• 29Dec 06

  Bingo!

  I'm in!
  
  I promised you guys that I would update my journal with news on how the job interview went. Well, it went alright, but the other candidate proved to be the better choice, according to the temp agency. Needless to say I didn't feel like bringing bad news. I'd gotten even more depressed with Christmas around the corner. Now I have loving family, both on my side and Pauline's side, but Christmas also means companies are not working and therefore not hiring.
  
  I stopped by the temp agency I used to work for 3 years in the past in a neighbouring city a few weeks ago, they directed me to their branch office in the college in that city, they'd seek out a job on a slightly higher level for me. However, the first talks there went horrible and I feared that I had wasted another chance on a good job. Still, they offered to pass on my resume to their office in a city 20 miles away (everything's really cluttered here) because they might have a job for me. A few days later I received a call, I had to fill out an online test form and if I'd done that OK they would recommend me at a large mail ordering company.
  
  Yesterday I went there for a job interview. I didn't expect it to go well. I know they are amazingly strict at companies the size of that one, especially since they hire a bunch of people at once. It turned out to be they were looking for a smaller group of temp workers to have them fill up a space for at least two months and they were convinced that I met every single requirement. Just yet I received a call from the temp agency, notifying me that I'm hired, starting January 8th.
  
  The best thing is that the job isn't necessarily for 2 months. The thing is, right now the team I'll be working with a is stationed at one of the offices of the company, but they will be outsourcing the Customer Support Desk to a 3rd party sometime in March. They are looking to offer as many people as possible from the current team to that company to take over since we will already be acquainted with the procedures, the systems and the job itself. As long as I do my work alright there's a good chance that I'll be among them, I've been told.
  
  So starting January 8th I'll be working 30 hours a week at Customer Support. It's funny that when I started looking for work this was exactly what I was looking for, even though I never expected to land a gig like this the more I got rejected for similar jobs.
  
  The happiest man on Earth (just for the next few days though) wishes all of you a blessed and healthy 2007. That your outlook on the new year may be just as bright as mine currently is.
  • Posted Dec 29, 2006 2:57 am PT
  • Category: Other
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• 29Nov 06

  Job Update

  The Interview
  
  I've been pretty depressed the past 2 weeks or so. I got rejected for the jobs at the gamestore and the IRS, they didn't even want to interview me. Surely the job at the IRS was a little out of my league, but if they don't even want to hear more about who I am and what I'm capable of in that gamestore...Well, that made me feel pretty miserable, depressed even. It happens to a lot of people who don't have a job, sitting at home makes you feel numb, mentally. There is a lot of stuff to do in and around the house, even fun things, things you take great pleasure in when you do them in your free time. Problem is, my life is nothing but free time these days. I'm bored out of my mind.
  
  I still had the job at the international callcenter open, but my contact at the job agency told me that they were generally being very, very slow. I had to resort to waiting...Again. I snooped up another two job openings in the meantime through that same job agency and informed if I'd stand a chance, should I apply. Turns out that one of the two was fit for me and yesterday evening they passed that company my information.
  
  Early this morning I already got called by the job agency, informing me that the company I applied at would very much like to have me over for a job interview on short notice. I made an appointment for tomorrow afternoon, of course I'll let you guys know whether I made the cut or no.
  
  If I get hired, I'll most likely be a '3rd-line supportdesk employee', or that's vaguely how my contact at the agency called it. You got 1st-line, that's the first person you talk to when you call a supportdesk. When he or she has assessed the problem, the 2nd-line employee takes over. He has a lot of technical knowledge and can often fix the problem without having to send someone over. In case he can't, he'll call me or he'll have the caller himself call me directly to make an appointment for some guy to come over and fix it up.
  
  The good thing is that I most likely won't be dispatched to these huge, enormous callcenters. From the looks of it, I'll be having my interview at a smaller office of this company where I'll be working as well, in case they hire me. This means a smaller group of people to work with, I like that.
  
  Of course I want this job. I'd take on any job I moderately like right now. However, this seems like a good place to start out, perhaps better than the others I applied for. I'm determined to get the most out of it tomorrow. It appears they'd really like to have me for an interview, seeing how they notified me within a few hours after my application. So I'm going to make it worth their while, for sure.
  • Posted Nov 29, 2006 1:30 am PT
  • Category: Other
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• 20Nov 06

  Community

  Let's All Sing Together!
  
  I've seen a lot of people who expect nothing from the online service that Sony and Nintendo will be offering for their consoles. While I'm tempted to side with the sceptics, all it takes to get on the same level as Xbox Live is a bunch of servers, a central login and a friends list, right?
  
  Perhaps there is more to it. I have played games online on PC before I first booted up Xbox Live and I've always had a kind of 'detached' feeling when doing so. PC gamers seem cold. They would only talk about the game, curse occassionally and use leetspeak. Of course leetspeak. I always run into fanatics or game-crazy people when I play PC games online, people I simply do not connect with, despite my own fanatical gaming habits.
  
  I often hear that Xbox Live is full of smacktalking....people.... That's partially right, there will always be people who use the headset as an outlet for their own frustrations, and there will always be people who will take games a little too seriously. Ran into those on PC as well. However, what really sets XBL apart for me is that there is some kind of community feel, even though there's millions of gamers in that 'community'. When I click a few buttons to jump online in a more laidback atmosphere such as an Arcade game, there's no such thing as leetspeak. It's either quiet, or people are just chatting away about all sorts of things. Most of the time it is not about the game, and they rarely play to win. And you always have something to talk about because you've used the same means of contacting each other, namely the 360 console.
  
  This makes the Xbox Live community seem more like your own city or town. Most of the people in your city you've never met, but still you feel you can connect with them because you share a bunch of the same interests and preoccupations because you live in the same town. When at the bus stop you can chat with them about how the bus is always late and they'll probably agree with you because they understand where you're coming from.
  
  In my opinion, that is the greatest challenge any company who wants to build a unified online gaming service from the ground up has to face. XBL has gamercards, it functions a bit like a phonebook. I can have a few of those in my own personal phonebook and we'll meet up often. XBL has gamerscore, which is nothing but a number but does show how 'active' you are in this community. These elements mean nothing but they do add a whole lot of personality to your online handle.
  
  To me a good online gaming service is not a buddy list, a bunch of central servers and a central login. It turns out that I keep coming back for more on XBL because it's more than just games. It's a social interaction tool where people do not always curse or use made-up languages. It's a big meeting place where people chat about all sorts of things as well, and where people are granted a personality immediately, one that stretches beyond their nickname alone. I challenge you to beat that, Sony and Nintendo.
  • Posted Nov 20, 2006 1:25 am PT
  • Category: Editorial
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