Matt's job log: 7
Matt Atkins works part time in the NHS while he considers his future. Wake-up call I finally did it. After two months of procrastination topped with sickening worry, I bit the bullet and made a phone call about my career development loan repayments. I’m not a massive fan of the phone and this was the sort of call I especially hate, a terrifying grovel call.
Generally, once I’ve got through and splurged my well practised spiel, I completely switch off; pleased with myself for merely picking up the phone but entirely missing the information I actually got in touch for. For once though, I stayed alert, due mainly to the fact that the line was terrible and I had to strain to hear what was going on, a feat made much harder by the fact I’d been to a gig the night before. It was a ‘screamcore’ concert. I wasn’t, and am still not, entirely sure what screamcore is, but it’s definitely as ear-splitting and brain-function destroying as the name suggests. Am I getting old? Anyway, despite my valiant efforts to hear and my pretty poor attempts at persuasion (I drew the line at crying), the news wasn’t particularly good, and the bank wouldn’t really budge. I’d spent the past few months thinking that I was paying loan protection on top of my regular payments, the removal of which would alleviate my monetary woes. Sadly I was wrong, it’s an unsecured loan and so I’m, quite correctly, paying £190 per month. Spurred to applyIn a perverse way, I’m glad that I made the phone call. I actually know how much money I have now and facing the worst news wasn’t actually that bad. At least now I can budget properly, and I can still afford to work part time while job hunting/writing. I’m not particularly flush but nor am I on the brink of poverty, it’s just going to be a case of tightening the belt for longer than I thought. Facing up to my debts has also spurred me on that little bit further when it comes to job hunting. In the past couple of weeks I’ve applied for seven, yes seven, different jobs. I’m quite proud of the fact that I’ve managed to resist a nap straight after work and have instead jumped on the PC to see what the phrase ‘media jobs’ brings up on Google. Having refreshed my CV a couple of weeks ago, I feel much more confident when applying for things and the money situation now gives me a greater reason to just get on with it. NetworkingIn other news, I’m currently writing an article about networking, which is an area that has become pretty important in the last few weeks. Networking is something that I never thought I was very good at, in fact it’s something which used to terrify me, but from reading up on the subject and learning the do’s and don’ts, I’ve realised that it’s actually quite an organic and simple process. From what I can gather, the key is basically to be as helpful to others as possible in the hope they’ll be able to offer an interesting nugget of information here or there. It’s not as cynical as it sounds, and in fact the main aim is to build a network (hence the name) of acquaintances with whom you can share tips and leads on the road to finding work. If I’m entirely missing the point, now is a good chance for the editor to jump in and point me in the right direction. Either way, I’m currently acting on what I’ve learned while arranging interviews with tutors to discuss the ins and outs of applying for PhD study. I’m hoping that while I pump them for information, so to speak, I can also try to prick their interest with a few of my own ideas. It’s worth a go I suppose. So there you go. Over the past couple of weeks I’ve discovered that I’m poorer than I expected, but thankfully this has given me the kick in the backside I need. I’m still seriously considering further study, an idea which having lasted for more than a few days, is increasingly likely to become a reality and in the meantime, I’m still looking for a ‘proper job’. At least then I can say I wasn’t a student all my life. Read Matt's previous job logs:
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