You're Hired

To be honest, I'm not sure why I haven't wrote this blog entry yet, seen as originally, this whole blog was motivated by the trials and tribulations that I faced and experienced on the road to getting a job.  Clearly, over time, it has become a wider exploration of things important to me, or at least of passing interest.

So, after 50+ applications (yes, I counted them) to organisations all over the country, countless painful online psychometric tests, and seemingly as many emails starting with the word 'unfortunately'... I finally have a job.

Since about May, when I really my applications really began in earnest, I have gone full circle in what I've targeted.  Initially, and quite naively I didn't really have much of a plan.  It was the glamorous opportunities I targeted first, the organisations with world renowned names - the most sought after ones.  Whilst I came close to one in particular, the lack of real world working experience cost me, especially as there's always someone who knows someone else, or has managed to get a weeks experience at the U-bloody-N, or the like.

Whilst these opportunities were marketing based, my relatively recent desire to forge a career in such an industry had me at a disadvantage.  Some people, as is the case with everything, will have known from an early age that they wanted to do something, and done everything they could to have made that a reality.

My reality was that I only discovered an interest and passion for marketing in the latter stages of my undergraduate degree, and whilst the year I spent studying for my MSc got me up to speed - I was playing catch up in practical experience.  It took quite a while to acknowledge this, again, perhaps naively, and led to a broadening of my application horizon.

A misguided venture in to the possibilities of recruitment followed, blinded by the lights of potential earnings above a basic salary, whilst my own focus became more on gaining that valuable work experience in an office, or on the road than following my own interest.  I had accepted that this was the route to go down, and went as far to be offered a job at a well known and respected drinks company, doing some thing that would provide me with experience I needed, rather than something I wanted to do.

Seemingly, out of the blue, I found a job that was not only something that I wanted to do and would follow on nicely from the MSc, but it was 2 miles away.  I had two interviews, and was offered the job on Tuesday last week.

So finally, I can leave my 6 and a half year vigil at River Island, and actually do something that I've been working towards for the last few years.