Matt's job log: 12
Matt Atkins is back working for the NHS while he considers his next move. Dead-end job, literally In writing this I’m taking a break from possibly the most spirit crushing aspect of my work. Today is Thursday, and as such it’s the day I get to find the notes of the recently deceased. Sounds thrilling, hey! At this time of the week I receive a stack of letters which certify this fact and it’s my job to file them in the patient records. The key to not losing your mind, I’ve been told, is not to read what’s on the forms. Unfortunately I’m not very good at sticking to this. It’s a laugh a minute.
Anyway, to distract myself from the task at hand I’m writing my blog. It’s lucky there’s no-one else in the office really, because I’m being quite obvious about it. While nice to have the place to myself I wish it hadn’t been as quiet over the past couple of weeks. A recent wave of illness has left the place completely understaffed and as a result I’ve been doing the work of three people all for the wage of a lowly temp. When I’m not keeping the records system updated as to who is and who isn’t of this earth, I’m running about the hospital like a maniac. Card trickApart from all the stress it’s been a pretty quiet couple of weeks. The most interesting thing I’ve got up to has been (and you’ll need to brace yourselves) making business cards. Admittedly this is hardly a pressing concern at the moment as I can’t actually remember a time when I’ve needed any, but having seen a few friends handing out their own, I felt I had to follow suit. Being Art types my mates have got images of their work plastered all over theirs which looks pretty cool. Unfortunately I haven’t an artistic bone in my body and as I deal mainly with text, I can’t hope to compete. But after finding a decent (and more importantly, cheap) website, I’ve managed to put together a fairly decent design. The hardest part was deciding how I’d sell myself. What exactly do I do? I figure I don’t really do enough journalism to be called a journalist and not wanting to pigeonhole myself I went with ‘Freelance Writer/ Researcher’. It might be an exaggeration but it’s not a lie, so I think I can get away with it. I even bought a lame little carry case. Now I just need to find a reason to start handing them out. My move out date is getting ever closer (a week's time, by the time you read this), but I’m yet to begin the process of boxing up all my worldly goods. My mom’s currently stressing far more than I am which isn’t surprising seeing as both my sister and I are now moving out on the same day (it was my idea first, I’d like to point out). Home life at the moment involves stepping over countless boxes, frequent trips into the loft and avoiding the daily barrage of questions about things like cutlery. Fingers double-crossedAnnoyingly, now that I’ve got a new pad sorted out, an interesting new job has come onto the horizon. While idly flicking through the guardian website I stumbled upon a job as assistant editor which is going in Cambridge. After drunkenly telling my future flatmate (who was a bit too understanding) that my presence may not be so permanent, I’ve posted off yet another CV. As always I seem to tick all the boxes. Experience with a publishing firm isn’t a requirement and I’m certainly qualified enough. This time around though I’ve almost got my fingers crossed that nothing really comes of it. I’m quite looking forward to spending the next few months living with some of my best friends. To be honest I think I only applied so that I felt I was doing something, and to maybe get some interview experience. So there’s your round up. Stop-gap job moaned about, move out discussed and I even managed to touch on the job-search. Now I can get to return to the world of the not-so-living and carry on with my hardcore filing. Super. Read Matt's previous job logs:
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