by Kristine | Mar 17, 2015 | Eternal Student, Personal, Working Woman
It’s now week 3 of uni & I’ve fell into a bit a heap, study wise. I had a site visit yesterday which I had to take time off from work for, which in the end, I didn’t learn much from due to a few reasons. I was with a bunch of noisy first years & I’m a learner who prefers to do their own thing at their own pace. To have so many people around me who knew each other, was a little intimidating to be honest. I can talk to CEOs & Directors but I can’t cope with 40 other students. Go figure.
I also spent a lot of my first year as an OT supporting someone who worked at the site & it brought back so many memories, both good & bad. It reminded me so much of how my old career intersects with my new. It’s strange. It also didn’t help that the bulk of the group were first year students, so the content of the site visit was very much aimed that way. I had to sit through explanations of stuff I do on a daily basis, no offence but I just wasn’t patient enough to do that yesterday, given that I had just sacrificed some work time for it. It just wasn’t enough bang for my buck. Literally.
I did pick up some things which I guess helped a bit but it’s mostly what I do on a daily basis in my job anyway. Just in a government department instead of the private sector. And on a much smaller scale. The thing that I took from the whole session is that they are hiring & for us to apply.
I know I sound pessimistic at the moment but I’m so unmotivated & am exhausted from it all. I work hard for things but don’t see results, which I guess deters me & unmotivates me in a way. I hate being on this head space & in a rut. I’m waiting on news to see if my interview 2 weeks ago went any good, I really need to be earning decent money again. And I need to be doing what I want to do. In which career, it doesn’t matter so much to me anymore, as long as I am able to have a balance in life.
Need to get it all out of me today to try to purge myself of all the negativity & reinvigorate my brain. It’s just been one of those days.
by Kristine | Dec 19, 2014 | Personal, Working Woman
As I’m writing this, I’ve officially passed my Graduate Diploma in Information and Library Studies!! Needless to say, I’m absolutely stoked with it all! I’ve now got a bachelor’s degree, a cert 4 and a grad dip under my belt. Also will be starting my Masters in March, so that will be interesting.
It’s been very very quiet at work, to the point where I’m doing work all day which is meant to be for quiet times. It’s a bit disconcerting as the other day in the team meeting, it was brought up that it has been unusually quiet even for this time of year. If this continues in the new year due to a change in process for how some of our work flow is managed, team resources would have to be re-evaluated. It was a bit of a blow as this means that I could well possibly be out of work if things drop off & become too quiet. It was a bit of an awkward moment in the meeting as I had to smile & nod while alarm bells are ringing in my head!
Due to it being super quiet over the last 2 weeks, it’s given me ample time to think about things & which way I’d want to head for my future. Being a goal oriented person, I’ve set some goals to achieve in the short & long term. Short term goal will be to focus on actively applying for positions in both my fields of expertise, given that I’ve now got dual qualifications. I’ve set myself a time frame of between 2 to 3 months to last in my current position as too much free time & lack of meaningful work is making me feel like my brain is decaying again. Something I’ve actively worked to avoid in the past 2 years or so. I do however, feel horrible about this decision as I’ve started in this role part time since September but only started full time since November. In less than 2 months, I’ve given it my all but work isn’t exactly steady & there’s such a lull between busy periods. I’m much more used to being in high pressure situations & being tested. I suppose one thing that made this decision easier is that I’m being paid at a pretty low rate & knowing what my workplace pays my employers for me makes me feel rather used. In talking to other people from the same employer, I’ve found there to be little to no room for negotiations on wages. I don’t think I’m being paid a fair wage & for my skills, I think I’m being ripped off. Also, I am on a casual contract which makes my job very uncertain, not to mention makes me feel like my life is on hold as I can’t do many things with limited money & options. One of the big things for me is not being able to secure a loan as I want to build another place again, our home for when we get married. Which is in fact a long term goal of mine, being able to own another property within 5 to 10 years. I think it’s possible to achieve this & I’m hell bent on doing it.
It’s been a pretty interesting past couple of weeks & it has given me time to really evaluate what I want to do. Am chasing up some leads with things & am really hoping it works out. I’ve also started some baby steps into some things I’ve been working on & it feels pretty good to start chasing my dreams again. I’m looking forward to the next few years to see what it brings, but I’m more so excited about the next few months to see which path I will take next.
by Kristine | Dec 8, 2014 | Eternal Student, Finance Matters, Growing Up, Super Secret Kristine Project, Working Woman
So it’s been just over 3 months since I’ve blogged. Since I last posted, I have hopefully finished the last of my units for my Grad Dip in Information and Library Studies, passed my probation at work & settled into my new role at work. I’ve been at my new work for about 2 months now & been settling in rather well. The only problem I have with the whole work situation is that I’m still a casual & if I can’t work for whatever reason, I’m screwed. That is in fact a very scary situation to be in, considering that I’ve got a mortgage over my head. I’m taking one day at a time & slowly looking for work as it comes along, building relationships along the way & networking. I’ve also got accepted to do my Masters in Information Management, I’ve decided to do this within 2 years rather than a year and a half.
It’s been a pretty eventful year & I’ve had many opportunities to reflect on where my life is headed. I’m hoping to start a few side projects which will help me get through the working day & keep my brain active doing what I love to do. I can’t quite say what it is yet, but all in due time. I’m also wanting to get back into reading more & blogging more about stuff. I’ve always struggled with keeping my private life off the internet & have been fiercely protective about what I put out there on the big internets. Hazard of the job I guess, knowing how much data is put into cyberspace daily is frightening, especially when it can be used against you. But, I’ve decided sharing & documenting bits of my life without giving away identifying information is as much as I want to do. I’ve got a few interesting blog posts lined up, so am really looking forward to getting into it.
I guess the reason why I’ve been absent from blogging is that after a long day’s work staring at the computer all day, the last thing I want to do is stare at the computer all night again. Staring at the computer screen for 7.5 hours a day while doing mundane tasks is really not my thing. I’ve been craving human interaction at work & not quite getting that much. Which is why I’ve also decided to turn to blogging again as a way to get my thoughts out in more than 140 characters. There is only so much I can put on Twitter, which I will still be on. I’ve always been one for writing & I’ve missed it. A lot more than I’ve actually realised.
At some point later this month, I will be reflecting more on the year gone by & looking to set some goals for next year & review what I’ve accomplished this year. It’ll be exciting and bittersweet to leave behind 2014, but I am looking forward to 2015 & for better beginnings! I’ve always been one to wait for the perfect time to do things but I am slowly beginning to live by the motto carpe diem, seize the day. There is only so much time I’ve got on this earth & waiting for the perfect time to do things is just not something I can afford to do anymore. Here’s to seizing the day!
by Kristine | Sep 2, 2014 | Working Woman
It has been just over 3 months at my new role and I can say that I was offered another ongoing role just last week. I started the new role today & will do 2 days at my new role, while I do 3 days in my old role till my contract finishes on 19th September. Needless to say it’s been a really exciting day today. I got to learn a whole heap of new things and get to know the records system and workflow. My old role was as an archivist and now I’m a records administrator. I’ve gotten quite a bit further in just over 3 months than I did in 5 years in my old role. Not sure what work saw in me, but this promotion was a real surprise.
I’ve always thought that things worked out for a reason and by chance I’ve always fallen into things accidentally and somehow managed to prosper and make my way through things. Not exactly sure why or how, but it seems to have happened with my previous job, I fell into it after uni when my circumstances were pretty dire (I was on a student visa, the GFC just hit, employers weren’t employing people who weren’t PR and I hadn’t gotten my PR so I couldn’t get a job). I was offered a job 2 weeks into my prac & I stayed there for 5 years.
I fell into this position quite by accident as well as it was by chance that I saw an e-mail advising of a position available in the CBD as an archivist, starting immediately and full time. I swung by for an informal chat & obtained the job, which I am where I am now. By chance, someone had left within another department & I was offered this position. All this with my employer knowing that I didn’t have the experience or records background, but knew I was studying the Grad Diploma in Info & Library Studies and finishing up this year. From what I’ve heard, as long as I’m willing to learn, I will be fine. I take that stance in everything I do and every job I go into, I’m not going to lie about what I do know, but am upfront and frank about what I know, but make it very clear that I am willing to learn.
I am a bit buggered out at the moment, uni is taking up quite a bit of time, but I am 2 units away from my Grad Dip! I’m super excited about that, but not looking forward so much to all the assignments. Am currently immersed in the Harry Potter series again (I am currently reading about the Yule Ball in the Goblet of Fire and laughing my heart out at Ron’s dress robes!) amongst other things to wind down after work and uni. I’ve missed reading heaps. Speaking of library and reading, my new work place has an informal library where we can take and give books out of a mini cupboard labelled ‘Library’. I’m an excited little person right now!
by Kristine | Jun 2, 2014 | Working Woman
I’ve done 2 weeks of full time work at my new job & I must say I don’t particularly love it, but I don’t hate it either. I’m a bit meh with it. Checking that physical documents match the scanned version & typing in codes to say that it matches for 7.5 hours a day is enough to make me see stars. I have to type in “DIGP0019” on each document and by the end of each working day, I’m starting to call it digpooig in my head. I have to find amusement in such things, or else I’ll go insane with boredom.
On the bright side, I’m allowed to listen to music or radio while I work, which is nice. I made it through the 1st week without listening to music as I was a bit unsure if that was allowed, but seeing that my colleague was watching anime while he worked, I’m pretty sure listening to radio is fine. Plus, I was outputting something ridiculous like close to 400 documents per day.
I can’t say I see myself in this position past the September deadline, it is way to mundane for my liking. It does pay well for the work I’m doing though, but I really miss the human interaction part of a job. Staring at the screen for almost 8 hours a day with barely a word spoken to colleagues really isn’t me. I know I am shy and don’t talk much, but going mostly the entire day without talking to anyone is starting to do my head in. They’re aiming for about 4 months for us to archive & digitise most of the documents left behind after a 7 year project, which isn’t too bad given that I’ve worked out that they’ve got about 30000 to 40000 documents to complete and aim to do 2000 per week. Those numbers scare me, but I’ve worked out in my 2 weeks there, I’ve done just over 2000 documents, so there is light at the end of the tunnel.
I’ve decided to stick out this 4 month casual contract, I was told that there might be work till December, but really have to play it by ear. Not sure that after 4 months of staring at the same types of documents, I’d be wanting to sign up for another 3 months of it. If any interesting library jobs come up after the initial 4 months, I’m going for it. Being on a casual contract isn’t entirely the best & I definitely do want to get back to a permanent role somewhere. But for now, this will suffice 🙂
by Kristine | May 16, 2014 | Working Woman
As the title will suggest, I’m finally gainfully employed! I managed to score an informal chat with a potential employer on yesterday and next thing I know, I’m being asked to fill in paperwork & induction forms for a Monday start. I am truly thankful for the job as I’ve been sitting at home, doing nothing for most of the time for the longest time and it has really started to take its toll on me. The job is not the best of things, but it definitely is a step in the right direction and the pay is not too bad. There are worse things that could happen I’m sure.
At the moment, I’ve got a bit of first day nerves and just want to go in and have a squizz at what I will be doing. From what I understand, it is a bit of data entry along with matching documents and ensuring compliance to the client’s documents and verifying things. It is rather vague but an opportunity is an opportunity. It is a step into the records management field, which is pretty awesome looking on my resume. Only downside is that it is casual work till end of September, maybe till the end of the year before being rotated if there are projects available. Am looking forward to finishing my Grad Dip & then fully throwing myself into library work when it is all done.
On the bright side of all this, is the opportunity to get some #ootd shots & to try on new looks! I will be working in the city which is rather dangerous when it comes to shopping. I’ve been really good for the past year or so, I think I deserve to splurge a little every now & then. Plus being Asian, I’ve already written up a list of things I will reward myself with, plus a budget to stick to. Can’t say I’m not prepared! 🙂
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