So my first week on the legendary Dole... I can officially get away drinking K cider whilst walking down Bethnal Green in broad daylight, it's almost like a secret cult, but not, and it's not entirely true, it was my third week. It's also a cult that wouldn't really get much endorsement, at least not legally.
My first few weeks were quite exciting since I now had the opportunity to do whatever I want, as long as it didn't consume my £51.50 a week budget, so I couldn't really go anywhere exotic, and you're still not allowed to get arrested, despite the added power of sympathy. I could change the direction of my life in an instant. Fuck it I could throw away my degree and train to become a Cocktail Barman Monk. But I didn't, I wanted a relatively decent job doing something vaguely related to my degree that pays me, at least temporarily while I decide what I really want to do with my life.
I graduated which means I spent three years and a lot of money on a certificate representing my ability. So why do so many companies believe they can exploit my 'small fish in a big pond' scenario and 'take me under their wing' i.e.work for free. The worlds not a prison, or at least it's not supposed to be, I don't need a big daddy to survive, I want to skip all the politics and awkward networking and just start a real job. Ok by job I don't mean sitting on my arse in Tesco's for 7 days a week earning roughly the same amount, after tax, that I would not working. Why would I when I could be sitting on my arse in my flat, in comfort and actually putting it to some use like creating a portoflio website, starting a company or playing Call Of Duty.
I think of it this way, when you work in a job that you don't like where it consumes most of your week it ends up consuming most of you and you de-rail from the track you were originally on, for example becoming the greatest Mathematician that ever lived, if that's your thing (I'm not judging you if it is). You get into a comfortable system of working, although robotic and mind numbing it's security and you have a bit of money. But for all the hours and months you spend in an unsatisfying job, your real ambition just gets further and further away from your grasp to the point where you can't be bothered to chase it and you settle for mediocrity.
So to get that dream job you need to start with a C.V. A C.V is a bit like the Genii and the Lamp, depending on what you wish for, you get a result, although it might not be the one you expect, and it's not something people generally rub, although that actually sounds like quite a nice idea... Imagine a C.V that the employers can rub and it changes colour or better still text appears, as if by magic... Anyways metaphorically it's a portal to something that you want, that was what I was trying to say before going on a tangent. You have to be very careful what you write on it, as the outcome depends on whether you get a job or not.
This brings me onto what my first few weeks were about, getting a job, or more importantly getting noticed...
...So you have the internet right in front of you and want to make a start, but where do you go to? Where do you begin this tiring and often demoralizing hunt? Well your first port of call might be Reed.com, the recruitment master... or not, don't use them they're rubbish. Companies like Reed.com are so enormous that you compete with another thousand anonymous aliases online, although you're position might be for a Junior Designer and you match all the requirements, there will probably be a shitter but older and more experienced senior designer, prepared to sink a few levels for a lower position because he/ she is also desperate for a job. Most importantly it isn't a specialist agency. Reed doesn't compare talent like so many other recruitment Giants, they compare experience and opt for the safest possible candiadate. You're not safe, you're a wild, unique and ambitious student full of ideas that will rock this world!
First rule to getting a good job:
- Find a great recruitment centre, one that suits you and your job role and one that notices you for your talent.
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