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Tryphena Absent

10:41 / 05.01.04

Oh the trials of being alive in this terrible world. I am back at work after 2 weeks off. Whoa is me and worse still I finish at the end of January and that plummets me back in to the world of job hunting. Clearly not good and particularly when I'm rather sick of living at home. I'd better find work fast. So being a young and spritely 22 with no inkling of what to do next I obviously turn to barbelith and you old, old people for ideas. What should I do bunnies?

10:48 / 05.01.04

What can you do? (apart from being able to drink a lot of tequila)
There are always plenty of IT jobs going here, which of course has the added advantage of me getting a grand if I suggest someone for a job and they get it...

10:51 / 05.01.04

Get a plan behind you and do some more training. Don't just bum around for years in jobs you don't like waiting for something to happen. I have and look at me. Learn from my sad example. In the short term there are a number of agencies which deal with the Charity/Not for profit sector where you may pick up more interesting temping work (no guarantees, can email you a list if you like), or get a foot in the door somewhere interesting.

Failing that, have you considered being a dominatrix? Good pay, you work your own hours, swish uniform and I think you've got the personality for it.

Tryphena Absent

11:05 / 05.01.04

Alas I'm not sure I'm suited to an IT job, too much technical rara plus I get the feeling you're just in it for the bonus

As for the list, that would be lovely Illmatic and it sound massively ethical. I know what these charities are like though... ruthless. I've considered the dominatrix route but decided that it's a bit... well, all those submissive little people might annoy me. I've always wanted an excuse to beat a riding crop against my thigh and be called mistress though.

11:56 / 05.01.04

Why not apply for a public sector job? They're easy. (tee hee).

12:17 / 05.01.04

I suggest you become a - *looks at letter* - "Business Services Team Manager" with a government organisation which doesn't yet exist. Which is, apparently, what I'm due to be doing from April, along with anyone else working for [insert name of existing government organisation here] on the same pay scale, even though it bears no relation to what we do at the moment. I've taken a look at the job description and it appears to be so fantastically vague and generic that you don't really require any particular skills. And for that extra warm glow, it's public sector, so you can be sure that while you might not be doing anything, what you're not doing will be for the sake of the, er, common good.

foot long subbacultcha

12:43 / 05.01.04

Bear - where's "here"? You looking for any programmers(sorry to hijack your thread, TS)?

12:52 / 05.01.04

Not sure if they are, what kinda programming do you do? PM me if you like I can ask around - I'd rather not mention the company on here, not sure why overly paranoid I guess.

And Tryphena you don't need IT knowledge to work for an IT company half the people here haven't got a clue...And the bonus had nothing to do with it I care about my fellow brothers and sisters is all....honest

Tryphena Absent

12:53 / 05.01.04

Couldn't give a toss love. I'd prefer to be called Tryph than TS though.

12:55 / 05.01.04

Not sure if they are, what kinda programming do you do? PM me if you like I can ask around - I'd rather not mention the company on here, not sure why overly paranoid I guess.

And Tryphena you don't need IT knowledge to work for an IT company half the people here haven't got a clue...And the bonus had nothing to do with it I care about my fellow brothers and sisters is all....honest

13:03 / 05.01.04

Tryph- There's always signing up with a temp agency. By the time you're sick of a given assignment, you'll be moved to something else, and you can pick up all sorts of random job skills.

This is my understanding anyway. I worked at one for over a year and only ever got two assignments, both semi-long term, no gap in between. It sent me running screaming to Grad school.

Ooh, have you thought of Grad school? It's a pretty efficient way to avoid responsibility, especially if you can get an assistantship. I don't get paid a hell of a lot, bu there's a tuition waiver and health insurance. (This is all stateside, by the way, dunno if this is at all helpful).

13:35 / 05.01.04

PAH! I.T.
PAH! Grad school.

The real question is, how big and strong are you? Can you:
a)lift a 5'2", 7st 5ish person,
or b)can you be lifted by the afore mentioned person?
Fancy being a duet on a cruise ship or circus? Accomodation paid.... Can I tempt you, can I can I?
Otherwise, Im not sure. Which is daft, as Im also in this situation after January. Ho hu

13:59 / 05.01.04

So being a young and spritely 22 with no inkling of what to do next I obviously turn to barbelith and you old, old people for ideas

::weeps openly::

Tryphena Absent

14:19 / 05.01.04

You can all blame Seldom Killer for this thread btw. We had a brief but interesting conversation about temp agencies and that started me on my get advice from the oldies mission.

I don't think I'm strong enough to lift you up Gingerbop and I don't really want to leave London at the moment but if I could and if I did I'd leap at the chance. I'm also not ready to be a student again just yet, maybe one day but my memory's quite bad and I'm not willing to go through that pain again for a while.

So yeah, I dunno, I'd rather not temp but I will if I have to. This world is so depressing.

14:40 / 05.01.04

You’re a writer, for fucks sake. And you’re a girl. Also you’re confident, persistent, knowledgeable about comics and fanboys and stuff, and you sound a bit mouthy. Use that mouth to talk yourself through the door of 2000AD as a sort of ‘feisty girl who writes comics’ kind of deal, and then settle back to enjoy the vast rewards of being a professional comic book writer (have you heard how much they earn??)

If any of those fools at 2000AD dares to mention Hilary Robinson/Rachel Pollock, patiently explain why you’re cleverer than both of them stuck together with jam. And that we’d all buy your comic.

Do it, why not?. Do it tomorrow. Phone in sick, storm their offices and pitch your socks off. Why the hell would you rather temp for a living?

16:20 / 05.01.04

thanks for that, tryphena, I'm always looking for new things to blame on our friend killah.

16:35 / 05.01.04

OK, so you don't want to temp, but you don't want to work for unethical companies. This does create a bit of a problem, particularly if you are feeling shy of declaring what kind of thing you would like to be doing.

Actually thinking on that further have you tried making a list of all the things that you wouldn't want to do and seeing what that leaves you with? Just a thought and it just approaches the same problem from a different angle.

Also, remember that places like The Principle Partnership do both temp and permanent recruitment for charity/not for profit/arts organisations. They have never managed to get me work, but I tend to want the kind of work that agencies just can't get their head around. But that said that always have organisations on their books that make me think, "oooh, maybe I could work there" or "that sounds interesting".

It's either that or you bite the bullet and at least narrow down the list of industries you would be prepared to work in. That would at least give you/us a slightly smaller ball park to play in than the current polymorphic giant "anything" that looms before us.

Good Luck!