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The 30 year old Runner

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It may seem like I have had something of a blogging hiatus of late but in fact I have been blogging often, just in other places like here, here and here.

Last time I posted I was nervously awaiting my 30th birthday which I had been dreading for a while. I’d been having a bit of a tough time, unable to get even an interview, let alone a job and I was feeling pretty sorry for myself. My birthday itself, despite the best efforts of dear friends, was a fairly sorry affair culminating in my phone being stolen in Shoreditch at the end of my big night out. To paraphrase a well worn saying, woe was most definitely me. I had just about had enough. After wallowing over the remainder of the weekend and worrying my poor mother half to death in floods of tears I decided to give myself two more weeks in London and if I hadn’t found work by the end of that time I was going home.

It turns out that was the kick up the backside I needed. I knew I had a week’s work experience coming up which I had been looking forward to for ages but beyond that, nothing was set in stone and I was pretty on edge I wouldn’t find something. I had the best week work experience I could have hoped for where I got the opportunity to help out at a production company that makes some of my favourite TV shows. I got to try my hand at researching potential contributors for a show in development, organising contributor release forms, (the forms that give production companies contributors’ express consent to participate in the show) and organising props for a weekend shoot. At the end of the week I amazingly got invited to work on location at the very same shoot I had prepared the props for and it was brilliant! It was a super long day but I got such a buzz out of getting up early and helping out wherever I was needed. I really felt like part of the team and I can’t wait to see the end result when it is released.

On the day before my disasterous birthday I had had an interview for an internship with a documentary filmmaker I really wanted to work with (whose website you can visit via the first link at the top of this post). Interestingly when I applied for the job back in January I didn’t hear back for rather a long time. I knew Helen, the company Director, was filming in Ghana at the time so a few weeks after she returned to London I gave her a call to follow up. No answer. I left a voicemail. The next day I tried again and didn’t get through for a second time so I sent her an email. Fast forward a month later and after two interviews I was sitting in a coffee shop in Dalston with Helen on my first day of work. She told me then that she had received 100 applications for the post and missed mine by accident when I submitted it initially. It was only when I followed up that she decided to give me an interview because she admired the fact I followed up. Thank God I did! I started working for See Change Films on the last day of my two week deadline. Talk about cutting it fine!

After a wonderful 3 months writing and implementing a communications strategy and helping train inspiring young people with stories to tell through film it was time to move on and I finished there just over a week ago. I managed to get an interview with a post production house in Soho as a Runner / Receptionist but alas it wasn’t meant to be and I received the ‘thanks-but-no-thanks’ phone call a few days later. HOWEVER… even though I wasn’t right for that particular job the panel saw something in me and invited me for a trial shift as a Runner. That was last Thursday and at the end of the day they offered me the job. So that’s us up to date! I’m now a 30 year old Runner and I’m having the time of my life! 🙂

In the zone

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I’ve been quiet for a few days now and I suppose I needed a few days off from applying for jobs, if anything just to recharge my batteries.  It’s funny how draining sitting on your backside form filling can be but it was really exhausting me!  So I took a few days away from the applications and enjoyed the sunshine, going for long walks and generally clearing my head.  It was just the ticket and now I feel so much more motivated to get out there and seize the day!

This weekend I’m pleased to say that I’ve submitted 2 applications to an amazing charity and am in the process of completing a third, hoping to submit it this afternoon.  I’ve set myself a goal of moving to the big smoke by September and I’m going to do everything in my power to make that happen so I had better get my skates on!  I’m definitely feeling much more hopeful that I did a week ago when I thought I’d never see the end of these application forms but now I’ve done a few I feel like I’m getting into the swing of things although I’m keeping my fingers crossed I won’t need to fill in too many more before something comes up.  We’ll see!

Day One: Applying for a real world job online

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Every adventure begins with a degree of uncertainty and I have to admit, late at night it’s prompted me to question myself a little.  Leaving your job in a recession isn’t looked on as a prudent move and I’ve found myself wince a little when telling my friends and family what I have done.  I can see an instant flash of fear across their faces when I break the news: that ‘holy-shit-she’s-lost-her-mind’ moment quickly masked by stretched smiles and wide eyes.  

It’s not that they don’t approve as such.  Of course it’s clearly well-intentioned concern and it isn’t as though it’s something I haven’t questioned myself on as well but deep down I know it was just something I had to do.  That said, the job hunt must begin.  Having nothing lined up is a sure fire way to prompt a person to action.  But where to start?

It seems the kids are doing it differently nowadays.  Gone are the days of printing off an application form (2 copies in case you mess the first one up), painstakingly completing it in your best handwriting, black ink and hot-footing it to the Post Office or better still hand delivering it.  Everything is done online, often through a specific online application form system that cruelly times out before you are quite ready to submit why you are the best person for the job.  It seems to be a case of ‘fastest finger first’ making it a bit tricky to take the time you would normally allow to properly go through an application form.  

After a bit of practice I began to get a little more confident and, perhaps foolishly, caught myself saying “hey, maybe this isn’t so bad?”  It was then my worst fears became real in the shape of the dual platform application form.  (N.B. This is just what I call it.  I’m pretty sure I’m not tech savvy enough to know the correct terminology).  The dual platform form – DP for short – struck fear into my heart.  I was drawn in by the excitement of the job description, and reading through the job spec I knew this job was right up my street.  The application form started fairly normally luring me into a false sense of security until I arrived at the ‘Additional Information’ section and there it was staring me in the face: Your YouTube video. YOUTUBE!  A 3 minute video of me answering 3 questions spending no more than 60 seconds on each answer.  Let me tell you now, this is very difficult to achieve when you aren’t able to simultaneously film your answers and time yourself.  

Finally, after what felt like 100 attempts, my video was ready to upload at 10pm.  With a midnight deadline for submissions I felt a smug sense of calm as I began to upload my first ever YouTube video.  Having uploaded videos to Facebook fairly quickly before I anticipated submitting my application with plenty of time to spare.  However, YouTube had other ideas informing me the upload would take 118 minutes.  I felt a searing pain in my chest and my palms began to sweat.  How could a 3 minute video take so long to upload?! What if my form timed out before the upload was complete.  Not the type of questions you want to be asking yourself before a deadline.  Eventually after what seemed like an eternity my 3 minutes of fame were online and accompanying the rest of my application with 2 minutes to spare.  

Phew.  I later received an email informing me I was unsuccessful but they’d keep me on file which was more response than I had received from other applications.  Looking on the bright side, at least I’m prepped for future applications but I can’t help but wonder if this type of process alienates capable potential employees and dissuades them from applying.