Thursday 24 October 2013

hiring newbies

it all came too quick that my brain is still behind my actual daily schedule.
we are not exactly understaffed but we do need to hire some newbies to do all the basic work.

we posted a few ads, loads of CV came in.
all of them are born after 1990 for sure - yes, they have officially entered the labour market, making a new mark in the market and reminding us the cruel fact and necessity of being a responsible adult, every friggin day.
lots of them had overseas education, lots of them are from prestigious universities with "glamourous" specialisations. 
another cruel fact: degree inflation.

anyways, i selected, among the pile, 3 to have an interview.
wow, these people are so much more mature than i was at their age.
one of them is a student union leader, has rich experience in organising different events across different colleges etc. she just blahed away, talked non-stop. you can tell that she's been to all sorts of different interviews and is quite skilled.
the second girl came in the interview wearing a fluffy bright yellow sweater with bright-coloured leggings and matching neon coloured nails. she has a fringe that would possibly prevent her from seeing things.
she wants to have an intership with us because she feels bored filing legal documents and facing the walls of her cubic everyday.

yes, those two are the nos.

the yes one i decided to hire, is from a university with good reputation (yes, am shallow). although her major is chinese as a foreign language (is there such a thing? anyway, just like ESOL, but chinese), she wants to be in the marketing team. hmmm.

she's got good interview skills and is very polite, she was the only one who stood up to greet me when i entered the office for the interview. and stood up as well after we finished the interview when i was leaving the office.

not exactly pretty, no flowery words, not too talkative. is obviously bright enough to get herself on an exchange programme overseas and survived.

she started this week and i have my fingers crossed that she won't quit half way through. that's another story how my friend's sister, a gen-Yer, quit her job upon the 3rd month into it...

the labour market is not looking good, but our new comers are not as active either. they've had an easy life and been sheltered all through their life. why bother getting a job? their parents are so going to cover their living costs...

i dunno, maybe i am slowly turning into a responsible adult who picks on everything and everybody? 

Wednesday 16 October 2013

sans titre

it would totally be too ambitious if i was to start over again reporting my Kansai trip.
i can't commit.

anyways, i will remember to write down cute little stories happened all along the trip.
maybe even share tips - like i have any to begin with. (rolling eyes)

well, for a start, it was a birthday present to myself.
i agreed with my friend almost 10 years ago that we'd travel together to Paris to celebrate our birthday this year.

turned out, we didn't go for various reasons.
but we did, start planning from Amsterdam and then around South France.
she even got guidebooks etc from Taiwan.

but we ended up heading north east to Japan.
spent a 2-week break in the mountains which reminded us so much of good old days back in sheepland.

here is a deer-shaped omikuji from kasuga taisha in Nara.