It's Been A While...

Hello there...

So I've been away from here for a while haven't I?! 

Captured by little green men maybe...

It wasn't intentional, not by any means. What happened was...   ...after New Year, hubby and I went on another road trip, south this time. to Brisbane.

I had planned to keep up with blogging, but after a long day's driving we would arrive at our accommodation for the night tired and hungry. So we would shower, change and head out to look for somewhere to get dinner. Then we'd head back and chill out for a bit before sleeping, ready for the next long day of driving. 

We spent 4 days driving to Brisbane - it could be done more quickly, but we also stopped off at a few places along the way.

In Brisbane, we didn't have very long (just 3 days), so the little bits of spare time we did have, I spent doing my online study assessments. Then it was back in the car for a few days' driving back north to Townsville. Phew!

I then launched into an intense period of online study and job hunting. It really is time consuming to search for jobs, then research each potential job so that you can tailor your CV / resumé appropriately, and write a good cover letter. Some applications took many hours over a number of days! All very depressing when you go on to receive a series of rejections, which is what happened to me. Of course, moving somewhere new, where my qualifications aren't recognised and where I have no work history did not help.

The only thing you can do in these situations is keep calm, methodically ploughing on with your job hunt. Trying to get feedback wherever possible so that you can continually improve your resumés and cover letters. Researching whatever else you can do to improve your chances - finding courses that might help, organising voluntary work that will give relevant experience...

As you can imagine, this is all very time consuming, and very mentally draining! I found that my time was consumed, but so was my brain power and desire to create anything. My mind turned to reading novels for leisure rather than creating anything (I do love reading!) and my blog completely fell by the wayside, without me really noticing it. So I'm sorry not to give any notice or explanation that I was taking such a big break from my blog!!

BUT, it was kind of worth it for me, as after applying for more than 20 jobs, and getting a couple of interviews, I have received a job offer! I don't yet know when I will start, but when I do, I will be working as a disability support worker in the community inclusion team. I will be paired with a person who has a disability, either physical, intellectual or both, and my role will be to work with them to set goals and help them to reach them. These goals can be things like finding a job, participating in sports or exercise, participating in voluntary or community work, social interaction, or even going to the movies! It all depends on the person, their interests, and their abilities and barriers to achieving their goals. So it should be pretty interesting and fulfilling, though not without challenge :)

And having heard about the job I no longer need to spend hours searching and applying for jobs - YAY!!!  So I have picked up my crochet hook again and have been working on an old WiP. More on that later though, as I'm gasping for a cuppa right now!