I was at work the other day (more on where I work later) when I happen to need to look up some information on a particular Wacom Tablet model. Since I own one, I opened up my blog and did a search for the blog post that I had specifying which exact model it was.
I was able to find the post and give the person I was talking to the exact model name and while I was doing that I noticed something that took me aback for a moment: seeing that particular blog post about my animation equipment, I’ve realized that I’ve gone way off track with this blog of mine!
Why is that, you ask? Well, almost all of my recent blog posts have been photography related. In fact, I have not written anything animation relevant since June 2008! My last post that I can relate to animation was when I wrote about the interview I did about my job!
I was also amazed at how much I wrote about my animation work back then. I even wrote a review about my Wacom Cintiq and how it sort of failed to work for me for a certain period of time.
What ever happened?
Okay, I guess this would be a good time to recap what has been a difficult year for me, animation wise.
After a prolific year in 2008, everything suddenly came to a halt near the very start of this year. For the first time, I was not getting any calls asking me if I need work. In fact, it became quite the opposite: I found myself searching for work! At first, I was only sending applications out to what I think were the big animation studios. Later on, I got so desperate that I was sending applications to the smaller studio outfits!
Early January of this year, I was able to land my very last animation work, an incredibly rigorous gig doing Three Delivery. It was such a back-breaking job that not long after it was completed, the studio that handled the animation eventually closed shop.
It was that bad. I thought the industry I was working for was recession-proof. It was not.
So I stayed in limbo for a good two months after my last gig. It was horrible, financial and emotional-wise! I was paying lease for my equipment so I had to dig in to our savings just to cover that. It was desperate times and I had to swallow my pride and apply for work elsewhere.
I spent the last month of my unemployed status handing out resumes to stores like WalMart, London Drugs, SafeWay, everywhere that I thought would consider giving me an entry-level job. I had no retail experience so I guess my resume always ended up in the garbage can of the hiring manager’s office.
I considered applying for every odd jobs that I could think of when on job posting caught my eye. It was for a job position as a retail clerk for a camera store. Since I have been dabbling a lot in photography, I gave it a shot. I got lucky: it was the first time I was granted a job interview so I made good use of it by selling myself to the best of my ability. During the interview, I admitted that I had no retail experience but would be a willing and committed student if they should ever consider hiring me and take me in and train me on how to do it. I highlighted my animation background and how I am highly capable in using the computer and editing photographs. I was told to wait for their call.
Not long after, I was told to come back for a second interview. By then I was determined to land this job. During my second interview, I was told that my lack of retail experience was taking me out of the running. However, they told me that they were impressed by my determination and offered to give me a chance by training me how to work in their system and try me out as long as I give them my commitment during the training period. I said yes!
So that is how I landed my job as a retail clerk and lab technician in a camera store. I have been at it since June! I have decided not to write about the on-goings at work as I do not want to risk slighting my manager in case they happen to visit my blog. All I can say is I am quite surprised how I am enjoying working in the retail environment, and that is quite something to say coming from me who is used to working alone and not interacting with people!
I guess that will do for now. More juicy news come part 2 of this short series about getting this blog back on track.
Until then, have a nice day!
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