April News

- career

So, what else is new?

  • I’m now on Twitter: @mwldm<a name=‘more’>
  • My new job as a statistician has been really good fun so far. However, I am invited to two assessment centres for permanent government jobs! Cross your fingers and push your thumbs for me on 5th and 20th May!
  • I went on a training course on networking events. As a result I’m now quite keen to practise my new skills, especially on how to join a group and gracefully enter a conversation. Turns out, barging in and interrupting people is generally frowned upon!
  • Online dating is starting to bore me. After I had got over my initial polite phase where I responded to every proper message, I realised that none of the young men out there were eligible. My solution to this was deactivating my account and signing up for a new one at a different dating page.
  • I was introduced to the most eccentric hobby I’ve ever come across: Change ringing - the ringing of church bells in a formalised, mathematic way - a very English tradition, and more technical / physical and less musical than I expected. The songs are called “methods”, and can go on for up to 3 hours. My former boss invited me along to her change ringing practice in a beautiful restored church in Haddington, a small village in East Lothian, East of Edinburgh. It was fascinating, and I even got to ring a bell (under close supervision). 
  • After the bell ringing we went to the pub, after which I missed my bus and was stuck in East Lothian. It took me 2.5 hours to get home. Still worth it though.


Comments

Hi, great news. I didn’t know about your new job. A permanent position would really be a great perspective. Regarding your networking training, I find it hard to join a group of strangers, you need some kind of “opener”. - der Erich

Here’s the opener: “May I join you? (and optionally: I don’t know anyone here.)” And then: “What brings you/everyone here?”, “Have you been to many events like this before?”, etc. - Maike