Sunday, October 12, 2014

job interviews/ yoga place/ real estate agent



Aug. 17 Job interviews: I went to a job interview in downtown last week.  I have been there before 2 years ago, and another person interviewed me.  The hours are evenings and weekends, so that’s fine.

I will say I was not as interested in the job as the one I did 2 days before it.

Aug. 27 Job Bank: I usually go to this website to look for administrative assistant positions.  Now I decided to type in “communications” to see what will come up.  There were a variety of them, but mainly these:

Early childhood supervisor
Daycare worker
Sales manager
Service dispatcher
Computer software engineer

Sept. 2: Well they never called me back, so that’s fine.  Like I said I wasn’t really interested after I learned more about it.

Printing company: I did an interview for them a few weeks ago.  It was in downtown.  It had the office duties like answer phones, invoice products, follow up on clients, shipping, and call clients when it’s ready.

The shifts were good like Mon.-Fri. daytime.  I did research on their company before I went there.

Yoga place: I did an interview for this place a few weeks ago.  I can work one day a week from 5-9pm.  I wouldn’t be paid by money, but paid by unlimited free yoga classes there.  The position is a volunteer position.  A class for a month would be like $130.

I have never worked or volunteered at a yoga place before.  I thought I was going to get paid money, and the bonus was free yoga class.  I thought it would be like working at a restaurant, you get paid money, and sometimes free food or a discount on the food.

If you are going to work at this yoga place, then you have to know a lot about yoga.  You would be a good fit for the place if you have a big interest in yoga so you can take and enjoy the free class.

I felt like I wasn’t a good fit for the company.  They said that I had to sign a 6 month contract that I will be here for a long time.  It’s good for them because they don’t have high turnover and keep training people all the time. 

Newspaper company: I did an interview with them a couple of weeks ago.  It was like the furniture store position.  There are a bunch of salespeople, and I’m part of the customer service office.  The hours are Mon.-Fri. 8:30am-5pm.

The sales people are 100% commission.

Sept. 12 Real estate agent: I found this Yahoo article that says being a real estate agent is the happiest job.  Here’s an excerpt: 

This time, CareerBliss is focusing on the happiest jobs of 2013, or as the firm puts it, finding a job "that will bring a smile to your face."

The firm uses a formula to assign a numerical "Bliss Rating" to a given occupation -- the higher the rating, the better.

Included in that calculation are work-life balance, an employee's relationship with their boss and co-workers, work environment, job resources, compensation, growth opportunities, company culture, company reputation, daily tasks and job control over employees' daily tasks. The firm undertakes about 65,000 independent job reviews to reach its conclusions.

So what jobs lead the list? Here are the top 10 for the year from CareerBliss.com, along with their "bliss ratings."

Real estate agent 4.26
Software quality assurance engineer 4.23
Senior sales representative 4.19
Construction superintendent 4.10
Senior Application Developer 4.08
Logistics Manager 4.07
Construction Manager 4.06
Admin. Assistant 4.04
Network Manager 4.02
Assistant Controller 4.02


My opinion: This totally reminded me of The Simpsons where Marge becomes a real estate agent where she says: “I like the sound of finding homes for people.”  I wouldn’t be good at selling real estate because it’s really hard to sell this big item.  It’s a huge commitment. 

The other jobs don’t sound really interesting except maybe the administrative assistant position.

Labour market: According to the Globe and Mail article On Jul. 7, 2014 “Jobless rate expected to hold at 7%” by Tavia Grant.   It says heath care and social assistance is one of the biggest growth areas in the labour market due to the aging population.  It is the second biggest source of employment.   The first biggest source of employment is retail.

Sept. 13 Sobey’s card: The grocery store Sobey’s is getting rid of their Sobey’s card and replacing it with Air miles.  Sobey’s did buy Safeway and got rid of the Safeway card too.  I’ll have to cut up my Sobey’s card.


On Sobey’s website:

“As of September 12, 2014 the Club Sobeys program has ended which means you will no longer be able to use your Club Sobeys card in-store. However, when you link your Club Sobeys card to your AIR MILES Collector Card, any points remaining on your Club Sobeys card will be transferred to your AIR MILES Collector account at the following rate: 14 Club Sobeys points = 1 AIR MILES reward mile.”

WEM card: This is a West Edmonton Mall credit card.  You can go to any store in the mall and use it.  Well, except the Dollarama because they only take cash and debit.

You should read the fine print in the back of the card: “A service fee of $2.50 per month beginning on the 7th month from the date of purchase will be applied to the remaining balance as permitted by law.”

I didn’t read the print.  I kept track of all my charges by keeping the receipts.  I thought I had a certain amount on it, but there was a few bucks less than that.  You have to keep track of how much money there is on this credit card, so the store will know how much to charge it.


Weird Al: This does have something to do with my job email.  I was reading the Globe and Mail article on Jul. 26. 2014.  It’s called  "Sticking to the shtick" by Courtney Shea.
 
Shea asks about how Weird Al always asks artist’s permission even though it’s not legally obligated:

Weird Al: I think it’s just an extension of my personality.  I don’t like drama, I don’t
want to offend anybody, I would prefer that the artists feel like they are in on the joke. I think that’s one of the reasons I’ve managed to stick around for so long- I respect people, I don’t burn bridges.

My opinion: I agree with him.  That’s a good philosophy not just for work, but life.

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