But yes, work. I am now back in the world of the gainfully employed; getting up at 0630 every day, jostling for position with the other commuters on the train station platform in the mornings, and sleeping on the journey into London. One day in the near future, when my finances are straight again and so long as it won't impact on anything I'm saving towards, I am going to have to get myself some latest must-have gadget for the journey. Music makes any ordinary journey seem like a movie, complete with soundtrack. What I really want is a telepathic MP3 or Spotify player that will read my mind and know what music I want or need to hear -- choosing either to indulge me or challenge me, depending on the setting.
Work itself...is fine. Just fine. It's only been 3 days, and I've not yet really started on the "sales" part of my job -- which being a Sales Executive is kind of the big part. I've done a lot of data entry, and I have started setting up social marketing by registering work accounts on various sites and am beginning very slowly to make friends and find followers of like minded people. Part of me doesn't yet know what to make of the job, and part of me knows that it will be only what I make it -- if I do well or don't, love it or not, is entirely up to me.
Definitely in the plus column is the people I work with -- so far, everyone seems nice and nobody drives me mad. I didn't meet the MD of the company until my first day in the job since she'd been in an accident recently (she was hit by a bus), but I have only positive impressions of her -- someone that genuinely cares about what they do, and seems like a cheerful, upbeat person. It helps that I've also been taken to lunch twice.
Over a lunchtime pint on Friday I tried to sell her my photography printed on cavas for the new offices we're moving to. She seemed interested, or just was being polite, so I have given her the link to my Photobox page where the items can be ordered. It would be good if some sales were to come of it. I've tried selling my pictures through Etsy in the past, but was never very successful -- at least with Photobox I don't have to pay for the service.
Somehow in the course of conversation with the MD and my other colleagues, we came around to PR and my background in it. To cut out all the boring middle bit, I have volunteered to try and put together some sort of PR for the company. It's a small company, but I'm increasingly passionate about what they (or we) do, and would like to see them get more recognition -- and, of course, more business. Since it's not really my job to do this stuff, I'm going to have to approach it in very small measures so that it doesn't interefere with my "day job". With a lot of luck it could take off, and I could slowly move more towards this stuff than the sales side -- even helping them to set up their own internal PR department. Alternatively, I might find the sales earn me plenty on their own and keep me happily busy so much that I don't care about their PR profile. Or yet another option is I'll decide in 6 months this job really isn't for me and I'll go find something else. But for now, it's earning a living like.
And I'll work on those plans for a telepathic MP3 player.
A telepathic mp3 player? :O
ReplyDeleteTell me more!
That is awesome! I'm so glad things are going well for you. I couldn't live without my ipod and once you get one, telepathic or not, you'll wonder how you ever did without one too.
ReplyDeleteTo be cheerful and upbeat is quite a feat-- especially after being hit by a bus.
ReplyDeleteHit by a bus - crikey!
ReplyDeleteI totally hear you on the telepathic mp3 thing. That would be great! My shuffle seems to be harsh and energenetic when I need relaxed and torpid when I need to be shuzhed up. Not cool.
Thanks for the comment, that idea is genuinely scary, as it means that being upbeat will be a far too difficult task. Plus side though,it's a good thing you have a job. I'm still looking for one...not cool.
Have a good week!
Mae: Not much more to tell! It would be able to tell automatically what songs or genres you want to hear, or deliberately challenge you if you were in a bad mood. I don't have the know how to make something like that, and I'm not sure about the ethics.
ReplyDeleteSteph: How many iPods have you got through over the years? I'm sure yours must get lost with your shoes or dropped on drunken nights... but thanks :)
Mr Apron: Maybe she was less cheerful at the time, or at home in bed, but despite hopping around on crutches she's one of the brightest people I've ever met.
Radiogael: I guess that's a risk when you ride a bike through central London...but she's not put off at all by it. Do you constantly have to get your iPod out of your pocket and skip tracks you just don't want it to play at that moment, or find it keeps playing the same ones? I don't own an mp3 player, but the ones I've used I've found that.
And what scares me most about the "actions dictate feelings" idea is that if I'm down and depressed it's because I'm too lazy to feel something different. Keep up the job search, I know it ain't easy.