Work

Note to all: From now on, and henceforth, the financial issue affecting the world will be referred to as the Global Recovery. A large amount of the problem has been the fear installed in people due to the other R-word. So I call for everyone to remind them selves that we are in the grips of a terrible recovery. If everyone used this word maybe there will be the same movement towards the word as when the media were using the R-word. You never know.

I am having excellent fun with the Wolfram Alpha project, As of now, WolframAlpha contains 10+ trillion of pieces of data, 50,000+ types of algorithms and models, and linguistic capabilities for 1000+ domains. It tells you things, important things like that Shtup is a slang term for the F-Word.

I have been asked how we can afford all this shenanigans (I cannot believe word corrected my spelling of this word) we are doing. Supporting a house in London and renting a Flat in an exclusive part of Melbourne. The simple fact is we are both working very hard. Moira obviously works for Oxfam Australia, having been sponsored by them in order to bring us both over here. She is currently raising fund for the organisation to help them continue their great work in developing countries around the world.

Myself, I have had to jump from temporary contract to temporary contract. My initial job was to search for accommodation which is a full time job when viewings are during the week and there are so many people applying for houses to rent. Whilst in England I worked as a Digital Producer, which means I would meet clients, take their business requirements for websites (recruitment websites) then write a scope of work and ultimately project manage the delivery of said website. This would be an easy to migrate career you would think however in Melbourne there appears to be a shortage of web companies, most of the media companies dealing with web brands are based in Sydney not Melbourne. So, although there are jobs available, they are few and far between and when they do com up they are usually quiet well applied for. That said I am in no mood to stop applying for them myself. Until I get this dream job I am on the good nature of Hudson’s employment agency. They are doing quite well so far, keeping me mostly employed whilst I look for something permanent. So far they have found me three roles, two long term-ish and one short spell. What can I say about what I have been doing.

1) Jemena – Project Administrator. I had applied to be on the books of Hudsons but they were having difficulty finding the phone to invite me in for an interview. I had already registered with several agencies but as yet nothing had come good of it. So in desperation I made an Erin Brockovich style plea and phoned them informing them that “If they did not have the admin staff to contact me then they were in luck as I was looking for work. They should contact me as soon as possible to see if I was suitable to work for them.” Believe it or not this actually worked and they phoned back within twenty minutes. Initially they just wanted to see me for an interview, something I had been through several times before. Then a day later I received a call.

Apparently in their entire database of resumes (not CV) there was nobody who had listed in their skill-set the ability to use Microsoft Project. Apart from me that is! So I got my first placement, 1 week before Christmas I was to help build a project schedule for a mass Electricity meter replacement. In actuality the meters in question were to form a network, speaking to each other and central receivers, across Melbourne. The ultimate aim was to record and monitor electricity usage across the city, thus necessitating the retirement of meter readers and huge savings in staffing costs. Due to my excellent skills and the fact that nobody else understood Project the Program Manager decided I should return after Christmas to update the project and assist the team. So back I went and I worked doing an assortment of Project Support work including Status reporting on the project and scheduling, at one point they were talking about taking me on permanently but after three months their contract was cut and they suddenly had no more money to spend on contractors, so I was given a couple of weeks and was out.

2) Just Jeans – Administrator. Oh no I am going down in the world, not even a project administrator anymore. Still I was working in Fashion dahling! Working along side the planning department, doing simple data entry and spreadsheet manipulation. All in an attempt to predict how many blouses Jay Jays were going to sell in the winter lines. I did have the opportunity on my first day in the office to meet a bunch of models who were in the building for a shoot. They were all dogs, really, absolute dogs. Big brown eyes, floppy ears, wet noses and four paws on each and every one of them. It is a little surreal walking into the office and having several small lapdogs running round reception. However working for an advertising agency prepares you for unexpected things in reception.

3) Shared Business Services – Project Officer. This is more like it. Government department, I am filling in for someone who is on secondment with another department. Initially short term there is a possibility this could be extended but I am not holding my breath as I have been told this before and that proved a lie. Officer, I like the sound of that. Actual job is assisting the team to deliver a range of improvements to the HR/ Payroll systems for four government departments. The work is effectively managing development for Oracle Databases used by the Payroll and HR departments. Aside from the obvious technology difference it is very much similar to what I have been currently doing before.

So that’s my career as it stands in Australia. I will keep trying for that dream Producer role but have gone from being very picky to basically applying for anything. After all there is supposed to be a shtupping ‘R-word’ coming!