Wow – What a week this last one has been!

I’ve been to a charity event in Paddington – poolside with famous swimmers, great music and free flowing champagne.  I’ve caught up with friends who came down from the Gold Coast for the weekend.  Love the beach catch up…they have a little one and the sun was shining so where else would you catch up really.  Sandcastles, sunshine, surfing and Smiles.  I’ve met my chicks for cocktails and I’ve had another meeting with my career transition contact.

See the wood for the trees

Last post I mentioned I had a catch up with a couple of friends, letting them know my current situation and one of them actually needs a little help setting up a social media presence for their businesses…..I get log in details for both businesses next week and can take over both Facebook pages and create a Twitter account for them both too.  Really looking forward to researching both industries, engaging with new people and helping my friend grow her businesses.

I won two tickets to Mariage Blanc at Sydney Theatre Company so off we went for a bit of dinner then the theatre.  What a great night!  The website said “Mariage Blanc (referring to an unconsummated marriage) is a surreal coming of age story; a fairytale for adults and a poetic collage of ideas and images. At once comic and sad, absurd and profound, this exceptional play is an exploration of why being a woman in 1890 or 2012 sometimes sucks, and why being a man isn’t much better.”  It is all that and more.  We laughed, we understood, we even felt a little awkward at times.  (note to self: must see more of these).

I’ve got another busy week ahead…another meeting with career transition contact, I start my social media project, I’m off to a fashion parade and of course there will Christmas drinks with friends, and then….my sister & her hubby come to visit for Chrissy & New Year (soo excited)  There doesn’t seem to be too many jobs advertised this time of year so as I said in my last post…Don’t Stress, enjoy the moments and friends around and just go with it.

I hope you’re looking forward to Christmas too.  If you have any tips or sites that might help me in my job search, I’d love to know them.

Thanks Bridget

The sun is shining – Summer is here!  I could think of worse times to be off work

Making the most of my situation

I’ve had quite a busy week this past week.  I’ve been into my career transition company twice.  I’ve now gotten the results back from my assessment and my cv is ready to send out.  Which is lucky as I was approached by a recruitment company via LinkedIn so off it went.  There doesn’t seem to be too many jobs advertised this time of year, and everyone I talk to suggests there won’t be much available now until closer to the end of January.  My plan is….Don’t Stress Out.

I’ve taken the last couple of weeks off running so this has been the week that I get back down to the beach to start my days.  Soft sand running, sand in the toes, running at the waters edge, yup, I’m doing it tough

At the beginning of this week I made contact with someone I’d like to work with.  He was stunned by my news and very eager to help me by making an introduction to the Department Manager via LinkedIn.  I’ll continue nudging away here and update as I go along.  I’ve now also met my first recruitment contact too.  Headed into North Sydney, to discuss a possible role that might be suited to me.  The role sounds good, a mix of responsibilities based at Macquarie Park with the opportunity to be working with a customer base that I’m familiar with but….I’m just not ready to take a $15k pay cut just yet, thanks for thinking of me though.

Last night I was catching up with a couple of friends, letting them know my current situation and one of them actually needs a little help setting up a social media presence for their businesses….  I’ll help you with that!!  I’m looking for a little project to do over the holiday season.  Watch this space for updates!!!

Last week I mentioned one of the first things I did was update LinkedIn, lock down facebook and start tweeting from my personal twitter account @beelarge.  I’m so glad I did that because I saw this tweet: RT for a chance to win a double pass to a preview performance of#MariageBlanc at Wharf 2 Theatre this weekend!  http://bit.ly/V3XDpR via @SydneyTheatreCo  – I Retweeted and won!  Woohoooo!  I’m off to the theatre next Wednesday night

So, that’s my past week.  Two career transition meetings, one recruitment company meeting, two tickets to the theatre, two runs along the beach, two swims in the ocean and little lie downs on the sand, a letter off to someone to let them know I’d love the opportunity to work with them, a possible summer project and my cv is updated and ready to share.

How was your past week?  Have you got any tips for me on other ways I can approach potential work opportunities?  I’d love to hear them if you do.

Thanks

Bridg x

I’ve not been on this blog roll for soo long (sorry) I’ve been hard at it with work and had even moved into Social Media with my employer which meant my personal social media sites were neglected whilst I was building followers and engagement for my work sites but…..as we all know, times are tough and people are being made redundant and by people, I mean me. So….I thought this might be a good time to record what happens next in my life. First things first – get the news of the redundancy, call the crew and head to the local.  Aren’t friends gorgeous!  ”You won’t have any problems getting work Bridge, you are soo employable, chin up, stay positvie, let me buy you a drink” (they said).

The first week has been all about updating my records.  CV, LinkedIn, lock down Facebook, get tweeting from personal account etc etc.  I’ve found this step can take quite a while.  I’ve not been on a job interview since 2005 so my CV was looking quite outdated and old.

The weekend was spent with friends.  Dinners, dancing, beach, walks and talks – I’ve found I don’t even tell everyone.  If they ask about my job then I’ll update with news but work has never been a big part of my life with my friends.  I even have friends that said ‘tell my what you do because I’m in contact with all types of people, maybe I can help by introducing you to the right person.’

That was week one, this is a new week so it’s all about making appointments with my Career Transition Company to discuss my next move, identify my skills and to work on my CV so I’ll touch base with you next week to let you know how I go.

Have you recently been in this situation?  Have you got any tips for me?  I’ll love to hear about it

Thanks

Bridget.

I put up on Twitter & Facebook that I wanted to start my Photoblog again so called for suggestions – the first one in was for The Sydney Fish Markets.  What a glorious day it was too.  I’ve not been here for years so jumped at the chance to get down there.

So much fresh seafood….so little time.  The colours were so vibrant, Oranges, Reds, Pinks, Greens – everything looked so fresh.

This really is a lovely place to wander around, do a bit of people watching and eat some fabulous seafood.  Its busy but today most people were outside eating in the sunshine.

So, if you’re into boats, nets, bridges, water, blue, seafood, birds, people, cheese & champagne like I am you’ll have a great couple of hours there too.

So…..where should I go next?  Got a suggestion then let me know coz I’d love to get out & take more photos.

Ciao for now x

I’ve been back in Sydney for 6 weeks now & love taking the time out to rediscover this city.  There have been so many lovely days, so it’s not difficult to be motivated to pick up the camera & go for a walk.  On this day I walked from Bellvue Hill to the city (approx. 3hrs) passing Woolloomooloo Wharf….

Then headed toward the Botanic Gardens, passing the Andrew (Boy) Charlton pool, situated in the Domain, overlooking the Navy base…..

then I  sat with an ice-cream for a well earned rest. I loved this day – just taking it all in, appreciating the gorgeous landscape, sunshine & open spaces.

yep…. I certainly did have a lovely day rediscovering Sydney

 

Well….it’s been another week in Sydney & in between job hunting I’ve been enjoying the sunshine. I’ve been working on my tan on Bondi Beach, & this day hit 30º but the water was still quite fresh (I over heard some people near me saying) It was nice to get back down to the beach & just chill out like old times.

Ive shared a bottle of bubbles with the very lovely Linda down at the Opera Bar.  It was a lovely evening & the harbour was buzzing with activity, big ships & ferry’s maneuvering in & out of each others way.

I was lucky enough to be invited out on the boat with the Brackens, a whale swam by, the boys caught some flathead & us chicks sat in the sun enjoying champagne (well….it was Meg’s birthday!)

I’m glad I made it back to Sydney in time to celebrate Craigs 40th birthday.  Hawaiian theme means loads of loud shirts & chicks with flowers (& umbrellas) in their hair.  Thanks Joy & Craig for putting on a lovely party.

How’s your week been?

I love these Jacaranda trees!  I’ve lived in London for the last 2.5 years & have not seen them, so now that I’m back I’m loving the gorgeous splash of colour around Sydney.  They are just everywhere.  I walked from Bondi to Alexandria today & lost count of the amount of times I saw theses lovely trees on the side of the road or in a park.

That’s us on the right (randoms, Barry & Louise on the left) My dear friend Ammy invited me to see U2 in Glasgow on Tuesday 18th September, so of course I was sooo there.  I’d seen them before but not for 20 years so was pretty excited to be seeing them again & can I say…..They ROCKED THE HOUSE!  I only had my little compact camera so pics aren’t good but I will remember this concert/trip for ever!

THANK YOU AMMY!!!!

My lovely friend Bex had the day off on Friday & mentioned she’d not been to Camden yet so the both of us jumped on the tube to spend a chilled out afternoon there. First impressions….heaps of police just outside the station, sniffer dogs & a couple of guys getting questioned and patted down so we got out of there & went for a wander.  The shops are fabulous, the fashion amazingly cheap, the vibe was relaxed & the food yummy.

Then we found the canals…so peacefull & relaxing.  We did have plans to walk to Regents Park BUT….we walked the wrong way & ended up in Kings Cross (hehe) best thing about making that little mistake is that we are going back next friday to walk the other way to Regents Park….yippee!

We came to Camden because it’s time for us to go back to Australia so we’re trying to see as much of London before we head back…where else should we go. It’s hard in a new city sometimes because you don’t know where is worth checking out…got any suggestions?  Somewhere we really MUST see before we leave this wonderful city…let me know.

I entered this into a photo competion yesterday.  I took this before I left Sydney but it’s still one of my favorite shots (its got nothing to do with Max (on right) being my godson)  I just love it – I didn’t ask them to pose like this, we were all just having fun in the sun with this tree.  So now I will be able to carry my camera gear around in a lovely new Lowepro Terraclime 30!  Thanks Lowepro UK & thanks Isobel, Jack & Max xx