Job hunting is almost like birdwatching. Kind of... Yeah...

It's one of the most endearing moments (probably) when you get a random email from an old man who you don't really know forwarding you emails about jobs that they think you should apply for.  It's especially endearing when it's a job for Head of something or other when you know that really you should be going for Officer or Manager roles... Yes, it did make me laugh, but also realise that any other roles they send me will be too far out the window to even consider.  Or maybe I'm just being modest.  Yes, perhaps I should blow my own trumpet a little more, grab the bull by the horns and just go for it, and then realise that yes, I was always able to do it, silly moo!!! Story of my life.

I guess the weirdest thing is the belief people have in you more than you have in yourself.  I think everybody goes through highs and lows of what they feel they can and can't do just because of the frequency practising those qualities, or the comments you have received from people, or your own critical self.  And then there are those moments when you think, "Well surely if I can do it, then anyone can!"  And then those other times when someone turns round to you (or someone else and says), "Yes, Maya's very good at that...".  Sorry?  Did I mishear you?  Are you crazy??  OK, thanks... I'll put that on my CV. 

It's just like birdwatching.  Peter (see previous post) very kindly took me and two friends, Natalie and Philip for a tour around Beddington Farmlands - an amazing site (and sight - see photos below) which used to be a sewage works, is currently partly a landfill site and is being transformed into a nature reserve.  Philip, a keen birder (still is) who I volunteered with at the London Wetland Centre, and Peter started discussing the the activitiy of birding.   When you start off, you learn and recognise so many things.  You think you're amazing because you know so much.  Then you meet other birders and go twitching some more.  And then realise that actually in the grand scheme of things, you know very little and you become disgruntled.  But you perservere and you learn more and feel better about yourself and your confidence is restored.  And it continues in cycles. 

Yes, persevere.  It takes a lot of strength, but the reward at the end of it is fantastic.  And listen to others.  Like old men.  It's always been said they provide good advice.  I might even apply for that job. 

(That's if I don't get that job down south that I've been chasing for the last week!!  They said they'll get back to me next week but what with their strong recruitment drive and all the snow they've been having, they've been a little busy.... Fingers crossed, pleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeease!!!!!!!). 

Lakes, tributary to the River Wandle at Beddington Farmlands (taken by Natalie)

 

Natalie and Philip avoiding the deep muddy areas





Philip stuck in the mud, whoops! (Taken by Natalie)



Peter looking very happy he's on slightly drier land



Walking along the landfill site... the mud stuck to our boots and weighed us down like bricks! (Taken by Natalie)



Time to spare, or not to spare? That is the question....

Ha ha.... It's not everyday that your manager sends you home and tells you complete that job application!  Yes, ma'am.  I will.  Yes, and I will send it to you on the old email if I have time for you to check the personal statement bit for me, thank you very much!  Ah, I love her - she's terrific!!

But it makes sense.  I've been volunteering now for 7 months and almost a half, and doing 4 days a week of project work - be in stuff on the Wandle Valley Regional Park or the community garden in Bellingham.  It wasn't until about 3 or 4 months ago that Carla, my manager and I sat down together to do a future plan of my work that she suggested that I spend one day a week on my 'Personal Development' (or Per Dev).  This entailed working on job applications, updating my CV, on top of the regular administration and filling in timesheets etc....  What an awesome idea!  This really helped me get things done.  Helped me that is, until I started letting project work creep into my Per Dev time. 

The community garden in Farmstead Road was getting desperate, Giovanna my project manager didn't have enough man hours to cover her and the Community Gardener.  So since I, along with a young lady who was working under the Future Jobs Fund (FJF), Khristine were "free", we were asked to carry out lots of work that Giovanna simply could not afford to ask paid staff to do.  It didn't help that one of the residents of the community garden innocently bought a summer hut for the site in memory of her mother - and it only cost her £200 from eBay.  In fact the summer hut has cost us loads more in terms of man hours to discuss the matter with the landowners via email and telephone conversations, time to discuss it with the steering group and the lady who bought it, hiring a truck to collect the thing, time to dismantle it, my travel expenses to come in and do the planning application and money to submit it.  Yes, probably an extra few hundred pounds of money that we really didn't want to spend on a summer hut.  Especially when we already have a shed.  Blimey..........  So no, I wasn't entirely happy, and nor was Giovanna.  And nor is Carla because I need to do some Per Dev. 

Not only that, I also found myself volunteering to help out on other projects that needed extra hands at the cost of my Per Dev time.... Whoops.  Yes, I know.... Bad Maya. 

So the other day, Carla and I had another discussion about my work.  This time things were different.  She very wisely suggested that I do 3 days a week in the office and one day at home - that day being my Per Dev day.  That way, I wouldn't be distracted and I would just do my job applications without project time creeping in and the rest of time I could do my project work.

Anyway today, I was at a launch of some working groups for the Wandle Valley Regional Park where I spoke to a friend, Peter who also has a blog called Non-Stop Birding.  He attended the conference that I'd coordinated in April on the regional park (see my first post) and was one of the not-as-enthused delegates to join a warm up that some of the local school kids came to perform after their amazing trout dance, until I pushed him into it (sorry Peter).  So anyway, after the launch, I then went to measure the summer house for the community garden so that I could put some drawings together for the planning application, and I've come home to do a job application that I need to finish by midday tomorrow.  And having been reminded about my blog by Peter at the launch, I decided to write an entry...  The job application?  Yes, it's slightly complicated.  I would love it if I got the job but it's a hard one... I have to go to work at the pub in an hour.  And I'm writing a blog post.  Peter - I blame you ;-) and the lack of the trout dance - they knew you were coming!  Oh dear, procrastination has got the better of me... OK, I will at least make a start on it now.....  Really, yes, I will....!!!

The reason why I could buy a pint for my mate Shak.

I'm feeling a lot more positive this week.  For two reasons:  I have money.... And I've had an interview.

First - money.  a) I finally put my travel expenses in at work, yay....!! and b) Yes, I have got myself a part time pub job.  Lovely little pub off the main street of Chelsea.  Good food, great atmosphere, friendly people.  I love it.  And it was only because my friend Shak dragged me out for a pint (which he very kindly paid for) and us having a bit of banter with the manager that I blurted out, "Do you have any jobs going?"  Yes, he does.  And he needs more females to balance out the bar staff.  Part time is fine.  And would I like to come in for a trial shift next week?  Yes please :-)  And there's Shak sitting opposite me at the table, pint in hand, merrily cheering me on!  Ha ha...

So, I come for the trial shift.  6pm on a Friday night.  It's only meant to be 2 or 3 hours long, no payment (to me).....But because the pub is sooooo busy, 7 hours later at 1am, I'm helping break down the bar (catering term for tidying it up, not dismantling!!) and having a chat with the manager.  He's given me 40 quid for the night, and paper work to fill in.  Awesome.  Cash!!  And I have the job. 

One week later, I have my first proper shift.  It's strange being back behind the bar.  I'd not been in that position for almost 8 months.  And before that almost 8 years!  And I'm wondering if I'm doing the right thing being back there?  Yes, I am, stop being silly, Maya!  Yes, I am actually pretty excited about it.  I do like bar work.  And there is another girl in who's on trial shift.  I tell her what happened to me the week before and we joke that it will happen to her.  It does.  She's there at 1am helping us to break down the bar.  40 quid.  Contract.  Good one. 

That night was manic.  Totally.  There was a birthday party and a load of regular drunken lunatics getting pissed as usual.  And suddenly out of nowhere, the Jagerbombs start flying!  Shit.  Fun to prepare once you have everything, but a pain to put together because the bar is always short of shot glasses.  So I spend a lot of the evening getting glasses collected, washed, helping the other bar tenders serve - which also means I'm out of the sales race!  However, I'm so fast at doing this, and the bar tenders are only short a couple of times that night, that I earn the nickname of Ninja!  Haaaaaaaaaai-ya!!!  It is now my name on the till. 

A week after my first shift (2 weeks after my trial), I had an interview.  It was funny because it was the first interview in the last few months which I had not been nervous in.  Perhaps I was still unsure about whether I wanted the job or not to the point that I knew that if I didn't get it, I wouldn't be too disappointed.  Or perhaps I'd just become non-chalent after being in so many interviews and had almost accepted that I probably wouldn't get the job anyway, so why get stressed or worried about it!?  Either way, I felt myself chatting away, so relaxed and happy, and ready enough to just expand and expand on everything.  And the interviewers were really friendly and nice... I don't know when I will hear about the job -but my point is, I wish this would happen in every interview... Humph!  Now, I know that I am capable of being relaxed and answering questions fully, I will do my best to repeat it.  Fingers crossed.  Ahem... yeah... the prospect of having to have a non-chalent attitude for a job I desperately want really doesn't appeal, though somehow I'm going to have to master it... *sigh*

And so a few days ago, I checked my bank balance.  I have money from my travel expenses... and my first weekly wage from the pub.  Excellent.  Smile.  So I went and dragged Shak out and bought him a pint.  He was happy.  

The cost of moving

Hot desking is actually surprisingly easy to do once you get used to it though you need to be able to compact all your things into one notebook.  I remember the second or third day of coming to volunteer and passing my new line manager Carla on the way with a massive bag full of files, notebooks and papers that she had to transport from one office to another depending on what meetings she had on, what activities, etc.  She had clearly been carrying it all the way from home - not close - that I took it off her immediately for the last 4 minutes of the journey.  I remember after that vowing to myself to be a minimalist. 

Having to remember to get receipts for everything was, and still is, a hassle.  You have to remember to ask for them, keep them together and then sort them out every week or two... or three.  I was initially good at it partly because I was recycling the money I was spending on travel and food the week after and therefore couldn't do without. 

But then there began to be issues with my oystercard.  I forget to ask for a print out of my journeys at the end of my day and decide to do it the next day.  But then can't do it for one reason or another and so I decide to go at the end of my journey of the second day and ask for one.   But then I've made so many journeys on the first day that when I eventually ask for a print out, the journeys are coming off the sheet!!  Bugger.  OK, so I have to call the oystercard company to send me a statement.  Shit, it's registered to my brother and I hadn't realise that I'd switched it by mistake until then (I'd been using it for around 6 months by this time).  So I have to ask him to change the details for me online (I give him another oyster card in return) so that Oyster can help me.  They're suspicious and give me a hard time but they help me anyway.  *Sigh* 

And then there's that game that you play with yourself with the oystercards - which one has the most cash on it - enough to get you to work, or at least the one requiring the least top up... That just leads to more confusion and should be avoided at all costs.  Seriously.  And this is possibly the main reason why I am now 5 weeks behind in getting my money back.  Also because somewhere in between I lost one of my three oystercards, had to call Oyster, get a new one sent (they replaced the wrong card though so I had to ask them again) but then found the oystercard I thought I'd lost but then forgot to touch out when exiting a station so had to call Oyster again.... The boys there love me.  They really do.  [Sarcasm].

But the issue has almost come to an end, I have my statements and I will put my claim in for the last 5 weeks (or it is 6?) on Monday.  I swear.  I will.  Promise. 

I am not quite writing to apply for a job...

So why am I writing this?  Possibly because I've just been reading other people's blogs about food, birds, clever thoughts, and then hoped that by a miracle I would be able to produce some sort of literature of the same calibre that was so good that all my friends would want to read it day after day, comment, laugh, cry (yeah, alright...).  Whatever.  Cynic.  Maybe it's just a form of catharsis. 

So why I am writing this thing again?  Because I'm crazy.  Just as crazy as to decide to be a volunteer and tell people about it.  Sorry, a what?  Yes, a volunteer.  A full time one.  Well, four days a week.  Almost full time.  And I've been doing it for 5 months and a half.  Well, actually 5 months and 18 days to be exact, so just over.  But yes, I need to leave.  And get a paid job.   

Don't get me wrong - I love it.  I think it's one of the most terrific things I have done in a long while.  The people are great, the job's marvellous, I'm learning sooooo much!  I even forget sometimes how long I've been there.  But it doesn't pay.  And when you have rent and bills coming out of your ears, it can get frustrating.  But it is one of the most rewarding roles I have been in.  And that's what counts. 

Now, it's not the first time I've volunteered.  The first time was at the London Wetland Centre in Barnes.  Part time.  I did a few days or evenings a month doing all sorts of things - birding, edutaining (educating whilst entertaining young people visiting the centre), aviculture, leading batwalks - it was awesome!!  I did it for over 4 and a half years, but then I had to move towns for work near the end of 2007. 

I came back to London last year, did a couple of odd jobs and decided that I needed to get into what I wanted to do.  Despite qualifying in Spatial Planning and working in the field for a couple of years in 2007 - 2009, I decided that it wasn't really what I wanted to do, nor believed it.  Putting up buildings?  Pah.  I wanted to go back into environmental work but using the skills I'd developed in Planning.  So I did. 

Earlier this year, I applied for a job as Community Project Officer with a charity called Groundwork who do environmental urban regeneration work.  And I was soooooooooo close... but not enough to get the job, but enough to be offered volunteer work.  I had a few gaps in my experience.  Beneficial?  Definitely.  Likely to be busy soon?? Ha ha, no.  Choice???  Yes, and no.  It was definitely a way forward and despite the lack of money, I could see the benefits really holding down the balances.  So I said yes. 

The deal?  To initially assist with a consultation conference on a large scale project - The Wandle Valley Regional Park.  Then to help out on smaller community projects such as landscape design, playgrounds and community gardens.  Lunch and travel expenses were paid for.  The experience has been amazing.  Though it's been pretty damn hard, a good old struggle - but I wouldn't change it for the world.  The story starts here.  Let me tell you what it has been like....