Why I am not getting any jobs

Now I finally know why I have not been getting any jobs. My resume and cover letter are obviously good enough to get the interview. But somewhere I am bombing out on the interview itself.

So I turned to a womens employment agency that does mock video interviews.
It turns out that there are several things I am doing wrong.

1 My accent is strong and it takes while for people to get used to it
2 My voice is soft and some people just cannnot hear me.
3 I speak too fast.

So now I have to consiously slow down my speech and speak louder
(for me that will be hard as it is like shouting)

I cannot do anything about my accent - I will have that for life.
Most people I speak to, think I am either english or south african.
I am neither although I do have english ancestry.

I have another job interview on Tuesday, a job I really do want, so I will be makeing a strong affort to speak more slowly and louder.
I hope this works.

Graduation Ceremony

Well I have finally officially graduated!!.

And in the 3 months since I last posted, I have applied for many jobs, gone to several interviews but have had no job offers yet.

I am seriously thinking that employers may be discriminating against me just because I have grey hair. That is why I went back to school. To show them that I have updated my skills.

I really dont want to dye my hair for interviews because then I would have to continue dying it. Hair dye is an expense we just cannot afford.

The below photo was taken last night (Friday November 27th) at my graduation.

In the middle is Sholeh - my instructor. On the left is Selena - one of my best friends from Trios. She did the paralegal course.

Week 58 - I have finally finished my studies

I really did it. I have finally got my DIPLOMA. Here it is.
Please forget that my real name is on this diploma.
I graduated with Distinction. My overall average was 88%
And here is my graduation photo!!!

Week 58 - The Diploma

My Diploma and Transcripts have been issued already. I was told they may take up to 4 weeks. Today is just 10 days after my last class!!!!

I plan to pick them up tomorrow. When I do get my diploma, I will scan and post it plus my graduation photo on this blog.

Week 57 - Final grade posted

My ACCESS grade has finally been posted. I got 87% which is good.
I have one score in the 60s, 3 scores in the 70s and 17 scores in the 80s and 90s.

Which means I should graduate with DISTINCTION. I am very pleased with this.For the first time I have finished something I started. Now if I can just get a job in the middle of this recession.

Goodbye and thanks for following me during my one year back in school. This year has just gone by so fast.

I will stop posting on this blog now, except for photos which I promised I would upload and one last post when I do get my first job.

About that interview I mentioned last week. Well I went to that yesterday and it did not go as well as I had hoped. I am not too worried. It was my first interview in over 12 month. I am definitely out of practise.

Ciao for now everyone.

Week 56 - Day 5

Well that's it. I'm done.

I sat the ACCESS final exam today. I got 70 out of 90 marks. The instructor said I did good on the class project. So hopefully I will get a good final grade.

I rushed around after class taking photos of students and staff. I will put them up next week.

Remember when I said that the first class I took last year turned out to be not part of my official curriculum? Well the school director told me today that my marks for that class will NOT be part of my official transcript. Which is a pity because one of those marks was a perfect score (100%).

Oh well. That makes my average currently 86%. My ACCESS Grade is still to be added in. I expect to Graduate with Distinction. I am actually very proud of this grade.

Thinking back (a long way back) to my one and only year at university straight out of High school. I seem to remember getting all D's in 5 exams and a suspension for one year. I never went back. I wish I had. I do regret not going back.

This diploma more than makes up for the last 25+ years of not knowing what I wanted to do or be.

Week 56 - Day 4

Well, tomorrow is the last day of my Diploma Course. This is also the third and final week of ACCESS. Today we completed the class ACCESS projects and had them marked. Tomorrow is the ACCESS final exam.

These last 12 months have been so much fun. I have really enjoyed myself, a lot more than I thought I would actually. I have really enjoyed learning new skills. I also enjoyed learning how to use new software packages. I love learning new software.

Every other course I have ever started in my life (up until now) for some reason I could never finish. This course I finished. This is a big accomplishment for me.

I have one interview set for next week. Despite sending out my resume to numerous companies over the last 6 weeks, I have not had any responses. I think the recession is biting hard.