Interview Must Brings!

So you've done your company research, ironed your outfit and think you're ready to rock that job interview. I have had too many misfits and examples of what-could-go-wrong-will-definitely-go-wrong stories to go to battle unprepared. Here is a list of what I would consider necessary armoury and why.

1. GPS or decent print out of area street  map

You've Googled up the location saying it's "7 minutes walk from Central Station" and you've been to the area plenty of times so the place would be fairly easy to get to. Unless you've walked all those streets everyday, it would be a fair bet you don't even know half of the streets in that suburb. Don't let yourself be late because you couldn't figure out whether you should go left or right.

2. Hair Pins and / or hair products (gel, spray, wax - whatever you like best to use)

You may have done all your prep back in your bathroom, but when mother nature strikes, be happy to know you won't be licking your palm to flatten your hair. (When I do my prep, I like to put a soft hair mousse then hot blow-drying my hair in place so when the wind messes it up, my hair will pretty much easily mould back to its "setting".)

3. A little bottle of mouthwash

Maybe you were too nervous during the train ride and salivated too much with your mouth shut, maybe you had a cigarette and then your mouth is starting to get too stale or maybe you popped a sugar-rich candy. Toothbrush in a public toilet is a bit too much (it is, here in Sydney, anyway) so mouthwash is your best bet and pretty much easy to use. Literally takes less than 10 seconds to gargle, spit, run the water to rinse the sink. As for mints, a lot of menthol candy are filled with sugar so when you're already sporting a stale breath, the sugar messes it up some more. Oh, yes, you know what I'm talking about.

P.S. use the public-access toilet where you got off from your commute...I've found it hard to find one between public transport and private offices. And you don't want to be gargling at your interviewer's toilet. Just a bit too tacky!

4. Band-aids

Most people I know will sport their best pair of shoes when heading to an interview. Unfortunately, our prettiest shoes rarely are the most comfortable ones. Also, if you've never been to where your interview is going to be, you're not sure how long you're going to walk nor how much uphill-downhill you'd trek through(specially in Sydney!). Prior to wearing the shoes, slap on those band-aids where the shoes get mean and bring spare ones with you in case they come loose or you have to double-layer 'em up. If they're brand new, you're not really sure where they're going to hurt so better grab a handful. When I have more space in my bag, I even bring spare flats or slippers for after the interview. (Not before! You're not sure if you'd have the opportunity to change into your pretty ones before you get there! Some areas, it's hard to find a toilet. Play safe.) 

5. Tissue

Back in the Philippines, every other person has a small pack of tissue with them(this could be due to the inexistent tissue on tissue holders in public toilets). But half the time, we use them for emergencies outside the lavatory and I only realised this after I stopped carrying tissue here in Sydney. Heat / nervousness making you sweat too much or even getting you to grease up, sudden wind making you sneeze, stepping on a wet puddle(or getting splashed by someone else!), I can go on and on! Tissue is one of the world's cruel products which you can't find any when you need it the most. So, as we used to say in the Girl Scouts, always be prepared!

The Infamous Gut Feeling

Of course, I can't speak for everyone when it comes to listening to their gut feeling but when you have a track record of having your gut right too many times, never ignore that calling. On the other hand, if your gut feeling calls you to abduct people and disect them, I say bury that gut and call for some professional mental help.

Back in my high school sophomore year, I was part of the Computer Club. Aside from normal nerdy computer thingamajigs, the club was also given the responsibility to receive and host photography-related activities for the school, should any arise. There was no photography club back then and it was certainly not a time when every other person had a DLSR slung over their neck as the Gen Y code for bling bling the same way a gangster wear thick gold chains. One time, our advisor told us there was a national photo essay competition and "feel free to participate". I have known essay competitions but have not heard of the term "Photo Essay". This was a time when if you want to research something, the word Google does not come to mind. Research meant hours of reading in the library, more hours searching the Dewey Decimal System and asking reliable resources. After getting a clearer understanding of "Photo Essay", I spent rolls and rolls of negatives, (I used a point and shoot camera, of course. No parent in their right mind during that era would spend thousands of dollars for their kid's camera.) and brought my goods to the next club meeting.

It was not a happy meeting. Everyone brought their essays. Pages and pages of hard hours slaved on writing. Needless to say, I was the only one without a written essay and I did not bother showing what I have done(as I only had photos, no written essay), embarrassed to show stupid Lizette who made a boo-boo.

I went home wondering to myself where I went wrong and partially cried for the money spent on film - weeks and weeks of my allowance. I could not be bothered nor did I have the heart to write a whole essay anymore and right then and there, I did not care. I thought I did everything right, I researched my material, worked hard on it and there was no way in the world was I going to allow that to go to waste. I mailed my photos out of impulse.

Weeks later I received third place in a national competition along with a 50,000Php(roughly a little over $1000) scholarship in a computer media school. I did it right. (More than just right, I did it awesomely right!)

That was ages ago. Let's come back to present day Sydney. I have been job hunting for some time already, and when a dear friend heard about this, he told me to apply where he was working. It was casual hospitality work and I was happy to start having cash inflow again. I was told to go to their office, let them know I was his friend and drop off my resume. My gut feeling told me that in a big staffing agency, my resume would get lost and I would be forgotten. But this was his instruction, he was the one working there and who was I to contest that? So this I did(minus telling them I was his friend...I am never one to use the I-know-somebody-so-gimme-some-love system. Let the CV speak for itself! Hail! Hail!). I never heard from them again.

About 2 months later, I bumped into the company's website once again and decided to email them my resume. I got a callback in less than a week.

I would say that when our gut feeling tells us something, it is mostly recalling what you have learned from previous experiences in life. It is not a supernatural nor superstitious being that one should ignore, believing it is just reckless impulsiveness. But like I said, I cannot speak for everybody so I'm curious, what do other people's gut feelings tell them?

What Not to Say Over Facebook and Twitter

When I read articles from recruiters or ask someone working in Human Resources, most of the time, they say they look up applicants' Twitter, Facebook, etc. This made me spend the past few days cleaning up the content of my accounts and cringed at some regrettable-what-was-I-thinking statements / photos. (Some stuff I was reluctant to get rid off as they hold great memories and believe I would love to look back and laugh at. So these I kept in my private accounts which are not visible to potential employers.)

The difference with typing and actually saying it is that type has taken out the tone which you might have had in mind. Jokes may be taken as sarcasm, sweetness maybe understood as clinginess and so on. Now I want to take the time, as a reminder to myself and a warning to whoever reads this, to create a guideline when posting things. 

Keep your dirty mouth away from the keyboard.

Cursing always sound different from when you say it in person. An innocent "fuck you" to a friend may sound totally innocent in your head but when someone reads it, it puts a negative pull at the back of one's head. For example, one along the street might hear someone talking like this: "Oh that fuckin' chicken tasted totally fuckin' retarded. Don't screw with me, bitches!" But when you just read it, it feels a bit offensive, doesn't it? Even if it was not directed to you!

The Internet world may be your stage, but keep your drama out of it.

Unless your drama is your line of business or you are seriously asking for help(i.e. donations for a loved one's illness, posting lost pets), refrain from weeping all your woes publicly or participating in cyber-wars. It is the same as seeing an eye-scratching-stiletto-cat-fight in the street: people will look for their amusement but will not want to get close.  It shows that you're the type of person who likes to make a public spectacle of all the wrong things. Your accounts are representations of yourself, it is your very own advertisement. Use it wisely. Call a friend. Talk to someone, personally.

Do not post EVERY SINGLE THING in your life.

Have you ever looked at an A2 cork board in a cafe with 500 flyers on it? You'll skim your eyes over it for a while but won't bother to remember anything about any of it. (Also, it opens a door to potential burglars if you're too detailed with your personal life but that's a different topic on its own) I'm not saying don't get personal, but do control what you release. For example, it is ok to share which movies or books you've just finished then add some opinion. This shows your personality. But here is an example of too much, too useless:

• Going to the movies. Can't decide what to watch.
• Decided to watch Toy Story.
• Eating a scone from Starbucks before going to watch Toy Story. Still got time.
• In line to buy popcorn at the movies. Horrendously long.
• It is time to turn off my phone because the movie's about to start. See you later!
• Just finished watching Toy Story. Someone in the cinema laughed too loud!
• I think Toy Story was cute and sweet. I'm a child-at-heart forever.
• The other day I watched Toy Story with Jane Doe and now I want a Buzz Lightyear.

Speak English or any other real language, for that matter of fact.

This could be just a personal stickler with me but I cannot tolerate looking at badly spelt statements with no sense of grammar. Typographical errors, on one hand, (except when your text is job-application-oriented) are acceptable in the right amount as they can be honest mistakes and I am guilty of some every now and then. An entire phrase with words which are not real words and using numbers / symbols for letters is simply gibberish. And nobody worth knowing likes to talk to someone responding in gibberish. So unless you're sending a telegram during war, don't make up your own fake language.

Reread before hitting "Post", specially feeling TOO passionate about posting it.

Especially if it is a rant or complaint: get up, grab some tea, find a way to relax then come back. Our emotions get the best of us and what we may find totally proper to say at an emotional outburst will sound absolutely ridiculous, even to yourself once you settle down in normal state-of-mind. 

Sydney International Student, Banana English and Lucky Breaks

When I decided to come over Sydney as an international student, I had unmatchable excitement and optimism.  I was excited to start in a new school which was pretty well-known for the course I was taking then (Pre-press and Graphic Arts) and believed the mix of my fashion, arts, corporate and leadership background and experience was a great head start for a career in a country reputably so full of fresh opportunities.

A lot of optimism there was definitely let down.

Firstly, a lot of my experience came from freelance work. 

As a lot of make-up artists, stylists, writers or events organiser could say for themselves too. Freelance barely counts for anything in this country, or when moving to another country, for that matter. Freelance cannot be credited as official skills in most systems, some people whom I handed my resume to gave me a "Bull shit, yea right." face while skimming, and most of all, nobody can refer you to anybody as nobody knows you at all.

Secondly, "school" was horribly disappointing. 

I don't know how it got to this point, but because Australia offers a huge doorway for immigrants (compared to other first-world dream destination countries such as US of A, UK) it has a huge influx of international students, a lot with hopes  of being eventually absorbed as citizens. This resulted into schools lowering their standards of acceptance so they can accomodate more international students. Why? Simple: it's a multi-billion-dollar industry. For plenty of universities / colleges, the money they get from international students covers 20-90% of their total revenue. I can say I have not seen a single Aussie citizen in class for both schools I've been in.

A basic example of what taints the quality is the acceptance level of English fluency. The Department of Immigration and most schools require an IELTS exam result of their specified minimum score. However, if an applicant's English level (pardon the language as I believe it is the best word to use) sucks, they can alternatively take a short English course which the school itself will offer or has an affiliate school who does the English classes.

I have passed by a few of these classes and for what I can say, picture a teacher holding a banana with BANANA written on the blackboard then repetitively saying "Ba-na-na. Ba-na-na. Ba-na-na." Thus said, your chances of learning proper, or even just grasp an understanding of, English is not much farther as it is if you eat an entire copy of Merriam-Webster's latest dictionary edition.

School lessons over a span of a week, you can learn within 2 hours on your own time if you have a working understanding of English. This is my case with schools who simplify things. On the other hand, some schools will teach as they will, and let those who can't understand flow like seeds in the wind. I have met too plenty undergraduate students on their graduating year and still has no idea what they have just studied for the past years.

Lastly(for now), I cannot seem to get a break.

Without local experience in my desired occupations, it appears that nobody wants to give me a go. Every interview always asks about local experience, local experience and local experience. (Seriously though, how will I get any local experience if everybody wants local experience?) I am even very willing to work for free in internships to get a grasp of an Australian working experience and learn a lot from within the industry. However, most of the decent ones want you to be in a graduating year from a chosen few(and expensive) universities. Then, once in a while, I get some false hope in getting a better position with start-up business guys but the case happens is that I feel like I was doing the teaching than learning. Also, being on a student visa restricts your working hours and flexibility, making most employers put you in the bottom of the picking.

I have heard too many stories such as some guy from the UK coming here and claiming to be DJ (but actually has no experience of being one at all) and now has an awesome DJ career or the girl who worked as a kitchen hand then in one occasion had a conversation with some company big gun, wowed him, then got a great job offer. I think these are exaggerated versions of people who got some break in a career, worked hard in it, and are now in a good position. (Not that I don't believe these stories. They could be very true!) 

The point is not that I am hoping for a CEO position offer(not that I would turn one down), but all we need is a break. A break to prove how hard we can work and show what an asset we can be rather than being reduced to doing dead-end jobs when we have more to offer.

My blog post about my blog post: Just A Waitress

A loop of some sort. 
To post as a blog with regards the blog post itself. 
Indeed, consider this as a declaration of which presets my future blog posts.
After all, this is THE blog post about THE blog post. 

I have not blogged for a while now, as there was a floating thought in my head that always asked “What for?”.  I never really said this thought out loud nor was I truly conscious of actually thinking it. (the same way of which everyone can be familiar with, like having a dream that you remember but not really remember at all) 

I am just a waitress here in Sydney, after all.  An unemployed one, now, even!

No longer am I some top-private-university overachiever double major Economics / Marketing student leader.
Gone are the days of event VIP passes.
It’s been two years since I’ve called myself a professional make-up artist / stylist / writer.

I am just a waitress, it seems not the very best of being one, even!

Who will read my blog?
Who cares about my blog?
What good will my blog do?

And, by jove! In those questions lay the answers themselves!

Why, it is MY blog! 
I will read it!
I care about it!
I know that writing does me a good deal of good!

So there.

I am just a waitress, but I have no plans of being one for ever.
Now, I shall say, I am NOT just a waitress.
For, behold, I am a waitress with a blog.