Tuesday, March 31, 2009 -

My first new post for the year!!


Between my last post and this....2008 has come and gone, I've from SIM, went back to camp for my first reservice session and spent the last few months job hunting right on the cusp of the worst recession Singapore has experienced in the past 7 years.....Fun Times..LOL!

And what a frustrating and trying time the last few months has been.......the whole job search thing just pushes so many of your buttons in so many different ways....some days you're hopeful,sometimes you feel bummed out, somedays you feel just plain helpless about the situation, somedays you just fall into a deep ,melancholic funk waiting for your phone to ring........but finally after 3-4 mths,after some near-misses....I finally got a job as a Marketing executive for an Architectural firm and its subsidiary art gallery and wine bar.


The Boss is a pretty nice guy, young entrepreneur who's pretty prominent in the local architectural scene....I was surprised to find out from my research on the firm that he was the guy who spearheaded the restoration project that turned the old St James Powerstation into the club.


The pay could be better of course...haha... but I guess its a semi-decent rate with regards to current market standard......but anyway the creative nature of the job and the sheer weariness of sending out 10-20 resumes a day/every day for the past 4 mths convinced me to just go for it.......at best the job will a nice stepping stone, at worst it'll be something to tide me over for this economic slum while earning some much needed funds..hahaha


While I think my whole personal job search process may not be worst I've heard of....but I think its pretty high up there in the shitty meter amongst my group of sec,poly and uni friends.....haha.....boy do I have some absolute horror stories.........


- Going for an interview with this "Multinational Company" that specialises in global conferences and realizing that this huge conglomerate was housed in a shop house above a kopitiam selling braised pig trotters and bak ku teh.


-Taking a 1 1/2 hr test and then waiting another 1 hr at the reception area with another 4 people to see the interviewer for a job as a junior Marketing Executive at K-Box and then running off after waiting for one hour to Toshiba Data dynamics (which went pretty good) and a local firm selling medical equipment (which was shitty) all within the kallang industrial area and then taking a cab all the way back to k-box and waiting another 1 1/2 hr to see the interviewer.


-The aforementioned Medical firm? After running all the way to the address given, I found out from the receptionist that they gave the wrong link in the e-mail which contained an out-dated address. So I had to run 4 blocks down t the actual address, only to be informed promptly within 10 mins of reaching by the hiring manager that her secretary made a mistake because they're looking for someone who has a class 3 license so sorry they had to waste my time.


-And the utimate Killer interview with the Kidney Dialysis foundation that left me feeling mentally raped when I walked out their door. Another tale for another time...haha


Not to mention all those worthless interviews where countless Insurance firms try to trick you to come down early in the morning to their firms by withholding their names in the hiring ads then advertising for positions such as business development executives, Marketing executives, Public relations executive and financial advisor which all equals to basically: Insurance Agent. I got smart after my first month of job hunting and developed this "spider-sense" that could detect an insurance company-related advertisement or phone-recruiter from a mile away.....


And then there's those "near-misses" where I made it to the final round of interviews but was informed basically that "we liked you and all and you did good for the interview but at the end of the day, if its a choice between somebody with experience and someone without. It's just not justifiable to hire a green horn"..........and there were those firms that offered me jobs but at a pay rate that was really difficult to carve a decent living out of......$1600, Pure Comission jobs,etc....


All in All, I'm just kinda glad that the whole process of job-hunting process is temporarily at a stand-still.......what a goddamn relief not having to sort through 2 dozen job ads and sending out 10 resumes the first thing in the morning once I wake up, pore through the classified recruit section over and over again every day and sending out a second wave of resumes before I go to bed and worst of all hoping and waiting that some kind soul will give you a call and call you down for an interview at a firm that is at least half-way decent.....


But its not all doom and gloom....I'm thankful for some of the personal time that I had to myself while job-hunting too.......I convinced myself that this is my last big break before entering the working life......I've had time to do some stuff I always wanted to get to someday.....not only did I get to exercise on a daily basis and keep in shape but I've drawn and produced more comic pages that I have within this 4 mths than the last 5 years combined......I even went back and finished up various pieces of art that I worked on but left unfinished 5-6 years ago.....


Art and exercise kept me focused through the more difficult patches in between......and I do think that physically and artistically, I'm at a better state that when I started out few months ago......so that's a plus point....the other day, I finished pencilling and inking this page that I thought contained my all-time best inking ever........lines so razor-thin that you'll need prescription specs to see them..........I managed to hone my line art to the amost needle-like point that I have been trying to get for ages.....good stuff...hahaha...


I also read voraciously during these period and must have consumed a dozen or more books (NOT COMICS)....I pick a specialist subject that I'm interested in and then read all the material on it that I can get my hands on from the library or online.......Started with the Zodiac killings, worked my way down to the Richard Nixon/Watergate Scandal, brushed up on my history on American organized crime and structure(Of which I'm a certifiable expert), learnt about the Healthcare systems of America compared to the rest of the world, got interested and read up on the Cuban Revolution in which Fidel Castro and Che Guevara toppleed the US-Puppet President of Cuba;Batsista and more recently I've been studying the Jidaigeki films of legendary Japanese Filmmaker Akira kurosawa (Seven Samurai, Yojimbo,Kagemusha,etc) and immersing myself in research about feudal japan;mainly the edo period.....everything from the legend of the 47 ronin to their eating habits and customs......its actually some pretty interesting stuff....Of course I've also been reading up on art instructional books in an attempt to improve my art in new ways.....how to ink properly, what tools to use...blah,blah...

Anyway I'm currently finishing up the Making of Raging Bull book(pretty good) and I'll be jumping straight into Che Guevara's Cuban diaries and the Art of James Jean hardcover I bought..cool stuff...



Well....back to the topic....with regards to my new job,besides all my marketing and accounts-related duties, I just got assigned a new project: coming up with the submission pitch for one of the major Christmas 2009 displays.......I've completed the creative brief and storyline and I'm now knee-deep in drawing up all the conceptual sketches for the proposed displays........which will be handed over to some 3D web-designer who'll turn my 2D art into 3D structures that will be super-imposed on the various locations and submitted for the pitch........


More updates to come I guess...and think I'll post a couple of drawings in my next post......Stay Tuned Mes Amis...


12:20 AM