The job hunt jungle

I  have a job, but that’s a temporary thing. If I have to do that much longer I think I’ll go crazy of boredom. My colleagues are great and the job is alright, but it’s way too easy. There’s no challenge in it. And besides that, it’s not marketing.

Now that I’m used to the Dutch lifestyle again it’s time to start looking for a marketing job. You would think that it’s easy, but not quite. There are a ton of marketing jobs, but very little junior positions. When I do find a junior marketing position, it’s not really what I’m looking for. Because I’m so picky, there isn’t much to choose from.

When I was confronted with the number of jobs that interested me, I  faced a dilemma. Do I continue working where I am now and wait for something better, or do I settle for a job that’s not exactly what I want?

Last week I had my first ‘real’ job interview. It was the first interview for an actual marketing job. Apparently it went very well, because a few hours later they called me to ask when I could meet them again. Very enthusiastic I made an appointment. But the longer I think about it, the more I feel like this job isn’t right for me. And that’s the thing, it just has to feel right.

I have a very specific job in mind, but I can’t seem to find it. Either the job sounds cool but the company doesn’t, or vice versa. Very frustrating for a stubborn ambitious girl like myself! Sometimes I wish I could be happy with less. That I could be a housewife and never worry about deadlines. Never think about strategies and budgets. Never brainstorm about new tactics.  If that ever becomes reality, I will be depressed within a few  weeks.

Refusing to settle for anything less than amazing is hard. In order to find, one must seek. So my search continues in the hope that’ll find what I’m looking for.

I love it and miss it soo much!

They say photos say a thousand words. Well, this video says more than a million words.

Energy boost

It’s been a whole month already. Time goes by so incredibly fast. The longer I’m here the more I try to hold on to the memories I have of my trip. It was an amazing time I will never forget for the rest of my life. But the life that I have in my home country isn’t so bad either.

As I said in my previous post, I managed to get a job two weeks after I got back. I was so proud of myself that I found something that I like so quickly! I completed the training last week and now it’s time for the real deal.

Another thing that consumes my precious time is Photoshop. I just started with the course book and I love it already. I now have a much better understanding of the program than I did before. Can’t wait to get creative with it!

Because of my internship that had very little to do with marketing, I feel like I’m completely unaware of all that’s going on right now. Somehow I just can’t find the time to stay up to date. But the marketer in me thinks that’s a lame excuse, and I must admit, even the lazy me agrees.

I’m blaming my BlackBerry for not being new enough, but the fact is I have to dive into the deep marketing sea again and start fishing for information. Starting by figuring out what RSS reader to use to help me do that. So if any of my readers has a good tip, you know how to get in touch with me.

Having such a busy schedule after five months living life the Australian way, I’m pretty beaten at the end of the week. What helps are my improved eating habits. Boyfriend started a diet two weeks ago and I agreed to support him. Doesn’t make sense anyway to cook two different meals every night. I actually feel so much better than before. I knew food had a lot of influence on how you feel, but I didn’t know it had this much effect! Seeing (and most of all eating) all that healthy food instantly gives me an energy boost.

Now that my energy level is up, it’s time to give my marketing and online addiction a boost as well!

A minor detour

So I’m home now and settled again. As a big fan of planning and organizing, I had every detail for the rest of the year worked out. No surprise, it didn’t quite go the way I’d hoped.

The first thing that messed up my schedule (big time!) was graduating. I had a finance assignment right before I left to Australia. My head was already in Sydney so no wonder the assignment didn’t go very well.  I screwed it up again in Sydney because I didn’t have my books and I was still convinced it wasn’t that difficult. The third time, I didn’t even know it was going to be evaluated. I sent it for feedback and got a grade back. That was the third time. And three times happens to be the limit for each year. Therefore I have to wait until next year, no matter how fantastic my thesis is. Yes, I am aware that sounds very cocky but I believe in every word I’ve written and I am convinced that my recommendations will benefit the organization.

That means, a lot of time to kill before I can finally start looking for a proper marketing job. If there’s anything I hate, it’s wasting time. I planned to look for a nice part time job to make some money. Wednesday is my first interview for a customer service job. I was pretty happy about that. I’m not even back for two weeks, and I already have an interview! And it’s close too, in the city centre of Almere.

Update: I’ve got the job! I’m starting in a couple of days as a customer service representative.

I’m going to spend the rest of my time on a Photoshop course. I think it will give me a great advantage when I’m ready to find a junior marketing job. And besides that, it’s fun! But no expensive classes for me, I will buy ‘Photoshop CS5, classroom in a book’. Next month, if I’ve got the job and my bank balance looks a bit more positive.

That bank balance is the second thing that didn’t go as planned. The whole trip to Australia, New Zealand and Hong Kong was a lot more expensive than I thought. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not I-can’t-pay-the-bills broke, I just can’t go on a shopping spree anytime I want. But even though I used my credit card way too many times in Sydney, the experience is priceless. And if having that experience and all the amazing memories mean that I have to take it easy for a while, then I’m happy to do that.

With a minor detour, my life in The Netherlands is starting again. When I look back, my trip was a great way to celebrate the end of my student life.  Now it’s time to kick some ass in the real world again.

I’m back!

The Netherlands. A small country most foreigners can’t point out on a map. The world thinks we all walk on wooden shoes and smoke weed. It is a wonderful country and it is nothing like tourists think it is. Everywhere you look there are trees, parks and grasslands. The air smells fresh, the sky is blue with a couple of clouds  and the sun is shining. I am home.

After an awesome 2 night trip to Hong Kong, I landed at Schiphol Airport on an early Wednesday morning. Feeling relaxed and  very excited I picked up my suitcase and walked through security. I saw my mom and stepdad, but no boyfriend. Turned out he couldn’t come because there were no trains that morning. Unbelievable. He already had to go to Dublin the day that I came back, and now he couldn’t pick me up either. It wasn’t so bad after all. He worked from home until it was time for him to go to the airport. After 5 months I am sure we will survive 2 more days without each other.

After a huge cappuccino from the only coffee place that I like in The Netherlands, Starbucks, my mom and stepdad drove me home. Seeing my neighborhood again was very weird. The area where I live is still being developed so it had changed a lot. Chilling at home on the couch felt so good. I finally have my space back!

No more dragging my laundry across town because we don’t have a washer. No more cooking dilemmas because of lack of space in the fridge. No more dirty housemates who leave underwear in the bathroom. No more crazy prostitutes yelling at night. But sadly, also no more awesome nights out in Sydney.

Especially the first couple of days I will have to take it easy. Washing and putting all my stuff away is gonna take some time.  And then I will also have to clean up the house a little bit. BF did a good job cleaning, but still not how I like it of course. That is why we have the awesome agreement: I always clean so I can’t get mad at him for not doing it the way I like. Works great.

It is June now, which means summer has just started. I just went to the supermarket on my bicycle. The sun was shining,  I felt the wind through my hear and had my sunglasses on. Nothing better that a little bike ride in the morning. After being away for so long, it’s the little things I’ve missed the most. I learned to appreciate the things I have a lot more but the experience also made me wonder what else is out there.

But for the first couple of months: home sweet home…

Happy to be same old me

After a little over four months, I still haven’t changed a bit. I never left to ‘find myself’ like so many others to begin with. I had a pretty good idea of who I was and what I wanted, and I still have. My reason to fly across the globe was very simple: just for fun. Maybe that is the reason why I am still the same old me.

I refuse to let my accent get anywhere near sounding Australian, I am proud when someone thinks I’m from America.  The whole ‘I am super skinny but somehow I feel the need to eat fat free yoghurt and go running everyday’ trend is not for me. I’m actually getting annoyed because I can’t get normal food anywhere, it’s all fat free crap. Sharing a room with 3 people because I can’t afford to pay more rent is also something I will not miss. Going from having an apartment to myself (+boyfriend and two cats) to sharing a house with 12 people is a big shock and not something I’d like to do again!

Something the Ozzies are well known for: the laid back attitude. That is cool for a week or so, but as a lifestyle it can get pretty frustrating. Nothing gets done, people love procrastinating and use any excuse to go to the beach and do nothing. And an hour just to go out for lunch is ridiculous. How much time does one need to eat!? I need deadlines, structure, excitement, challenges and  responsibilities!

The good news is that now I know how important it is for me to do something I absolutely love and in what kind of environment I fit in. I always knew that I had to do something that I like, but I didn’t think a job would be this important to me.  Now that I am leaving in a few weeks I can’t wait to get back to doing marketing. Listening to presentations of marketing experts on fairs and events is one thing I definitely missed.

Although I am quite happy that I stayed exactly the same, there are a few things that have changed. Coffee is now part of my daily morning rituals. I still can’t make it myself but the machine at the 7-11 does the trick for only a dollar. Oh..and the parties. I partied more in Sydney than I did in two years at home. I never did anything crazy, just had a really good time in the most random places with great people. Something I will definitely continue back home, starting with some outdoor festivals in summer.

Now that I think of it, that’s all that has changed. Or maybe that the urge to travel and see the world has grown since I’ve been away. Reason enough to book 2 nights in Hong Kong before I arrive in Amsterdam. I figured if I’m stopping by I might as well stay for a while and explore this major city.

And to finish with very devastating news: after almost three years, my camera has gone to electronic heaven.  Sadly that means no more photos, but memories are worth much more than a picture.

Out in the country and into a new family

The night before I packed all that I could fit into my little purple dotted backpack. It wasn’t much but sufficient for a week out in the country in New Zealand. On a beautiful Saturday morning in Sydney I walked to the train station on my way to the airport. It was the most perfect day to fly: the sky was clear blue and the sun was warming up the city.

Happy as I was, even after the long line at the check-in counter, I walked to the security check point while talking to my boyfriend on my phone. All of a sudden this evil troll pops up from out of nowhere and says to me at a very angry tone: “You’re not allowed to use your cell phone here!” How the F am I supposed to know that if the sign is around the corner? But hey, I was in a good mood and she wasn’t going to ruin that.

The whole trip went quick and smooth, no problems whatsoever. At the YHA hostel in Auckland where I spent a night I got upgraded to a better room. That sounds fancier than it is, I was upgraded from a 3 share room to a 2 share room. I had a quick walk around the neighborhood, saw the Sky Tower, had some sushi for dinner and bought some stuff at the supermarket that I needed. Too bad I forgot breakfast because I couldn’t find any stores open on my way to the bus the next morning. Everything seemed to be closed. It was a bit early but still, you’d expect that there was at least a convenience shop open at 7am.

After five hours on the bus we arrived in Taupo and I was starving! They have all these take out roast shops over there so I figured I might try some of that. And after another two hours the bus stopped in Napier where my dad picked me up. So weird how you don’t see someone for a year and a half and yet it’s like we never said goodbye. I got to see the horses that day and met my step mom and step brother for the first time. My family is getting pretty big now but I love it! Lucky for me, I had a second roast dinner. This time it was a proper home made one.

It was a vacation for me, but for my dad and step mum the daily life continued. The horses had to be fed, work had to be done and all kinds of other chores had to be taken care of. I liked coming along to the horses with my dad, even though I didn’t get to ride them. The grass was too wet and my step mom didn’t have time to prepare them. All good though, just being outdoors was fun for a change.

As a tourist I couldn’t leave Hawke’s Bay without visiting some of the area’s main tourist attractions. Napier City with its art deco buildings and pebble beach was great. And on Wednesday we got dropped off by my step mom in Hastings. We had a day filled with cultural experiences, starting at an atelier where students make Maori art, mostly paintings. These paintings are very detailed and they all have a very intriguing story behind it. After we finished we walked past the various shops and took some real dumb but funny tourist photos. We even found a Dutch food shop where I bought a kroket. Not as good as the real thing, but it was jummy. We continued to an exhibition at the library that showed all kinds of art made by artists from Hawke’s Bay. And it really had a lot of different, strange, beautiful, weird and funny art pieces. When we got home we made some Harakiki flowers that we gave to my step grandma that night when we went there for dinner.

The next day my dad and step mom had an appointment to go look at a house and me and my step brother came along. Location, house, view, the amount of space: to me it looked perfect. Would be awesome if they live there when I visit them again in a few years. When we got back we went to the Silky Oak Chocolate Factory. My step brother said: “the museum is kind of a rip off” and my dad agreed, so we only went to the shop and the café. They serve the most delicious iced chocolate and also an intense chocolate with chili. To lose all that sugar and fat we had a walk on Sugar Loaf Hill and Bluff Hill. From up there the view is absolutely stunning. And since it was a clear day, we saw the whole city, the ocean and some hills and mountains on the background.

On my dad’s 47^th birthday we got a nice and filling breakfast because we had a long trip ahead of us. My step mom would drive with me and my step brother to Auckland so we would be on time for our flight to Sydney on Saturday. In this weird hotel/motel that looked like it didn’t change since the 80’s except for the bathroom, we had dinner and went to bed.

In Sydney my step mom and step brother had family waiting to pick them up and I went home by train. We will meet up later this week to do something fun and I’m looking forward to that. My step brother is a typical 10 year old boy. He likes to tell jokes, farts and burps, has a special kind of love for McDonalds like any kid of his age and he listens to his mom, although sometimes she’s got to ask him a couple of times. And my step mum, she is great. She works hard so the family has everything they need and she is crazy about her animals. I am very happy with this addition to my family.