Archive for February, 2015|Monthly archive page
Slight Improvement
Well, it’s just over a week since my last post. So I am going to try to post here on a more regular basis. Mind you I have said that before, haven’t I?
Well my mood has improved a bit this week. Not massively, but a bit. I applied for 8 jobs on Wednesday. I am only required to apply for 6 jobs per fortnight. Some fortnights I have applied for up to 16 jobs per fortnight. We’ll see how things go.
It’s still difficult. The constant applying for jobs and only rarely being called for an interview is very soul destroying. I had an agency tell me last week, as feedback, that I didn’t have formal qualifications. I pointed out that I have Business Administration Certificate III and Business (Legal) Administration Certificate III. To which he responded that they have people straight out of high school with Diploma qualifications. I then pointed out that they wouldn’t have almost 40 years work experience to back up those qualifications, but I do! It’s just another example of the ageist attitudes that some employers have against people like me. They can’t see the fact that we can do the job, that we have not only the qualifications but that we have the practical work experience required in order to do the work. All they see is that we are over 50 (or in some cases, over 40) and so they don’t want to know. They think we can’t do the work and they won’t even try. Instead they employ the young person who won’t stay at the employer for very long. Maybe a year or two at the most. I am happy to stay for 10 years. This would put me at beyond retirement age by then. But I want to get to Long Service Leave again before I retire. But the longer it takes the longer past retirement age I will be in order to achieve that goal.
My weight is fluctuating again. Sigh. This is another reason I want a job. I could then reactivate my gym membership and then go for a swim a few times a week, until my weight comes down to a more reasonable level so I can do some more strenuous exercises.
The clutter is not under control. I still don’t have the full motivation to deal with it. I am thinking about asking my Relief Society President for help. But I just worry about that. The last time I had help (many years ago), things were done that I didn’t agree with and things were thrown out that I needed (a refund cheque that I hadn’t have a chance to bank yet, for one). So I am a bit hesitant to ask for help for that reason. But the thing is, I can’t find my passport! The last time I definitely know that I had it was in December, a couple of weeks before Christmas, when I went to an employment agency at Burwood for an interview. I had it with me to prove I an an Australian Citizen and eligible to work here. So I know I had it then. I have a vague recollection of putting down somewhere in the house and thinking at the time, that I would leave it there for a short time before putting it away in a more permanent place. I am hopeful that that vague recollection is right and that it was after the Burwood interview. It’s just that I can’t find it at the moment. I have searched in the logical places, but I can’t see it. So I am hopeful that I have just put something on top of it and it is hiding here in the house. Besides, I like the wallet that it is in. It was a gift for my 21st birthday (many years ago now) from a friend before my very first overseas trip. Plus, my very expired Canadian passport is also in the wallet!
If I don’t get a new job soon, I may just have to tell my Superannuation find that I have ‘retired’ to access my money. Then I can get the things done around the house that need to be done. Like the peeling paint on the walls and ceiling in the kitchen/dining room and the bench tops which are lifting in places. Both bedrooms need painting, and the ceilings in both bedrooms need professional work because of the water damage, including the mould on the ceiling in the master bedroom from the 1999 hailstorm. There are a couple of other things I would like to do such as rewiring the house and tiles on the floor of the toilet and laundry… and maybe in the kitchen area……. Ideally I would like to get rid of the carpet and polish the floorboards. I have Cypress Pine floorboards which I know are in good condition (and termites hate them) and they would look good if they were exposed. Problem is, I don’t think there will be enough money to do everything. I also will need some of the money to pay the balance of my trip next year (and some spending money). Sigh. So the priority areas to be targeted are kitchen/dining room, the bench tops and the bedrooms and the trip. Once the house is fixed up, I could then look at having someone come live with me to help with the bills. The condition the house is in at the moment, that it not really an option. Problem is, the house is not in a condition to be able to ask someone to pay to live here and I need money in order to have that work done, which I could get if someone was here…. The definition of a Catch 22, I think. Anyway, I need to get the clutter under control first. The painter wouldn’t be able to get to the walls at the moment. I can’t do the work myself, because I have 9ft ceilings in this house, with decorative cornices, so it needs a professional who will have the equipment and skills to be able to do the needed work.
Well, I think that is all for this week. Talk to you again soon.
Where to Begin? Why Bother?
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: application, Weight loss
Leave a comment I have been away from here for quite some time. Probably it’s been a year or more. So much has happened since I was last here. Not sure it’s been all for the good.
In three weeks will will have been a year since I left my job. Even at this distance I am not sure how I exactly feel about it. I miss the work, and I really miss the income (more on that soon). But there are things I don’t miss, but I will not be going into more detail about that. Just suffice it to say, it wasn’t the healthiest place for me at the end.
In the almost 12 months since I left my job I have been looking for work. To satisfy the government requirements for my unemployment allowance, I must look for at least 6 jobs each fortnight. It is not uncommon for my to apply for up to 16 positions in that timeframe. Despite that, I have had very few interviews. It’s very demoralising. You are putting yourself out there, saying ‘Pick me!’ and often you get no response at all. Why is that? How hard is it in this day and age to take a few seconds to acknowledge an application. How hard is it to let people actually know that they haven’t been successful in their application? With many people, it apparently is too hard.
There are a small number of employers who, even though they don’t tell you themselves if you have been successful or not, do make it easy for you to find out what is happening with your application. They have on their employment section of their websites, information about the progress of the vacancies. At first is shows the vacancy as ‘Advertised’. Then it will change to ‘Shortlisting’, so that means you still have hope because you may be getting a call or email invitation to interview. The final stage is ‘Interviewing’. Once it changes to this final status if you have not received an invitation, you then know that your application has not been successful. That’s a much better way of doing things. You’re not left in this strange limbo wondering what’s happening. Unlike other employers who don’t even let you know that they even received your application in the first place!
So yesterday I received an email telling me that my latest interview had been unsuccessful. Consequently, my emotions are not very under control at the moment. In fact I am fighting back the tears at the moment. And not very successfully. I know that at my age, the longer it takes to get a job, the less likely it becomes that I will every get another job.
So, my weight has not been great during this past year. After I left my job, I became very depressed about things. Not the least of which was (and still is) the financial position this has put my into. I am still intending to go on the trip next year. The trip is now less than 600 days away. But I have saved less than half the money I need to pay for the trip, let alone any spending money or new clothes etc. If I have not found a new job by August or September this year, I will have to just tell my superannuation company that I have ‘retired’ so I can access that money. It will mean I will be able to also fix some things around the house, like the peeling paint on some ceilings and walls, and then I would be able to have someone come to live with me to help with some of the bills. My weight went up to a high of 152kg at the worst point. I’ve now managed to bring it back down to under 140kg. During this time, since some time in November, it also went back up from 140kg to 147kg around Christmas time. It’s going back in the right direction now. Downwards.
Talking of bills. Because I only receive the money for my unemployment, I have had to drastically cut back my expenses. My private health insurance has been suspended for a while. I couldn’t afford the money at the moment. I have had to suspend my gym membership as well. I just pay a token $10 per fortnight, so that when I can afford it, I will be able to go back to the gym and not need to pay a joining fee again. I have cut back the costs for my phones, and I didn’t upgrade my mobile when it came off contract. I have even had to cancel the insurance on the house. I didn’t want to do it, but I just did not have the money for the payments. At the moment, I haven’t needed to pay a water bill or electricity bill because I was into credit with them both, so I am allowing my usage to use up those credits. Even though I have cut back my expenses to the bone, I don’t go out very often in order to save money. I only go out for Church and if I have an interview most of the time. Even with all these economies, I still don’t have the money to buy food. I am having to rely on Church to be able to buy food. Oh well, it’s helping with the diet.
So I am going to go now. I will try to do a bit of tidying up for a while before I plant myself in front of the television for hours. Like I said, the depression is back, big time. So the motivation is falling way below the floor. I mean, what’s the point of applying for jobs when no one apparently wants me? Why bother? Why put myself through the pain of putting myself out there, just to be ignored, or told ‘We think you’re over qualified’? I need a certain income level to cover all my bills. And $35-45,000 is NOT going to cut it. And that is an insult to someone with almost 40 years experience in the workforce and who has taken the time and effort to return to TAFE for training and to have formal qualifications to prove that I can do the things I already had learnt while I worked over the years. Treat us with respect!
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