Clothes, handbags and cream cheese.

Firstly I would like to thank everyone for all the messages you have sent me to wish me good luck in my new job which I started yesterday. I've been really touched by your kindness.

I have spent most of this week preparing for yesterday and there have been a lot of serious decisions to make.

Firstly the difficult decision of what to wear. When I attended my interview I had checked out what everyone was wearing so already knew that I didn't have to dress particularly formally, but then as its my first week I wanted to show that I had made an effort. It's a balancing act really, dressing to look the part but not looking like I'm over dressed. So after 2 days of trying on every item in my wardrobe (twice) I had whittled the outfits down to 4 possibilities. Another day of considering these 4 sets of clothes included trying them all on three more times and weighing up the pros and cons of the different looks. One outfit looked OK when I was standing up but kind of runkled around the midriff area when seated and one of the other outfits I decided was a bit too warm. I tried on the two finalists one last time and made my choice, opting for the outfit that to me said professional, hardworking and decisive.

So clothes decided, next up, and even more importantly was the accessories. I really love shoes and handbags and whilst I based my clothes choice on creating a professional look I think that your shoe choice can say more about your character. Choosing my accessories I wanted to show that I am friendly, approachable and maybe a little quirky. I opted for a lovely soft green handbag and cream shoes with little green knots on. Once again I tried on the clothes with the accessories and felt that I looked like someone who would put in a hard days work and in their spare time would have some interesting hobbies such as playing in a skiffle band or making papier mache sculptures and not at all like someone who actually sat at home sewing and playing Candy Crush.

Clothes decided, tick. Accessories sorted, tick. 

Next up the important issue of which mug to take to work. The mug you have on your desk also says a lot about you. There are those who have mugs with jokey sayings on eg,

 "You don't have to be mad to work here, but it helps" 

I rejected this option as not creating a good first impression. Some people have mugs with their names on, but I decided against this too, as I felt that it could make me look a bit territorial and not like a good team worker. Some mugs have cutsie puppies or kittens on, I rejected these as I felt they lacked a certain gravitas. I opted instead for a white mug with blue birds on which had the added benefit of toning with my new notebook and pen. Perfect.

Next decision was what to put in the mug and what to take for my lunch. I settled on a small jar of nice-ish instant coffee, the stuff with added ground coffee, and some decent teabags. I really like Earl Grey tea in the afternoon but decided against taking these as thought that they suggested that I was a bit hoity toity. I made sure that I didn't buy a seeded loaf to make my sandwich with. In my old job I could rely on my colleagues telling me if I had a stray poppy seed stuck between my teeth, but wasn't sure if my new colleagues could be relied on in this way. I'd obviously been avoiding garlic for a few days already and knew that taking egg sandwiches to work on my first day was a real no no.

Monday night I went to bed nice and early secure in the knowledge that I was as prepared as I could be, I might not be able to do the job yet but at least I felt that I would look the part. Bright and early Tuesday morning I took the dog for a walk and got ready for work in plenty of time, dressing in my meticulously planned outfit and making my innocuous cream cheese sandwich in plain bread. I then went to pack my handbag only to find my quirky, friendly looking bag was no where near big enough to contain my lunch, mug, jar of coffee, packet of teabags, notebook, wallet etc.

Panic set in and momentarily I froze before my mind went into overdrive. The way I saw it I had 4 options:

1. Shove overflow items in a plastic bag and go to work looking like a bag lady.
2. Change my outfit to match my larger bag and risk being late on my first day.
3. Phone in sick.
4. Take my largest bag which didn't match my outfit and made me look as if I was planning to move into the office, the bag being more like a weekend bag than a handbag.

I chose option 4.

Well long story short, I got to work only to find that, unlike my previous employer they provide coffee, tea and mugs for employees, the inconsiderate devils. My hours of planning and panic were all for nothing and they must have been wondering why I had turned up for work with luggage that didn't match my clothes. After all this my first day was fine, as far as these things go. A typical induction day getting acquainted with company values, reading procedures and policies and being introduced to people whose names and job roles I instantaneously forgot. But the people seem nice, my desk is in a good position and I have managed to get my IT system set up.

All in all a week that at times has had me wondering if occasionally I over think things, mulling over whether I place too much importance on appearance and pondering if maybe I should have planned even more thoroughly than I had. But I have survived the first day without embarrassing myself too badly, except for turning up for work with a suitcase of course. Now I just need to decide on an outfit today that says its my second day, so don't ask me any difficult questions, and shoes that suggest that yes of course I remember meeting you yesterday, altough I haven't a clue what you do or what you're called, but why not come along to my gig tonight, its a charity do in aid of supporting widowed elephants. I think I just may have the perfect outfit for this.

Unemployment, solar panels and lucky pants.

Once again I am unemployed. I left my temporary job at the cider farm on Sunday and don't start my new job until next Tuesday. I decided that after working for a month I had earned a week off.

The time span from being made redundant until starting my new long term job next week is nearly 4 months which I don't think is too bad. In those 4 months I have applied for umpteen jobs, attended 5 interviews, worked for a month, completed a number of craft projects, written 17 blog posts, claimed job seekers allowance for a month and lunched with friends 27 times. I can't help thinking that maybe the number of interviews should have been higher and lunches out lower, but that's cappuccinos under the bridge now. These months have flown by and have taught me a lot about myself, life in general and the world of work in particular. Everyone loves a list so here are my top 12 lessons learnt since redundancy struck.

1. Contrary to popular belief you can teach an old dog new tricks. In the last few months I have learnt how to waitress, a lot about cider and am learning slowly about the world of blogs. I had been in my original job for nearly 16 years and when it ended I did doubt that I could do anything else but have proved to myself that I'm not a one trick wonder.
2. The people who work the hardest are often the ones who are paid the least. It seems to me that people on minimum wage work twice as hard for half the pay.
3. Using the redundancy card is a great way of getting rid of cold callers. When I have had phone calls in the past from double glazing sales people, solar panel installers, drive tarmackers etc it has sometimes been hard to get them off the line. However if, before they can get into their full sales pitch, you ask if their product is going to cost anything as you have just been made redundant they soon end the call.
4. Even when it seems that you have loads of time, there still isn't enough time to do everything that you want. Hence my violin playing is very much at the planning stage and I still haven't worked out how to upload pictures to this blog.
5. Living on your own can be a more financially precarious position than living with a partner. If there are 2 of you then hopefully even if one person loses their job there is still one income coming into the household, unless you are unlucky enough to both lose your jobs at the same time. If there's only one of you and your job ends then that's all of your income gone. In a couple your financial outgoings maybe higher but at least there are two of you to shoulder the burden.
6. When in a fairly well paid job it is amazing how much money you waste, there are many economies that can be made. 
7. Toilet paper is cheaper than petrol (see blog entry 22/4/15, Petrol, shopping and sprouting broccoli).
8. Jobsearch really does take a long time. Trawling through websites, writing CVs, filling out applications, preparing for interviews, all take much longer than you think. Various governments have made noises in the past about making it compulsory for benefit claimants to do voluntary work in order to be able to claim. In theory I think that this is a good idea, but I worry that this might backfire as the more time spent volunteering the less time available for jobsearch.
9. Things don't always turn out as you expect, but that's ok.
10.  Peacocks are very loud, pushy and intimidating birds. (See blog entry 8/7/15, Peacocks, astronauts and cream teas)
11. You can't help but take rejection personally. You spend ages looking for work, even longer applying and preparing for the interview, just to be told you weren't successful. What you actually hear is that despite your best efforts you're just not good enough.
12. Since being made redundant, I have actually only learnt 11 things, but you can't have a list with 11 items on.
13. I can't count.

So this time next week I will be in my second day of my new job and the nerves have started already. I feel like a kid again starting a new school. What if no one likes me, what if they ask me questions I can't answer, what if I have to read out loud in front of the class and accidentally say fart instead of art and get called Windy Wendy for the rest of my time there and what if I forget my PE kit and am made to play netball in my pants and vest (OK this might be unlikely but I must remember to wear a vest and my lucky pants just in case). So please wish me luck, I think I'm going to need it!