Month: October 2017

You’re going all the way

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be brave
Post title ‘American Science’ by Duran Duran

Recently on The daily post in daily prompt, there’s been words that are kind of hinting. Words like Believe, Risky, Ascend, Loyal and now Brave. It’s like they are trying to tell me something. All of those words have a meaning when it comes to job search. You need to believe in yourself and be loyal to your goals. Without some risk you’ll won’t get far. You want to ascend to the next level of your life and not get stuck. Most of all you need to be brave and that’s where I lack it. Sometimes I do feel brave though. Like when I went to see Robbie Williams this summer. From my point of view that is a brave move. I didn’t back down like I usually do. I just took the chance and went. I’m not into big crowds but it wasn’t as bad as I thought. I ended up having a really good time. I wish I could be brave like that more often.

Back in 2015, I wrote a post about my job search. Some things have changed since then. Like the photography and job search campaigns thing. The latter I skipped altogether. When you looked through a lot of job ads, they’re soon coming out of your ears. I can understand why some unemployed think job search is useless. I hate the writing part where you have to explain yourself why you’re the one the employers are looking for. Especially when I have to write them in Finnish. My mother tongue is Swedish so it shines through in my writing. At least that’s what my web design teacher told me. I’ve always thought my Finnish writing was alright but now I feel insecure. Maybe the reason why I haven’t got even an interview is because of the writing. I have got into education despite that so it can’t be it. Finnish is not the easiest language so it’s not that easy for Finns either. If I keep looking to work for someone else, all my skills I’ve learned so far will go to waste. Honestly, I’m getting fed up with this whole job search thing. The gaps in my work experience are probably too high but at least I wasn’t totally lazy. I did have those clients when I studied web design so I do have some experience in the field.

I don’t really know what to call myself anymore. Yesterday I did something I didn’t think I would do. I applied for an education for a graphic designer in the same school where I studied a photographer degree, Helsinki Design School. Applying doesn’t do any harm. If I don’t get in, it doesn’t matter. I’m still looking for work and if I did find one, I could still go to school. Some say this school is a joke and that the degrees don’t mean anything. Even though I didn’t get a job in photography, I still experienced things I wouldn’t normally do. Employers might not see the degrees worthwhile but in the end, it’s the skills of people that matter. I think in Finland, certificates are too important. Especially in design. There are different ways to educate yourself and you don’t need to go to fancy schools to learn. Jealousy is a problem in Finland.  If you have taken a simpler route to design, you get the look you’re not good enough. They don’t say it out loud but you know they mean it.

I see younger people’s work in design and I feel I’ve no chance in the business. I feel like Chandler Bing in Friends when he changes jobs and he started to work in advertising where all these young people worked. He felt so old and thought he didn’t have a chance. In the end, he did get a job there as a manager or something like that. In real life, you can’t get a job that easily if you have no experience or education. Employers are so into thinking about the future so they hire younger people. But how much do these 20 something know anything about life anyway? Of course, they should also get a chance but experienced shouldn’t be disregarded either. I wish I had the power to hire unemployees who’s been rejected for different reasons. But that’s too much for one person to handle. Being the employer is no piece of cake either.

As for what to call myself. I want to do something more than just designing websites. I wonder what people think of long job titles. How about web designer/photographer/graphic designer. Just designer doesn’t say much. It still feels weird to call myself a designer. They say you should stand out of from the crowd and that is it. I can do more than just one thing. The whole standing out is a bit strange. Aren’t we all a bit different in some way? I for sure hope there’s no one like me out there. I couldn’t handle two of me. At least I have been brave enough to be different and not walk the same path other people expect me to. I’m going all the way and it doesn’t matter what others think. Always follow the path you’ve chosen. That’s what I call bravery.

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It’s somewhere out there

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risky tic tac toe
Post title from ‘Last night in the city’ by Duran Duran

I’ve mentioned this in other posts in this blog but I’m not a risk taker. I think long and hard before I make a decision. This can be a disadvantage.  In this fast-moving world, you need quick thinking or someone else gets there first. I wish I was risky but it’s against my nature. I guess it’s an introvert thing but it also depends on the person. I’m not afraid of failure but I also don’t want to take the root things might not turn the way I planned it. That’s why I don’t plan for the future. I wish I wasn’t worried about taking risks. I keep thinking about what could go wrong instead of the other way around. I have taken small risks but the results haven’t been what I expected. With small I mean applying to different educations. I have got in but it hasn’t got me very far. What I lost most is money but that was the risk I was willing to take. I did learn something from all that studying so it wasn’t totally useless.

Risky is somewhere out there but it hasn’t found me. At least I haven’t taken stupid risks. It’s better to be safe than sorry. My hobbies have always been careful. The most ‘dangerous’ thing I have done is fall off my bike. You won’t see me going skydiving or bungee jumping. I’ve only been once on a rollercoaster and that was enough. I’m just not made for crazy things like that. Lucky for that. Someone in this world should be careful. We all can’t be like headless chickens who don’t know what they’re doing. I try to take some risks but in small doses and that’s enough for me.

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I must be chasing after rainbows

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loyal graphics
Blog title from ‘The seventh stranger’ by Duran Duran

I must be crazy believing there would be some loyalty left in the world. I for one is loyal so I could almost have a tattoo. I won’t get one because I hate needles. I usually don’t like talking about politics and I won’t now either. But this is something that I feel strongly about. Maybe a lot of you don’t know but in Finland, we have well-fare for unemployed. It’s supposed to be temporary but some people exploit and they don’t even bother looking for work. I call them lazy unemployed. They give other job searchers a bad name. Most of us do want to work. These people who don’t want to work are proud to be without a job. They come out in the media and says how lazy they are. If I were them, I would keep it too myself. I guess they want fame. I wonder what kind of upbringing they have. My parents, especially my mother was very couraging and sometimes even too much for my liking. But work has always been very important. Living on well-fare all your life should not be something to be proud of. I feel really sorry for these young people who don’t seem to even bother looking for work even if they could. But getting free money seems to be alright. Any job experience is good. If someone only takes a job because of the money, they never get anything. I can’t understand how someone wants to be out of work voluntarily. You should at least have some kind of education. I would have been bored out of my mind if I didn’t study at least. Working is not only about money. There’s so much more to it.

As for my own job search. So far I haven’t found anything. There’s this app/software tester job but one of the requirements is having a mobile device which I don’t have. I have only a tablet and it irritates me frequently. It’s also a freelance job but isn’t really a problem though. It’s easy to apply for the job but still, it’s unsure if you get picked. All you need is to create an account and then answer a Google form. You get to choose what you want to test and anytime you want. If you find a bug, you get paid extra. More bugs you find, more you get paid. It is tempting. It’s just the device thing that is a thinker. Besides the tablet, I have the computer. The more devices you have, the better you get things to test. It wouldn’t really matter if I only get pocket money. It still doesn’t replace a full-time job.

Maybe I’m chasing rainbows here but I think as a female in design, I can get a job. You can read about how hard it is for a woman to work in a male-dominated job. But I don’t see it that way. I think what men can do, women can do it too. It’s about the attitude and how loyal you are. I won’t let age get in the way. No horny old man (like that what’s his name again director) will harass me either. They probably think I’m a man anyway. If I can’t find a job in someone else’s business, then maybe I should start something on my own. The problem is my marketing myself thing and also do I still remember what I studied. Last time I designed something was in school. That stopped months ago. All I know right now is, I don’t want to be out of work. If I’m not loyal to myself and what I want to do, no one will.