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Browsing tag: career

  • November 15, 2009

    Money talks

    They always say that you should never disclose how much you currently get paid to a potential new employer. Whoever names their number first in an interview loses the upper hand. And it also shows your lack of experience at negotiation. (I also thought this was an interesting comment from career consultant Kim Wendleton: “If the job is too low-level, don’t ask about the money, upgrade the job!”)

    I’ve been asked how much I make, twice. Both were for relatively low-paying, basic jobs. The first time I was absolutely stunned, and didn’t even consider lying. I was too shocked to be anything but honest, and ended up on a relatively low wage.

    The second time, I was also pretty taken aback, but perhaps a part of me was expecting it, as it was a new role and no doubt they had no reference as to what it was worth. I was pleasantly surprised at the offer they came back with, and got about what I thought the position was worth.

    Have you ever been in a situation like that?

  • November 1, 2009

    Update on the job front

    I start my new (temporary full time) hours this week!

    I also randomly got myself a small contributing gig writing for an online women’s mag (unpaid) and will be doing a little work – mostly from home – compiling newsletters for another magazine.

    I always do this: load myself up with commitments, that is.

    [picapp src=”0286/03689a6d-735b-4932-a9c2-49a884b0e272.jpg?adImageId=6889607&imageId=289439″ width=”230″ height=”350″ /]

    Speaking of which, I was just thinking the other day that the creative industries seem to dominate unpaid work. By that I mean, in how many other fields are you expected to work for free to prove yourself? This Idealog article sums up what it’s like for graduates in the arts and media trying to kickstart a career.

    It’s been a while since I did unpaid work. I’ve done a reasonable amount of voluntary writing. Last year, I landed my first paid writing assignments, and this new gig is my first step back into the world of writing for free. Not that I mind; it’s going to be great experience and it’s an up and coming publication.

    How many of you have done unpaid work experience or internships, and for how long?

  • October 23, 2009

    A charmed life!

    Things just keep changing and I can’t keep up! But they’re changing for the better, I promise.

    Update on the job front:

    This week I was told there a couple of projects about to start at work, apparently, and if I wanted it I could have fulltime work for sure until at least Christmas and possibly beyond, depending on how it goes. What did I say? Well, of COURSE I said, “I’ll take it!”

    This means I’m back to regular hours and weekends off for now. YAY!! I promptly dashed off an email to the manager I was due to meet the next morning (interviewing for the PT subediting job) regretfully declining. That worked out nicely – although it could potentially have paid quite well, I would be paying secondary tax, not to mention shunting myself between their office and my “main” job throughout the week. Did I mention it was NOT in the CBD and would have taken me two buses to get there?

    So I’ve had a bit of a reprieve and can breathe easy for at least a couple of months. Even if I do have to revert to the part time, odd shifts afterward, I can then look for PT/casual work as well as I’ll have mornings off (plus a Friday; I’m sure I could handle a six day week if necessary).

    Then straight after all this I got a call from another editor, the one who had my details passed on to him. I’m due to see him next week; I’m not sure how that will go and how that might work now that I do have fulltime hours for at least the rest of the year, but we’ll see how it goes. It didn’t sound like they would need too much time from me, and possibly I could do a lot of it from home and on my own time.

    Oooh, exciting times are ahead.

    Anyway, tonight to celebrate the END OF UNIVERSITY, our class is gathering for a combined drinks/meet editors and important media people function. I can’t let too loose or stay too long, because soon as I can I’m outta there! T will be picking me up and we’ll be driving five hours up north to stay at a friend’s bach for the long weekend. Thank you  Labour Day!

    It’s going to be great; absolutely lazy and leisurely. No more staying up nights hammering out assignments. And even better, I also have Tuesday off..so don’t technically have to be back for almost five days (freedom is priceless :D). BLISS!

  • October 17, 2009

    Where to?

    Those of us with partners who’ve been laid off – or have experienced it themselves – know just how disheartening, demoralising and downright depressing it is. It’s been a year now – a WHOLE year – I cannot believe it.

    Let’s get one thing out of the way. It’s not a lack of ambition that is T’s problem; it’s more like a lack of direction. Not all people know what they want to do in life, although this seems more acceptable if you’re female (it’s okay, increasingly, to say you just want to be a wife/mother/homemaker; not so much for a guy to say the equivalent).

    I’m very proud of him for having finished his course, and he now knows he can apply to university and that he can do it. Jumping into the academic world isn’t easy when you’ve been out of it for years, and when you’re not super academically inclined in the first place.

    He may not be a straight-A  student, but neither am I, and I shouldn’t expect him to be – as long as I do my best, I’m happy, and that’s the same standard I should hold him to.

    If he simply wants to work whatever job he can get, that’s fine – but having been absolutely bollocked by the recession, I’m wary of that path. In the longterm, I firmly believe that having a qualification (trade or otherwise) is essential.

    So, I guess I don’t really know where to from here. I’m not expecting him to come up with a 50 year plan, but I do expect him to have some sort of direction. I don’t think that’s too much to ask.

    We’ve clashed over this lots of times – he always reiterates: “I wouldn’t care if we were living out of a car, as long as we have each other.” Call me heartless, call me unromantic but there are some lines I’m not willing to cross.

    At the moment, he’s fired up about one of our flatmate’s fathers, who is keen to start up a business and employ both of them. Not a career type of job – just a job. He’s been to the careers counsellors at uni, who clarified the options that we’d already settled on, without giving him anything definitive. He could go ahead with the plan to become a teacher, or he could try to get trade qualified in engineering/fabrication, which is what he was working before. (Or the army, again…something he’s increasingly talking about).

    It’s October now, and I thought he would have a pretty good idea of what he wanted to do. It looks like uni is out of the picture, at least for the first semester of 2010 – applications aren’t going to stay open forever. I’ve spent many hours late at night sitting up with him helping him with assignments. I feel I’ve invested a lot of energy into this, and although there’s no way I’d ever force him to do anything, I really do think carrying on with study would be in his best interests.

    Whether he could stay motivated through the three years, slogging through papers that he might not enjoy (some he definitely won’t) would be another challenge. For me, I see deadly dull core papers as a necessary evil, but I plough through anyway. To him, he’s so disinterested that he doesn’t put effort in. And that’s something you have to deal with at university.

    I know I keep saying I want a crystal ball…..but I really, really, do!!

  • October 10, 2009

    Thank you for applying, but…

    I’m curious. What are everyone’s thoughts on rejection letters?

    [picapp src=”6/b/5/6/woman_job_hunting_64d0.jpg?adImageId=5080135&imageId=5199438″ width=”234″ height=”314″ /]

    Something I’ve been hearing a lot lately is people complaining that nobody – recruiters or companies themselves – has the common courtesy to let them know that their job applications have been unsuccessful.

    Maybe it’s because I’m from a younger generation, but I’m well used to that! I thought that was the norm.

    I recall working in admin for a company, which received hundreds of applications for another administrative position. I got to wade through all the unsuccessful applications and replying to them, a task I shared with the new admin person. (Wouldn’t you think that was odd, starting a new job and being asked to immediately send “thank you for your application” emails to all the other candidates you beat out??)

    I’ve worked since the age of 16, and I’ve applied for countless jobs in the five years since (sounds like such a short time…) I  just assume, when I don’t hear anything back within a week or so, that I should move on.

    I applied for two jobs last week that were both a bit of a long shot. But they were jobs I would have enjoyed, and I thought it was good practice for putting together resumes and cover letters for my field. One, I haven’t heard back from – inside sources tell me they’re looking at someone who already works there – and the other, well, I was surprised to find a “thanks, but no thanks” email from today.

    I don’t have a problem with being knocked back – god knows it’s happened so many times before – but there’s something a little bit crushing about seeing it in black and white.

  • September 26, 2009

    Thwarted!

    So I was planning to ask my boss if we could discuss my work options next week. Except he’s on leave for the entire week.

    So that’s not happening – it’ll have to be pushed back to at least the week after.

    Which gives me more time to psych myself out…and prepare, I guess. I’m currently compiling a list of all the projects I’ve been part of, times I’ve shown extra commitment, my skills acquired both through studying and more technical stuff through work – so I can pitch myself and show I can take a step up.

    I had a great chat to a coworker, too, who gave me some great tips and urged to me to go for it. I’m such a nervy and introverted person normally, so selling myself is going to be a challenge. Hopefully I can amp myself up and fake it, at least, for the duration….

    In the meantime, I decided to apply for a job that’s closing on Tuesday, and another one without any end date.

  • September 22, 2009

    Green shoots

    (God,don’t you just hate that phrase??)

    Despite the gloomy economy and the contraction of the media industry, three people I know were recently offered jobs!

    And a bunch of others on Fairfax scholarships have guaranteed jobs waiting for them anyway, so they are well and truly set.

    Man, it must be relieving to know you have full-time work lined up already.

    Realistically, I need to leverage what I already have going for me – that I already work within a news organisation. So the next step I should be taking is to approach the higherups to see whether there are any journalistic opportunities for me, seeing as I’m about to become fully qualified. (Alternatively, whether I can simply carry on in my current role – which is mainly administrative – but full time.)

    This terrifies me. It’s not a conversation I feel at all prepared for. I’m going to be swotting up on career resources, but if any of you high flyers with REAL jobs and REAL careers have any advice on asking for, and getting what you want, please feel free to throw your two cents in the ring!

  • September 4, 2009

    Making it in the grownup world

    The best thing I’ve read all week? Guy Kawasaki’s guide to navigating the real world.

    Seeing as I’m about to truly step into that realm, I’m really taking it to heart!

    Some of my favourites:Board-Meeting

    In college, you’re supposed to bring problems to your teachers during office hours, and you share the experience of coming up with a solution. In the real world, you’re supposed to bring solutions to your boss in an email, in the hall, or in a five-minute conversation.

    How to have a conversation – Generally, “What do you do?” unleashes a response that leads to a good conversation (hence the recommendation below). Generally, if you listen more than you talk, you will (ironically) be considered not only a good conversationalist but also smart.

    What about freeloaders? (Those scum of the earth that don’t do anything for the group.) In school you can let them know how you truly feel. You can’t in the real world because bozos have a way of rising to the top of many organizations, and bozos seek revenge. The best solution is to bite your tongue, tolerate them, and try to never have them on the team again, but there’s little upside in criticizing them.

    Incompetent coworkers also drag everyone else down. Unfortunately, you just gotta grit your teeth until they screw up big time or buckle under the pressure and leave of their own accord. And at least it lets everyone else bond in their mutual resentment for said incompetent – they all have something in common!

    First, slowly say your telephone number once at the beginning of your message and again at the end… Second (and this applies to email too), always make progress. Never leave a voicemail or send an email that says, “Call me back, and I’ll tell you what time we can meet.” Just say, “Tuesday, 10:00 am, at your office.”

    I am pretty sure I’ve left messages where I’ve completely (despite my intentions) forgotten to mention crucial info, such as my number. Taking the initiative to progress the conversation is also really important – I tend to defer to others, especially as I usually deal with people busier than me, and bend over backwards to organise arrangements that suit them. Which of course can result in a lot of running around in circles…

    Also, a great post I stumbled across today on Jezebel dealt pretty comprehensively with how to go about finding out what you’re worth and how to negotiate. As you can tell, I’m starting to freak out about graduating!

  • August 27, 2009

    Selling journalism

    Sometimes I feel like nothing but a telemarketer.

    That’s right, I feel like a salesperson pitching crap to people over the phone.

    Is it really so different? You’re calling people, who you’ve most likely never spoken to before. You’re trying to get them to talk to you. To answer your questions. Sometimes they don’t want to, and they’ll do everything in their power to wriggle free. You try and try, you rephrase, you try to sell yourself. Sometimes it just plain doesn’t work.

    You try to coax the magic quote out of them. To get them to elaborate, to keep them talking, keep them listening. If it’s a controversial topic, something they don’t want to discuss, you try to get around that in the way you word your query. And you need the balls to keep asking, to keep hammering away.

    I realised this because today, I dealt with someone who was happy to talk to me. Someone not used to the media, someone genuine, someone whose story I just wanted to hear and who was happy to share it.

    It was just a relief. Such a welcome change from weary, wary people – and don’t get me wrong, I can more than understand WHY many of them are that way – who are afraid to utter a single word on the record, even when it’s totally non controversial, and actually in their interests.

    It made me realise how differently I can, and need to, handle ordinary people. Not business people, not politicians, who we have to hound and harangue constantly, and usually to no avail. People who actually return calls, and emails, and even pick up their phone sometimes. Perhaps even more amazing, today I received immediate responses from one political office. I took the measure of emailing two separate people with the same enquiry, expecting to hear back from neither. But both replied within the hour. I almost felt stupid and amateurish, even though the opposite was true.

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