do you see the thunder?!

hahahahaha, my little cousin is so funny :)

anyway, i got a call to come back for a third round at the chemical company!! the third round is a test.. bah, what's with all the tests? anyway, this is very exciting news! i'm hoping i understood the marketing manager right, because near the end of the interview he says he doesn't want to linger too long on the interview process and if he likes someone he interviews he will try to make it work with them. i'd like to think he likes me and thinks i'd be good for the job! but i can't always read it that way.. i did make him laugh with my spoon example..

oh blisters.

this time while walking around downtown, i was given the ultimate joy in life.. blisters. stupid shoes.

so i went to my test this morning for that marketing research analyst position. when i got there the hr girl says, "reena! i was expecting you here yesterday!" fuck. she had me take the test anyway. thirteen multiple choice questions for math to be answered in fifteen minutes. one article generated from bits of information given and a question about me were to be answered in 45 minutes. i finished the entire test with time to spare! she's supposed to let me know by tomorrow how the assessment went. if i passed, then she'll have me back on friday. at this point, i highly doubt i'll be called back for an interview considering the first impression i made was me being an entire day late..

the test was administered on the computer in a cubicle surrounded by enclosed offices. i had the joy of listening in on someone's phone conversation. actually i heard both ends because the guy he was talking to was two doors down from him. would it be all that difficult for him to get up off his arse and walk those two steps? (asks the girl who used to have icq conversations with housemates sitting across the hall from her.)

i'm not really sure about the place anyway. there's two good points about this job: it's GREAT experience working for a market research firm and it's located downtown. what turned me off was the fact that the only type of people i saw were 20-30 somethings. they all seemed to be in the same age range, which kind of bothers me. on one hand it makes it seem like a, for lack of a better word, 'hip' place to work because of the age group. on the other hand, it gives me the impression that they only hire one type of person. plus, it's a little intimidating when everyone is your own age.. personally i prefer a bit of variety in the workplace. i could totally be wrong about this. the company was very obviously culturally diverse.

i need a four leaf clover

i had an interview today with a chemical company for a position as a marketing coordinator. the company sounds pretty interesting: the owner's a scientist and apparently he's always thinking five steps ahead. it's not a huge company, only about 100 people, but they seem pretty tight knit.

basically it was two rounds of interviews in one for me today because i made the trek from ottawa - usually people don't make such accomodations until i ask! i was interviewed by the person who semi-works in the marketing department. then she had the head of the marketing department (who's basically the marketing department) interview me, which was supposed to be the second round.

the job was interesting and i was told that i could eventually shape it into whatever it is i want. unfortunately, the dreaded question came up again.. where would you like your career to head in 2-5 years? bah.. my answer was basically i'd like to start off in the technical side but eventually move towards the strategic side of marketing. so i hope that made sense.. he also asked another question i hate: so tell me about reena, both the good and the bad. oh for fucks sake. i mean seriously.

ah well. the company sounds rather interesting. the job sounds like it would be both exciting and frustrating at the same time, which suits my personality. *cross fingers*

here.. again.

i'm in toronto again for two interviews this week. well.. one interview and one test. *sigh* the test is for a market research analyst position, so they're going to test my math and my writing skills. the math test is based on the problem solving section of the gmat - so i took out some prep books to see what they were like. not too hard, though i need to brush up on a couple of minor things.

the train was full on the way down :( full of old people! i was able to get a seat at the back so i could use my laptop. the unfortunate part was i couldn't connect to the wireless.. my computer couldn't find the network. the girl beside me said she was on it, but lost it. five minutes before i had to shut off my computer and pack up my computer found the network.. *sigh* ah well.

anyway, right now i'm just hoping the ttc will be up and running by wednesday because i have to head downtown for my test and it would be a bitch to try to get on the go train.

RELIEF!

the list was posted today and *drum roll* it's official! i'm GRADUATING!! there was the slight possibility that they could have denied me the chance to graduate, which would have shattered me. the whole "one of your electives is not valid" incident would have been the worst possible reason to deny me a degree. anyway, yay! i'm graduating! good thing i paid off all my library dues yesterday..

i'm a sleeper

last night i went out to dinner with kelly and sarah b. since i haven't seen kelly since christmas! we went to a vegetarian thai place called sacred garden, which turned out to be interesting. the place was small, but the decor was surprisingly nice - quite chic. the food was good as well. i didn't really enjoy the curry dish sarah b. picked out. the noodle dish i chose had fake shrimp in it :) they looked like shrimp and sort of/kind of tasted like shrimp. it didn't have the same kind of texture though. i was very amused by it :)

afterwards, we went to dairy queen next door for some excellent dessert! then headed out to chapters for some fun book browsing. after going our separate ways in the store, we ended up somehow converging in the astrology section. sarah picked up sextrology: the astrology of sex and the sexes. the book was VERY amusing! i, a capricorn female, am categorized as a sleeper. it gave psychological profiles, straight turn-ons, gay turns-on, and plenty of other astrological goodness. the book's definitely great for parties!

i got an email forward

and i thought i'd share:

looking into my trusty crystal ball

i need a career objective, where do i see myself in five years sort of schpiel. i've come to realise that's where i fumble in interviews. i stutter and ramble at this point. i don't know where i see myself in five days let alone five years. whenever they ask me this, i always feel i'm avoiding the question by discussing my education goals and add in that i'd like to be part of a company that supports the growth of their employees through encouragement to seek higher education. i try to make it sound like i don't expect them to foot the bill (even though it would be my preferred choice!). so what are my long-term professional plans? fucked if i know.

*covering my ears*

apparently this year mother's day just happened to have coincided with national orgasm day.. that is all.

things i'd love to do

- learn to fly
- a week long road trip
- drive a formula 1 race car
- get a makeover
- ride a motorcycle
- understand more than three languages
- attend trapeze school
- travel australia and new zealand
- invent something

i should put this list on my bedroom mirror as motivation or something.

i stepped in mud

i got one of my shoes stuck in mud today. luckily my dad was there to pull it out - could you imagine if i were on my own? jumping up and down on one foot while bending over to pull my shoe out of the mud.. i probably would have fallen face first (i guess that wouldn't be so bad - face mask..)

anyway, i drove home today while dad slept. every single time i drive i get cut off by a damn truck driver. not sure why since i'm not the type of driver that appears out of nowhere. we made okay timing since we didn't stop - 3-1/2 hours. a nice QUIET ride home!

and here we go again..

this interview seemed to go well.. at least i hope so. the ceo who interviewed me kept going off on tangents into stories; i even got his life story at one point. i'm hoping that's a good thing! the interview took more than an hour, so i'm taking that as a positive sign. he told me he has two other people to interview and will let me know next week.

after the interview, dad and i went to pacific mall. he wanted a motorola bluetooth headset for his phone because he was sick of having to take out his phone to answer it. for one headset, dad was able to negotiate down from $139 to $100 including taxes. we walked out without buying it because dad didn't trust their warranty or lack thereof. we went into a laptop shop and the guy tried really hard to get me to put a deposit on a new lg laptop. meh, i would like one but don't have the money for it right now! it was a BEAUTIFUL laptop though..

afterwards, went to my uncle's place ot eat dinner then headed out to badminton. dad's brother-in-law organizes a weekly badminton night in brampton. my right arm is hurting! it's been almost ten years since i've played badminton! (grade 9 gym class) was fun though - perhaps i'll join there badminton club if i get the job in toronto.

i have power!

like electricity. i bought a new ac adapter today and now i can once again use my laptop. the place that i bought it from services, buys, and sells only laptops. so i asked how much they would buy mine for.. $200. ha! more than i thought they'd say.

my laptop is having seizures

it keeps saying it's running on battery power, then on ac power, then on battery power, then on ac power, then.. you get my point. it's getting a little annoying since this happens over a matter of seconds. and now.. it's not recognizing it's plugged into the wall.. FUCK.

so i just spoke with my mum's boss' daughter (follow that?) on the phone just now. she's the vp of a pr agency in toronto and was open to giving me advice on what direction to go in. her recommendation was to go to college and take a one year diploma program in pr or communications because the industry favours it. also, it's becoming a *hot* sector again, very female dominated (especially in toronto), and can be a lucrative career path. so now i have to do more research and figure out what i want to do and give myself deadlines for decisions. possibly take a left turn and do a college diploma program for 8 months, work, do a masters part-time, work, then do an mba. ack, decisions.

i have another interview! friday in an area called king city (north of vaughn). crappy location apparently, but they'll be moving downtown in the fall. it's a great position - marketing coordinator for a very small tech firm. i spoke to the ceo this morning because he wanted to speak on the phone first. at least with this company i know i'll be interviewed for the correct position. there's only one slight problem. the job is an internship, and the internship is facilitated (sort of) through another company. i would only be paid $1,667 (less taxes) per MONTH. not much considering it's toronto. dad suggested that if they do offer me the position, that i could possibly negotiate the length of the internship. but that first requires me getting the job!

damn mangoes

my dad's brother and his wife bought several cases of mangoes and were on a mission to give mangoes to other family members. they gave some to my aunts in toronto. they sent some with my cousin tina to take back to england (.. silly i know). then there was me. they forgot to give a case to my parents last weekend, so they tried to get me to take it with me on the train. a whole freakin' case full. luckily my bags were full and i wasn't able to take an extra bag. before i left, my aunt tried stuffing six mangoes in my bag. the only way i found out was that she gave me my hairbrush to put in another bag. i told her to take out the mangoes because they'll get squished and the bag she stuffed them in was heavy enough - i didn't need any extra weight! oh my god. it's not like we can't buy mangoes in ottawa.

i had a long post

but it got deleted. i was on the train back to ottawa today (i figured i should come home for a week and go back on friday for the interview) and signed on to the wi-fi - cost me $9 but was well worth it. i actually didn't sleep on the train for the first time. anyway, i didn't get a chance to save the post because we arrived at the station.

friday was fun! i met up with jen, jeff, shea, rob, and chris for lunch. then headed out with jen to the eaton centre to spend the rest of my gift certificate money (which we did pretty easily!). after jen left to go apartment viewing with rob, i sat out at dundas & yonge for a couple of hours. i got to watch an old man in his 60s rocking it out to flamenco music (hip action, twirls, and fancy-free dancing and all).

other stuff happened. at least no drunken brown guys hitting on me at the club that night! hooray!

national geographic survey

the national geographic did a survey on geographic literacy. take the test. you can also read all about the findings of the actual survey, which were a little bit surprising. actually, when you take the test it gives you the correct answer as well as how the people in the survey answered.

i got 19/20! the question that stumped me was "Which of the following was not a significant contributing factor in Hurricane Katrina's impact on the city of New Orleans?". i really had no idea what answer to choose. the other questions have either obvious answers, or are easy to figure out through a process of elimination and common sense.

the good, the bad, and the ugly

yesterday's events

the good: the person who called me from the staffing company set up an interview for yesterday afternoon with the actual company. the hr people liked me and wanted me back for a second round interview!

the bad: the hr people at the company think i may be too junior for the role. it's a contract position (1 year) so they would prefer someone who has a bit more experience.

the ugly: i had another interview in scarborough yesterday morning. oh dear, that was bad. first of all, i went in thinking i was being interviewed for a marketing coordinator position - what i applied for. i was interviewed in the office's kitchenette while the dishwasher was running (very loudly might i add). also, i was not being interviewed for the marketing coordinator job.. instead he interviewed me to be his assistant! what the fuck. i would have appreciated him letting me know this by email before even asking to meet with him. total waste of time.

one down

i had an interview today with the girl from the staffing company that called me last week regarding a job she thought i would be perfect for - a job i didn't even apply to. the only problem was my french! i was very worried because my french has gone from reasonably fluent to total suckage.

anyway, i was there for two freakin' hours because they had me do those assessement tests - grammar, typing, logic, analytical.. i did superbly on all of them - hooray for me. i met with the girl and went through a brief interview. afterwards i sat down with their bilingual tester *dun* *dun* *DUN*!!! i personally thought my french was horribly crappy. the tester assessed me and said that it's obvious i know french and it wouldn't be difficult at all for me to pick it up again really quickly. so the girl's going to phone the company and see if an interview with them can be arranged tomorrow. *cross fingers*