Journal Entries
NaJoPoMo: 6th November 2013
Posted Nov 6, 2013
Well I found out why I couldn't find that shop. It hasn't opened yet. It remains, at this stage, a theoretical shop, existing purely in the minds of a few mad daydreamers who hope to one day extend their outdoor clothing empire to the mean streets of... well, my street. Maybe one day. Or, to be more precise, almost certainly pretty soon.
Meanwhile, today's efforts showed again what a mixed bag of nuts internet job searching is, even assuming you're reasonably up to speed with the internet. One job I applied for had e-mailed me a link to a page from which I could apply for it. I thought I'd already applied for it, but apparently sending them my cv is just a sort of introduction. I followed the link to a page that suggested I was currently ineligible to apply for the job, either because I hadn't filled in the capability questionnaire, or because my answers were unsatisfactory. When I tried to follow a further link, the page crashed. When I tried to backtrack, that page crashed too. In the end I gave up, on the grounds that they had always said it was more or less essential to have expertise in a program I had never heard of, and I wasn't expecting to get the job anyway, so I might as well save myself the hassle and apply for a second job.
This one was with my local council. Because I had already applied for a job with them they already had my employment and education history, my basic details, my declaration (gender/sexuality/race/age/level of interest in stupid questionnaires demonstration the extent of their disinterest in all of the above when it comes to appointing me for the job, or not) and left me with only the specific and rather admirably blunt 'why should we hire you?' bit for me to fill in. Saved me a load of time, which was nice.
I expect I can storify that writers' advice soon.
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Latest reply: Nov 6, 2013
NaJoPoMo: 5th November 2013
Posted Nov 6, 2013
Here's a tale of some modest curiosity. Late last night I was completing my final job search when I spotted a retail management vacancy in the town where I live. I decided that before I applied for the job I had better check where exactly it was- I didn't want to apply for a job that was three bus journeys away and ate all my wages in travel costs. So I followed the link on the page to the company's website and used their store finder option. Well it was a little vague. It mentioned a store in Falkirk that was due to open shortly -gave me exact address- and several other stores which weren't open yet. On the details of my local store it was curiously vague- nothing more than a googlemaps blob over the town. So I zoomed in and zoomed in and zoomed in. It was obviously fairly central,so no worries there. I zoomed in a little further and found that it was in my street.
I haven't got a bloody clue where it is.
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Latest reply: Nov 6, 2013
NaJoPoMo: 4th November 2013
Posted Nov 4, 2013
Monday today so it's job seeking in earnestish. It's changed quite a lot since I was last seriously looking for work, six and a half years ago. The big advance is that, with access to internet technology, I can sit on my sofa with the radio on in the background and scroll through e-mails sent to me by job sites. If I'm honest, I haven't tried yet, but I'm pretty sure I could do the looking in the papers thing online as well.
Okay, so prompted by that though I've just checked and you can, so I'm now job searching on my local newspaper's website as well. It's easier and I can do it in my own home. I can download my cv and keep a list of the jobs I've applied for on a word document so I don't forget them, but somehow it feels... I don't know.... less satisfactory. I'm also acutely aware of how impossible a job hunt is for anyone without internet access, which seems pretty damn unfair. It's also, as always, blood depressing. I've found one job to apply for so far. I don't think I'll get it, I don't really think I'm suitable, and I'll almost certainly fall against more suitable candidates at the interview stage, even if I get this far. But I can't afford not to try, and I need to show the job centre that I am trying, so I apply regardless. I've already been unable to apply for two jobs today (neither of which I wanted, thank god) because I couldn't prevail on the sites involved to actually provide me with application details.
I must, at all times, remember how much worse it could be. I am fortunate to live in a country which supports me while I am out of work, pays my rent, provides me some additional money and continues to offer me free healthcare. So I'm in a nice, warm flat, with the radio on and the oven warming for dinner. Life's not so bad.
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Latest reply: Nov 4, 2013
NaJoPoMo: 3rd November 2013
Posted Nov 3, 2013
No job searching today -well, it is sunday- but more on twitter and storify instead. One of the things I use twitter for most -as I mentioned briefly yesterday while typing away hastily at what was very much the last minute- is connecting with the comedy writing world. Through it I have discovered shows I can write for, a production company willing to read unsolicited scripts, and plenty of people willing to share their advice. So I thought I would try something simple- tweet (that is to say- post a message to) all the comedy people I follow on twitter the question 'If you could give one piece of advice to aspiring writers, what would it be?' and then collate them into a story which I could share. I haven't finished yet, I'm still waiting to see how many people respond. But many have responded, some with several bits of advice, some bits insightful, some just plain silly, all worth reading, and most worth repeating. It'll make, I think, useful reading when it's ready. In the mean time, and whatever anyone else thinks, I'm finding it invaluable.
Ooh, and I'm in The Post as per this week. http://h2g2.com/dna/h2g2/classic/A87814821 When you've read this, and read that, why not read the rest of it?
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Latest reply: Nov 3, 2013
NaJoPoMo: 2nd November 2013
Posted Nov 2, 2013
This year I have definitely settled on twitter as my social media preference. Not counting h2g2, obviously. This is so much more than just a social media site. But on twitter, as opposed to facebook, I can engage with people at all levels involved in comedy writing and in caring, I can keep up with issues being hotly debated on social media and I can swap stupid jokes.
I also discovered a site called spotify. Spotify allows you to pull together information from various sites to tell a story about something or other. I have been using tweets. I don't know whether or not I'll lose interest in spotify at some point, who knows, I've very fickle. For now, I used it to put together my argument against Thorpe Park's Asylum Maze Attraction. More recently, I compiled the tweets I posted a number of days to tell the story of my attempts to get job seekers' allowance after I was made redundant in September. The way it works in this country, in theory, is that you turn up at your local job centre, tell them that you are out of work, prove it, sign some paperwork promising that you're looking for work, and they give you some money. You turn up every two weeks as long as you are still looking for work, provide some sort of proof of the search for working you've been doing, and they give you some more money. So here is my version of events. Enjoy.
http://storify.com/benjaminpmoore/working-with-the-job-centre
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Latest reply: Nov 2, 2013
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