sometimes i do feel something like a ‘i miss you’. sometimes.

today’s feel;

In the inconsistency of life’s ruthlessly fast pace society, we hang on to the boundless unchanging love and grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that which gives us peace and a hope in the midst of this world of lust,  idolatry and death.

if anyone reads this blog, please do pray for my driving test coming up this thursday. please. thanks.

 

An idle mind

is a devil’s playground.

Ged’s Job hunting 101

After a ridiculously long spat of being unemployed, whether or not due to general laziness or poor scheduling of vacations. I have, seemingly, gotten off my butt and by the grace of God got a temp job that would busy me all the way to the end of July! This being my first real temp (temporary) job, I indeed was complete greenhorn when it came to job hunting and the whole process of getting employed via recruitment agencies. I blog this to share the experience, and to let those younger people, who have maybe yet to reach this phase in life, have an idea of what happens.

1. Ensure you have written your resume. now since its for temp position you shouldn’t need to be so customized for each company. but that’s me being lazy. the art of seriously making myself sound like the best guy ever for the job kind of eludes me, and irks me. But yea, make sure its in .doc format or at least in .txt format.

2. get a jobcentral AND jobstreet and whatever other online job websites there are… account.

3. everyday, yes i mean everyday, check those websites for new jobs! use the filters to sieve out the temp entry level jobs (for A or O lvls, note: IB dip is not considered a diploma to them)

4a. SPAM your job applications. click on every job that looks good to you, remember to read the requirements of the job. things to look out for are: working days/hrs, pay, location, job scope. however the last 2 are usually vague.

4b. DO NOT be fooled by the 25Xcustomer service officers needed! obviously marketing hoax to make more people think they have a chance of getting the job. but yea, the thing is that you shouldn’t see the number there and think “aiya, tomorrow then apply la.” because temp jobs come and go within the week.

4c. along with your application, send your resume. you can either apply through the job search websites, or via email. (the job search websites provide contacts) send a nice picture of yourself too if you’re feeling luckyXD. STATE YOUR AVAILABILITY (if its a plus point that is, i.e. longer availability better i would think)

5. now if the ‘career consultant’, as they call them, on the receiving end thinks you sounds suitable for the job, they WILL call you. DO NOT BE fooled (i say this obviously because i was) they are not going to hire you. they call you and say ‘hey are you still looking for a job, come down to my office for interview’, which is just to check you out. make sure you’re not a phony drug addict. GO for the interview, smart casual is good (i didnt know, i went in shirt and tie, save your good looks for the real companies). smart casual as in long sleeve shirt (tucked in or not), jeans of any colour except boring blue denim:D and shoes please. comb your hair.

6. once done with you (10 minutes max) they will say ‘i have a job opening at so and so, are you interested? (duh) the pay is ..etc…. i’ll HELP you send in your resume.’ yes, NOW they will help you send your resume to that company. you go home and wait.

7. IF company likes what they see, thinks you’re suitable, your career consultant will call you. arrange an interview with company. and you GO, dress well. no need shirt and tie, its just a temp job (unless you’re working corporate, then shirt and tie is a mustmust eh) go there and pretend to be enthu, of course if you REALLYare enthu then thats a plus point(:

8. remember that its possible that many recruitment agencies call you, dont worry, each agency will only interview you once, but can recommend you for many jobs. (even if its a different consultant who calls you, just say i’m already in touch with so&so from your agency) SO the thing is that steps 5-7 may be going on for multiple job positions concurrently. [this is the sian phase where i went for interview at least 3 times a week, sometimes twice a day]

9. then comes the HARD part. if you are blessed with 2 or more jobs. the decision to choose one over another maybe easy of tough depending on the specifications. sometimes when one job offer comes and some others are pending, you might have to say yes to a job, while at the back of your mind you’re hoping to hear from another. The Toughest part is when you do decide which job you want, you’ll have to tell the rest of them ‘sorry dude, i’ve signed a contract’ and basically ALL they’ve done for you goes to waste and the recruitment agency has to look for someone else.

lesson from 9. : i guess you cant please everyone, and furthermore you’re getting a job for yourself, not to make people at the recruitment agency happy. like for example when i called one agency to ‘cancel’ my verbal agreement, they were UBER pissed like ‘how can you be like that, the company already arrange for you to start work on so&so day.’ and you just gotta suck it up, say your apologies and that’s it. they might call and call you back. But after awhile, i just saw their number and didnt pick up. It sounds really bad but, i really don’t know what else to do. oh well! there’s a first time for everything! more veteran job hunters will know what to do!

realize that this is only for temp jobs! i’m hoping that once you get a degree in something, it’ll be much easier to find a job directly, without having to go through all that! an alternative for temping, you might wanna just email directly to specific companies you wanna temp at, they might interview you straight.

hope this was informative. (:

you know what they say:

Better to have loved and lost,

Than not to have loved at all.

how dyou love someone went you dont know enough about them? how did God do it?

Something to share

I was reminded by God about my faith. For the times when doubts popped into my mind, when I wonder at the logic of Christianity and why people believe. I guess I’m still thinking much about it, but this is what God showed me today.

Romans 4:13-25

¹³ It was not through the law that Abraham and his offspring received the promise that he would be heir of the world, but through the righteousness that comes by faith. ¹⁴ For if those who depend on the law are heirs, faith means nothing and the promise is worthless, ¹⁵ because the law brings wrath. And where there is no law there is no transgression.

¹⁶ Therefore, the promise comes by faith, so that it may be by grace and may be guaranteed to all Abraham’s offspring—not only to those who are of the law but also to those who have the faith of Abraham. He is the father of us all. ¹⁷ As it is written: “I have made you a father of many nations.” He is our father in the sight of God, in whom he believed—the God who gives life to the dead and calls into being things that were not.

¹⁸ Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed and so became the father of many nations, just as it had been said to him, “So shall your offspring be.”¹⁹ Without weakening in his faith, he faced the fact that his body was as good as dead—since he was about a hundred years old—and that Sarah’s womb was also dead.

²⁰Yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, ²¹being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised.²² This is why “it was credited to him as righteousness.”

²³ The words “it was credited to him” were written not for him alone, ²⁴but also for us, to whom God will credit righteousness—for us who believe in him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead.²⁵ He was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification.

I am reminded that faith does not come easy and, Eph 2:8

⁸ For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—

Bible says just believing in what you cant see, what others think is improbable, stupid and a ‘psychological crutch’, is the very thing that you will be credited for and will be credited as righteous. Isn’t God wonderful, that He freely offers the gift of salvation and anyone is eligible to take it.

 

twenty eleven

Time is the irritating wake up call that everyone snoozes through.

it made me realize that I am not making the best of my time at all. sure I was spending it with friends, church, people I’ll be leaving eventually. But that’s no longer an reason I should adopt too often. as i watched the news reports of how millions around the world celebrated their new year, especially singaporeans, i wondered what i would be doing next new years eve and uncertainty hit. and i hate uncertainty. it reeks of failure. i hate failure. who doesn’t. i take it to a whole new level. i can’t fail. i’m proud. i’m snobbish. rotten and deceitful. and it’s only by grace that i can stand righteous in the eyes of a holy God. that’s just a miracle isn’t it. it is. humility that the bible teaches is a miracle from God. and to think we ask for signs and wonders.

its time for some adjustment. an alteration of course. the irony is that i need to prepare myself for uncertainty.

sometimes the deepest conflict rages in our heart. i was wrong. our friendship is not worth more than how God sees you. i’m sorry, for not telling you sooner.