Today I got to thinking about the worst job I ever had - it was during a discussion about how amazing Australia is and how its such an amazing experience bla bla bla - anyhow it reminded me of a job I had while there which was what I like to classify as "Hell on earth"..
It was while we were in Perth, I worked for a crowd who shall remain nameless where basically I stuffed envelopes day after day for 12 hours. We (the temp travellers as we were known) were not allowed to talk and the supervisor was a pitbull - no seriously she actually had the look of a pitbull about her. So no talking, if you were caught communicating with someone else who could be right next to you or across from you, you were fired on the spot! No joke!
We got 3 breaks a day and during each break one of the temps had to make tea for all of the full timers (who were there a hundred years if you ask me), the crankiest shower of people I have ever come across - so you made their tea and coffee - they all had their own individual mug and a list of instructions about how they liked their beverage - I kid you not - God forbid you should put too much milk in Jacko's coffee or too much sugar in Johno's tea, it was brought back and you were "taught" how to make it properly.
I lasted 4 weeks which I thought was pretty good and if nothing else it gave me a really good insight into the type of manager I wouldn't be and the kind of job I couldn't hack! I think I actually have a pic somewhere (taken under cover of darkness) of the aforementioned mugs, must root that out and post it...
Anyway my point is this, if you are currently doing a job you hate - get out - what's stopping you from finding something you really want to do? Nothing probably, except yourself - so below are my top tips;
1. Look at your current job - what bits do you like and what bits do you *ahem* dislike - make a list, try to analyse the list (will be easy for us women, we just thrive on analysing things don't we?) and use it to decide what you want to do in your next role or where you want to work? what kind of company? large or small? multi-national or SME?
2. The CV - update or write your CV, be sure to include relevant skills and experience, make it comprehensive without boring the reader, remember they will be looking at dozens of these babies every day!(some templates/tips here)
3. Searching- my best bit of advice here is to make sure your expectations aren't too high - don't expect to find that perfect job on the first search you do or in the first paper you pick up. The best places to look are on-line, there are several niche or generalist jobsites depending on the type of job you are looking for or in the various newspapers, local and national - they all have their own "Job" days, for example The Irish Examiner have "Money and Jobs" on a Friday.
When you are searching on-line be sure and use all the tools available to you, put in relevant keywords, locations,categories etc. This narrows your results and above all makes them (to use the word again) relevant!
4. How to apply? - Well I can only answer for us, you have two options, you can register with us which makes it easier to come back and keep applying because you upload your CV the first time you register then you just click apply each time or you can use our Guest Apply system where you just upload your CV and go!
5. If you don't find it first time round - keep coming back - most of the websites have a Job Alert system where you can register to have new jobs that fit your job criteria sent to you daily - make sure you make these as specific as possible. You can also upload your CV to our CV Search Service which is a public database where advertisers can search for you, it means your perfect job might just find you!
Now - does anyone have a thesaurus or another word for relevant???
What's the worst job you ever did? pop a note in the comments below and make me feel better about the envelope stuffing and tea making!
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