Hey! How the hell are ya?! It has literally been over 2 years since my last blog post. Holy guacamole! I'm slightly embarrassed about this because I still consider blogging to be one of my favourite hobbies and I did not know it has been that long until I finally logged in and saw the date on my last post. Have my followers been heckling me to write a new post? No, because they include my mom and I and we both know I've been busy as F. I will confess that sometimes I view my posts before falling asleep and laugh a bit louder than I should for writing the jokes and stories myself but I'm not ashamed to be my own number one fan. (Side note: just undid the button on my jeans because sh*t's about to get real rannow.)
I really hate to make excuses but it's kind of a love/hate because I still do it all the time but I have legit been crazy busy. So busy that finally tonight I'm starting to feel a bit like exploding which means it's unloading time which means the blog is in business!
What have I been so busy with, you may ask? Here is a 5-point summary because I legit have some real talk to get to:
1. I have completed college--Bachelor's Degree in Human Resources Management (if you don't know what that is please use your googler, the amount of times I've had to explain it is enough to make me want to punch myself in the throat)
2. I'm an aunt--Coke had a baby girl and I love her (if you want to read more about babies please find a neighbouring mommy blog, there's many of them out there and they are likely worth more of your time than this blog)
3. I bought a new vehicle and have passed Petey down to my younger cousin. I tell myself he's doing better now, it's really hard to think about so I have unhealthily blocked it.
4. I'm living and working full-time in da big city
5. You know, Netflix and stuff
The real talk I want to get to is about adulting and being out in the so-called "real world". I say this with quotations because it's not like I was on another planet before I graduated college but there is some differences you find when you're in your career rather than in school or working part-time jobs. My idea for this post is to list a few of the things I've learnt since becoming somewhat of a professional (me--a professional? I know right?!). At the time I'm writing this I have been graduated for 6 months.
1. Nobody knows what they're doing. I'm definitely still new to my career and when I first started working I hated that there was so much I didn't know. I'm very Type A and need to have a sense of control of situations and for a long time I felt personally bothered that people would ask me things and I would be like ...ummm no idea. But I have found that nobody knows everything all the time. I've gone and asked questions to my superiors and have had them be like ...hmmm...let me get back to you on that. That is working world code for "I have no fucking clue either but I really shouldn't say that aloud". Those who seem like they know stuff all the time are faking it 90% of the time--see I just faked that number, I have no actual idea statistic-wise. But seriously I've experienced people giving me an answer or going forward with something and then having it come back as wrong. There's really no way of being 100% prepared for every thing that you come across and it's okay! Eventually you find ways of wording your own working world code and you learn how to find things out.
2. You can't please everybody all of the time. This is something that I usually always strive to do but I have learned that in some cases you do have to pick a side to cater to. I find that my position is tricky because HR is kind of a bridge between employees and company. I got into HR because I want to make employees happy to be at work and do what I can for them. But I also have a responsibility to protect the company and do what's right for my employer and make the employer happy so that I still get a paycheque. I usually try to find ways to make both parties happy but there are sometimes when you just can't and you have to decide okay who takes priority in this situation?
3. The projects don't end. This has been one of the more tiring aspects of real world living. Back on planet college, you were tasked with things but they had end dates. Your project groups were temporary, your paper had a conclusion, your exams had a final question; but not in real life. Everything is "ongoing". You work with the same people until you get enough evidence to fire them legally (haha jk wink wink). You are constantly updating, evaluating, reviewing, revising, assessing, etc. Even that list is ongoing haha. My Type A personality loves lists, meaning lists with check boxes, meaning check boxes that you check when a task is complete, which means instant satisfaction. But there are barely any checkboxes here in real world. But I guess if there was, I wouldn't have a job for too long.
4. If you don't voice your concerns, no one will. I've always been worried about seeming like a complainer or a whiner and so I tend to hold back when I have a bad feeling about something. I've recently found though that voicing my concerns or opinions has great benefits. In some cases there was something missed by someone else or something they didn't know until I informed them. Other times it seemed like the whole group felt a certain way but no one wanted to be the one to speak out and just hoped someone else would (I guess I'll be the hero then, if I have to). There's nothing wrong with voicing your concerns just be prepared for 2 things, 1: they'll hear your concern but won't do anything about it or agree with it or 2: they will agree and take the credit for it. I've found that in most cases I really couldn't give a rat's patooty who gets credit for fixing a situation as long as that situation is fixed in the end. It's not worth something going wrong just because you didn't want someone else getting kudos.
5. Your career is really controlled by one person and one person only--your mom just kidding dumb ass, it's you. If you work hard and put in the time and the effort it will be noticed. You have to make yourself invaluable and prove your worth to a company. I do this by bringing in delicious home-made cookies every once in a while and always being as helpful as I can. Never say no, except for workplace harassment then you should try saying "no, please stop, this is harassment."
6. Don't be afraid of humility, roll with the punches and laugh at yourself. The position I'm in now started out as an internship that I did for the last four months of my degree. At the end of the term I was supposed to present an assessment of the company's current HR program. I was also trying to land myself a permanent position at this place so how am I supposed to review a place honestly but still be respected enough that they want to keep me? Anyways I wanted to lighten the mood a little bit so I put in a joke at the beginning of my powerpoint that included a picture of good ol' Petey. So I say my joke and I'm currently pausing for laughter as I rehearsed but all I hear is silence and all I see are blank faces. So I awkwardly explain as you can see by the PT shown here... Then I hear someone whisper, we can't see the PT... Well god dammit business school! You taught me not to look up at the screen but then there was a delay between my laptop and the projector so I was viewing the PT on my laptop screen in front of me but the projector screen was 1 slide behind. My entire joke was ruined and I felt like running out of the room. This was supposed to lighten spirits and lessen my nerves but it did the complete opposite. Everyone was really good-natured about it and of course teased me relentlessly the rest of the week but I laughed about it too. As humans, our natural instinct is to find the path of least resistance and run away from all that makes us uncomfortable or feel threatened. Humility is one of the top things that triggers this flight response (I can't reference any of this info because frankly I haven't done citations for 6 months and I don't remember where all I've heard this but I'm pretty sure there was a Ted talk about it...). But in the real world you'll find times when you need to stand up to this feeling and remember that it will pass and you won't die and guess what, you'll even get the job.
I feel like this list could go on and on but we're getting into the sappy stuff now and honestly it's way past my bedtime. I am going to cap it here but I definitely have a lot more stories to tell so I am going to try and work on this blog a lot more than I have the past two years. I hope you enjoyed reading and if not please find some of those mommy blogs I discussed earlier and get off my case.
K
Love you
Bye!
Rock Awesome
