2000 – 2009: A Decade In Review

Today is the 2nd of January 2010.  The second day of the year and the second day of the new decade.

The “Noughties” was a decade of change for me.

2000: Year 12, don’t work as hard as I should have but received good grades nonetheless. Am awkward looking, all legs, ass and arms as boobs have not yet arrived.  Awful fashion sense.  Very sad to leave school.

2001: Started university.  Studying (to my dismay) business, when would have rather been studying at NIDA or similar.  Think about leaving but decide to stick it out as was the easy thing to do.  Hoped to make lots of new friends at university, but found that it was as cliquey as High School.

2002: Year two of university.  Change my major from Tourism (pft.. what a joke) to International Business.  Decide that I want to travel. Obtain drivers license and first car – a 1987 Toyota Cressida with blue velour interior. Pa dies. 

2003: Final year of university.  Finish degree successfully, but having not tried nearly as hard as I should have.  Finally hook up with boy I had had crush on for year.  Boobs arrive. 

2004: Embark on a camping trip of Europe and see things I have dreamed about seeing all my life. Travel to Dublin, France, Spain, Andorra, Switzerland, Austria, Italy, Corfu, Germany, Liechtenstein. Set out on my new life in London but quickly find that it was more expensive that I thought and had no chance of getting a decent job.  Return home with tail between legs.  Get job in Real Estate.  Turn 21.

2005: A bleak year where I realise coming home from London was stupidest thing I had ever done.  Despise my job.  Take up Latin Dancing and quickly become very good at it. See Meat Loaf in concert. 

2006: Have nervous breakdown and run away from Sunshine Coast.  Arrive Terminal 1 Heathrow 19th June.  Bum around for awhile.  Go to Prague, Liverpool. Live in a hostel. Have heaps of fun drinking.  Hook up with lots of boys.  First cold Christmas. Work in a bookstore.

2007: Meet THE-Ex and start a disastrous 2 year love affair destined to end in tears.  Travel to Amsterdam, Dublin, Croatia.  Get a job in television.  Meet some of the best friends I have ever had. Spend Christmas in Scottish Highlands alone as THE-Ex was off cheating on me on a ski trip. 

2008: Move out of hostel into The Vale.  Ditch THE-Ex.  Meet the loveliest boy in the world, who I treated terribly.  Travel to Turkey, Oktoberfest, Copenhagen, Sweden, La Tomatina Festival and all around the UK.  Meet some more of the best friends I have ever had.  Do good in career. Start seeing THE-Ex again.  Leave London in a blaze of glory to return home.  Turn 25. Job prospects look bleak.  Very depressed end to the year.  But best New Years Eve ever.

2009: Go to Perth, have heart broken by THE-Ex again.  Spend a miserable 6 months on the dole due to the Global Financial Crisis.  Granny dies. Get job in supermarket.  Meet some friends at job, but find my soul slowly dying from mindless, monotonous job.  Turn 26.  Pleasant Christmas & New Years. Finally get a career job to start on January 4th. 

So that’s my decade in review.  Bring on the next decade, which there still seems to be much debate as to what we are calling it.  The teens? The tens?  I hope someone decides soon. 

More Doom & Gloom During the Recession

Today is not a day I have been looking forward to.

My status as "Unemployed" is firmly imprinted today as I head to government assistant job search training today in order to continue receiving my Newstart allowance.

Whilst I feel this may be beneficial for some people, like school leavers, recent graduates and people returning to work after extended absences such as maternity leave. I cannot see the point.

Surely my hours between 9-1 would be better spent further developing my writing skills, or actually looking for a job from the comfort of my living room. I have 3 targeted CV's updated within the past week, personal and professional references from 95% of every job I have had, An academic record that is respectable and I know perfectly well what to wear in an interview should I actually get one.

As we have now entered a recession, I feel that our illustrious Prime Minister K-Rudd's money would be better spent on somehow creating lots and lots of middle-of-the-road white collar jobs for educated, qualified people like myself, rather than forcing me to sit through a 20 hours of lectures on how to get a job. The reason I am not getting work is not because my CV is lacking, but because over 200+ people are applying for nearly every local job on the Sunshine Coast. I am mainly applying in Brisbane, where feedback in rejection emails is that "Due to the unforseen number of applicants we advise that you have not been shortlisted for this position" or "we had so many fricking applications that we couldn't be bothered to read them all, randomly picked 50 and shortlisted 5 from there to be interviews, sorry you didn't make the cut".

I am trying to remain open minded, it may be beneficial for me. I do however have the niggling feeling that I could need a stiff drink by lunchtime.