Category Archives: Business

The Opportunity

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Last Thursday I had an important interview with J. from the recruitment agency that I found online the previous Friday. I had sent my CV along with an introduction in an email and basically asked for their help. An hour later I had a reply in and was invited to come over for an interview. We agreed on meeting up on Thursday last week. Unfortunately the Tube people decided to go on strike on Tuesday which would cause a real problem to me since I had no clue how to get into town. Buses were full, traffic was chaotic and stuck most of the time so taking a cab was out of the question. I decided not to panic and see what would happen.

I’ve been working on my portfolio from Sunday to Wednesday last week, updated some stuff, printed some of my web designs and made sure both folios [A3 and A4] looked neat and up to date… Lucky me the strike was cancelled on Wednesday afternoon so I would probably be alright on Thursday. Thursday, midday, I was ready to travel all the way to the other end of town to have my interview. I was clever and didn’t wear a coat: it was a sauna on the Tube, way too hot, it would’ve been too warm. I was 15 minutes early which was good: I had some time to cool off, drink some cold water and relax a bit while waiting for J. After 20 minutes he came into the room…

The interview went really well and took over an hour. I have a few things that I will have to look into over the next couple of weeks. I will have to set up my own company in order to get the freelance jobs in through the agency. I will have to look for an accountant in the area, to discuss my possibilities and sort out all the paperwork that needs to be done in order to set up the company. I will have to read into things because I have no clue how it’s organised over here so I will buy some books about the topic. J. gave me useful tips and advice about the business that I would like to read into as well. So if I don’t write a new post on here for a while then you’ll know what is keeping me busy…

I realise things won’t be easy since this whole business thing is something new to me and I guess I will run into problems along the way: things are probably different in this host country than back in the Lowlands, but I’m a fighter and this is a new chance to start with a clean slate! I’m positive this is going to be a success! I see it as a new challenge but this time I will succeed because I’m doing this for me and I deserve to succeed…

8)

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Agency profile:

We understand what you’re looking for, and more importantly we take a real interest in you as a person – your ambitions, your worries, your hopes, your needs, your potential – whether you’re a client or a candidate.

Be prepared, we’ll be honest with you, but you’ll thank us for it. And because we only work with people we want to work with, you’ll always be more than just a number to us.

If you want to contact us, then drop us an email with your CV. If we genuinely think we can help you on your quest for a fab new job, then we’ll meet up with you and find out all about you.

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Bi-Weekly Update

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I haven’t written much lately… I guess because there is too much going on at the moment. Pleasant things mostly and also stuff that needs to be done, so I ain’t complaining. AS. has been in Egypt for almost two weeks, windsurfing, so I have the place to myself and you know what it is like: while the cat’s away, the mice will play.

So I had fun, doing things that I wanted to do which makes me realise that I really need to get my life back. Kris sent me an email last week because a friend of his had a client who’s looking for Flash designers, so I sent my CV and cover letter to him last week. I have applied for a few other jobs but I’m still waiting for a response. They seem to take their time over here which can be quite annoying…

Anyway, here’s an update:

Wednesday August 15

Got email in from Kris about job. CS. called and came over for a few hours in the evening, she wanted to chat and I haven’t seen nor spoken with her ever since she came back from her visit to India. She brought a bottle of wine, I finished it and was a bit pissed after that… CS. asked me to meet up again on Saturday to hang out with her and her niece R., and go into town for some window-shopping.

Thursday August 16

Got email in from friend of Kris about job, sent out my CV and cover letter.

Saturday August 18

CS. called to meet up at my local Tube station, her niece R. is over from Canada and she promised her to go shopping. We were supposed to go to Oxford and Regent street but they booked tickets for her to watch the football match in the afternoon so we only had a few hours… We had a coffee near the Tube station and walked to the local high-street to check out some shops.

Later that evening I went over to IS. and CS.’s place, we were on the guest list of club Pacha through JS. [CS’s son] who is friends with the DJ. So we had to be there at 23.00, we took the Tube but CS. forgot that Victoria line was closed earlier because of maintenance so we had to take a cab to Victoria Station. Had a fantastic night: have been dancing for six hours which was great; I needed to get rid of some energy and this was the best way to do it, most of the time on my own.

Met some guy from Estonia who was really thick so I ended up showing him my bitch switch. I had to be rude to get the message across; I just wanted to dance on my own and be one with the music and not being bothered by someone who desperately wants my attention… I closed my eyes, thought of thunderstorms and lightning, turned around and ignored him. I was happy we were on the guest list and had a VIP room to ourselves and the DJs so I could escape from this guy and doze off on the bass… Hectic speakers!

Funny thing was that we had to wait in line each time we wanted to have a fag. There was this narrow alley on the side of the club, everyone there was really friendly, joking and having fun. It was pissing down and half of the alley was covered but no one seemed to care, it was hot inside so it was nice to cool off a bit. We left just before the club would close and waited outside for a cab to show up. JS. had called one but it took an hour to get there. I was home at 06.00 in the morning and couldn’t sleep really. Kept thinking about thunderstorms…

Here are a few pics:

Sunday August 19

Didn’t sleep for 48 hours… and it took me a while to recover from this and a night out clubbing…

Tuesday August 21

Met up with Kris at Holborn Tube station to have lunch today, walked around Covent Garden for a while and to my surprise I ran into Stu. who is over from the lowlands for two weeks. I was so surprised to see him that I even forgot to say hello to him. He felt the same, so it wasn’t just me being scatterbrained. I mean, out of almost 8 million people, that day, that place and that time; what are the odds? And we were supposed to meet up on Thursday, not that Tuesday… :P

Kris and I went to Satsuma to have lunch there. I had some delicious sushi, with smoked salmon and avocado, also nicked a few from Kris who had ordered crispy duck sushi and some spicy noodle soup. I wasn’t very hungry so the sushi was plenty for me combined with a nice pot of green tea. We stayed there for a while chatting and decided to walk around Soho and have a coffee bit further down the road at an italian place called Bar Italia which seems to be an all night Soho favourite since 1923. We walked back to Holborn and I went home from there.

Thursday August 23

Had to collect R., got stuck at Mile End and had to take a detour to get to the Times which took me 45 minutes altogether. Had a quick coffee with CS. and then we went to Camden Town because R. had an appointment to have a small tattoo done. It didn’t take long so when they were done we took the Tube and went to Covent Garden where we walked around a bit. I bought some brushes for my aunt and we had lunch at a vegetarian place at Neal’s Yard. We then walked back to Covent Garden Piazza to meet up with Stu. Meeting point the carousel at 15.15…

We walked a bit, checking out Covent Garden: showing R. around, and decided to go to a pub around the corner in Wellington Street, called The Corner Store. Unfortunately we had to leave after some time because some people had made reservations.

We walked around Soho and Chinatown looking for another pub but most were too busy. I called MvdM. to ask him about this Dim Sum place that he knows of, since we were getting a bit hungry and I have been craving for Dim Sum for such a long time. He gave me directions so we took the Tube to Oxford Circus. I’m not sure about this place, I’ve read very negative reviews and also, it isn’t really authentic, I’d rather find a cosy place in Chinatown to be honest. This place seems too modern, too yuppie to me perhaps.

Anyway when we arrived there was a line of people, at least about 80 of them probably more, it would’ve taken hours so we decided to go for a pub grub at Carnaby Street instead. We stayed till about 22.00 and walked back to the Tube station. I had to bring R. home, CS. already called because it was getting late. Unfortunately we had to leave in a bit of a rush, so said a quick goodbye to Stu. and walked to Oxford Circus. We were at IS.’s and CS.’s at 23.55; I. took me home at 01.00… A busy day but has been very good and it was really nice to meet up with Stu. and hang out for a bit!