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Wellington, New Zealand
welcome to my corner of the blog world! i love step, boxing, zumba, scrapbooking, photography, watching movies, walking the hills of my suburb, my family, and life in wellington. take some time to have a look around and be sure to say hi!

Wednesday, August 6, 2008

all this, AND she can type fast too

went for something a little different with my hair colour yesterday.

i likey a lot. i take a rather cavalier approach to my hair, and i always like to try new styles and colours. i figure it's just hair and that if i don't like it, i can change it or wait for it to grow out. i understand others don't share the same view and that's cool!

i apologise in advance for 1) the state of my windows, and 2) looking like a beet, but hey - at least the sun was out!

from the side
from the top

cheesey smile
and the all-important pout
well, that pretty much covers every angle. i'm totally in love with it. can ya tell?

so i won the 'blue' section for the photo of the month over at wine on the keyboard. not bad for a first timer! this month's theme is 'captions'. not my strong suit, however i'll enjoy seeing what everyone else comes up with.

and then there was my first job interview since 1908.

i should start by telling you that OVERALL, it was an incredibly positive and uplifting experience. i started by filling out a myriad of forms; declaration of health and safety, declaration of criminal record (or lack thereof), declaration of ACC (accident compensation corporation. that's what we have in place of suing the skin off each other). then there was a declaration to declare that everything i had previously declared was true and correct.

sheesh, how the workplace has changed in the last 20 years.

then there was a spelling test, word comprehension test and proof reading test. ace, ace, ace. then i got to blow them away with my freaky fast typing.

123 words per minute. oh yeah. they went mental. i was all like 'well, it's my thing. what can i say.' i did think they were going a little OTT until i saw the woman next to me test at 27 WPM (ooops).

then i was tested on MS power point, excel and word and now have a rating which is very cool. i was tested on excel last which was my worst result. i should point out that i had been 'testing' for 2 hours, i was late to pick up kids from school and i REALLY needed to pee, so my concentration was a little 'off'.

the interview itself was very interesting. they work hard to work up a profile that best suits the work they have on offer, although my interviewee did NOT get herself off to a great start. she takes one look at my CV and says 'i see you haven't worked in a reeeeeeeeeeally long time.'

once i resisted the urge to leap across the table and bitch-slap her clear across the room, i mumbled something about babies and 'investing time in my family'). my now-working mother-of-2 girlfriend told me to say that!)

i discovered the next day that employers are prohibited by law to ask outright why a candidate haven't been working, so her statement was really a question in disguise. just like dr phil says. on reflection i think it's rather amusing and all a bit redundant. 1+1 should make 2 - it's all there on my CV!!!
to tell you the truth, i hadn't realised it was all going to be so complicated! i didn't assume i would walk into a job - well, i didn't know WHAT i thought really. anyway, i'm glad to have started the process and will probably make appointments with a couple more recruitment agencies and take it from there.

17 comments:

Anonymous said...

WOWSA that is scary... I hope mine isn't like that when I start applying!!!!!

gigi said...

I would so be the person typing 27 words per minute! Man what amazing skills!!

I love the new hair! You always have such sassy hair. Looks just like you would fit in in New York!! Yall are going to have so much fun.

Congratulations on winning the Blue!!!

Daryl said...

LOVE THE HAIR .. LOVE IT

I test poorly ... always have. I was looking for a new job a number of years ago and this twit an Nth of my age told me that to send me on interviews I would need to test .. I said I dont do tests. She said I have to be able to tell the potential employers about your job skills. I replied: If I wasnt able to do the job I wouldnt have lasted 8 yrs ... dont you think?

She was stumped.

And she never called me for an interview.

And I found a wonderful job all on my own ... and without taking a test!

BTW I hate hate hate Excel .. hate it.

:-Daryl

Amanda said...

I love the hair, too. Great job on your first interview!! It sounds like your getting into a goove. I can't believe the super crazy typing. I'm horrible at it. Like I started typing this yesterday, for example.

Paula Lynn Johnson said...

I'm lovin those highlights. That last pic is very "Posh Spice"!

Good for you with those mad typing skillz! I'm gonna start looking for some work as well. I love that comment about not having "worked" in a really long time.

Nope. Raising 4 kids isn't "work" at all.

Our Home Schooler and Jen said...

I like your new hair do
makes you look younger
which Id say is very important since you went for your last job interview in 1908 LOL

CONGRATULATIONS on winning with that very wonderful photo

Id be with gigi LOL
Ive never been a fast typist
hope it helps you get the job
all the best

Jen

Colleen said...

ooooo
sexy

good luck with the job interview

oh, by the way...you asked about sonic. it's a fast food drive in type place with crappy food but good ice cream stuff and you also asked about robin...she's robin miller, robin to the rescue author. i cooked with her cookbook all last month

Heather said...

OKay. So really, anyone who says that being a mom is not work needs to be stuck with a bunch of three year olds for 12 hours straight. And no TV. (or just beaten senseless!) Ha sorry about the rant, I have a 3 yr old and its been a rough couple of days...
You crack me up! I wish I typed that fast! I applied for a job once and I was SURE I would get it- I had never interviewed for a job that I was not actually offered, up to that point. I was 8 months pregnant, and very showing, and I really felt like it had something to do with their reason to not hire me. GRR.
Your hair is so cute, You are SO stylish! Your girls are lucky ;)

Sass said...

Great hair. Very sassy.

Sass said...

Well done with the interview. Here's a tip - when they ask (or allude) to questions about the work gap - tell them you've spent years as a client and customer and that you've dealt with a very wide range of people in their work places. What you've seen is that attitude is what makes the difference between doing an average job and a great job. And your attitude is great; you want to work and you know how to get things done.

auntiegwen said...

Love the hair, very very sassy !

As someone who can only type with 2 fingers I am totally in awe of your skills. I have never ever done a powerpoint presentation and my children have to help me put stuff on the computer and when at school I have to get the students to help me !

Sad thing is I am currently "arguing" with an IT director !

They say opposites attract !

Pam said...

123 wpm? Dang! that is flippin fast!

Love your hair very sassy!

Trish said...

Love the hair and the view from your window is amazing.

Anonymous said...

Your hair looks AWESOME...I love it!!!!

Kristi Smith said...

I have no clue how many words I could type per minute but I doubt it would be very good. Although I am on here a lot now so I am sure I am better now than when I was in school!!!

LOVE the hair!!!

Hope all goes well with your job interview. Glad you didn't B-slap her, that would have been bad. lol

Kristi Smith said...

And congrats on your Blue win, I voted for you!!!

Anonymous said...

You're certainly the fastest typist I've encountered. I remember that typing test you posted... you type at least twice as fast as I do.

LOVE the hair. You're so stylin'.

I had a very similar job interview process. I had to do all that and take a French proficiency test. I also had one interview once where they gave personality tests that asked the same questions over and over, only with slightly different wording... It was like they were trying to catch people in a lie. (Like one question would be: "Would you take company supplies for personal use?" and then 15 questions later there'd be: "Have you ever taken a pen from work home with you?" It was ridiculous.