So I've been a little busy...
After having my contract extended twice at the company I was working for, the company was bought out and in the first 30 days they have made many, many employee changes - including not renewing any terms for contract employees. I had been told numerous times not to worry too much when the first talk of them being bought happened as my boss wanted to hire me permanently as soon as the circumstances allowed. Unfortunately, that never happened - might have been a good thing as knowing what one of my co-workers made, I doubt they would have offered me enough money to make it worthwhile...
I finished my last day Friday March 28th and advised the employment agency I was working through that I would again like to be on their available list. I started the job search Monday morning, hoping to find something more fulfilling and a bit better paid without having to work in a call centre. Most of my experiences in the last few years were in a call centre, and I am good with customers, but I did not want to do this again as I am tired of being chained to a desk, tethered by phone cord. I am going to miss the flexibility of my last contract and how it felt to be trusted to get my work done and not worry about when I took a break as long as the work got done... And the people were great too.
So my time since has been spent job searching, following up with the employment agency, helping with my nephew when his sister, my niece, goes to school every day and sorting out the doctor appointments needed to pursue my wls surgery journey.
In trying to take care of my health, I had an appointment with my sister's gynecologist; he was not taking new patients, but with my doctor's referral he did so as a favor to my sister as I have not been able to find one here in the city since I moved back. He was great, I was worried I wouldn't like him as I have usually had a female gynecologist; but he was really professional; friendly and straight up. He has referred me for an ultrasound and blood work and then we'll go from there... so I feel better about taking care of my inner workings and that it is another step in the right direction to a healthier me.
And then on the very same day, I had my appointment; I received some good news that afternoon... In October, I worked for a month as a clerk at Passport Canada in Gatineau before budget cuts ended our contract for about 60 employees. I really enjoyed the job, was good at it and worked independently, listening to my mp3 player. So I was a little upset when it ended so abruptly as I was hoping it would lead to longer employment and a way into other government jobs... Shortly after this ended, a close friend who works in HR in the government and is always keeping her eye out for available positions to send to people she knows, forwarded me an email letting me know that the Passport office was hiring again for 2 positions. I quickly applied and prayed that it would be my way back in. However, the government hiring process can take some time and since it was not the first government job I applied for, I wasn't holding my breath.
The website the government uses to post jobs and their status; kept postponing the results by a month every time I logged in... and then in March, the hiring process was put on hold indefinitely... So to say I was surprised when they called me on Thursday, would not be a strong enough word to describe the shock I was in when I was speaking to the agent from their office. I wrote everything down just so I would not think I was dreaming when I got off the phone.
Well after many hoops including an exam in early December that had me freaking out and a very thorough security check, I secured a year long contract with the Passport office starting May 5th. I am so excited about this, estatic might not even describe how happy I am to finally have made it through to the position since I have been on another government list for their pool of administrative candidates for almost 3 years without any headway.
And funnily enough, when it rains it pours as later that afternoon I not only received confirmation of a one day reception contract I fulfilled for 10 hours on Friday but as well was contacted about another job in a technical call centre...
Alright, well I'm off to do some errands and take care of my emissions test for my vehicle so I can renew the license plates before the end of the week...
Until next time :)
