All 4 entries tagged Job

Grrrr – cold callers

Writing about web page /cjehinds/entry/the_telemarketing_calls/

Writing about an entry you don't have permission to view

I just got off the phone to cold call from a web development company:

Man: Hello, This is xxx calling from xxx. [Introduces company and the fact that they sell Content Management Systems] Apparently you’re the person to speak to regarding the website
Me: Yes
Man: Do you have a way of updating your website at present?
Me: Yes, myself
Man: So, are you technical?
Me: Yes
Man (surprised): So, you know how to code HTML?
Me: Yes
Man (even more surprised): You can do that by hand?
Me: Yes
Man: Do you have a content management system?
Me: Yes
Man: What is it?
Me: A very small bespoke one, developed by a local company about 5 years ago which is intermittently being upgraded.
Man: Do you do that yourself then?
Me: Yes
Man: Oh, ok. Thank you for your time. Bye Bye.

OK, I didn’t make it easy for him by revealing too much information, but he didn’t do a great job of selling his product either! First he questioned my technical ability (not the best way to get me onside), then he didn’t even trying to sell me his product – despite me not saying at any point that I wasn’t interested…

Oh well.

: 13 Sep 2006 15:34 |  Tags: Calls Computers Getting Old Job Life |  Comments (2) |  Close comments |  Report a problem

Warwick Blogs – apparently 'infamous'

Writing about web page http://blogs.bit10.net/ben/2006/07/31/being-talked-about-on-other-blogs/

After my entry, asking about Web Design companies I got a comment from Ben King of Bit10, and being inquisite I decided to read his blog , which said:

While doing some vanity searches for bit10, I came across this on the infamous Warwick blogs..Interesting to see what peoples perception of us is!

So, I wondered what he was searching for on Google to find my Blog entry, and discovered that searching for bit10 blog came up with my entry 3rd in the list!

That led me to the thought, why are Warwick Blogs "infamous"?

So I had a look to see how many companies are talked about on Warwick Blogs, so, started with searching for ntl blog whichc showed two Warwick Blog entries on the first search page, talking about NTL.

Although, what I thought was quite a shame was when searching for something more Uni. relevant. i.e University Blog the second entry, albeit linking to Warwick Blogs had the description:

02/08 – Downtime 4/5/6 Aug; 07/07 – Entry permissions; 24/07 – Keeping your blog; 04/07 – Request for help; 17/07 – Two years · More news » …

Searching for research blog came up with nothing from Warwick Blogs (on the first page), and PDP blog only had two Warwick Blog results.

Conclusion:

Generally Warwick Blogs are used for procrastination and life gripes, rather than any useful research or academic purpose.

I think this entry illustrates this point effectively, and now I'll get back to work…

: 04 Aug 2006 14:06 |  Tags: Computers Job Life |  Comments (5) |  Close comments |  Report a problem

Getting old (1): Proper Job

I just wrote an entry, far beyond a sensible length, so I've decided to split it up, so I can add more wafflling…

Proper Job

I've had, what I would call, a proper job for 6 weeks now. Here's my thoughts in typical bullet point form:

Good bits:

• I've been reading programming books /websites and writing code for pleasure again – something I haven't done since before Uni - crazy, considering I did a Computer Science degree!
• I'm getting to do quite a lot of PHP and MySQL in work – good, as I have a unexplainable dislike for Java
• I still design things – emarketing, webpages etc.
• It's flexi–time – I can leave early on Fridays and not be late for work if I get stuck in A45 traffic
• I get to talk to lots of people – I even have my own phone
• I'm close to campus – so I can have lunch with Rich
• Getting to tidy up loads of redundant HTML – I enjoy tidying

and added bonuses of not working on campus:

• Free car–parking directly outside the office!
• Free communal drinks – i.e no milk funds or getting mistakenly told off for 'being a student' in the staff kitchen !
• A warm office – I don't have to wear a coat all day
• No Groupwise – I can access my email

Bad bits:

• I have to wear smart clothes 5 days a week.
• Having to go to work on days that Thor and Rich can have lie–ins.
• Having my own phone – which cold-callers have got the number for

Bits I would rather never had happened:

• Accidentally implying that my boss was bald – so had an "equality and diversity" guide thrown at me
• Not understanding the hidden innuendo behind "Master Bates" in Captain Pugwash – I don't get puns
• Commenting on the enormous size of the banana I had bought from Morrisons
• Accidentally opening the same corrupted file 3 times – forgetting it would crash my computer
• …and many more that I have wiped from my memory…

Degree Usefulness

And finally, for those getting fed up with revising and not seeing the point of exams, I thought I'd finish by mentioning that in my new job I've remembered and used quite a lot of the stuff I learnt during my degree (which I never thought possible at the time).

I just read this in Proverbs which I thought was quite apt:

For wisdom will enter your heart, and knowledge will be pleasant to your soul.

Proverbs 3:10

: 15 May 2006 23:59 |  Tags: Computers Degree Getting Old ITS Job Life Revision |  Comments (1) |  Close comments |  Report a problem

Update – Job and Road trips

Well, after a chance meeting with Casey in Varsity I promised I'd write on my blog with a life update…so here goes!

Leaving Uni

24th March

I didn't feel as sad as I imagined I would. Probably because I knew I would see everyone from the office again (I live with Rich, sing with Graham), however, I was given my first bouquet of flowers, which was gorgeous. (see photo for proof!) Rich and I had great fun trying our hand at arranging the flowers into every vase we could find in the house!

New Job

27th March
I started my new job in eCommunications Development on the 27th March. It's pretty much what I expected, which is good. An added bonus/problem is that I'm the main route to getting information online so I've got quite a lot of responsiblity, making sure that the website is accurate and up–to–date. It's good in someways as I get to meet most people in the office, however, it also meant that when I returned from WiM I had a full inbox with website requests which took nearly 2 days to reduce to zero. It's not too much admin. though as I also have some exciting projects to get on with!

WiM

8th April - 16th April
WiM is Revelation Rock–Gospel Choirs annual event, where members of different Rev choirs meet up for a week to socialise, learn new songs and perform in a concert…there's too much to write in this entry so I'll put it in a follow–up…

My 24th Birthday

17th April
Well – I can't really say much as I slept through a lot of it recovering from WiM. Main points were:

• A trip to Morrison's to buy some chocolate birthday cake (never ate it as I was asleep)
• An hour's play with my birthday present (Eye toy for PS2)
• Getting woken up by Liam at 9pm as he wanted to know where my party was being held as he hadn't been invited (there wasn't a party of any kind if anyone's offended by not getting an invite!)

Israel Houghton Concert

22nd April
This was amazing my ideal type of concert – without screaming girls and lots of God (there were whistles at the beginning but they were banned on H& S grounds!)

See Thor's blog for a in-depth review

Forum Weekend in York

29th - 30th April
This involved getting up at 6.15am on a Saturday to drive to York in time for Forum. Sounds like a crazy reason for getting up so early, but another reason for going to York was Hayley's 25th Birthday party – which was lots of fun!

On the way back from York we went to Sarah Brown's house in Bradford. Thankfully my sat nav. decided to start working so I didn't get lost on the Leeds ring road. After a cup of tea we (Rich, Thor, Nikki, Hayley, Jess, Josie, Mark, Sarah and myself) went to Abundant Life Church. All I can say is "Let's do church!"

Trip to the parents

My update concludes with a trip to Rich's parents. We went to Barrow(?) Market (That's what it sounded like, but could just as easily have been called Harrow, Bower etc.) It is a big outdoor food market where we tested lots of olives, cheese and bread and eventually bought some bread pudding, stuffed vine leaves and olives. We added in a quick trip around the Tate Modern (which I love) and a drop in at my Dad's house on the way back to pick up a strimmer to attempt to cut the lawn with!

All in all a pretty typical month – busy with lots of Rev and road trips!

: 07 May 2006 21:10 |  Tags: Birthday Computers Job Life Revelation Rock-Gospel Choir Review Warwick Skills |  Comments (1) |  Close comments |  Report a problem