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The Muppet Personality Test
Tuesday, April 11, 2006
This explains a lot
Apparently (do disregard the spelling and grammar mistakes, they are not of my making):
Monday, April 10, 2006
Am I less smart than someone with an engineering degree?!
Dear all,
I had a bit of a breakdown Saturday night while on the phone with Derek. I was really calling to support him, as he is so busy with his exams, but instead I talked incessantly about myself... I know: it's appalling. It seems I just needed to release something that has been in the back of my mind for months.
We discussed, or rather I ranted, about how worried I am about finding my dream job. This whole reorganisation stuff is doing my head in and the thought of having to go through the whole CV-sending, cover-letter writing and interviewing again scares me. I obviously do not want to stay in this job anyway, so you might wonder why I got upset. The thing is that I find the 'real' world a less than fun place to be, and working every day is not something I particularly enjoy and due to past experience and experience in this job I feel terribly insecure about what my knowledge, or rather qualifications, can bring me. I want a job I feel good about, as we all do!
Arts graduates are, and I am not just speaking for myself, extremely under-prepared for the 'real' world; for the amount of hard work that goes into finding a good job, the amount of time you'll need to spend in a not so good job, the humiliation of some interviews. Derek, in contrast, knows exactly what to expect and has been prepared for work in numerous lengthy placements. So on the one had I would champion a more practical approach even in Arts degrees, but on the other hand I see disappearing before me the reason why Universities were founded originally: the quest for knowledge. University used to be about knowledge, not about practical experience. What I have learnt at University has been very valuable and I feel that I have a lot to bring to future employers, the problem is that they don't seem to see it. Every time I have an interview I feel like I have to defend not having done something more practical, something that would have prepared me for the job market.
And then I wonder; would I have made different choices had I known what the 'real' world is like? Would I have studied Law or maybe Journalism, or would I have done Teacher Training after all? I frankly don't know. I used to answer this question with a definite NO, because I enjoyed what I did so much, more so I sometimes think than people who have done more practical subject. And I feel sad if I hear people speak about doing a certain degree because it will get them a good job. But then I see the people around me at work, quite a few of which have a similar background to mine, and they are still here after years and years. I think that they/we don't deserve this. We can do so much better and can be such valuable assets to companies. Of course I am not suggesting this job is totally dumb and invaluable, in fact I think we do a fairly important job, but I know most of us don't enjoy it as much as we could if we received more respect for the knowledge we have.
Of course Derek suggested that I should not let what I do now, or how I think employers view me, determine how I feel about myself and my achievements, and he is right. And I do know that I did a great job, but I miss the acknowledgement that I was expecting to receive. Of course it is still early days, and this is only my first job, but I know it will be hard also in the long run.
And so I ask you: what are your thoughts on this. Is it a good thing that more and more university graduates come out of uni prepped for a job? Or are we losing something very valuable? I am curious to find out what you think.
I will not give up, and I will find that amazing job:)! I promise!
Back soon!
Love,
I had a bit of a breakdown Saturday night while on the phone with Derek. I was really calling to support him, as he is so busy with his exams, but instead I talked incessantly about myself... I know: it's appalling. It seems I just needed to release something that has been in the back of my mind for months.
We discussed, or rather I ranted, about how worried I am about finding my dream job. This whole reorganisation stuff is doing my head in and the thought of having to go through the whole CV-sending, cover-letter writing and interviewing again scares me. I obviously do not want to stay in this job anyway, so you might wonder why I got upset. The thing is that I find the 'real' world a less than fun place to be, and working every day is not something I particularly enjoy and due to past experience and experience in this job I feel terribly insecure about what my knowledge, or rather qualifications, can bring me. I want a job I feel good about, as we all do!
Arts graduates are, and I am not just speaking for myself, extremely under-prepared for the 'real' world; for the amount of hard work that goes into finding a good job, the amount of time you'll need to spend in a not so good job, the humiliation of some interviews. Derek, in contrast, knows exactly what to expect and has been prepared for work in numerous lengthy placements. So on the one had I would champion a more practical approach even in Arts degrees, but on the other hand I see disappearing before me the reason why Universities were founded originally: the quest for knowledge. University used to be about knowledge, not about practical experience. What I have learnt at University has been very valuable and I feel that I have a lot to bring to future employers, the problem is that they don't seem to see it. Every time I have an interview I feel like I have to defend not having done something more practical, something that would have prepared me for the job market.
And then I wonder; would I have made different choices had I known what the 'real' world is like? Would I have studied Law or maybe Journalism, or would I have done Teacher Training after all? I frankly don't know. I used to answer this question with a definite NO, because I enjoyed what I did so much, more so I sometimes think than people who have done more practical subject. And I feel sad if I hear people speak about doing a certain degree because it will get them a good job. But then I see the people around me at work, quite a few of which have a similar background to mine, and they are still here after years and years. I think that they/we don't deserve this. We can do so much better and can be such valuable assets to companies. Of course I am not suggesting this job is totally dumb and invaluable, in fact I think we do a fairly important job, but I know most of us don't enjoy it as much as we could if we received more respect for the knowledge we have.
Of course Derek suggested that I should not let what I do now, or how I think employers view me, determine how I feel about myself and my achievements, and he is right. And I do know that I did a great job, but I miss the acknowledgement that I was expecting to receive. Of course it is still early days, and this is only my first job, but I know it will be hard also in the long run.
And so I ask you: what are your thoughts on this. Is it a good thing that more and more university graduates come out of uni prepped for a job? Or are we losing something very valuable? I am curious to find out what you think.
I will not give up, and I will find that amazing job:)! I promise!
Back soon!
Love,
Monday, April 03, 2006
Reorganisation my ARSE (excuse my language)...
Dear all,
The week before last we received some news from Lenovo. They are 'reorganising', which means they will be cutting at least 1/3 of the work force In Greenock and move most of it to Eastern Europe... YEAH. This is all apparently due to 'world wide economic conditions' (ie the big bosses are not making enough money).
Last week Lenovo employees (I'm actually employed by Adecco) heard the numbers. In our department only 13 out of the 57 Lenovo employees will stay... So that looks pretty bad for us... We hear the numbers today. I am nearly 100% sure we will all go. We won't hear who goes and who stays until on or after June 15th. The employer has to have a consultation period of 3 months by law, and they abuse this to force us to wait all this time for news of what the future holds. I think this is terribly unfair, especially as they will hardly have to give me any notice at all; less than the one month that is in my contract, because they are making me redundant. On the other hand I do have to give Adecco 1 month notice if I happen to find a better job right now! It's ridiculous.
I have been talking with Derek about it, and we have come to the conclusion that the best thing to do is probably go down to Cambrige immediately once I lose my job. I'm still hoping this will be around November or something, because that would give me a year of experience on my cv, and Derek some space for himself, but if it's earlier than that I will just go. We'll just have to wait and see!
This weekend Derek and me went looking for holidays. Turns out out idea of one week Spanish coast and one week Barcelona is probably not possible within our budget (mine can be no more than £500...). The lady in the nearest travel agent seemed to understand what sort or holiday we would like though and suggested going to a cottage or apartment in France somewhere for the full 2 weeks. That will be cheaper and if you make sure you're somewhere where there's lots to see and there's a town nearby we will still get out of the holiday what we were after. That sounded like a good idea. Looks like we might be going to the Languedoc, as it is on the south coast of France, but not as expensive as the Provence/Riviera. Hope it will be possible to book with flights rather than channel crossing, because Derek does not really fancy driving all the way down south and than driving all that way in France too. Would be easier to rent a car. Fingers crossed we find somewhere nice to go! We also went to a different travel agent to see what they come up with. I am really looking forward to going on holiday, but at the same time June comes with dread as I will hear about my job and Derek will be moving to Cambridge...
On a more positive note: we will be fine, whatever happens:)!
Lots of love,
PS Forgot to tell you I got new glasses! They're really cool Moschino ones, in red plastic:).
The week before last we received some news from Lenovo. They are 'reorganising', which means they will be cutting at least 1/3 of the work force In Greenock and move most of it to Eastern Europe... YEAH. This is all apparently due to 'world wide economic conditions' (ie the big bosses are not making enough money).
Last week Lenovo employees (I'm actually employed by Adecco) heard the numbers. In our department only 13 out of the 57 Lenovo employees will stay... So that looks pretty bad for us... We hear the numbers today. I am nearly 100% sure we will all go. We won't hear who goes and who stays until on or after June 15th. The employer has to have a consultation period of 3 months by law, and they abuse this to force us to wait all this time for news of what the future holds. I think this is terribly unfair, especially as they will hardly have to give me any notice at all; less than the one month that is in my contract, because they are making me redundant. On the other hand I do have to give Adecco 1 month notice if I happen to find a better job right now! It's ridiculous.
I have been talking with Derek about it, and we have come to the conclusion that the best thing to do is probably go down to Cambrige immediately once I lose my job. I'm still hoping this will be around November or something, because that would give me a year of experience on my cv, and Derek some space for himself, but if it's earlier than that I will just go. We'll just have to wait and see!
This weekend Derek and me went looking for holidays. Turns out out idea of one week Spanish coast and one week Barcelona is probably not possible within our budget (mine can be no more than £500...). The lady in the nearest travel agent seemed to understand what sort or holiday we would like though and suggested going to a cottage or apartment in France somewhere for the full 2 weeks. That will be cheaper and if you make sure you're somewhere where there's lots to see and there's a town nearby we will still get out of the holiday what we were after. That sounded like a good idea. Looks like we might be going to the Languedoc, as it is on the south coast of France, but not as expensive as the Provence/Riviera. Hope it will be possible to book with flights rather than channel crossing, because Derek does not really fancy driving all the way down south and than driving all that way in France too. Would be easier to rent a car. Fingers crossed we find somewhere nice to go! We also went to a different travel agent to see what they come up with. I am really looking forward to going on holiday, but at the same time June comes with dread as I will hear about my job and Derek will be moving to Cambridge...
On a more positive note: we will be fine, whatever happens:)!
Lots of love,
PS Forgot to tell you I got new glasses! They're really cool Moschino ones, in red plastic:).
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