Another Day, Another Job Rejection...

Depressing news! Today I received an email to say I won't be a Family Support Worker. I won't be a Junior Doctor Co-Ordinator either. Or a Healthcare Assistant. Or an Auxiliary Nurse. Or a Medical Receptionist. Or a Radiography Assistant. Or a Medical Staffing Administrator. Or a Dental Nurse. I could go on... There are far more.


I've only been formally rejected from three jobs so far though! I just have to assume that the other 20-odd have rejected me because they've ignored me completely. A bit cruel...


Today I've applied for yet another Healthcare Assistant job. I'm getting to the point where I'm beginning to struggle to feel enthusiastic about any jobs. It's hard to fill out application forms when you know from the start that you won't even get an interview. Why won't someone give me a chance?! Am I really that bad?
I don't smell. I do wash. I'm nice to everyone. I've got a 2:1 degree!


The main problem that I seem to have is a big lack of 'experience'.
To employers, voluntary work isn't important enough to count as experience.


The only actual paid work experience I have is as a Sales Assistant. I'm only going back to working in a supermarket if I really have to. That's my contingency plan for when I get incredibly desperate for money.


In other news, I started my new voluntary work post today. Everyone looked after me and they seemed nice. So that's good. It was tiring though. I must have walked miles and miles around the hospital delivering patient notes and patients themselves! The definite low point was when I kind of lost control of a wheelchair and nearly let a patient go into the road! (Don't worry, it's a side road on the hospital site, and there were no cars around, thankfully!) I'm only little, so wheelchairs with people in them, downhill slopes and my pitiful strength don't go well together... But they didn't get run over, so it's fine. Then I failed miserably at working the special outdoor lift. Two members of staff embarrassingly had to come out and help me.
I've got a degree and yet I struggle to work lifts...
In my defence, I only had three hours sleep last night, so I'm not really 'with it'. Still, I don't think I managed to kill anyone, so that's a bonus...


I'm such a glutton for punishment that I'm going back tomorrow... I enjoy it really!
Different ward though. Different role. Different staff. Different patients. Different speciality. Pretty much everything about it's different. But, it's more experience isn't it? Not that employers will care...
I'm only going in for an hour in the morning so it shouldn't be too bad. I got told by my boss that if the staff on the ward aren't nice and don't look after me then I'm to walk straight out!


We'll see how it goes...


Oh, and in other news, my best friend and I have decided to write a book. Quite exciting really. It's not medical or anything. It's a story. In fact it's one I wrote at Uni and dug out. She liked it, so she's going to illustrate it and then we're going to try and get it published. Ha! The chance'd be a fine thing!! 


Although I've got no plans to abandon my Med school dream and be a famous author!


Until next time!
xx

Success, at last!

Just a quick update...
After months of trying, I have actually managed to get a work experience placement!
I've finally found someone mad enough to take me on!

I start next Thursday, and will hopefully get to work every Thursday morning for the rest of the summer holiday, or until the foreseeable future if it goes well!

I'll be working in the Chemotherapy unit.
Maybe emotionally challenging, But I'm sure it'd be the most rewarding.

Everyone I met at the hospital seemed really lovely to me, and hopefully I won't mess it up!

Obviously, I'm bound by patient confidentiality rules, so I won't be able to let you know too much about how I'll get on!

Thanks for reading!

xx

P.S. I get a special t-shirt, not a tabard, but I'm okay with that...

News, news, news!

I actually have a bit of good news about work experience/voluntary work!!
I know! Hold the front page!


I'd just got through to one of my local minor hospitals, after over a week of trying, to be told that the work experience co-ordinator lady is on annual leave. So I got told to ring back either at night on the 14th July or early in the morning on the 20th. 
I rung off, feeling a bit disappointed that I still didn't have any work experience sorted.


I have sent several letters off to local GP surgeries, applied to two local major hospitals for voluntary work, and even tried pestering local hospitals for short term work experience. But no luck.
Until today, that is.


I scrolled down my phone looking for the number of another local hospital that I've tried several times to get through to without any luck, when I came across the voluntary services number of the other major hospital of the same city.


And just by chance, I thought "Why not?" and rang them instead.


I've never really been able to get through to them either.


I emailed them last November, to be kindly and gently rejected.


I also sent them a volunteering application form by email in April and never heard anything back.

So I thought I'd ring them, because I'd got nothing to lose.

And I only got through, didn't I?!

The nice lady on the phone has offered me an informal chat/interview tomorrow about a long term work experience post, and has also invited me to a group interview on the 20th July about being a long term volunteer with them!


Cue happy face!

So... That's that then...

So, my second year of uni is over, as of today!

Yey!! I'm free!

Now the problem is what I'm going to spend the rest of my summer doing!

Actually, having said that, I think the answer is quite obvious... GAMSAT revision!

Yes, I'm a glutton for punishment, evidently.

But, I'm being nice to myself, and I'm giving myself the next week off!

Believe me, after the fortnight I've had, I think I've earned it.

My best friend (let's call her Daydreamer for the sake of anonymity) and I are thinking about some volunteering work at our local animal shelter.

I've been going to this animal shelter on their open days, monthly, since the start of the year.

And it's quite upsetting, if truth be told.

All these cats and dogs that people don't want, that they don't love. 

When these poor animals have clearly done nothing to deserve abandonment.

Anyway, enough of this sad talk!

I'd absolutely love to take all of the animals home! 

But I can't. Which I'm gutted about.

There's the fattest cat ever there, he's huge! 

Let's just say, I'd never met a cat with a double chin before I'd met him!

But bless him, he's still lovely!

In fact, I'd go as far as to say a legend!

You might think I'm mad, but if you met him, I'm sure you'd feel the same!

They're looking for volunteers, and Daydreamer's Mum suggested we go for it.

So I'm waiting for Daydreamer to let me know what day's best for her, and hopefully we will go for it!

I've also been trying to get some work experience at my local hospital.

For what seems like forever!

All to no avail, unfortunately.

I'm not going to give up until they let me! 

Even if I have to kidnap and lock some of their current volunteers in a cupboard.

I emailed their voluntary service back in November of last year.

I got an email back a few days later, saying that they didn't want anyone, but wishing me good luck in "my quest for voluntary work".

So, anyway, I rang up their number, by chance (or desperation) in March, and they said that they were holding an open day in April.

They were urging people who were interested to email them a completed application form.

Which I did...

And heard absolutely nothing back.

Until, my Dad spotted the open day advertised in a magazine!

It was last Thursday, but my assignments and tutorials stopped me from going...

They haven't emailed back about my application form, so obviously still don't want me!

But to be fair, when you actually go through the hospital, 

which I do quite a lot because I'm an outpatient there, 

just about all of the volunteers are over retiring age! 

I might be a little too young. Or they might be a little bit ageist.

Or, it might by my 'student-ness' that puts them off. 

I don't know.

All I do know is that the volunteers get to drive certain disabled patients around in these pretty amazing buggies.

And I want a go!

Other than lots of uni work, this past week has been fairly unexciting!

I went to the hospital yesterday, actually, and spent nearly an hour, yes that long, in the dentist's chair!

Well, orthodontist's actually. 

I'm a braceface, you see.

Cue days of not being able to eat properly, and getting mardy because I'm so hungry...

Yey!

And there's barely been a peep from Barry Scott either! 

Which is quite nice, I'll admit.

But I'm not holding my breath.

He'll be back to his old tricks soon.

I bet.

So I'll keep you posted about how "my quest for voluntary work" goes!

And how the GAMSAT revision goes...

Until next time!

xx