As good as it gets

Hello again!

First of all, I realised that last time I forgot to answer the question regarding the content of this blog. The answer is: I don't know yet. As the famous quote goes “I'm an idealist. I don't know where I'm going, but I'm on my way.” So basically, we will see where we end up.

 

Take a stand

As I promised, this time I will give you some tips on how to get a better job. It is obvious that the process is hard, but from my experience, it is worth it. There are very few things that are worse than being obligated to do something that you hate. Once you have realised that you need to take a stand and change something, you have to figure out how. The first step is to find a new job. Easy to say, extremely hard to do. At the beginning of my 'fishing' I decided that I will not settle for what I can find, instead I will try to look for something that is at least remotely related to my English degree.

 

Change of attitude

Of course, this worked for like two weeks, after which I was starting to panic and my determination was slowly fading away like a distant memory. I was back where I started, in the 'this could be better than nothing' box, going to interviews for lousy jobs, because I needed to pay the bills. The epiphany came when I had not been accepted for the positions, that I could have handled without any difficulties. I couldn't believe that all the years of learning and struggling were for nothing, and I decided again (this time for real) that I will find a suitable job. The fact is, that the only thing that I had to change was my approach. I was looking in the wrong places. So here's the deal… you need to really dedicate yourself to the search and find the best opportunities. How? The 'miracle' of our age… the internet. The sites where you can find job posts are more and more advanced, so you not only have the possibility to choose from a very big list of vacancies, but you can also learn about a lot of things, like how to behave at an interview, or what to write in your resume. I'm not saying that this is all that it takes, you need a bit of luck as well. However, I can assure you, that your attitude is one of the most important factors. 

Image taken from Glass Half Full

I don't even remember how many interviews have I gone to, when I applied for a job that I had known nothing about. I saw that I could fulfil the requirements, although they were kind of vague (good communication skills, being able to work in a team etc., you know the usual stuff), I still went to the interview.

At first I thought nothing special of it, but when I saw that the employees were saying jokes and laughing, I said to myself that this must be it. And it was :) 

 

Be who you are

So you need to believe that you have a real chance to be hired and act accordingly. Don't panic when they ask questions, just try to give the answers you think are the best. This is what I did, and it worked. I couldn't believe that they hired me, and ever since then, I am trying to do my best. But most importantly, I don't wake up every morning, thinking that I don't want to go to work (only some days:)). I'm not claiming that my job is perfect, I don't believe there is such thing... but you have to strive to find the one that is at least 'as good as it gets'! Of course, this opinion will also change in time for many people, so let's stick to the 'as good as it gets for right now'.