Tea, not gum

I mentioned to Martin that I was going out for bubble tea, and this is what he wrote back:

What is bubble tea? Does it taste like sweet bubble gum? Anyway, you probably had a lot fun with Steph.

Getting with the times re: job hunting

It will take a hiring manager 3 seconds to scan your resume before they deem it a Maybe vs. a No. That is, if your resume even makes it to a live human being. Apparently your resume gets electronically pre-scanned for compatibility based on matching key words from the job posting itself.

I wonder how many coverletters and resumes I’ve sent out that haven’t even been read? Probably a lot.

Hiring processes have changed significantly over the last few years. Companies get so many applications and are deathly afraid of wasting their resources picking the wrong person. They are looking to eliminate rather than to include, which means an applicant needs to market themselves and play up their skills from the beginning. Each applicant only gets ONE CHANCE through every stage before they are deemed a ‘No’.

Someone on the internet recommended me this book: What Does Somebody Have to Do to Get a Job Around Here?: 44 Insider Secrets That Will Get You Hired

So far, this is what I’ve learned:

My resume is no longer good for this job market. It’s 2 pages instead of 1, it lists my previous work duties rather than my accomplishments, it’s more of a biography rather than a dazzling billboard, and it doesn’t have an executive summary at the top (where the objective used to be) that highlights my experience, attributes, and reasons why I’m different from the rest (with key words/phrases from the job posting). A resume is not supposed to list everything I’ve ever done, just the highlights of it.

I’ve also learned that my coverletter is too long and formal. No one will read it. That is quite sad, as I put a lot of work into each one. Instead, I should write a few short confident paragraphs (200-250 words TOTAL) in the body of the email that my resume is attached to, and place my phone number in there too.

I also googled myself to see what comes up. None of the entries are mine, but there are many women who share my same name. One of them writes a lingerie blog, which is not something I want potential employers to associate me with (I am not applying to be a lingerie model, believe it or not!). So, I’m going to include my middle initial on my resume, to make it clear who’s who.

There are a lot of great what-to-do tips in this book. I think anyone who is job hunting right now should go to pick up this book ASAP. There are several copies at the Toronto Public Libraries, which is where I got mine. So far I’m only through the first 2 chapters on resume writing, but I’m finding it very comprehensive, enlightening, and useful.

Hopefully my new way of applying to jobs will get me through the rigourous screens. I’m open to trying different approaches and adapting myself to the market today.

Good luck to everyone else too. Share your job searching tips if you have any!

Eating my face off

One of the things that I *love* about being back in Toronto (asides from my lovely family and friends, of course!) is being able to eat Chinese food.

OMG! It’s deeeeeelicious!

I don’t like going too long without. It’s my favourite!

At home, we don’t really make Chinese food. I would say our cooking style is more Mediterranean/Indian inspired (we love our veggies, carbs, and spices!) so I need to rely on good Chinese restaurants for Chinese food.

While there are so many good Chinese restaurants in and around Toronto, I would estimate there to be NONE in all of Germany ^_^.

Point 1: Toronto

Sleeping Apart

I found an interesting article on how it’s unhealthy for couples to share a bed. Apparently people believe that they sleep better beside their partner, but in reality it disturbs sleep by 50%, which can lead to a whole slew of other problems. Couples used to sleep separately until the industrial revolution when people moved to big, crowded cities. And now it’s considered the norm and unhealthy for the relationship to do otherwise.

What do you think?

I agree with the findings, based on my experience living with Martin. I had always had my own room, and it was hard to share it with someone else – sometimes you just want to sleep by yourself and hog the whole bed! Before I read this article, I chalked it up to Martin and I needing a bigger space, with a guestroom that I could occassionally retreat to. Who knew that having 2 masterbedrooms are being incorporated into new house design, and that sleeping separately is actually better for your health? It makes sense to me!

Job Search Tactics

Job hunting is a lot of work! I’m not unfamiliar with it, but I had gotten used to finding a job through word-of-mouth. Now I am applying to jobs where no one knows me on the receiving end, which means I have to add that extra sparkle to my coverletter.

I wrote 2 coverletters yesterday and sent them out with my resume. One coverletter was only semi-compelling, but the other one was WOW (if I do say so myself ^_^). I have written lots of WOW coverletters though, and not heard back; but every time I write one, it gives me a chance to congratulate myself.

You just have to keep your spirits up when job hunting, and know that it is hard work. I make sure I give myself breaks so that I don’t go nuts, and I make easy goals of applying to at least one job everyday. Applying to 10+ jobs a day is exhausting, and brings down the quality of my application. Since I have a stable place to live (thanks Mom and Dad!), I can pace myself and not get burnt out.

Other Ways to Help me Find a Job

1. I’m tapping into my network by letting you, my dear friends, know that I am looking for a job. If you see something and think of me, please send it over: jiskca@gmail.com. I know you’ll also offer me emotional support and encouragement when I call you to complain ^_^.

2. My ex-bosses are all aware that I am looking for a job. They have my resume and are sending it around and/or keeping their eyes open for anything interesting. I am lucky that I’ve worked with so many great people over the last few years.

3. I look in different places. I don’t just use one search engine, I check out many as well as career sections in the newspapers (which I actually do for fun even when I’m not job-hunting). I also go to companies I’m interested in and check out their career sections.

This is all pretty exciting to me. Looking for English jobs in Germany was difficult. There are more options for me here, and that’s a good feeling!

Monthly Personal Goals – September 2009

Wow, I haven’t done these in a while! So here goes:

Apply to jobs – I want one, so this should help!

Practice German – While in Germany, I focussed more on speaking. Now I want to get more comfortable with grammar and writing. I will do 1 exercise a day from my text books, and ask my hot German tutor about it over the phone.

Sell stuff on eBay – Travelling makes you see how little you need to live comfortably. I’m striving to be more minimalistic and rid myself of unnecessary things.

Walk Around – This is a great way to actively enjoy the nice weather, to spend time with people, and to see Toronto again. So if you wanna walk with me, call me!

Exercise – Do 5 push ups a day. I love push ups!

7 jobs since graduating

Since graduating last year, I’ve held a total of 7 jobs! I can barely believe that but when I count it out, it’s true! Here is my list of jobs since graduating:

• Web Content Manager
• Researcher/Writer
• Office Support Staff
• Research Project Coordinator
• Stock Room Worker
• Business English Trainer
• Research Consultant

And no, it’s not because I got fired a lot! These were all contract jobs. I didn’t look for anything longer term because I knew I would be spending time in Asia with my Grandma whom I hadn’t seen for 11 years (!), and I actually intended to work there for a year. Then I went to visit Martin and found a job, which I later came back for after doing all that visa crap.

My English teaching job was fully supporting me while I was in Germany, which was kind of amazing! It really helped me not dip too much into savings (I had to because I got sick), and made spending all that time in Europe more affordable. I worked really hard though, and got much better at teaching and facilitating. Teaching English in Germany was a terrific experience for me. Now that I’m done, I miss it a little!

My plan now is to find a job!

I started searching and applying for jobs in Toronto while I was still in Germany, but then we lost the internet so I had to put my job search on hold. It was for the better – I wouldn’t have enjoyed my last few weeks as much.

My motto has always been to apply for whatever sounds interesting. I don’t expect to land a job instantly, so I was thinking of either getting a part time retail job, or learning how to sell things on eBay for the time being. I think I will choose the eBay route, because I have a bunch of things to get rid of! So hopefully I can get a job and sell a bunch of my stuff!

Hello Toronto!

I’m home! As in just freshly arrived in Toronto, and it’s great to be back!

Everything went smoothly, with some unexpected happenings today:

Early this morning, I got to Köln airport and went through their security check. I breezed through the metal detector with no beeps (score!), but apparently was carrying scissors in my bag. I thought – no way, those are eyelash curlers, not scissors – and took out my toiletry bag to show them who’s right. To my surprise, there were actually a pair of sharp hair cutting scissors in my bag. Oops!

So big deal right? They can confiscate the scissors and I can be on my way. But the weird thing was, they didn’t even confiscate it. All they said was “That’s okay, just make sure next time you put it in your suitcase!” and let me me keep this dangerous weapon in my carry-on! I didn’t know they were allowed to do that. I thought of just throwing the scissors out because I was connecting through Munich, and last time I connected through Munich there was an extra security checkpoint. Then I forgot about the scissors completely because I wanted to talk to Martin on the phone instead.

An hour later I get to Munich without much fuss, and go through the customs there. I happen to chance upon the young, good looking officer ^_^, who says Hi to me as I hand him my passport. He stamps my passport but doesn’t give it back! Instead, he holds onto it, stands up, exits his booth, and walks around his booth towards me.

I start to get annoyed/nervous, because I only have 20 minutes to connect to my Toronto flight (which is at a far away gate), and don’t want him to search my bag and have to explain why I’m carrying scissors on my person!

Luckily though, all he wanted to do was hand me my passport face to face (!), which he did, and then wished me a safe and happy flight.

I was like, huh! Is this guy French, or German? Cuz he certainly acts French!

I get to my gate with lots of time to spare. The Munich airport is HUGE!

When I get to Toronto’s airport (Terminal 2), I notice there are a new set of fast moving sidewalks. No one told me!!! Like, they look like they are 2.5 times faster than the other sidewalk, and they quite impressed me. I was jealous of the people who took it, because I didn’t.

My Dad picked me up at arrivals and we made our way down the Gardiner Expressway. I’ve always loved this route, as it positions the downtown cluster right in your view as you drive towards it. It makes me feel like Toronto is welcoming me back, and is particularly pleasing after being away for so long.

Some thoughts that ran through my head while driving through Toronto:

-Billboards, yuck! After being in clean-looking, not-too-consumeristic Germany for the year, seeing ads lining the side of the highway is a huge eyesore.

- OMG everything is so spralled out! My Dad literally drove across the whole city since the airport is in the west and we live in the east. I made a mental note about trying not to expect fast European public trans on the TTC *cries!*.

- Concrete, Concrete, Concrete! Okay so Toronto is not a very pretty city afterall. I really only notice this whenever I leave North America. Otherwise it’s just how it is.

I didn’t know how I would feel to leave Germany, and thought it would be gut wrenchingly hard. But surprisingly, I was actually excited to come home and am very happy to be here again. The only thing that sucks is that now Martin and I are back to being long distance again.  Back to lots of emails and phone calls for now!

Old World Charm

Apologies! It’s been a while since I’ve updated. My reason being: we no longer have internet access . What happened was Martin’s sister moved away to a much nicer apartment that is closer to her work and bf. Previously they hared internet access via a wireless router, since they lived less than 100m away. Now Martin is trying to get his own provider, but it’s proving difficult for what I chalk up to ‘Old World infrastructure and service mentality’.

Martin’s knee is healing well. He can walk now without crutches, and is even back at work. I am still looking after him though, and carrying all the heavy stuff. The guy is a princess now (!), while I am the sweaty, out of breath person next to him carrying all his stuff. It also doesn’t help that we live on the top floor of a building that has no elevator. See what I mean about Old World infrastructure?!

We are doing well here though. We took off to the North Sea immediately after the Doctor said Martin could walk, and this weekend we may end up in Paris! Life is good here. I’ll post pictures later.