Job Searching

I've been doing a lot of job applications today and yesterday because I procrastinated job searching for my Welfare papers. Well, actually, I've been doing a rather large amount of job searching, and have probably come closer to getting an actual, full-time, long-range job than I ever have before. And I may have gotten it. Want to hear the specifics for how well I've done? Seven people were interviewed, and only two people tried out. I was one of those two, and I was asked back twice, so I couldn't have botched things up too bad. I would have been asked back a third time, except the other guy needed to be tried out. Unfortunately, this other guy has several years experience in this field, and is several years older than me, so it looks like I'm at the disadvantage. I can only hope he messes up, or that the employers just found me especially charming (who knows, they might have!)

Besides, after text-bombing the employer with my resume, and then canceling our appointment, I was two strikes with this guy already, and I still managed to get this far. Mom thinks my forced communication resulting from my screwing up gave me an opportunity to get to know the employer better on a personal level, which was to my advantage.

But even if I don't get the job, at least now I know to convert my resume to PDF, and I know that I should push these letters of recommendation. Pushing your letters is not a generally recommended method, but it looks like that's how I got the interview in the first place.

Anyway, what I was originally saying was that I've been job searching, and it's been tedious as usual. These job-tracking sheets from Welfare are reminiscent to the job tracking sheets at 2ndchance. I got a big stack of those, and had made it to the last sheet, when I lost them all. This happened just a little bit after I started this blog, but for some reason, I think I decided at the time not to blog about it. I was kind of upset about it, because I had wanted to preserve the sheets, so I could look back and see in a tangible way how I'd consistently conquered my fears regarding social anxiety and job searching over a long period of time. It was my goal to complete every slot on every stack, and I'm positive that I did, but it bites to have lost all those sheets after I'd gotten so far. Now that I'm this far away from my former fear, it doesn't seem to symbolize much to start over.

I've been really tired lately, and I thought it was because of all the rushing around, new environments and new tasks that I've been doing. But now that I think on it a bit more, I actually think it might be the B12 deficiency kicking in. Ever since I left for Toronto, I've been forgetting to take it. This is how I used to feel all the time, but I just worked through it. Stupid B12. First I thought I could credit my burst of energy to my efforts in my martial arts class, but it was just stupid B12. Now I thought my lack of energy was based on healthy fatigue after a job well done, but it was stupid B12 again. B12 deficiency is so anticlimactic.

According to my Katimaroute file, my Katimavik forms have not been received. I hope that means they haven't been "processed" and not that they haven't arrived. They said allow four to eight weeks for them to be processed, but I don't quite know what that means.

Hey, you know what I've been thinking of doing? There's a place around here that is always hiring, and it hires anyone. The reason is because it's telemarketing, and it works based on commission. Therefor, it can't lose profit by hiring people. It's such a bad job, though, that many homeless people don't bother with it. I was thinking I might do it for a day or two, just for the experience. It's not an experience most people want to have, though. But it is another free Guelph resource, and I'd like to exploit every resource Guelph has to offer if I wind up still here.

Now that I've become such a veteran at building a resume on almost nothing, I find myself wanting to find someone who had to start out like I did, so I could help them out. I didn't know anyone who knows the tricks I do now, back in the day, and I wish that I had. I still remember the shame of sending around that empty resume. This is what I could get for a person with absolutely nothing:
-A work experience section for their resume, with four slots
-A volunteer section for their resume, with two slots
-An education section for their resume, with one slot
-A certifications section for their resume, with four slots

Plus I could buffer out a "highlights of qualification" section and an "interests" section. I would also have advice on further work and education opportunities for people at this level. It wouldn't be the best resume, but I can fill a page with what I've outlined. I've already done it, and it looks so much better than my first resume. And all this stuff is absolutely free!

But I don't really know anyone who is A) in a position as bad as how I had to first start out, and B) willing to listen to me, or focused on what I was focused on back then.

When I was working this week, there was a weird beeping sound that nobody knew the origins of. It went off every once in a while, not too frequently, and with no pattern. It didn't bother anyone much. But once, after leaving my station, I heard the noise again, which made me wonder if it was coming from me, though I was carrying nothing that should emit such a sound. And, on the bus ride home, when I was falling asleep, it started up again! This time beeping so fast and hard it was like a cell phone. And it died out after a bit, like a cell phone that didn't get picked up. The only thing I was carrying that I don't usually was the pocket watch I got for Christmas. And ever since I removed it, there has been no beeping.

But I've been carrying this pocket watch fairly consistently since Christmas, and it's never done this before. Also, it looks pretty untechnological. But it's also sped up two hours fast at some point, even though it's been pretty consistent in keeping time, otherwise. What a mysterious pocket watch.