Why Staffing Agencies Should Consider Boot Camp Part of Their Training

As a starting point, I want to put it out there that I work part-time as a Food and Beverage Attendant a few nights per week for two staffing agencies. I was also a Girl Scout for nine years (an officer for the last three) and attended one year military training as part of our high school program. There came too many occasions at work to which I think some military discipline would help with efficiency. Here's why!

1. Cooount OFF!

There are events where clients grab 50-100 from an agency(football games, graduation formals) and during on location, would separate staff into teams for section allocations. I've seen it too many times when the manager has to recount everyone over and over again from the moment we all clock-in to when we've separated into teams. People just won't stay still and the manager keeps losing count. 

In military / scouting, members can "count off" by saying the number out loud.

2. Assembly

Just a whistle signal and in 10 seconds, everyone in the radius sitting, standing, drinking and doing-what-so-ever will be assembled in front of the commanding officer in neat appropriate lines - with equal spacing. No more snail-walking to the call point like zombies. 

3. Lines

This is one thing I don't understand. Did we not all learn to line up since kindergarten? And if you didn't learn it at school, you surely would've learned it in real life. (Hello, fast food chains and cinemas?) A line is a line. No random circles popping. You don't sit down while the line is moving. You don't cut the line because you saw your friend in the middle of it. You just don't. It's moving, don't push because it doesn't make it any faster. *sigh*

4. Uniform

I do not understand how people keep getting their uniforms wrong or with something missing. I remember how we made sure of our polished shoes and gravely panicked if someone forgot the standard black belt or a pin. A little disciplinary training goes a long way. We were never physically tormented as some cliche shows might present,  it was just a matter of installing a state of mentality.

5. Posture

Plenty of times, we'd be on our feet running around doing this and that and sometimes there's simply nothing left to do but stand and wait for orders. "Stand" as they might call it but it seems to look a bit too much like a sad bunch of prank-shop-slime where its structure basically goes where gravity takes it. Leaning here and there, crowding kitchen halls and slouching while sneakily going on mobile phones. Back in the days, we had "At Ease" or "Parade Rest" position(both are similar but has minimal differences and varies worldwide in details of what is allowed or not) where we crossed our hands at the back, sometimes front, feet apart for relaxed balance and head to the front. It's a comfortable position and looks so much nicer and way less awkward. 


I'm not saying our managers should come in with a thorny whip nor am I pro-closed minded work environments. For me, it's not much about being running a tight ship, but more about being in a ship and actually knowing nobody will accidentally put a huge hole through it because they were playing with the cannon ball launcher. 



For my few, if not inexistent, return readers: Sorry for the long gap in posting! I have lots of finished written posts but I do like to add personal images and wanted to wait until I have some to throw in before posting. =\ I shall try to schedule my posts now for more consistency!

The Controversial Four-Letter L-Word: How bad is it to be LATE?

I spent 12 years of my life growing up right next to my school. 

It took me exactly six minutes to walk from the moment I shut my door to setting my backpack onto my class seat - including four flights of stairs downwards and three upwards. Saying this, I was accustomed to leaving everything to the last minute and never worrying about time-on-commute. People didn't care if I was a few minutes off arriving in class since I was just next door. 

Sadly, once I graduated high school, my techniques didn't work anymore. 

It took me a long time to adapt, and even when I kicked off bad habits, I am just the queen of bad luck. 

I have gotten too often on the wrong side of the train, 

missed my bus which arrived 5 minutes too early, 

riden a bus moving inch-by-inch because there was an Eminem concert in town, 

gotten lost in Labyrinth streets with my GPS going mental and believe it or not, having my skirt rip right at the center to my bottom. 

Right in the middle of the city. 

While walking. 

Yes.

My main fix-it technique I now use is adding another 30 minutes to my calculated commute time for unforeseen events - which works so far - so good! Yay! 

But now let's roll back a bit. This is not about preventing lateness. You've done your best, and for some act of God, you're running late! How bad is it going to be? In saying the following, I assume you're not late all the time, did the right thing and called them before the actual meeting time and gave an accurate time of arrival. Specially for work-related, I call even when I'm running only 5 minutes late.

Personal Friends / Casual Meet-ups

They'll get pissed but most friends will forgive you and you have to suck it up if they decided to do their thing without you. Unless people are expecting you on the meet-ups, they'll pretty much not care and go on without you. 

Interview

After letting them know, given your estimated time of arrival - lateness factored in, they'll say whether you should still come in or not. They'll normally say not to come in anymore if they have something to do after your scheduled time and if they're really tight - you'll never hear from them again. Most of the time, they'll appreciate you calling in and will see you when you arrive - if they're still free, or just reschedule on the spot. This is, of course, assuming you didn't just say you're going to be late for 2 hours. 

Work - One of Many

If your job is something all 20 of you employees doing the same, it's not much of a loss from the company, you'll get a slap on the wrist and a mumbling curse from the person whose shift you're supposed to takeover.  Do it too often, forget that job.

Work - One of a Kind

If you're part of a team where each of you does something different, you're dead. No kidding. I was once participating in a location shoot for a magazine where we were told to meet in front of XXX Gas Station located at a highway. It was set up for 6am and I arrived 30 minutes early. I called and said I was there and waiting, only to find out there were two of the same gas stations on opposite ends of the highway - almost 2 hours apart. Horrible. They called another make-up artist located nearby. I was very relieved. I'd rather they not have waited for me and mentally cursed at me the entire time. It was an honest mistake which could happen to anyone and I did hear from them again. (Whew!) 

On the other hand, I once had a busy day lined up and because a model was over an hour late, I had to cancel two following very important meetings. Think of this: you ruined everyone's day and plans, incurred extra charges for the client in terms of staff and location hours. Technically, you should pay for losses.

Work - You and Your Job are Awesome

This is exceptional. My sister, programmer and consultant, is awesome, and aside from scheduled meetings, she can pretty much arrive two hours late as long as she finishes what she have to do. Which is ironic because she was the only one out of us five who was never late a minute for school and now she gets the late benefits. Life is rewarding if you work hard. 

So that's my two cents on L-A-T-E. 

Never forget to respect everyone's time, 

call if you're going to be late BEFORE THE ACTUAL TIME, 

don't wait until they're looking for you, 

and there's always the risk you'll never hear from them again. 

To be nice or not to be nice

"Every person who you meet once, you'll meet again." I have heard the phrase too many times before, rephrased in many ways and from professionals of various fields.

Weeks ago, I was in correspondence with a photographer for her project and exhibit and we've scheduled to work together for one of her shoots. I've noticed and mentioned to her I  found her name very familiar as thought we've talked before one way or another in a vague memory. 

When I went to her Facebook Page to view her portfolio, I realised I've already "Liked" it, confirming my suspicions. 
This drove me crazy. 
I wanted and needed to know where I've dealt with her. 
So, I dug up old messages. 
It turns out, almost two years ago when I was looking to restart a local portfolio, she was one of the photographers I contacted for TFP. She turned me down sweetly, saying she was buried in backlogs of photos needing to be processed on top of work and school. I found this nice and very professional. Plenty of working professionals will simply ignore enquiries to which they know they won't partake in nor benefit from. 

Thus said, the other day, I received a message from her asking if I was able to join her shoot for the same night and she was on a hunting mission for a make-up artist(MUA) as her MUA cancelled on her. Now, this day was already so long and tiring for me and if I were to jump on board, it was going to get longer. I could say no and there will be no harm on my part. On the other hand, I remember how nice and professional she was to me before and decided I would love to work with this person.

Sure, I'm no bigwig to be in a position to say "Hah! See, you HAVE to be nice to me!" but in the end, I was in a position to make her day or keep her hunting stressfully. Baby Food for Creatives writes on how you should be nice to EVERYONE, no matter of what career position they're in. Here's also a story and example from her.

For me, being nice should be just plain instinct and part of personality. Regardless of whether it's for your career or not, why not be nice?

I'm no Pope and I do have my complaints and secret-mental-cursing about people but doesn't mean I'll use it as a reason to be rude and obnoxious. Express these things to a loved one, a sibling, maybe your lover, maybe your teddy bear. Someone you trust and knows you're not saying these things out of spite and backstabbing but mostly to release your frustrations. 

Even when working with someone whose output makes you want to pull out your hair, there is what we call constructive criticism. There's no need to go mental and be on a psychotic killing spree. I believe there is nothing wrong with sitting down and telling someone what they're doing wrong, how they've offended you or pissed you off. 

Of course, if the person in question of being nice to is someone who randomly grabbed your bottom, then forget niceness and feel free to fully unleash the kraken. I'd do this because I know there is no way in my life I would have any desire to work with this kind of person nor actually want to purr my way into his favor even if he turns out to be the king of the world. 

How to Look Totally Ridiculous in Business Attire

I went to an interview for a casual F&B Attendant position the other day and was told to come in black business pants / slacks and black leather shoes. When the interviewer was checking my outfit, she said "Oh! Thank you! You're wearing black socks! Bless you!" 

Huh? 

I looked at the other applicants and discovered a lot wearing white and coloured socks with their black slacks and shoes, amongst many other things. I realised then and there, some people like to look ridiculous in business attire. So here I am, giving some pointers on how to successfully look totally ridiculous!

1. Non-Black Socks with Black Shoes and Slacks

Yes, because it's awesome to look like Jackie Chan in his old movies, right? Like, totally going for the Kung Fu look there. You know, because the white/other-colour socks puts a discontinuity of colours, making the pants look shorter than it should be. Forget the fact it was old-school-countryside China and this is formal business wear. Go Jackie Chan!

2. Short Socks with Black Shoes and Slacks

Back in university, it is common protocol to wear business attire whenever we have to present. I remember my marketing professor telling one guy "I bet your mom didn't see you before coming to school. No mother in their right mind would let you out of the house looking like that!" as his socks ended just at his ankles. So yes! We don't want to look like our moms approve of our outfit! That's, like, totally lame.

3. Put Shirt Collar ABOVE Suit Lapel

YES! Because John Travolta did it in Saturday Night Fever, we MUST do it too! Never mind that suits today has a collar 20 times smaller than he did then and the fact that it is a different era: plus points to looking absolutely ridiculous!

4. Do Not Take Off Suit Jacket When Sitting Down

Why bother? Such a waste of time when one has to put it back on right after standing. Ugh! So, keep it on and enjoy looking totally awkward with stiff movements and having your suit jacket folding below your hips. 

5. Do Not Button Suit Jacket

There is a soft rule called "Sometimes, Always, Never" referring to suit bottons. From top to down, sometimes close the top, always the middle, never botton the last. On the other hand, a lot of formal rules would stick to buttoning up all of them to look more formal. 
So confusing, right? So don't bother! Yay to looking totally clueless!

5. Wear Shoes That Will Make You Look Constipated

Choose your most painful, high-heeled, tight-toed shoes for that perfect sweaty forehead, grumpy face and can-barely-walk waddle. Mmmhmm, that's the way to finish the look and convince possible employers or colleagues you revel in looking totally ridiculous. 


Note: If  one cannot detect the sarcasm and humor in my tone, I hereby then put in writing that the intention of this post is to state what to avoid and not to do. 

I'll get MY LUCK at the 13TH Bizarre Bazaar

There was a time when everyone at campus was suddenly sporting Raybans and my mom asked if I wanted a decent pair. I said "No way!" Why would I want shades that looks like everyone else's? My sunnies collection consisted of my dad's old heavy-duty fishing shades plus those I dugged through and chosen at garage sales. 

Now, I don't need to dig through anyone's used clothing to find  unique fashion pieces. 

I(Neither could you!) couldn't get any more luck with a shopping mission than going to the 13th Bizarre Bazaar. It's a pop-up market with the tastiest mix of upcoming and accomplished local designers, I'm assured with quality unique pieces. Their team works closely with establishments, the Sydney City Council and Art & About Sydney, making it the most up-to-date, bigwig artsy fartsy fashion community gathering to look forward to every two months - but doesn't mean I'll set aside going this time for waiting another two months. Every season offers something different!


This spring, Bizarre Bazaar brings glazing-magazines labels such as Kirsty Irwin, Faddoul, KAHLO, Sasha-Rose (Oh my, as seen in Project Runway?!) and many more. Stall after stall, one fashion dimension after another, I'll never get bored...but I will definitely get hungry. That's why it's superb
 to know Eat Art Truck will just be parked right there, ready to serve yummy, modern fusion street food - at its best. You can't go wrong with their chefs being Stuart Mcgill and Brenton Balicki - former chefs of Tetsuya's and Quay. I also definitely won't forget to check out what's the new always-fresh art is on their truck this time!


What I can't believe is the bazaar is only 4 hours long. No time for games ladies, leave the heels behind and get ready to pounce on some goodies with our sneakers!

Here's the dynamite trigger: globally rockin' Guerilla Gigs will throw in a live truck performance from indie rock quartet Little Napier.
What's a live truck performance, one may ask?
A live performance on a truck. Duh.
We got to understand this, Bizarre Bazaar never gets complicated, 
what we see is what we get.
And in this 13th Bizarre Bazaar, we will get the good stuff.
NO tricks!
NO commercialised-I-see-in-every-corner clothes!
NO unnecessary entrance fees!
NO kidding!

Shooting for the moon, fake Scotch and Aerosmith tickets

I was doing some Facebook browsing the other day and bumped into someone's Favorite Quote saying:

"Shoot for the moon. Even if you miss, you'll land at the stars."

Suddenly, there were flags popping up in my brain  saying "Uhm, NOT!" "FAIL!" "No factoring way!" The moon's like, what, almost half a million kilometers away?  While the nearest stars are lightyears away! If you miss the moon, the stars will still be forever away.

Upon Google search, it appears to be a famous life saying. That made me sad and also want to hunt down and punch whoever-made-this-up's face.

Am I over-reacting? I personally am a Science enthusiast so it could be making me a bit more sensitive. But if they put it the other way around (Reach for the stars, even if you miss you'll land at the moon), I wouldn't have minded with what all the improbabilities are (Like, you won't land at the moon, you'll just be floating around!) as it is obviously just a metaphor and not for nitpicking geeky details. However, this existing metaphor is definitely nothing to live by! It's basically a metaphor to situations like "I bought a ticket to an Aerosmith concert and it turned out to be a Miley Cyrus one." or "I knew I have an exam for the next day so I studied my biology and found out in class it was a geometry test."

While I was doing whiskey tasting in the airport, it happened too often that I offered help to an aged man who would grumpily answer "I'm fine! I know my Scotch!" It is a given that some people would assume that I, being a 20-something blonde girl, know nothing about whiskey.  I 've accepted this long ago but the sad part is when the gentleman picks up something like Jameson. (Jameson is an Irish whiskey which is not, obviously, Scotch. Scotch has to come from Scotland.)  

This is sad because this man has spent years of his life drinking his "Scotch" which is not Scotch. 
He would be the behind-the-back laughing stock of drinking sessions. 
He did not accept help because he assumed he already knows his stuff. 
He did not open his mind to possibilities. 

I don't want to grow up like this. 
I don't want to charge into battle without the right information at hand. 
If I don't die during the battle, the king would probably have me decapitated for losing it for him. 
Or captured as a slave by the enemies. 

I am always one for impulsive choices, but my point is we have to know the facts as well. 
For example:
I impulsively bought an Aerosmith concert ticket. 
I knew, while ordering it, it was the right ticket for the right venue and date.
I double-checked what was written on my ticket.

My Chuck Norris Makeover

There's that universal encouragement speech you'll hear to be received advice memories of politicians (and villains) from their mommas.

It goes:


"You can be anything you want to be. Why, you can be president of the United States!" 

Well, I don't want to be the president of the United States.
I want to be Chuck Norris.






OK, ok. So I gave myself a Chuck Norris makeover. (Likey-likey?)

It all began when I was talking to Filipino blogger Bella Morcen of Mamibells (Diary of a 22 Year Old Mom) last night and she was telling me to do a make-up tutorial. While I'm shy to do so and wasn't, we went through the makeover works of YouTube-celebrity MUAs. I was intrigued in how far can I challenge my face and decided to give it a go. 

Then, I was, like, stupid-evil-face mode!

I was raised sitting on my nanny's lap while my parents watched Macgyver, Die Hard(s), Terminator(s), WWF(known as WWE today) and the likes. So to me, being Chuck Norris is super duper awesome! (I considered to do Bruce Willis too) 

Everyone does Jolie, Kardashian, Beckham, Bieber, et cetera makeovers. What's up with that? Go be the REAL idols!

For the look, aside from make-up, I stuffed tissue in my jaw to lengthen my face and put scotch tape on my eyelids for the added fold. 

As one can guess, this post is as random as it could get. 

Life's like that, the way you can't predict pigeon droppings. 

xoxo 

Lizette