The time has come.
Catching the bus this morning on the way to yet another job interview, I receive a phone call from the HR consultant from yesterdays interview.
Good morning, I have good news for you
*weeeeeeeeee* *squeals in delight on the inside* (well, no, not really, but something to that affect haha :)
We are happy to offer you a position with our company
*yay*
Only hearing half the other things she said over the chatter of the other passengers (boy asians ARE loud!) and the road noise, only getting the bits of when I start work (in 2 weeks time .. doh! no time to relaxx), the pay $_$ and well .. yeh.. nuff said :)
I guess I should've confirmed the manager's name that I report to since I didn't hear it properly, and it's not good to get it wrong the first day at work .. but I guess I'll ask again tomorrow heehe

Going into the interview this morning on a high was a good/bad thing. Couldn't get much focus when answering the questions he asked me, although I think it went well. Weird questions was asked though.
What is your favourite Simpsons character?
Err sorry, I don't watch Simpsons (yes.. I know .. I'm such a bore aren't I? ;p )
Okay.. what's your favourite comedy show
ummm Everybody Loves Raymond
Are you a Black Adder fan?
err No i've never watched it but I like Rowan Atkinson
Whats your favourite movie?
ummm
Don't try to think of an answer you think we might like
*haha doh!* any Jackie Chan film

and other questions I've never encountered before in an interview.. strange that... although the guy did say theyre a bit weird, but like to have a sense of humour, so um yeh. The job had a lotta variety of work involved - once you get started and into the role and work into it that is, but it was a junior position none the less, as he pointed out.. so yeh.. hmm. Will see.

Most likely take up that job offer though.
Picking up contract tomorrow to have a looksey.
Was suprised at how quick the offer was made, considering they said they would get back to me early next week.
Not that I'm complaining.

Really.

I'm not. :)

*yay*

Labels: job hunting

Good morning.
Nothing like waking up on an early, rainy, Saturday morning to do a 25 minute telephone interview.
And realising you slept through your alarm and its almost the scheduled interview time. *russsh*
All in all I don't think I did too bad. Was a good feeling knowing that from 220 applicants, I was one of 11 to be phone interviewed. Time will tell.

Labels: job hunting

plantin a foot in the door
There ain't been much seriousness postings from me in a while, probably cos there hasn't been much to post about, so I've never bothered with any updates.

I've been looking for work for the past 20months or so (off and on during uni time) which may seem like a long time (and it is). Ever since I graduated from my Bachelor's end of 2001, right at the time of the internet crash, the bubble bursting, which didn't seem to be a good time to look for work. I initially managed to impress an employer with my skills during that time (early 2002), however never ended up getting it as he wanted someone with more commercial experience at that present time to work on projects they needed, so that meant I wasn't offered the role. Never fear, there would be plenty of other opportunities to come.

And come they did. Never to offer me any more than the first round interview. That goin on for about 6months, til I decided to enrol in my Master's degree, which I completed June this year. Not knowing what else to do at the time, doing the Masters degree seemed to be my only option (probably a little push and shove by my parents as well heh). Completing that, I don't know if it has helped. Still getting the same knockbacks as before, still hoping for a chance to come.

3 interviews last week (2 initial, 1 follow up) and all rejections. I've learnt never to get my hopes too high, as I once did, as it lessens the impact. I've learnt to deal with it all, easy come, easy go, nothing to worry about.

Til dad starts questioning you what is wrong.
Was doing the Master's the right choice?
Did you study the wrong subjects?
Is there something thats causing this to happen?
What other options are there for you to do? Study something else? when 10minutes before that hes telling me not to waste more money on study again (!)

He gave me that talk after I got rejected for a job last week. Ironically, he gave me that same talk 2 weeks before that when I told him I got a job interview for that same company, after being rejected by another one on that day.

I, as I always do, just sit there.. take it in .. and ignore it, not giving him the replies or just my typical I. don't. know.!
It's probably one of those asian parent worries, wanting to see the best for their child(ren). To succeed where they could not. To provide a better future for generations to come.

All these rejections stem from a catch 22.
Not enough experience
How is one, a fresh graduate, suppose to gain experience, when they don't give a chance to. ergh.


More news in a few hours hopefully.

[Update] (2hours later)
Call back from one of the telecommunication companies regarding a job I applied for a month and a half ago. One bad thing about applying to those big companies is that you dont know if you're still being considered for a position cos they take so bloody long to get through applications and reply to you (if you're lucky to get a reply that is!). Interview next week. Just hope theres not like another 3 rounds to do, cos .. that just sux even more.

Labels: job hunting, life, uni

gah
I just sat for one of those online assessments for a graduate job I applied for. 2 cognitive tests and a workplace preference test. How they expect people to answer 51 questions in 20 minutes I have no idea, though they do say people aren't meant to finish them. I would be surprised if they could .. answering at least 2 questions a minute. Thought I should've done a bit better.. but my brain wasn't working properly... must've been too many of those emode tests I did before, questions they covered were similar in questioning.. then having to do 84(!) workplace preference questions answering what you would most like to do. eesh.
man i hope i get through .. i only managed to answer about 30 odd cognitive questions and probably half the second lot of cognitive test questions.. The testing centre was even nice nough to release results straight away to see how you went. Pretty sucky. My Cognitive Ability results indicate average .. 51% better than the others in the IT industry.. man doesn't sound too good for me and workplace preference profile sorta is in line with myself..
now just hope the co thinks these results are good nuff. can't wait. Application deadline for this job was suppose to be next friday, i applied the weekend they released the ad, and notified for assessment 2 days later.. how exciting.. wonder how long they'll take to notify if successful or not mmmmm

time to rest my brain now.

Labels: job hunting

schmanagers
Rung up agent to follow up on my interview last week just now and apparently the clientside managers that need to deal with recruiting are away. Well, one's down in Melbourne this week and another is going away on holiday next week, so they won't have a chance to look at candidates for at least 2 weeks. So he tells me I won't be hearing from him for like 10 days or so. Now why try and hire people when you wont be around to interview or assess candidates. idiots. Add to that, the job ad is still online, which was republished yesterday. Its been online for the past 3 weeks or so, just getting republished every few days to update the advertising date so it appears up top. Why bother.

Labels: job hunting

Eatin Out
Today's 'interview' didn't seem all too bad. Having all the rooms in the office full so we couldn't eat in (the agent always has food on his mind, so he says) we went out to have "coffee", which I do not drink so hot chocolate for me and english breakfast tea for him - so much for having coffee heh. This was one of the longest, about 40 minutes, of an interview of sorts I've had .. but it didn't feel like one considering it was over coffee and he was talking about the co more than anything else heh. Says I might be someone the client is looking for so hmmmm gotta wait til next week to find out. In the mean time least I have tutoring. Quiz tomorrow and assignments next week fun fun fun!

Any Given Wednesday
Seems like every time I go out and come back via Hurstville Westfields I seem to buy CDs (yes.. I don't download many songs anymore! :) Today I ended up getting John Mayer's Any Given Thursday album recorded from the Birmingham concert he did last September .. and also Norah Jones Come Away With Me.. don't know why but I just need to spend some $$ Hope its gonna be money well spent heh which I'm sure it is. John Mayer playing in September and thanks to petals for gettin me tix :)

Server maintenance. There will be a planned server outage tonight at 12 midnight (pacific time). This should only last about an hour. � Jason G. [8/12/2003 1:37:46 PM]
If I could only work out what pacific time is in relation to AEST then that would be good, but be forewarned - If you can't reach this site, you know why.

Labels: job hunting, music, shopping

Come One, Come All
As the saying goes, it either doesn't come or they all come at once. Had a call this morning from a lecturer at uni who teaches first year software development course requesting if I was interested in tutoring. Sure, why not. Starting TODAY. OK Thanks for the notice. I didn't even know what week at uni it was, I've been out of it for so long.

20 minutes after that call, I receive another one from an agent for a job I applied for last week. Interview tomorrow. swoite. Problem is, if I get a job now I have to stop tutoring. gah. Why does this always appen.

After tutoring today, I think I need to read the lecture notes and catch up cos I can't remember some of the stuff theyre asking, which ain't good from a tutor's perspective. With a quiz this Thursday and an Assignment due next week, this is a jam packed first week. Now I gotta figure out how I get paid. $_$

Winblows
Lucky (if you can call it that) for me there was a lil blackout this morning causing the power to go down in the house, meaning my computer needed to be restarted after a few weeks. That meant it was time to update Windows after not having done so for a while. Having later today hearing news reports (and Ajamedor calling me in the middle of my tute ;) about a worm spreading around using the vulnerability, released last week, in the Windows RPC allowing hackers to remotely access the computer and do whatever it wants, in particular reboot affected PCs, I was glad that I had updated in time. Although I believe I did update that particular vulnerability a few days ago, though there was a few more to go. On top of that, I needed to update virus protection for my comp. Dumb crappy 90day LiveUpdate trial meaning I need to reinstall it every 3 months, which I havn't done since May, so I get new virus definitions. So now, hopefully I'm protected from this Blaster worm and anything new that comes along.

Labels: job hunting

If at first you don't succeed, try, try and try again
And the beat goes on. If only my mandarin was any good, I might have had a chance. The manager says they were lookin more for people who could speak both canto and mando, so at this present time, there ain't no position for me. Maybe in a few weeks when everything settles down. Maybe I'll try again. Maybe I won't. Such is life.

I can at least try and look for work more aligned to what I know and have an interest in, and have the experience required. If all else fails, well hmm I don't think I'll go back to uni again for the third time.

More time to R&R at least.

Labels: job hunting

RealWorld� here I come
Finally went for an interview with HR this morning at the co I use to work at. After waiting for like 30 minutes, I had to sit for a 12 minute Wonderlic Personnel Test (WPT) i.e. an intelligence test comprising problem solving, interpretations, analysis etc, which I had no idea I had to sit for, but luckily my brain was still in the problem solving mood. I managed to do half the questions and did reasonably well, so she said. Maybe I should of asked her what I got hmm. I don't really like doing these sortsa tests, even though it may help see how people think and stuff, as long as it doesn't form the basis of the recruiting process then fine. I still have to go back and see one of the managers, since she couldn't find him/he was busy today so another trip back out to Botany. fun.
Only bad thing about working there is need own transport. No public transport out to Botany (near the airport), currently theres a private bus hired just for employees from Central-Work but thats just normal work hours. I'm more than likely halfway to being hired, yay!, but gotta ring tomorrow and see when I need to go in again.

Labels: job hunting

gaH
I ended up being phone interviewed today testing my cantonese, from the guy that referred me for the job at the old co I worked for. He went and chased up HR as noone had called me back, and the HR lady turned around and asks him why don't you do it?... so that wasn't so bad after all, we just ended up talking for 20mins about other stuff after the lil test which was basically getting info from a customer, whats your name, number, company, problem etc. joy. He says will let HR know I did okay and to get me in some time soon, awaiting for call from HR some time soon.

Coincidentally, I had a call yesterday from a recruitment agency, who saw my resume advertised on one of the careers websites, that was responsible for hiring people for the same company and asked me if I was interested in working for them again. I of course replied, yes I would be, and that they will get back to me. Now theres my dilemma. What happens if I get put forward by the recruitment agency as well, when I'm likely to be interviewd by HR directly some time soon. I didn't tell the agency about me being referred already as I wanted to see what the reaction was as I hadn't heard from HR. hmm guess I'll have to inform them soon if I do manage to get through. ahhh when you need a job you can't get one. When you look for alternatives you get so many choices.

Labels: job hunting

Lei Ho Ma?
The job that I had a phone interview for last week was not to be. After leaving a few messages, the guy calls me back and informs me that the position had been filled. Thanks for telling me mate. cheers.

On another note, for a position at the company I worked for a few years ago which I was referred for, well, a 2nd language is mandatory for the position and I didn't know that at the time I gave my resume, but I guess my cantonese will have to do. The HR lady says she'll call back tomorrow and get someone to ask me stuff to test my cantonese out. I'm not quite sure how I'll go as I don't use my cantonese at a business/technical level, let alone explaining technical concepts or giving support. Well I figure I can explain things but it wont be in proper cantonese, chinglish more, hopefully that will suffice heh.

Labels: job hunting

Bored
There haven't been much to post about lately since I've finished my exams I've just been bumming around at home. Lookin for work as per usual, trying to pimp myself off (in a good way of course :) Had a call on Mondee about a job I applied for, was an initial interview over the phone. I should really call them back since he said he'd call me back the next day so I guess I shall do that tomorrow. Although from his questioning about what I want to do didnt sound too good, as it was a support role but he knew I was more focused on "hard core" programming during uni and I was a Masters graduate - making me sound too over qualified .. but it was a network support gig so I aint non-too fussed about that .. sounds quite interesting anyway.

What The Hell
A friend posted me this link today on MSN, and I have nfi what its suppose to be or where its from. The Spongemonkeys(??) singing We Love The Moon. Just listening to it and watching it is quite enthralling really. You should take a look and tell me what it's suppose to be or if I'm missing out on a new craze somewhere, considering I missed out on Yowies a while ago I wouldn't be suprised if this Spongemonkey act is something new too.

Labels: job hunting

mmmm Dooooughnuts
It was Australia's first Krispy Kreme store opening yesterday out in woopwoop in Penrith (why would you open one out there for? Doughnut eating capital of NSW??) but anyways, 2 of my friends had sickies or half day sickies and decided to go out there and brought me some Krispy Kreme signature Original Glazed doughnuts. I still don't get why they're suppose to be so good - maybe as I haven't had a glazed/iced donut since who knows when as I'm the cinnamon doughnut variety type *licks fingers* of a doughnut person. But theyre sweet and quite filling - just had one for breakfast .. and one before dinner last night (luckily sis wasn't home yet heehe) - although theres nothing in them to be filled up on. I think I will have had my doughnut intake for the year after this lot (6 of them, 4 3 original glazed, one raspberry filled fully glazed, one chocolate iced with sprinkles and one chocolate iced filled with custard mm). My friends were so thoughtful they even got me a Krispy Kreme hat/cap rectangular sailor paper cap style thing ... too bad my heads too big it doesnt even fit hehe

Counting the Days
Bic Runga's song and also what I am doing at the moment. Tooo bad couldnt goto her concert but of course, study is much more important. 3 Days left to go before it starts and 7 til it ends. Too quick, too soon. Life goes on. I'm also getting lined up with the old company I use to work for, for new jobs but doing pretty much the same thing, not sure if thats where I want to head but its a start ... less its a level higher which is a bit more interesting. Whoknows, I shall wait for the phone call.

Labels: food, job hunting, life

bump bump bump. I got that song stuck with me all day now. Playing it on mp3, then somebody mentions it on irc, and I hear it in the car on the way home! Now thats scary hehe

Sometimes I love jobnet, sometimes I hate it. I love it when I get called by agencies or employers that see my details on there and think I've got the goods for the position they're after. I hate it when I don't get a call back from employers after I've applied for jobs. But I love it even more when I get calls from employers or agencies that have seen my details and decide to call me and have a chat. For jobs that I don't even know about. For jobs that aren't even advertised. Now I love that the most. Strangely enough, it only ever happens when my Job Availability status is about to expire and I log on to reset it. I wonder how jobnet works in that way. I say this, because I got a reminder email early this morning that I needed to reset it, so I log on this morning to do so. And about 30mins ago I received a call from an agency for a job. Exclusive offer. Top secret. If I told you, I'd have to kill you. Wait. You're dead now! :)

More on it later when I can reveal anything, if anything has been guaranteed.
woohoo :c)

Labels: job hunting

Okay, I duno if its just me, for some weird reason my page wont load up .. all i get is the banner .. but if i view source i can actually see my blogs.. weird.

anyhoo ..careers fair wasnt all too exciting .. didnt get the freebies i was expecting. . managed a mini stapler and yoyo .. stress ball .. a pen .. n that was it .. i guess i was there also to get info outta the companies. . info which i pretty knew what i had in mind, so it wasnt that much news to me.
Earlier in the day before that, picked up friends from randwick. Her baby cousin was soo cuuuteee hehe was sleepin when I got there, but woke up soon after when friend rung the doorbell to come in heh .. played with him for a lil while, til i brought up the idea to juggle, since he had these mini bowling pins. So friend tries to juggle, but fails miserably, and the baby follows suit. haha it was sooo funny watching him, altho it was bad, cos he couldnt juggle either .. the pins jus hit him on the head, flew backwards and stuff like that. Altho later he blamed me for his juggling act .. I mentioned it, i didn't expect him to do it .. and the baby to follow .. good stuff :)
babys are so cute. only when theyre babies. then they grow up. ahhh such is life!

as i said to someone tonight, live life with no regrets. That's sorta been my motto .. i dont swear by it, i live by it. I've been asked if thats really true, if I don't have any regrets at all in my whole life. I would say almost, theres only one or two things I do sorta regret, but thats not for now to blog about .. maybe later .. Why dwell on the past when the whole future's in front of you? What's done is done, let bygones be bygones.

Labels: job hunting