Life as a "tourist": June 2017

This is going to be a diary style blogpost about the first week of my new job and how I got it.

April 2017:
An agency has contacted me because they saw my CV online and would like to interview me. Fortunately the agency is located in my town, so I could easily go there. The interview was very interesting. We went over my CV and discussed my options. I signed a contract with the agency, that they would immediately start looking for temporary work for me, and from June onwards would also search for a permanent position.

Over the phone I applied for National Insurance.

May 2017:
The agency called me that they found a position for me, described it and asked if I would be interested. I was. I still am. They passed on my details to the company and arranged an assessment day for me.

I went to the job center in the next bigger town for my National Insurance interview. They told me I would receive a later with their decision soon. With their decision, really? I felt really unwelcome....

I went to the assessment center together with about 7 other people. It lasted just over 2 hours. We received a lot of information about the company, their client and their customers, as well as the different roles. It was a very open and accommodating environment. We also got to see the work in action, I liked it. Afterwards we filled out some paperwork, did some computer tests and had individual roleplays as part of the interview. 3 days later I knew I had the job. YES!

I finally received my National Insurance Number. My NINO.

June 2017:
I bought some more business clothes for work.

19.06.2017
My first day at work. I got up at 7am. That was way too early for me. As a student I definitely wasn't used to this anymore. And even though I tried going to bed early the night before, it was just impossible to fall asleep in the heat. England, or at least this part of it, is experiencing a heat wave at the moment, I can't really cope. But I managed to get up early, shower, put on a nice business outfit, have a good breakfast and leave early. I am very lucky, I just have to walk 5 minutes door to door. I arrived and got to enjoy the air-conditioned room with 10 other people. The first two weeks of the job aren't actually working, it's training at the moment. There are eleven of us. It is a bit like school at the moment. I really like my team.

20.06.2017
I still struggled to go to bed early and to get up at 7am.
After learning that there is no canteen in the office on my first day, I brought my own lunch today and sat in the staff room. Most of my colleagues are English, but I am not the only "foreigner", there is a lovely Romanian girl, and after she told me she feels more comfortable in German than in English, we spent the lunchbreak speaking German and exchanging our experiences with cultures and languages.

21.06.2017
I managed to fall asleep at a decent time but 7am still felt way too early. We had our first test today, it seriously is like school. But I passed, so everything is alright. We also started learning how to use the computer systems.

22.06.2017
I am slowly getting used to the early mornings. Today we didn't continue learning the processes and products of the company but had a soft skills day instead. Btw, I think I forgot to mention, I am working in customer service, so people skills are very important. So, today we had an MGI (Mary Gober International) seminar, that will earn us a certificate that we can add to our CV. I really enjoyed today. Time flew. I learnt so much and got to deepen my knowledge and enhance my skills from previous seminars I took during my undergrad.
And the weather is slowly going back to normal. I know, that has nothing to do with the job, but it highly affects me. I also managed to have enough energy to actually do something after work today. And to write this. I am writing this on the Thursday, so yesterday for you, because whilst this goes online I'll still be at the office. Tomorrow is dress-down Friday. I actually think this makes it way more difficult to decide what I am going to wear. Business outfit is easy, but now I have to decide how casual I can go to still be work-appropriate... First world problems I know.. And that will be the first week over already. Wow, that went quick.
I log my hours through the agency which will pay me on a weekly basis, so I have to remember to submit my timesheet on Friday.

I am excited to learn more and then to actually start working.
I will soon do another blogpost like this with my ongoing experiences.

See you next week
Lots of love
Jen
xx

All three terms are over now, there is only the summer left. Wow. I had an amazing third term though! No lectures anymore, "only" working on assignments, starting my dissertation, looking for jobs (I will actually start my new job on Monday, how exciting!!) and of course lots of fun!

Spring term ended with a lovely end of term meal with the writing society who I love to bits and pieces. We had a delicious dinner at Prezzo and received some hilarious awards.

I spent Easter on campus and had a delicious homecooked meal with the CathSoc. Later on this term we all went bowling together, I had a lot of fun!! Even though I lost :D

What else happend this term? My best friend came to visit me from Germany, we spent an amazing day in London, bought myself a MacBook, did a lot of video work together as well as a lot of walking.

We discovered some new areas near where I live, went on the rides in Clacton and enjoyed cooking together and showing each other some of our favourite films, because trust me, we might be best friends, but our tastes in movies couldn't be more different!

Watch our Best Friend Tag here:

And now it's June, which is the international pride month so we had some pride celebrations on campus and the last ignite of the year.

To celebrate the end of the year we had the Summer Ball, which was an incredible mixture of rides, circus artists, festival atmosphere, fireworks, dance club tents and live entertainment and concerts. It was overwhelming! The absolute highlight for me was to see Jack and Joel live. I first heard of them as part of the Oxford University acapella group Out Of The Blue, who I also desperately want to see live!!! I followed them on YouTube and over time they started doing their own thing, mostly accoustic medleys. They are so incredibly talented and it was pure joy to see them on stage. I really hope I can go and see them in London next month!
Oh, and Joel, thaaaaank you for taking a photo with me!! You are the best!!!