HOORAY
as they say here in scotland, THAT'S ME EMPLOYED.
okay maybe they don't say that exactly, but the idea is there.
so yes. i got myself a job. two actually. after the most craptacular september in the history of septembers, i told myself that october will be amazing and i will find a job by the end of the week. and so the glaswegian job hunt begins..
day 1 - wake up super late and still have no CVs printed. call an agency about a posting on s1jobs.com and make an appointment for tuesday afternoon. meet up with anne-camille who is now living in glasgow! get myself a shiny new library card and get my CVs printed off.
day 2 - appointment at the agency goes well and she is going to be pushing me for interviews with a few financial institutions. i go to the bank and notice careers scotland. go in to see what that's all about and see a flier for a job fair going on that day for one more hour. the woman gives me directions and i am off on a train to springburn. the fair is mostly a bust but the thistle hotel is there and i speak with them briefly and they tell me about a job fair they are having the following tuesday. i fill in a sheet with my details and the position i am interested in as i am leaving the desk and the woman immediately says 'YOU WANT TO WORK RECEPTION?' 'yes' 'have you used fidelio before?' 'yes we used opera at the hotel i worked at in canada' 'okay well we'll be in touch with you for sure'. i take the train back into the city and make my way home. i'm not in the door 5 minutes and the front office manager of the hotel calls me asking me to come in for an interview the following day. go me.
day 3 - notice a temp listing on s1jobs that would take me right up to my christmas holiday. i call the agency and make appointment to come in the following day to register. go into my interview with the hotel. it's a group interview. there are 5 of us and 2 interviewers. they make us do silly introductions and then ask us a series of questions. these are 'trick' questions, 'if a plane crashes on the border of two countries where do you bury the unidentified survivors?' type of riddles. clearly you don't bury survivors. i got every single one of their riddles correct. of the four others who were being interviewed, two of them each got one correct. and that's it. i felt pretty good about this interview already. we do a few other activites and then we had individual interviews. by the end of mine the manager was saying that one of them would definitely be calling me within 48 hours. she said i interviewed very very very well and she didn't want to give too much away at the interview as she'd have to discuss with the other interviewer but i'd be hearing from them soon. i mentioned that i worked in reservations for over a year and the woman at the job fair told me that they were hiring in that department as well and she said 'oh no your personality is far too bubbly and outgoing for reservations. i am not sticking you back in an office!'
day 4 - go into temp agency to register. am offered a position at the university starting monday for two weeks rather than waiting until the 17th for the one i had originally gone in about. i have to email her some more references but everything seems pretty good. i get home and she calls to ask me to start tomorrow morning as the references she got in touch with already were enough for her. a short while later the hotel calls and offers me the job. i tell them i am going home for christmas so i understand if that changes things for them as i know it's a busy time. she says as long as i'm back and can work over new years she is fine with me going home for christmas! i'll be starting at the hotel on the 16th, so i figure i can work at the university for at least a full week in the meantime.
i'm really excited about this. i miss the hotel in halifax and this reminds me of it a lot. 300 rooms. restaurant. bar. conference centers. etc. a proper busy front desk. tons of co-workers to meet and make friends with. i swore i wouldn't work in a hotel again as i wanted normal monday to friday hours, but whatever. i have a really good feeling about this. you can see the hotel here.
i knew october would bring good things. and it brings alex and zoe into town for a visit tomorrow!!
okay maybe they don't say that exactly, but the idea is there.
so yes. i got myself a job. two actually. after the most craptacular september in the history of septembers, i told myself that october will be amazing and i will find a job by the end of the week. and so the glaswegian job hunt begins..
day 1 - wake up super late and still have no CVs printed. call an agency about a posting on s1jobs.com and make an appointment for tuesday afternoon. meet up with anne-camille who is now living in glasgow! get myself a shiny new library card and get my CVs printed off.
day 2 - appointment at the agency goes well and she is going to be pushing me for interviews with a few financial institutions. i go to the bank and notice careers scotland. go in to see what that's all about and see a flier for a job fair going on that day for one more hour. the woman gives me directions and i am off on a train to springburn. the fair is mostly a bust but the thistle hotel is there and i speak with them briefly and they tell me about a job fair they are having the following tuesday. i fill in a sheet with my details and the position i am interested in as i am leaving the desk and the woman immediately says 'YOU WANT TO WORK RECEPTION?' 'yes' 'have you used fidelio before?' 'yes we used opera at the hotel i worked at in canada' 'okay well we'll be in touch with you for sure'. i take the train back into the city and make my way home. i'm not in the door 5 minutes and the front office manager of the hotel calls me asking me to come in for an interview the following day. go me.
day 3 - notice a temp listing on s1jobs that would take me right up to my christmas holiday. i call the agency and make appointment to come in the following day to register. go into my interview with the hotel. it's a group interview. there are 5 of us and 2 interviewers. they make us do silly introductions and then ask us a series of questions. these are 'trick' questions, 'if a plane crashes on the border of two countries where do you bury the unidentified survivors?' type of riddles. clearly you don't bury survivors. i got every single one of their riddles correct. of the four others who were being interviewed, two of them each got one correct. and that's it. i felt pretty good about this interview already. we do a few other activites and then we had individual interviews. by the end of mine the manager was saying that one of them would definitely be calling me within 48 hours. she said i interviewed very very very well and she didn't want to give too much away at the interview as she'd have to discuss with the other interviewer but i'd be hearing from them soon. i mentioned that i worked in reservations for over a year and the woman at the job fair told me that they were hiring in that department as well and she said 'oh no your personality is far too bubbly and outgoing for reservations. i am not sticking you back in an office!'
day 4 - go into temp agency to register. am offered a position at the university starting monday for two weeks rather than waiting until the 17th for the one i had originally gone in about. i have to email her some more references but everything seems pretty good. i get home and she calls to ask me to start tomorrow morning as the references she got in touch with already were enough for her. a short while later the hotel calls and offers me the job. i tell them i am going home for christmas so i understand if that changes things for them as i know it's a busy time. she says as long as i'm back and can work over new years she is fine with me going home for christmas! i'll be starting at the hotel on the 16th, so i figure i can work at the university for at least a full week in the meantime.
i'm really excited about this. i miss the hotel in halifax and this reminds me of it a lot. 300 rooms. restaurant. bar. conference centers. etc. a proper busy front desk. tons of co-workers to meet and make friends with. i swore i wouldn't work in a hotel again as i wanted normal monday to friday hours, but whatever. i have a really good feeling about this. you can see the hotel here.
i knew october would bring good things. and it brings alex and zoe into town for a visit tomorrow!!