I know, I know, this is the sort of thing you'd expect to see on a Monday, not during the weekend.
But here in Israel, Sunday is Monday. The working week's Sunday thru Thursday, with Friday and Saturday (Sabbath) off.
And by way of both introduction and warning, I've been somewhat depressed this weekend. So apologies in advance for all the whining.
Work.
How are you supposed to break into that 'first' job that really kick-starts your career? You know, the one you can either climb the ladder in, or build on, or (f' cryin' out loud!) at least live with going into the place every day of every week?
Is it supposed to be luck, or a good training school, or connections? If so, I'm fresh out of all three. Because my first serious job was under a total [words deleted] of an incompetant boss, for which I believe I currently hold the record for dealing with (by means of a little forewarning, a stubborn streak a mile wide and a fair amount of indifference, I think). I'm considering calling the company again today to see if things have changed there...and if they'll hire me again.
Yeah.
Rock bottom? Probably pretty close. But there's been no bites on any of the CVs I've sent out recently (and not-so-recently, too). The only thing remotely resembling Actual Work I've had recently is a freelance project that I'm more-or-less at the tail end of.
Which is teaching me quite a bit more than I knew previously, I'll admit. And all stuff that you can't really learn in a classroom, unless the teacher is quite practical-minded.
Technical styles and formatting. Dealing with the programmers. (No offense intended to any of said who I know. I'm sure you all get on famously with your in-house technical writer.) QA. Indexing (which I'm still working on).
But all this still leaves me hanging in a foreign country with No Visible Means of Support (non-wealthy parents don't count, of course), somewhere in the vincinity of US$700 in savings that I really do need to spend on a laptop for work, and another approximate US$450 in income for the freelance project. About thirty days after it gets completed, anyway.
And Jack Didley after that. I don't really wonder why I've got insomnia and am typing this at 3:40am on Sunday morning anymore.
Posted by adam at July 20, 2003 03:41 AM