels: work
Steve 5:24 PM [+] (0) comments
Job interview this afternoon. Should be...er... fun? Nah. Interesting? Probably not. Predictable? More than likely.
What was amusing though was the way I found out about the interview.
I applied for this job maybe 3 months ago, heard nothing from the company, and then forgot all about it. So, yesterday morning at about 9am, I was just in the process of waking up, still pretty comatose really, when the phone rings. "Hello. Could I speak to Mr Benway please?" (No, that's not my real name. You'll have to work a bit if you wanna find out what it really is). In my pre-coffee confused state, this sounded like Brigitte, and I thought she was just having a laugh. "Hehehe... yeah, right." I replied.
"Is this Mr Benway? This is so-and so, from such and such company phoning regarding a job vacancy."
Oops. Talk about feeling like a right arse.
The moral of this story is, don't phone me in the morning unless you know I've had at least 5 cups of coffee, otherwise I'll talk complete jibberish, not even knowing what planet I'm on. Or... maybe it's that I shouldn't answer the phone till I've had the afforementioned coffees. Or... oh what the heck... there is no moral to this story, I just talk bollox when I'm not properly awake. Kinda like right now.
Who am I again?
Labels: interviews, work
Steve 9:05 AM [+] (0) comments
Tuesday, January 14, 2003
Oh the joys of job interviews.It's always the same, even for a really crappy job. The interviewer looks at the cv (that's resume, to you americans), asks what happened to my last job and why I haven't worked in 2 years, and I then watch their eyes glaze over before I've even answered. It doesn't matter to them that the domestic problems that caused my previous employer to let me go were a mere glitch in an otherwise good and long career history. It doesn't matter to them that I have all the skills and experience that they could ask for.
I guess the simplest answer I should give them is "My last job ended because I had shitty luck, and I haven't worked in two years because of arseholes like you who ignore a good 17 year work history in favour of one blot."
Yeah, I know I could easily rectify this situation by going to an agency and doing temp work, but yeash, that SO sucks.
Still, looking on the bright side, at least I have lots of cool stuff to keep me occupied in my rather extensive spare time.
Labels: interviews, work
Steve 1:06 PM [+] (0) comments
Friday, November 29, 2002
Interesting.I just had a phone call from a potential employer inviting me to an interview. This is nothing unusual, but what impressed me was that she's sending me a map to find the place via email. Now I know email is no big thing, but it's highly unusual for a potential employer in the field I work in to take any notce at all of an email addy on a resume.
Anyways, we'll see how it goes.
Labels: interviews, work
Steve 3:33 PM [+] (0) comments
Friday, October 18, 2002
Hah!My instincts were correct. That job was absolutely NOT on the level. The guy wasn't looking for admin at all, it was simply a scam to draw in people interested in IT, to try and get them to refer customers to him, with the offer of a little money on the side as an incentive. Okay, so I could make a little pocket money from that, but it's not a job, and as such, a complete waste of my morning.
Labels: annoyed, interviews, work
Steve 12:15 PM [+] (0) comments
Thursday, October 17, 2002
I have a job interview tomorrow for an IT/admin position, which is rather cool, 'cause I'm entirely sick of the whole warehouse scene. Can't say I'm too optomistic though, and it's described as temp/perm. I spoke to the guy on the phone about it, and he said I should go in and discusss it, which is fair enough. I'll be rather wary though, 'cause I cant afford to get screwed on this, like.. take the job, and then get dumped again after a couple of weeks. That'd just leave me in so much shit.We'll see, and I'll post about it tomorrow when I find out what the score is.
It certainly would be nice to get into a job where I can utilise at least some of my skills, 'cause for the past 17 years, they've been going almost completely to waste. *crosses fingers*
Labels: interviews, work
Steve 2:55 PM [+] (0) comments
Wednesday, September 11, 2002
Haven't been online much over the past couple of days. My sleep pattern and whole routine have gone completely up the wall, and I couldn't seem to get my act together. Taking a couple of days off seemed like the only solution. I can't say that it's helped, and I've been struggling with a headache all day, so we'll just have to see.As predicted, I got a reply from the company I had the interview with last week, and I didn't get the job *chuckles*.
Labels: interviews, sleep, work
Steve 5:05 PM [+] (0) comments
Friday, September 06, 2002
Well, I can safely say after that interview that I won't begetting the job. I'd taken paracetamol an hour or so before hand for a headache, which often has the unpleasant side effect of making me feel sick. Typically, it kicked in right bang in the middle of the interview, so while the woman's asking me awkward questions, like what happened to my previous job, I was concentrating on trying not to puke all over the interview room table. Hehehe. I managed to keep it down, thankfully, but I'm pretty certain my answers seemed very...hmmm... not what she was looking for. Thing is, how do you explain to a potential employer that you were sacked from your last job, 'cause you couldn't balance your domestic life with work? I can usually just about make it sound plausable, but today... not a chance.Anyway, as it is, I didn't much like the sound of the job when she described it fully, and since financially I'm not exactly struggling, I think I'd be more pissed off if I actually DID get the job.
Labels: interviews, work
Steve 5:23 PM [+] (0) comments
Tuesday, July 30, 2002
So, I recieved a reply regarding the job I appled for a couple of weeks ago. I didn't get it. Ho hum. I'm rapidly coming to the conclusion that having been fired from my last job, regardless of the reason or circumstances, has rendered me unemployable in most companies' eyes. There is a solution to this, but... *shudder* spending any ammount of time doing agency work is never a good thing. Anyway, for the moment at least, I seem able to get by as is. I'll keep looking, as much just to keep a clear concience as anything, but aren't going to get too stressed about it.Labels: work
Steve 4:30 PM [+] (0) comments
Tuesday, July 16, 2002
What a curious day.It started with a mad rush to find various bits of long ago stashed paperwork, birth certificate and suchlike, stuff needed in a pre-interview assesment for a job I've applied for.
There were 5 of us taking the assesment test, all maybe slightly nervous, as no-one really enjoys that kind of thing, and we sat making smalltalk before the test about how irrelivant the things are etc. Anyway, the thing was an absolute piece of cake, and I was astounded when at the end of it, only three of us were found to have passed. If that wasn't surprise enough, the three of us were then given a tour of the facility, and then given on the spot interviews. Talk about not beating about the bush.
I suppose I give myself a 50-50 chance of getting the job, as my previous record isn't exactly a shining example of how to put a job before all other considerations... something companies tend to look for over here. Sod that. A job serves my purposes, not the other way around.
Anyway, I'm finding the prospect of working again rather... odd. I wouldn't say I entirely need it for financial purposes, having found a lifestyle that I'm enjoying immensely, that can be fairly easily achieved on my meagre income, but my social concience tells me it's time to get off my butt and do something.
I do wonder how having a healthy income again would affect my lifestyle. Being very happily single, with none of the expenses involved with having a girlfriend and her kids, along with having reinvented myself over the past 16 or so months into some kind of bohemian egomaniac, I can picture various excessive scenarios.
Still, I'm certainly not counting my chickens yet, as while there's a serious risk of finding myself gainfully employed again, it's by no means certain, and in truth, I'm not that bothered either way.... just curious.
Labels: interviews, work
Steve 8:10 PM [+] (0) comments
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