Jobless...literally!

So, I procrastinated a little where my NI number was concerned, and then when I finally got it, a CV had to be prepared, etc etc etc, you get the picture, and now people tell me that applications for all the easy-to-get Christmas jobs are closed. Oops. So since then, I've been victim to a belated fit of productivity, having belatedly realised that it would be quicker to surf around on the web a little and then think hard for one hour rather than sit around waiting for people to help me. I finally set up and installed my printer, printed out a stack of CVs and spent half a day wandering around the city centre, walking into stores and asking if they had any vacancies. Many places were full already, but a few took my CV and said they'd get back to me when they had vacancies in Jan (sob! Must...have...Christmas...job!) and Borders actually told me it'd be smarter to apply at the end of December when people were leaving and they would need replacements. Primark of course has probably recieved 6 billion applications from uni students seeking holiday income, so I'm really not counting on that.

A couple of places seemed promising. I printed out the application forms for Next and Oasis and filled them in...Next seems like a bit of a lucky draw really, because you just dump the forms into a huge postbox-like thing and I really wonder if they read them all (sure hope they do though!) but Oasis not only told me that they had a vacancy, but were very nice to me as well, and checked what times I'd be available, etc. I would be so, so happy if I got a chance to work there, the work ethic and the other employees are great, and it's a smaller store so I'd be able to gain some experience in a less stressful manner than if I was working for a huge place like, say, Primark (though I'll take what I get at this point, I'm really not going to be too picky).

Working here is very different from back home in Chennai...you actually have half a chance of landing a decent part-time job as a student, for example, and you get paid pretty well...enough to live on. I cannot imagine this ever happening in Chennai, or indeed anywhere in India...for one there are way more people than jobs, for another, everyone's looking at how many degrees you have and how fancy they are, and whether you have a US or UK degree (well, now I will...ha ha). With all this, and the craze for hiring 'experienced' people, it's a miracle I actually bumped into my previous boss and benefactor (in the form of my singing teacher) who hired me for a good job because she wanted to help out a fresher and help them grow and develop (who does that anymore?) 

Over here, it's different...no one has any issues with hiring someone right out of school, and indeed if you are overqualified a schoolkid could easily edge you out, because apparently no one likes overqualified people. To my great surprise, I for once am overqualified for something, and so have had to water down my CV a great deal and occasionally knock out my first BA. And of course, where previous jobs are concerned, I definitely cannot put down my last job title (which was admittedly much fancier than my job, and which I did not live up to in any sense of the word) because 'Business Development Executive and Creative Consultant' sounds like I'm 35, professional and more suited to an office environment than bagging clothes and giving people change (which is what I desperately want to do at this point).

Anyway, the weekend has been spent walking around the city centre all by my lonesome, seeking jobs, dropping off application forms and in the case of today, hunting for boots. Very enjoyable it has all been. And I am now plus a few shreds of hope and a full set of thermals, purchased today post form-dropping, so I'm fairly pleased. Tomorrow, Marks&Spencers phone application! Sigh. Wherever I start working, I would love to end up working for Marks&Spencer. Would be even more awesome to start there, but well, one can't have everything.

Wish me luck though! Prayers, positive vibes and good wishes much appreciated. Toodles.