Lets talk about Job Search !!!

Statistics show a job advert will receive on average 250 resumes; and only 4 – 6 of those will actually be called for an interview. (yeah I know sucks right) No wonder it is so hard to get a job but putting that aside getting a job with having a medical condition I feel is 10X harder. People are always saying to me they can’t discriminate just because you have a medical condition…I agree they can’t discriminate but they can find a reason not to employ you.

When I was first diagnosed with FND I carried on working.

A) Because I was doing season work and I certainly was not missing out on travelling

&

B) I wasn’t going to let FND define me

I managed to do 2 seasons after being diagnosed and a bit of work back here in the UK in between and approx 2 months of work when I stopped travelling. Unfortunately my condition did deteriorate forcing me to throw myself out of the working world.

I have now been unemployed for nearly 2 years, it has been a long road to “recovery” but I am raring to get back out there into the world of work.

I know some of you maybe thinking….is this girl mad !!! (yes I am, great observation, I applaud you haha) it just gets a tad bit boring doing nothing everyday. I do have this weird knack of keeping myself busy, always finding something to do but I just feel that it isn’t enough.

Photo by slon_dot_pics on Pexels.com

So I have started job searching again (well I never stopped really) I have had 2 interviews in the space of a month but before that I had been applying and still applying for a gazillion jobs each month.

My previous work was in the Travel and Tourism industry which In all honesty that is where my passion lies. I have looked into other industries and only a couple jump out at me. I think the issue is that once a travel girl always a travel girl; so if I can just get tourism work here then I should have no problem. You would think that would be easy peasy but I am assuring you it really is not the case. Honestly I bang my head against the wall every time someone replies with “you need more travel experience” 6 YEARS SANDRA 6 YEARS. (just for the record I don’t think it was a Sandra who replied to me.)

It is hard this job hunting lark and all I can advise to anyone else in the same boat is just keep at it; as frustrating as it gets one day an employer is going to snap you straight up and you will get to where you want to be. (well that’s what I keep telling myself so worth a try  I guess)

I have had my CV checked time and time again so there is nothing wrong there, I have had numerous amounts of role play interviews and my interview skills are on point (not blowing my own trumpet) so all I can put it down to is that I am just too good to be apart of their clan haha. !

The awkward question I am now receiving in interviews is, “so why the gap in your working career” – At first I was avoiding this question but with a bit of advice I have now taken the route to just being honest and I just tell them exactly why I have not been working. “Well Sandra I unfortunately was diagnosed with a medical condition and so recovery I suppose you could call it came first” you see there head just nodding in agreement but you know in their head they are thinking “oh shit….have I just brought up a sore subject” (its great….I love it) . To be honest so far honesty has got me nowhere but thinking up of an excuse every time before was wearing thin and that wasn’t working either so worth a shot. In a recent interview (the weirdest interview I have ever had may add) I was asked at the end “Do you ever think you will get over this condition you have” ……. “WILL I EVER GET OVER IT…….NO THANK YOU MAGGIE NO THANK YOU”. I could not believe such question was asked, like how do you even answer that. “Well Maggie I don’t think I’ll ever get over one minute being able to walk or run and the next your are essentially paralysed waste down for what could be a couple of minutes to days” (I did not reply with that ladies and gentlemen as tempting as it was haha). I believe my answer to the question was “I don’t think its possible to ever get over it but then again I never thought something like this would happen to me and it did so who know life is a mystery.”

I never heard back from that job – safe to say I didn’t pass the criteria.

I will keep at it though and I am certain something will turn up in the end, what will be will be. I say it often and I am going to say it again…..Everything happens for a reason, you may not know now but only time will tell !!!!

 

Peace Out!

 

Ciao, Adios, Bon Voyage

xx

 

p.s: No Sandra’s or Maggie’s where actually involved in this experience I am sharing with you, they are simply just random names picked out of the hat.

 

 

The Land of Magic !!!

Hey fellow FND Warriors and those who read my blog, thank you for continuing the be patient with my post timings I am rubbish (I do apologise).

So whats been happening? Have I fallen off the face of the Earth?

Q1: A lot

Q2: Nope i’m still here just had a detour haha

A lot has been happening over the past month, my partner and I took a small break to Disneyland Paris (nothing major….its only Disney …..SAID NO ONE EVER). DISNEYLAND was FANTASTIC !!!

We went to Disneyland for 2nights 3 days and spent the whole time and I mean the whole time in the Park, amazing experience and hoping to go back again Christmas time. For those who love Marvel they are currently building a Marvel themed hotel ….. #awesome #marvel #cantwait # timetostartsaving !!! We got to meet the Mouse himself Mickey, this was an incredible experience along with Minnie, Donald and not to mention Mary Poppins (for those of you who know me or have been following my blog then you would have probably gathered by now that I am a HUGE Mary Poppins Fan)

YES we qued for Character meet and greets and got there autographs (cool kids we are)

For those of you who haven’t been to Disneyland then 100% you NEED to go….its not even a want to go its defo a NEED to go.

To be honest its not as expensive as we were expecting; a few people said to us it is really expensive, don’t buy anything there. Well let me just say this, it is what you would expect Disney to be and France to be fair. My partner and I both lived and worked in France for a couple of season and France can be expensive; so when we arrived in Disney we was expecting to pay 8 Euro for a couple of Cokes but when it comes to the shops then It is like the Disneystore.

 

So yeah that happened !!!

It was well needed for the two of us just to spend quality time together, just to get away from all the hussle and bussle of daily life and emerge ourselves into the land of magic, where dreams really do come true.

Each day was very tiring up at the crack of dawn to get to the park for when it opened and pretty much power through until the evening to grab some food and then back to the park for the evening antics. Worth the aches and pains, I must admit my body did pay for it at the end of each day aching head to toe, struggling to walk back to the hotel that seemed miles away, just about making into to crash on the bed, but other than that my FND symptoms where bearable just ignoring them because well I was in the land of magic anything can happen right?

Long story cut short …..

GET YOURSELF TO DISNEYLAND PARIS !!!

 

Peace Out !

 

Ciao, Adios, Bon Voyage.

x

 

 

 

 

Going Underground

Good Morning All.

I thought I’d give you an update on my AMAZING weekend in London. For those of you who haven’t been to London I’d like to know if you have been hiding under a rock; to those who have been to London – good job.

My Partner and I went to London Sunday morning for 2 nights 3 days, being from the UK and only a 2 hours max train journey into the manic city; travel isn’t a major issue. I have been to London many times (as you can imagine) but this trip was different ( in a good way may I add). A lot of people believe once you have been to London, you’ve done it, there is no reason you need to go back so many times. Ladies and Gentleman I’d like to re-assure you that is not true.

There are plenty of reasons why 1 trip to London is not enough and that you should do more than 1 trip to fully get the London experience.

We were only originally going to London for a day trip on the Monday to go to Madame Tussauds. (free tickets courtesy of the Sun Newspaper) For those of you who are not really newspaper readers (myself included) GET THE SUN NEWSPAPER !!! ….. I can’t stress it enough at how much it is worth collecting The Sun purely for their amazing deals and offers they have throughout the year (FREE TICKETS being one of them).

So as I was saying, we were originally going on a day trip to Madame Tussauds but thought why not stay over, one night is never really enough if you want to explore the City at your own pace NOT London Pace (Yes this is a “thing”). My partner booked a beautiful 4* hotel in the East-End area of London (Duff Duff/Dum Dum – for the Eastenders Fan’s of the UK) and I would highly recommend using this Hotel as a base for your London Stay, with a Tube station next door to the hotel and being on a main bus route; you can’t go wrong.

The 2 night stay was definitely needed not just to casually stroll around London but also for us to spend some quality time together. It was nice to get away for a few nights, a couple of nights away from the rat race. We arrived around 10am, dumped our stuff in the Hotel room then headed across to Kensington to the Natural History Museum. We have always wanted to take a mooch around the Museum and to top it off it was FREE. YES this incredible building is FREE to go into to and have a mooch (mind you they certainly make up for it with a shop in each section of the museum).

The Natural History Museum is a fab place to go to if you are interested in learning, I enjoy learning and widening my knowledge on a daily basis (I know crazy right?)…On this occasion I did in fact learn some interesting information however I also found that taxidermy freaks me out a tad. This place is full of taxidermy and every time I looked closer I got this deep feeling in the pit of my stomach; however putting that aside this place is incredible and the building itself is beautiful (not to mention part of Paddington the film was filmed at this incredible location).

Next stop was back to the hotel for a bit of chill time before going out for dinner. So in classic hotel style we decided to crack open the can cocktails we brought with us from Tesco the good ole deal of 3 for £4.50. Made use of the luxurious shower it was amazing, you could choose to use the normal shower head on the end of a hose or the complete opposite of the water falling from the ceiling (this style shower is to die for…not literally….other wise you wont experience this fantastic invention). Don’t you just love a hotel that provides you with a cotton waffle dressing gown and some slip slaps (slippers), chilling in a gown whilst sipping a cocktail looking out the ceiling to floor window across the London skyline = bliss.

The hotel had two restaurants one of them being a 24 hour restaurant (amazing for all you foodies out there – got to love a midnight snack). We decided to go the 1st floor Chinese inspired restaurant and I must say it was sooooooo worth it. Now normally when we get order a Chinese takeaway we get the full shebang …. but we resisted and got Sweet and Sour Chicken and egg fried rice, and I must say it was absolutely gorgeous. Id easily go back to this hotel just for the food.

One of the evening we were sat outside the hotel and this guy came up to us and asked us the time then gave us a Daffodil each (sweet), he then proceeded to tell us that his name was Graham and he was well-known in the music industry. He said he had collaborated with the likes of Phil Collins and was in London to write a book and had been in London for three years; he was originally born in Liverpool but moved to America. He had some very interested stories whether they were true or not that was a different story, but if your out there reading this Graham it was a pleasure to meet you.

If you have never been to the Tower of London and the Crown Jewels Exhibit then next time you take a trip to the city head on over to the Tower, it is worth every penny; the beafeater tour alone is worth the money let alone the rest of place. We visited the Tower of London the day were leaving and it rounded off a perfect couple of nights away just right.

So that’s that folks, my recent trip to London’s Dorsett city Hotel.

Hope your all doing well?

Peace Out!!!

Ciao, Adios, Bon Voyage.

xxx