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Emigration Blog

Name:
Location: Norwich, United Kingdom

I'm one of those people that temp agencies, and ordinary employment interviewers, don't know what the heck to do with. I have a Ph.D. in biochemistry, which is still an interest, but I don't want to do the kind of work I did in that area ever again. Besides, I left it 15 years ago. I then worked in publishing as a production editor, and then freelance copy edited and proofread. But that was by hand, in the US (while I now live in England), and I don't yet know Quark. Then I got a degree in textile design and worked for a fashion company. None of these skills are apparently of any use in finding work in Norwich, UK, at the age of 57, so I'm working a very boring office job three days a week. Have a suggestion? Please speak up.

Thursday, October 06, 2005

Should I write my autobiography?

I e-mailed an old friend recently, telling her about my adventures in the UK. This time, it was a positve e-mail, all about how I've just gotten this mini-residency at Norwich School of Art and Design. It comes with absolutely no money except for a 200 pound materials allowance, but it gives me access to all the textile toys and their bulletin boards and just plain access to other artists. And my husband will have a new job in just a few weeks. So with me bringing in a bit from temp work and selling the things I make (I WILL eventually have a website.) and tutoring and whatever else comes up, we'll survive, starting when he gets paid, whih is not until a month after he starts.
In the meanwhile, we've raided what remains of my retirement accounts, we've used our one UK card, and out of deperation, I've taken a minimum wage clerical assistant job which is driving me nuts. It's like being busted back to my employment situation just after high school. Could it be that I'm the only clerical assistant in the UK with a PhD in biochemistry and a degree in textile design as well? Lord, I hope so. I don't want to wish this on anyone with a significant amount of education and experience.
Now here's what made her say what she said: There's an opening where I work for the head of the Creative Arts Department, and I applied. Talk about a promotion, huh? It's now almost a week past the deadline, and I haven't heard a thing so I assume I've been turned down, but at least they know I'm here and can do morethan I'm doing now.
Actually, since this job' full time, I can't afford to stay in it. I need tome for the non-paying internship. So I've made a deal with the temp agency which is looking for someone new for this job so I can move on to a 4 hr per day data entry job. Then with any luck, and a lot of time spent at the school, I'm hoping to end up doing some kind of work I will enjoy doing.
It has been such a pain to find work in general. The Norfolk area has essentially no garment industry. I've got publishing experience, but I don't know Quark and can't afford to study it until I have decently paid work. It's been 15 years since I left science, and I don't want to go back to it unless as a teacher. But I don't have any teaching credentials, coursewise, though I've taught grad students and med students. Because I hadn't worked in the UK, I had no UK work references, and the temp agency said that very few employers would hire you for anything without them! So finally I took this clerical assistant job just for the UK work reference, though whether it will be positive or not I haven't a clue because I can't hide the fact that the job bores me to tears! Not literal tears yet, but I've come close.
There was a very good reason I didn't go into office-type work in the first place. It doesn't suit me and I don't suit it. I hate dressing up for work and dressing in what I consider boring clothes.
Enough. I'm going to depress myself if I go on this way, which is called whinging (rhymes with hinge) and is highly disapproved of here. I have GOT to find the folks here who think like me if I'm to go anywhere at all. I know there must be some in Norwich.