Thursday, 23 April 2009

First week of unemployment

I was going to post about my first week of unemployment, till I realised it's only Thursday. It feels like Friday! But hopefully I'll get tomorrow off.

It seems funny to write about having a day "off" from... being unemployed. But this week has been busier, more tiring and more stressful than a lot of full working weeks have been. Sure, I've had an extra couple of hours off — an hour lunch at home instead of a half-hour at work — but for the most part I've been up, I've been active, I've been out and about. Three recruitment agencies later, they all seemed to really like me, and I have potentially two interviews for permanent full-time jobs arising out of these meetings, both for good jobs that I'd really enjoy.

...And after I wrote the above paragraph, I got a phone call from one of the recruitment agencies and they want to see me again tomorrow, so I won't get the day off after all.

It's fun, in a way. But it's exhausting as well. Every day I have to be my best. My smile can't falter, my make-up has to... be there, my clothes need to be perfect, professional and neat. Now I'm a well-presented and happy person, although I don't tend to wear a lot of make-up, so this shouldn't seem like a problem. But I have to be perfect. Every day this week I'm giving potential employers their first impression of me, and it has to be of someone who's smart, likeable, and skilled in every area of any job that could arise for me.

I'm enjoying it, although I haven't got a lot of the "home" work done that I wanted to, this week. No work on the novel; no air-gunning of the kitchen floor; extremely little housework accomplished. Hopefully I'll have a quieter week next week (although a few interviews wouldn't come amiss).

But I was, in a way, looking forward to my time of unemployment as a break. So far, it hasn't been much of a break.

But that's fine. It's good to keep busy, and I'm glad I am. I just hope next week, apart from a couple of interviews *fingers crossed* that I'll be keeping busy with my novel and with work around the house.

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