The Office

The Office Essentials
I have my own office. An office with a door, a desk, a computer, a phone, a whiteboard and drawers. I also have a very cool magnetic pass to get around, one with my picture on it. I have a favorite lunch place and I hate Monday mornings. I got a new job, in the office. I feel like a lucky girl.
I loved teaching. Yet, after four years, I decided it was time for a change. Teaching is draining and doesn’t pay much, plus we always depended on various contracts and no contract equalled no pay — this isn’t great in the middle of the recession.
Teaching taught me a lot. I was 22 years old when I started and my students, who were all civil servants, were usually at least twice my age. I didn’t know much about Canada at the time and I knew even less about the government, politics or second language training for that matters. I learned as fast as I could because every morning, I was facing a class of executives who, for the most part, would have probably rather be swimming with sharks than learning French. Being taken seriously, both because I was an immigrant and a young woman, wasn’t easy. Trust me: I won’t ever be afraid to speak in public after this work experience.
I was terrified during my first classes. At the time, I had very little work experience. I had worked briefly in France as a student and then had a position in Hong Kong. After I arrived in Canada I went from small contracts to small contracts, usually in the customer service industry. I had no idea what I truly wanted to do nor did I know what I was able to do. University in France doesn’t exactly prepare you for the real world.
I kept on telling myself I should find something better but kept on postponing. Making barely enough to survive was good enough. I wasn’t picky: my generation grew up with the fear of unemployment and job insecurity.
One day, shortly after I got my permanent resident visa, the staffing agency I was working with called my for an assignment. When I asked for more specific information about the job, the woman on the phone was very noncommittal. Being my usually silly self, I wrote the address down and didn’t ask further questions. The following morning, I ended up in a warehouse and I learned my task consisted of stuffing envelopes. I was a fucking human envelope-stuffer and no a productive one, mind you. My hands were cold after a few hours and I kept on getting paper cuts. But I stood in the middle of the cold hangar all day, folding letters, opening envelops after envelops and putting — of all things! — firearms licenses applications in them. I was seething with frustration. What the hell was I doing there? Wasn’t it anything else better I would be good at?
This was my wake-up call. At the end of the day, I used the manager’s phone to call the staffing agency and let them know I wouldn’t be coming in the following day. They didn’t sound surprised — it was a shitty job. That night, I spent several hours writing a better resume and in the morning I left home with as many copies I was able to print. It was January and the weather was very cold. I started in one of Ottawa’s main street and dropped off my resumes at a few language schools. A couple of hours, cold and tired, I went back home. By the time I got there, the first school I had dropped my resume at had already called back and wanted to see me for an interview. I was hired, opn the spot and started the following day. I stayed there for almost four years. It was my first real job.
Looking back, it’s funny that I have never been formally trained for any of the positions I had. This is a huge difference between France and Canada. In France, you need to have a degree matching exactly the job offer, otherwise you have no chance. In Canada, being willing to learn and having the relevant skills from previous experiences means more than a degree.
So, I’m back to the office culture, which I only briefly experience when working in Hong Kong. It is less crazy and the work is more intellectually challenging. So far so good!
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- Call Me (Not), Part II
Tagged: About Me, Working Girl






Oh that’s awesome development! Congratulations. But must be difficult to manage with university right? I am going to go to a staffing agency, there is no way I am able to find a job…
(
Priyank´s last blog ..Linguistic delights of Toronto
@Nigel Babu – That’s it! No more teaching for me, for now
@LEon – They do. It’s also trial and learning!
@Seraphine – I think figuring out what I wanted was the toughest part. Outside the jobs everybody knows (lawyer, doctor etc.) there are thousands of jobs that are not necessarily advertised but are great!
@Baoru – I felt that too and I hope I gave something to my students.
I saw this quote in a memo pad–
To teach is to touch lives forever.
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