It's been another few months since my last update on here. I've now been at my current job for near 8 months and in my flat for 3 months.
Job
Work is going quite well. I've really settled in now and can hold my own as a full member of staff (despite my rolling temporary contract status). I have found my feet, and am starting to feel more influential in terms of innovation. Now that I'm familiar with the office processes, I've been doing my best to try and make these processes run smoother on my own merit. This has paid off greatly, only recently was one of the processes that I use been recognised as very efficient. I was approached by my manager and asked to create a template that the whole office could use as the new department-wide process. Best of all, she asked me to email it to everyone with an explanation of how it all works/how to use it.
I'm quite certain that a few of my colleagues felt this was a little bit of an overstep for a temp who was only been at the company for a few months. But I think I managed to be diplomatic enough in the email and humble enough in talking about it at lunches etc that they know I wasn't trying to be malicious/over-assertive.
I'm still asking a lot of questions everyday, but apparently I'm good enough to train the new members of staff on how some of the more thorough processes work - which I took as recognition that I'm doing something right.
In any case, I'm very grateful to be there - I feel like I'm learning a lot and it is fantastic to be a part of such a large company so soon after graduating. It hasn't even been a full year since I finished my last exams and I already feel like I'm learning invaluable lessons of business and management skills.
I still have little idea about what I eventually want to do - but at least I'm absorbed in something in the meantime!
Flat
The first couple of months here in this room felt a little odd. Nothing was really where I wanted it to be and I had to do a lot in the way of learning to deal with a much smaller space. However, I have a bed and my independence. Anything is better than continuing to live on my Dad's couch!
I'm almost where I want to be in having my flat all kitted out. I've got all my pictures up, my calendar etc all hung up and I'm quite settled with the position of all the furniture. My kitchen is finally all equipped with the appliances that I feel I need. Now I just need to find the time and energy to cook - which is a little harder with my long hours and commute.
One thing I have noticed - my room will go from sparkling clean and neat to complete tip within a few days if I don't stay on top of it. It's like being in my student accommodation again - the space is too small for any kind of mess or clutter. Also, I'm not altogether comfortable with the bag of rubbish sitting by the door because our grey wheelie bin was stolen and I have nowhere else to put it.
I still haven't really made friends with my housemates. We'll talk to each other briefly but there's no-one I've really clicked with yet. We all work long hours - but the new guy is very loud although I do enjoy when he sings every now and again because if I can hear him, then he can definitely hear my Beyonce impression :-)
