I finally have news

Sorry for the extreme delay, but I have been very busy and have not had much time to access the rubbishy internet here.

Anyway, I've completed the basic training course for instructors, and am now about to begin specialist training for the field studies part. I am surprising myself in how well I'm doing actually, but I guess my confidence was always one of my strengths!

I've met some amazing people already, though no guys with any great potential I'm afraid! I was sharing a room with girls Stacey (Welsh, 21) and Nikki (Gloucester, 19) who are hilarious, but I am now sharing a room with another girl called Niki for the rest of the year. She is only 18 (quite a few of that age actually, so I feel quite old!) and a lesbian, but who cares as she's really nice and we get on really well.

I've learnt archery, climbing (including the belaying of the ropes on the ground), low ropes (not the nost exciting thing in the world), quad biking and first aid, so lots of variety.

We have a bar on site, where we spent the evening before our first day off, resulting in me having to snog some fag-breathed chav called Ashley (actually, he's a nice guy) for a bottle of wine. This was later consumed yesterday evening before our second big night out. You see, all trainees came here for ther basic training, but there are loads of centres in the UK and France, so lots of people left this morning. So not only was last night a celebration of our successful completion, but it was also to say goodbye properly. We all went out to Chicago Rocks in Newport, got wrecked, and generally had a brilliant night.

So that's what I have been doing so far. Hopefully, I may be able to keep you updated on any developments regularly! And don't forget I want to know what you're all doing too.....

Well it's goodbye from me

So the day has finally dawned - tomorrow I will depart for the IoW, and at the moment I'm a mixture of being excited and scared. Who knows which will win out in the end?!

I'm really going to miss everyone back on the mainland, though I hope that I will get some visitors of an adult nature, rather than children!

Anyway, most of my packing is done, so I'm now counting the hours until I go off to the land of employment. Wish me luck (I'll probably need it)!

Saying goodbye

Well, my last weekend dawned and I had arranged to go out of with some of my friends in Salisbury, but the crowd of people got rapidly smaller. Some people had already arranged things, and one person let me down right at the last minute. I was rather peed off and a rapid exchange of texts and a phone call resulted in this person sobbing down the phone to me, as they were really offended by my assumption that they had dropped out to go to another club in Bournemouth.

I'm afraid emotional blackmail doesn't work on me, and it seems rather likely that the myriad of excuses thought up by her were a cover for something else, albeit not what I had originally thought. We shall see what emerges.

Anyway, I had a great time without them anyway, with my old friend Claire and her boyfriend Chris (never met him before, but on first impressions: approved!) and Hayley and a couple of her friends. It was really sad saying goodbye at the end of the night, but as Hayley's dad is the captain of one of the IoW ferries, I'm sure she can pop over to say hello!

Oh my God...

...One week to go!

Highlights of 2005

Ok, so 2005 wasn't the most exciting of years but there were definitely some important points:

January: Decided we'd better get a move on organising our trip to NZ!!

February: Went to Garston woods near me and saw loads of hares really close, plus some deer too. Oh, and the carpets of bluebells and wild garlic were also rather pretty!

May: Brownsea Island, where we saw one miserly red squirrel, but I was chuffed all the same, even if it is very expensive!

June: Trip to Kew, thanks to English Nature. Also, results of my degree released (1st class!) and Graduation Ball with Electric Six.

July: Seeing a pair of ravens displaying in the air above Martin Down National Nature Reserve, and surprising a couple of foxes hunting in the long grass there. I also graduated this month, which was somewhat of an anticlimax, but nice to see everyone together for one last time.

August: Volunteering with CBMWC, where I saw seals, bottlenose dolphins, gannets, Manx shearwaters, and a badger!

September: Family holiday to Croatia, where I was seriously impressed with the diversity of fungi in Risnjak National Park, and the beauty of Plitvice Lakes NP.

October: Booked our flights to NZ! Went on the dole (what a waste of time that was).

November: Said goodbye to Margaret, uni friend, who is emigrating to Oz.

December: Graduates Xmas Party, where I bumped into loads of old uni friends. Got offered a job (at long last) on the Isle of Wight (oh well, you can't have it all). Plus, with my new binoculars, was thoroughly amazed to see a roe deer blinking (look, I thought it was amazing!).

So, looking back, I guess it has been quite good actually!

23 today and two weeks to go!

A big thank you to all those who sent birthday cards! Yes, I am now 23 and intending to do very little today.

Yesterday I was very excited as my new laptop came, which I will be taking away with me for photos and music storage. It is so nice, a widescreen Acer, ideal for watching stuff on, though some of my pictures do look slightly hilarious stretched out!

Anyway, haven't got anything exciting planned today, just a family meal out in the evening, and maybe go out on Saturday. Two weeks to go until I start training - where has the time gone?

New Year's Celebrations

For the first time I actually went out into Salisbury. Usually it's some house party or just staying in with Jools, but this year I was dragged out of the house.

It was actually a really good night, though I was surprised that some of the pubs could charge £10 for entry, and even more surprised that some people were paying it! It tipped it down as soon as we got out of the car, thereby doubling the volume of my hair. The result being I looked a right state all night - good old British weather!

On another note, my uni friend Adrienne is now interested in applying for the same job as me, so I may end up working with her sometime this year!

A most excellent Christmas present

Merry Christmas everyone!

I am rather happier than is usual for this time of year, for I received a letter from PGL a couple of days ago saying I've been offered a post. Yes, I have job!!!!!!

I will leave for the Isle of Wight on the 19th of January, to begin my training for Field Studies Instructor. I will be teaching kids 7 - 18 about the environment, as well as instructing them in various adventure sports. Quite a daunting task, but I am so looking forward to it. My contract lasts until November, and I have an option to extend it for further years. At the moment I would say that I probably won't but who knows how I'll feel when I get there.

Hope everyone elses's Christmas has been as great as mine!

Reasons to be miserable...

Nope, I didn't get the job. I am actually quite gutted - I thought the interview went well, with no tricky questions, and I don't think I got too carried away. However, they phoned me up yesterday evening (at least they got back to me quickly) saying that the other person was more approachable and would fit into the team better. They also said that a tip for the future would be to try and tone it down a bit. So, yet again, my enthusiasm has resulted in rejection. I think it is a bit sad if I have to change who I am in order to get a job. I didn't think I was over the top at all, but as it was only for 3 months, they obviously wanted someone a bit more docile.

On the plus side, they said my ecological and legislative knowledge was excellent, and that if they had had two jobs, they would have given one to me. They are going to keep me on their books in case something comes up, which is good, and I get the feeling that they would like to use me and that they can see my potential. So I guess it's not all bad then...

Out of the blue

On Friday I received an interesting phone call from someone at English Nature, asking if I was still available for work (er, yes...). Yesterday I received another couple of phone calls, with the result being I am now going for an interview in Lyndhurst tomorrow!

It's three months fulltime, doing planning casework for protected sites. I've read the job description, and it's basically the same job I went for four months ago, only for a much shorter term. Though it's not for very long, it is a job and should give me interesting experience.

Oh, and I got some feedback (finally) from Test Valley BC for the Environment Development Officer post. Not enough experience again- how am I expected to gain experience an support myself at the same time? The whole situation is ridiculous.

It was the Graduates Xmas Party on Saturday night at the Union. I took Hayley (old schoolfriend) with the aim of meeting up with some uni mates (namely, Adrienne). It was an excellent night, where I bumped into Nick, Chris Rochfort and Chris Noble from my course, as well as my ex-housemate Dave, who now has 'PhD hair' (i.e. long). So it was good to be back there again, and made a pleasant change to my hum-drum life. Sigh.

Chicken

I've decided to chicken out of Friday. I was working out my route yesterday, which was a return journey of 260 miles. They were only paying expenses of £25, so I would be left substantially out of pocket. Plus, it's a voluntary position, where I would probably need a car and money to buy food etc, so all-in-all, not a good financial move.

More feedback

I've finally got feedback for the Waste Reduction Officer post. They really liked my presentation, especially the props, and thought I interviewed well. However, they were concerned over my lack of experience and presenting outside uni. So once again, the lack of experience was the killer. What am I supposed to do?

Still no job

Another rejection today- I didn't get the Waste Reduction Officer job, which means I definitely didn't get the other job I went for. And all the vacancies seem to have dried up:

"Despair, despair of hands is all I've got".

Name and Shame

I thought you'd all be interested in the following feedback I finally received from the Waste and Recycling Advisor interview over two weeks ago:

"The general standard of interviewee for the post of Waste and Recycling Officer was excellent. It was perhaps unfortunate for you that you came up against a number of candidates who had previous relevant experience in similar positions or who possessed immediately transferable skills that would enable them to undertake the work required. Both Steve and I could see that you were genuinely enthusiastic and had a lot of energy to bring to any project. It was for this reason and your obvious academic achievement that we wondered how you would get on in a team environment where not everyone may be fired with your enthusiasm. We imagined that this may have bought you into conflict with other team members."

So basically I was too enthusiastic and over-qualified for the job: they obviously wanted a load of plodders, which makes me quite glad I didn't get the job!

Off to Devon

I have an interview for an volunteer warden position with the National Trust in Devon on the 9th of Dec. It's much more my sort of thing than sorting through people's rubbish, but I'm sure it's also a lot of other people's sort of thing too! It's quite good because I get free accommodation and can get qualifications such as chainsaw and brushcutter certificates, so might be useful for my career.

However, I have to drive there as the trains would leave me stranded at Exeter station for 4 hours in the middle of the night. This poses somewhat of a problem, bearing in mind how I failed to find the last interview location first time! Anyway, I'm sure I'll manage somehow, in fact, it should be quite an adventure.

Oh, and because job hunting is going so well (!) I am now seriously thinking about doing a PhD. One of my old lecturers (I'm sure he'll appreciate that!) may be starting one in October about radio-tagging sand lizards. Radio-tagging is something I've always wanted to do, so if I can come up with nothing better, and it's funded, I may well be Dr Rose (another one!) in 3-ish years time.

What a day

God- I am so knackered. This is mostly due to difficulties in locating the second interview, but more of that later.

So my first interview was at 11 in Romsey for the Environment Development Officer job. I managed to find it ok, just. The actual interview got off to a bad start as they had set up the computer so that the laptop screen was blank, which would have meant I would have had to read off the screen behind me- not good. So I asked if it could be sorted out. Cue the IT man, and calls to IT in Andover. Eventually, this was sorted out, and the presentation went without a hitch, though I'm not sure I came across as confident as I usually am. The questions after made me realise that I was really rather lucky just to get to the interview stage. They asked questions about my work in the community and experience of fundraising, of which I had very little to say, so hence I don't think I got the job.

I rushed home for lunch, then left at 2 for my other interview in Wimborne for the post of Waste Reduction Officer. I got thoroughly lost in Wimborne, asked for directions, was promptly sent back on the way home again, phoned them to let them know I would be late, turned around, found the correct route, and only arrived 5 mins late! I had a behavioural profile done- quick and easy, and you end up with a printout of what sort of person you are- mine turned out quite favourably! I was shown around and told about the job. Then I did my presentation, which though not as polished as I usually like, turned out rather well. The props I used really grabbed their attention, and they seemed to like my ideas about raising awareness of recycling and composting. Then I was led downstairs for the informal interview. They asked ok questions, which I had something to say about, and it turned out that one of the interviewers had gone to soton uni!

Feeling rather good, I left the Council carpark, via the one-way system, and promptly got myself very lost. No road signs or street names, so I turned around a couple of times before realising that I had probably made it all worse. Eventually, by some miracle, I landed back at the Council offices and hence back on the main road. From there, it was straight forward to get home, though the foggy conditions, and the windy roads, made it a bit hair-raising.

I think they'll both let me know this week, though I don't hold out much hope. The trouble is, I'm running out of things to apply for now!

Another taste of rejection

Yes, what a surprise, I didn't get the job. I stayed in all week just in case they called, but nothing so eventually I sent an email and went back to work today. They responded with a brief two lines saying they'd ring with feedback later in the week.

The more I thought about that interview, the more I realised what I should have said, so I have quite a good idea what the feedback will be.

So I've now got to finalise preparations for the interviews on Monday, and then prepare for the inevitable rejection. I feel a bit like Marvin at the moment ("would you like me to stick my head in a bucket of water?")!

Yet another interview

I still haven't heard back from my interview on Friday. Meanwhile, I've been offered another interview with East Dorset District Council, working with, you've guessed it, waste.

The post of Waste Reduction Officer does sound quite interesting actually, lots of creative things like promoting recycling and composting to the public, and producing feedback for residents. It also pays much better, and is fulltime for 2 years. The only trouble is I have to do another presentation, this time with no visual aids apart from a flip chart- how rubbish. The presentation is on how to encourage waste reduction and increase public participation in recycling and composting schemes- exciting.

The Interview

First of all, after a slight detour around Andover, I eventually arrived at the Council Offices.

The interview went ok, the people seemed really nice, and the job interesting, though I think I made the mistake of being too enthusiastic- I've had feedback about this in the past. After this, I had my role-play, which involved addressing a resident's complaint in a face-to-face meeting. I was quite pleased how this went, and my 'resident' came round to my view relatively quickly- the whole thing didn't last long at all.

They know about the other interview, so even though they'll let me know about this job on Monday, they are prepared to wait until the other one has notified me. And they aren't too bothered that I am going on holiday for 5 weeks in a 9 month contract- they said they'd find some way around it, and it wouldn't affect whether I'd get the job or not.

So fingers crossed!

Really useful

Hmmm. I've now been invited to another interview, again with Test Valley Borough Council, but for the much more interesting job of Environment Development Officer. I have to give a 10 minute PowerPoint presentation on how I would implement a scheme to encourage staff to save energy in council buildings- tricky.

So now I don't know what to do- if I get the job on Friday (I should be more pessimistic about this) then I have to turn down the opportunity for a better job in a better location (Romsey rather than Andover). We'll just have to see how it goes on friday.

On another note, I was rather pleased to see my face in the latest newsletter of English Nature Wiltshire Team. It was in an article about how much they valued volunteers. My name was in the caption too- a taste of fame!