After yesterday's rant about the lack of jobs in the UK to keep the two-and-a-half million unemployed people busy, I'm going back to what this blog is all about - my status as an unemployed bum, and what on earth I'm doing about it.
As the title suggests, the year is new, so why shouldn't I ungerdo a spot of self-reinvention too? I mean the television is telling me that I can lose weight, get fit, stop smoking, consolidate my debts, borrow more, claim compensation for an accident, get my PPI insurance back, and on top of all that, buy a new sofa for half price. It seems like a very good time to be alive...
Instead of doing all that, however, I'm concentrating on getting a job. The 'new me' is a career woman. To quote Miranda Hart, I'll be the kind of woman that just leaps out of bed and just does that and their hair looks perfect. They then grab a home made muffin out of their Cath Kidston polka dot biscuit tin and head to work, wearing trainers at the bottom of a skirt suit to show off they’ve power walked in. They have pot plants that don’t die on them. Their fruit bowl isn’t full of 3 week old rotting pears because they actually eat the fruit. They have day bags, evening bags and a clutch. You know, they just grab a wheat germ smoothie in between work because that’s enough to keep them going, even though at lunch time they jogged – and enjoyed it, because they don’t have flesh that moves independently to their main frame. And finally they have easy access to pens to finish a crossword at a bar where the man they decided to take as a lover the night before says to them ‘hey, last night was great’.
Well on Friday 13th Januray that's not going too well so far...
There's a lot going in my favour at the moment. The new year has brought with it a flurry of new jobs to apply for, and I apply I have. January has reignited my optimism and my enthusiasm. The media is literally vomiting jobs at the public and there are some fantastic opportunities on offer at the moment. I feel as if I'm on the cusp of getting a fantastic job so that I can actually afford a Cath Kitson polka dot biscuit tin, but I could end up waiting months for that to finally come to fruition.
There is a funny feeling of being in limbo during any term of unemployment. The days tend to blend into one and months can go past without much progress being made at all. I will admit to anyone that, since being unemployed in August, I haven't had even so much as an interview for the jobs I've applied for. Admittedly I've had plenty of volunteering opportunities and interesting chats with people in the industry, but I'm yet to present my P45 and sign my name at the bottom of a contract.
The new year may have brought a whole flurry of new jobs, but it has successfully lulled me into a false sense of security. I convince myself that I will definitely get one of the jobs I've applied for and so I bum around for another few months waiting for answers that never come, or come back as a 'thanks, but no thanks'. Before I know it, spring will have sprung and I'll still be bumming around at home writing blogs and drinking tea.
The waiting can get so tedious; I don't mind if it is a no, but I just want to know. If only someone could invent a computer programme that would tell a candidate immediately if they'd been considered futher for a job or not. I tell myself that I'll wait for one last no and then get an interim job, but then something else comes up and I apply for that. You can therefore understand why people end up out of a job for years and years. Staying optimistic and putting all your hopes into one particular job is a great attitude to have, but before you know any different, months have drifted away and you're still unemployed.
Well the new year may have brought a new me, or at least aspirations of a new me, but this new me could end up being my worst enemy...
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