Rachel's job log: 35 | Prospects.ac.uk

My Prospects

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Forward March

Hooray! It’s March at last. It is without doubt my most favourite month, for many reasons. The days are longer and warmer, the first signs of spring are in the air, every grassy patch has suddenly become a delightful sea of snowdrops, crocuses and daffodils, and Westlife usually tour in March.

Easter is a lot earlier this year, there are an awful lot of birthdays (mine included) this month, there are weddings, anniversaries, an Ann Summers party (don’t ask!) and I am (of course) off to see my Irish boys (but only twice this year!). It’ll certainly be an exciting month for me!

But like everything, there are downsides. Except that right at this moment I don’t even know if there will actually be a down side - March is also the end of the financial year, and so theoretically that is the end of my current employment.

I’m hoping that it doesn’t come to that, and I know that my manager Neil has been ‘fighting my corner’ to ensure that it doesn’t happen. Neil has assured me that it wouldn’t make much sense to spend 12 months (can’t believe it’s been that long!) training me just to lose me, and I have to trust that whatever outcome, it would be for my benefit.

I feel I have come on in leaps and bounds since Christmas, and I have been enjoying my job far more. It’s great to be able to tell people how to do things if they ask, instead of it always being me that needed to learn it all, and I can happily do most things now. I have a greater understanding of content - what works and what doesn’t, and ‘geeky’ as it may seem, I really enjoy looking at the site stats, so I can see which articles were most successful, and if a page I have created isn’t visited as much as I’d have liked, it makes me even more determined to do it better the next time. I’m more focussed than ever, and it’s a great feeling. I just don’t want all that to come to an end, but I have to face the fact that it just might happen.

Travel news flash

There are some very positive things happening though - I’ve been practising my travel presenting, and hope to be on air soon. It’s a lot to take on, as it’s a high pressured position - you have 20 minutes to check information for the roads/railways/airports, take any calls that might come in, record and edit the audio clips, and write the bulletin, before starting all over again. You also have to make sure you have up-to-the-minute information which often involves talking to the emergency services, making notes of all the roadworks or traffic problems in the area well in advance, and knowing which alternative routes to suggest. There is so much to do, but I’m gradually getting to grips with it, so hopefully by the next time I blog I’ll be more ‘up to speed’! Watch this space!

The final push

I had planned to make a trip over to Dublin to see my friend Kitty in March, but I think I’ll be giving that one a miss. Not because I don’t want to see her, but she’s in her final year of university studying architecture, and I still remember the angst far too vividly. I always studied hard at university, but for the final few weeks I did nothing but eat, sleep and work. Work usually took precedence over sleep, and food was usually ready meals or Dairylea Dunkers, as I didn’t even have the time to cook!

They were tough days, but getting my degree made it worthwhile. The feeling when I had handed my final pieces in was indescribable - I was elated to be finished, excited about the holidays, anxious that my work would get lost/stolen/destroyed before it was marked, and worried that I hadn’t read it properly, had missed pages out, or made spelling mistakes (even though I had checked each piece at least three times.) I was also exhausted, as I had worked right through the night to ensure I got everything handed in on time. But whatever angst I went through at that time, it soon faded into insignificance. I had the most brilliant summer before starting my first job in TV, and I’m so proud to say that I have a degree. And if any of you reading this are at university, I can’t say that your final year will be easy. But what I can say is that if you work hard, it will definitely be worth it.

In essence, I’m planning to do the same (albeit with a better diet and far more sleep this time!) I’m going to work as hard as I possibly can, and keep my fingers crossed that things will turn out ok. I know that If there is any way that Neil can keep employing me, he will, and I’m a great believer in the saying that if you try your best, everything will work out for the best.

See Rachel's previous job logs:

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