Interview.

Tags

Career, Interview, Job, London, Marketing, Publishing, Scary

Any excuses as to why I haven’t blogged for about 6 months would include.. ‘I found my dream writing job’ and ‘I haven’t had time to blog because I have been so busy’, but honestly neither of those statements are true. In my absence I have been working my socks off, yes – but have I found my dream job? No. 

So today, this evening at 5pm to be precise I have an Interview, a big scary group interview and I would be lying if I said that I wasn’t a quivering mess right about now. Regardless of whether I get the position or not it does seem like a step in the right direction for me. In previous posts I talked about how I want to live in the big bad city of London and work in a Publishing House or a large Marketing Firm and I do, don’t get me wrong, but at the moment it just isn’t the right time and if I am being 100% honest, a little too terrifying. 

Breathe in, back straight, shoulders back (repeat a million times) and I should be a success in no time. 

Should the EBacc Virus be vaccinated?

Tags

Ebac, EBacc, education, fairness, GCSE, students, teachers

Teachers, students, headteachers, parents, adults, children, teenagers, graduates and the unemployed.. no matter what the label may be we have all done exams, passed or failed we have all completed them. A richter 10 scaled earthquake in education has miraculously just happened straight after the marking down of GCSE English, and somehow I don’t believe that it is a coincidence.

Everybody (including myself) has a bias opinion on the matter, everybody feels that the year they sat their examinations at 16 whether it be O-Levels of GCSE’s they felt that they were hard and challenging for the year that they sat them. The truth being, they probably were. No matter how hard they may be I feel that GCSEs are simply a stepping stone onto A Levels, and A Levels a stepping stone to a Degree… but what about those who don’t want to pursue an acedemic career and what to do something more vocational? This change really will affect their prospects, and probably not in a good way. 

The fact is, is that as they stand the GCSEs aren’t challenging the top end of the student body, making their grades easier to obtain, so there is little to distinguish between the A* and the A pupils, but what I ask is surely that is down to the teaching? If you have a good teacher and you enjoy their classes, you are bound to do better? If you pay attention in class and find the lesson stimulating, you are bound to do better? If you stop messing around and start listening, you are bound to do better? The change to the EBaccs is an eye opener for all the students who think that they can sail by with doing the bare minimum because it is set to challenge them at a higher level. While they are at it, they may as well return the blackboard, cane and abacus. Personally I think the change is drastic, but action needs to be taken in order for students to find their highest potential… and still even if education isn’t for everybody if students actually absorbed what they were being taught in the first place, they shouldn’t necessarily have any problem tackling those harder exams…. I just hope it doesn’t cheapen the value of my 10 GCSEs in the process.

Bake yourself Healthy? No Thanks.

Tags

Autumn, baking, cake, chocolate, diet, GBBO, healthy, summer

This week in the news it would seem that The Great British Bake Off on BBC2 has spurred a baking epidemic. Everywhere I go people are talking about Mary Berry’s Victoria Sponge cake or how she doesn’t like soggy bottoms on her pastry. I too have been hit with the baking bug.

For girls (like me) that unfortunately have to watch their weight baking is a nightmare because we can’t be controlled around the sweet smell of sponge once it is made. Tricking ourselves that if we bake with fruit then it automatically makes it healthy never mind the 2000g of butter we fold into the mixture. I have searched high and low for an answer but there is only one conclusion: Baking is bad for you; mentally and physically, people say ‘You can bake yourself healthy, use low fat this, use low fat that…. it does not taste the same and I don’t appreciate being lied to.

Baking is rather therapeutic and now it is kind of an addiction of mine, I make about three cakes a week much to the dismay of my family (their jeans are getting tighter by the day!) Over the past few weeks I have gone from a baking virgin to Nigella Lawson’s apprentice, if only I had her sex appeal late at night sneaking into the fridge. Thankfully summer is coming to a close and we can say goodbye to the short skirts and dresses which emphasise every lump and bump on our bodies and hide underneath large autumn jumpers because no doubt if I carry on baking as much as I am I will have more lumps and bumps  to hide. That is no means of saying that I may trade in a double chocolate layered fudge cake for a simply lemon drizzle, because lemon is definitely healthier than chocolate so surely that counts? 

VINTAGE

VINTAGE

In my free time (because I seem to have plenty of that at the moment), I decided to write articles for http://www.handbagfairy.co.uk in their blog section.. Heres one of them I wrote a couple of weeks ago, for anybody that may potentially follow me on here – keep your eyes peeled as they come out every Tuesday

Jobless? Trying not to lose hope? Ditto!

So I’ve been unemployed for about 3 months, technically I don’t see it like that, I see it like a reallly big summer holiday. But now its coming to September, and I’m beginning to worry.. before I know it it will be Christmas and I won’t be able to buy people gifts.. I need an early christmas miracle. 

I really don’t know what people are looking for, do they want my blood? Honestly it may seem like I’m moaning 24/7, but I got the grades.. and I have (semi) relevant experience, I blog, I write articles, I have customer service experience.. I honestly just don’t know what some employers want.. Its honestly soul destroying… 

After many tears I came up with a system…

1. Sort your life out – This involves ebaying all your possessions, so you can socialise on a weekly basis & also it involves having mass clear outs (which mum is enjoying on a weekly basis)

2. Try something new – Me? If you have read my blog previously you will see that I have began baking, before I was a virgin to an oven and a mixing bowl but now I really enjoy it.

3. Don’t get depressed – Depression doesn’t work for anyone.. it gives you spots and dark under eyes, so do something that you enjoy daily – I like to read or watch films as a means for escapism 

I figured that if I do a little bit of each of these things on a daily basis then it makes searching for jobs that little bit more bearable & in the mean time i’m trying to enjoy the ‘little things in life’ than worrying about the rest.

Tags

clinique, free, instyle, mascara, oliviapalermo

I love it when Mum comes home with a magazine for me #instyle #clinique #free #mascara #oliviapalermo (Taken with Instagram)

(Source: http://instagr.am/p/O_Xp68wnnm/)

Tags

handbagfairy, jodipicoult

New article #HandbagFairy #jodipicoult (Taken with Instagram)

(Source: http://instagr.am/p/O9yua7wnt2/)

Today’s purchases (Taken with Instagram)

(Source: http://instagr.am/p/O9RFhbQnoB/)

Tags

baking, coffeebreak, morning, shortbread, yummy

Found the joy in #baking… #morning #shortbread #yummy #coffeebreak (Taken with Instagram)

(Source: http://instagr.am/p/O3ltoDQnp-/)

Bank Holiday Blues

When I think about Bank Holiday I usually think of a warm, sunny day in a beer garden drinking a ice cold drink with an umbrella in it. This bank holiday… not so much. The weather has been awful and yesterday I had a hangover of death so my bank holiday sunday was ruined. 

I must remember to know my limits.. Don’t drink like a man if you can’t handle the hangover like one.