For reasons unknown I’m finding myself thinking about getting a job.
Yesterday I visited Compton Verney – pictured above – an Art Gallery and Park in rural Warwickshire not far from Stratford-upon-Avon. It’s definitely worth a visit.
I’ve been there loads of times over the years but never before have I thought how good it would be to work there.
Last night I was watching a TV drama and saw some random woman getting on a bus and I thought how great it would be to be a film extra. I’ve never acted in my life and it really isn’t me at all but it sounds fun to be on a film set and see yourself on camera.
I see all this as a positive development in my retirement transition journey and I think it is now time to put myself out there a bit, be open to opportunities.
I’m not at all sure what sort of work I would want to do. Would it be something I already do – copywriting, digital communications – or something completely different that would give me some variety.
More than what I do, I think it’s the where I do it that interests me more – the place, the people, the purpose. Is it somewhere I will enjoy, make a difference, have fun, learn something new, these are the key questions I need to answer.
This would include businesses related to tourism, sport and culture, charities working in certain sectors, cool tech businesses, colleges and universities. Perhaps I should draw up a bucket list of the kinds of places I’d like to work.
It would be nice to be paid for what I do but the rate is not that important to me. It would though need to be part-time and flexible with minimal deadlines and very little pressure!
As with everything these days, finding work is more complicated than it used to be, there are so many ‘opportunities’ out there, so many portals and places to look and register.
One I found yesterday looked interesting, restless, I’ll explore this more and report back in a future blog. There’s also jobs’ websites such as indeed plus there are recruitment agencies, various Government job finding services.
The good thing is there is no time pressure, I don’t have to get a job tomorrow or at all really so I can take my time and see what comes up. A bit like travel thinking about where you want to go, researching the destinations out there is a big part of the fun.
First step is to create my CV. I’ve just spent a good hour searching for an old one to update to no avail. It will be over 10 years, something produced to support a tender.
I’ll start from scratch, I’m going to enjoy thinking about my career and all I’ll I’ve achieved, the awards and qualifications. That will be motivating in itself and focus the mind a bit, time to browse through some old certificates and remind myself of a working career that began nearly 40 years ago.
Three Firsts
Back in January I thought it would be a good idea to report on lifetime firsts – I was planning to do an average of one a week. My first was drinking Bubble Tea – I hated it – since then I’ve done virtually nothing new until yesterday when I notched up three firsts:
- I wrote to my local MP, who is also a GP, along the lines of my last couple of blogs – I’m intrigued as to how he will respond.
- I accidentally put my relatively new and beloved Apple airpods through a full hot cycle in the washing machine. I’d mistakenly left them in a pocket of my running shorts. I was distraught, but you know what, I dried them off, charged them up and they worked just fine.
- I picked up my first free prescription – the first benefit so far of being over 60. Yay!