About me, again

The web design company I work for has a website showcasing our work and some other information. Soon I will have to place a photo of myself and a short profile about me on the staff page. I was oddly excited at this thought, but now for some reason I don’t really know what I should write. I’m used to writing about myself, but for some reason I got stuck wondering what to write about myself in light of the work I do. My boss said to me to write some “cheesy text” about what I like. XD Well, I guess that’s not that hard.

I had to update our portfolio of work with screenshots and descriptions, but I had no idea what to write for that either…

“Do you want any particular text for the screenshots?”
“Yes.”
“… What do you want me to write?”
“Come on, you’re a blogger!”

Yes, I’m a blogger, I’m a writer… but I can’t help but criticise my own writing, as writers do. As a writer I struggle to call something perfect, there is always room for improvement, and there is always something flawed. It is always eerie reading over my own work when I’m not comfortable with it. Many times I know I have done a less than perfect job – when I write a song, a blog post, a story, an essay – perhaps because I’ve rushed it or not really given it as much thought as I could have. With a lot of those works, once they’re finished, they hide away and they’re never looked at again. But writers will always be their own worst critic, and somehow I find it useful to take in the advice of my boss: IF it doesn’t come to you naturally, don’t force it.

So maybe if I want to say I’m a hyperactive girl who loves photography, first dabbled in HTML in 2000… hmm, I guess I can easily think of some “cheesy text”. ;)

The 1000-piece jigsaw puzzle I’ve been working on still isn’t finished. I was hoping to finish it by today by working on it in my work breaks or in the mornings, but I just realised how horrible the green in the finished photograph is. It’s mortifying. I have done most of the puzzle and it looks as if there isn’t much left, but when I look at the pieces, there are probably another hundred to go. There are such large spaces of green and I swear all the pieces I have left are green and roughly of the same texture. It’s such a challenge. I don’t think I’ll want to do another puzzle for a while coming…

I don’t mean to get bitchy about what I’m going to write about next, but it’s in regards to my last web designing job. Now I don’t know what is with people and not getting straight to the point, beating around the bush, or just being plain horrible, but when you fire someone or don’t want someone to work from you anymore, as an employer, it’s really in your best interests to tell someone to leave your company properly. After reading The 10 Worst Things to Say When You Fire Someone, I started thinking about – well, not times I’d been fired, but – times I’d been kicked off without being told directly.

I used to work for a small radio station, a gig my friend helped me out with. He knew I was a web designer, and he did segments for this online radio station. I helped them redesign their website, and I did the best I could, but my client was not very cooperative at all. I will save bad experiences for another day. Towards the end of that gig, I remember not having been paid when I was supposed to, and I emailed the client to sort out the issue. Several days later I found that all my work had been deleted and replaced with some default theme/template. To me, it was obvious what the message was. They clearly did not like my work and just cut me off. I didn’t bother trying to contact them again. I waited until I was paid the last of my hours, and that was that.

It only serves to remind me of the job I had for a few months last year. It was great, it was a good environment and all my colleagues were nice. But I was talked to in private and told that I needed to speed up a little and continue developing my skills in my own time. To me, that’s not what work is about. If you’re working, you’re meant to be gaining experience and sometimes learning. I don’t go to work just to go home and learn something for work. That’s what employers are for. To train you to be the best employee you can be for them.

One day, I was on the way to work, and I got a phone call from my supervisor. He apologised for the late notice and told me not to come in. He said that there were no resources for the project I was going to do, and it was unfortunate that the client hadn’t sent the files over. Okay, fair deal.

Now I realise how suspicious that was when I emailed and asked if any work was available and when I could come in, and still, two weeks later, there was no work for me. Yet I still had a book I borrowed from them, and they wanted it back, and I had to go out of my damn way to return it. James said it was as if I’d been unofficially fired. I’m thinking now – five months on – that perhaps I was. I mean, them wanting their book back and saying “We really need it” was probably a sign that that was it.

I hate when people give you false hope; I held off looking for jobs while I waited weeks and weeks. I mean, if someone isn’t good for your company and you have to fire them, do it properly instead of still being legally bound to them… geez. It doesn’t matter if you get the “you’re fired” or you’re just never called up again. It still sucks.

Comments on this post

As far as criticizing my own writing, I do the exact same thing. If I know it’s something mediocre, I will avoid reading it again at all costs. So that means I never re-read old blog posts, rushed lyrics, or started novels that I lost inspiration for.

I used to do Jigsaw puzzles all the time with my mom but I really just don’t have the patience for anything like that anymore. Yours looks good so far though! It’s pretty. (:

I’ve never been fired or let go yet from any of my jobs but the way you were treated seems really ridiculous and immature. You’re right, if someone didn’t want you to work for them anymore they should have just told you outright because beating around the bush about it is confusing and unfair.

Guess who’s back!! Me! (H) and with a new website, it’s so weird typing it in. I’m so used to coloursplash that even my computer remembers it lol.
Wow you are really dedicated to that puzzle, i probably would have given up by now. Actually in my house someone would have messed it up. /um Nothing ever lasts in this house.
When it comes to writing I think that hardest part is coming up with the words, well for me it is. I know what I want to say, but to put it words is really difficult at times. I actually gave one of my friends false hope that I’d help with her with something, she was so excited I didn’t know how to break it to her that I won’t.

I’ve read several bios on professional engineering websites before. Usually, people just write about their education, amount of work experience, and any notable big projects that they’ve done. However, you’re not a mechanical engineer, so yours might have to be a bit different.

I find that these days, a lot of companies (at least in the US) don’t care as much about making their employees awesome people and only care about getting results out of them – even if the employees are fresh out of school with very little experience! My boyfriend made an effort to learn several things outside of his job to do his job better, fearing that his manager would think that he was too slow. My dad has even told me that companies will sometimes even layoff the older people because the older people cost more than the younger people, even though the older people have much more experience than the younger people. It’s a shame. At least it looks like your current employer is awesome, and if you do well with them, then you’ll be fine.

I agree with James and think that you were informally fired from the first company, but since they hired you formally, they can’t fire you without actually telling you, right? People do suck sometimes.

Just so you know, I copied and pasted the part that allows me to preview the theme you created for me that is unfinished because I like it so much into the address bar for this blog post. I’m not viewing your current theme for Heartdrops because I feel a bit too gloomy to even mess with it (the pink, the happy, the eh to all this happy crap). /bash

I decided I’m going to use seekliza.me as a blog about my depression, so maybe it’ll be able to help someone else or something like that … I don’t know. And mymelodies.org will be like a photoblog now, and 6birds.net will continue to be my ‘normal blog’ and blah blah blah, now I’m just rambling. D:

I criticize myself as a writer. P: Good luck in figuring out what to write for the screen shot(s)… :) /type Don’t work too hard. >.>

I saw the picture of the puzzle a few days or so ago; you’re doing pretty good on it! :3 You’ve really come a long way on it. ;)

I’d read the rest, but thinking about work just me feel about ten times worse than I already did before thinking about it/talking about it/etc. again.

Eh, my writing is never perfect, whether it’s a creative piece or an essay (especially essays, ugh). I read somewhere that said it is better to think your writings sucks than think it’s perfect or something like that. xD Like, when you think your writing is not good enough, it actually is, kinda, and if you think your writing is 100% perfect, it really isn’t. Ok, I don’t remember much at all concerning all this, but I assume it went something like that! Haha.

Dang, I hate it when people don’t tell you things before hand and/or totally not cooperative with you! >:( It’s like the 2 girls who were in my history group. One girl dropped out of the class and told no one until one of my trusty members contacted her. That girl said she “forgot” to tell everyone. Then, the other girl probably got angry about how my trusty member decided to print out these handouts as part of our presentation (which was today) herself (it’s because she got nervous and wasn’t sure if that girl would do it, plus, changes had to be made and she wanted to change them herself since she KNEW what needed to be changed.) Long story short, that girl also decided to drop out of the class last night and didn’t text my trusty member until later on in class today. >_>

So, there were only three of us up there presenting instead of an original group of five. Super lame.

;D your own section on the site! /wuw

Hlalng, stupid Ziller. What a way to treat an employee. humof

Can’t wait to see your section on TWP ngege

(Y)

-le sigh- I know how it feels. those people are working without the sense of professionalism. there are so many times that I designed websites without getting any payment and the fact that people just want to ditch you without telling us about it.. expecting us to realize it on our own =.=

anyway, i’m sure you can come out with something cheesy yourself XD i’m bad at writing personal introduction, but I like yours (in your profile) and you will make one for your portfolio a nice one too..

have a great weekend!

I think it’s hard to write an introduction that will interest others. Most people will state their name and age, and like your boss said, some cheesy things about what they like. I haven’t the faintest idea how to make that sound interesting, really. Like, you want it to be zany and interesting and everything, but you still have to maintain an air of professionalism?

Everyone is their own worst critic. I think the fact that you recognise that your work has room for improvement speaks volumes about you. It’s really hard to be the best at something, but it’s even harder to accept that you’re not the best at something and you continue to try and improve! :) I think that’s all that anyone can ask for.

Your radio job sounded awful. When I was reading your entry I thought that they flat-out refused to pay you, what with removing your work.

In the case of the job you had last year, it seemed pretty awful for your supervisor to tell you not to come in on such a late notice. I mean, you were already on the way to work, And they didn’t even fire you properly… It would have sucked to be fired regardless, but like you said, at least you wouldn’t have had false hope and waited around for them.

I wanted to say hi, by the way. :D I haven’t visited your blog in months because I haven’t been on the computer much and I was taking a little break anyway.

Really, if you’re going to fire someone, you should come straight out and say it. Do they think they’re being nice? It’s like when you go for a job interview, they don’t like you, but they don’t contact you to tell you that. They just leave you wondering…

Good luck finishing the puzzle!

first of all i want to say I LOVE THIS FONT! OMGOSH!!! lol iderno if you changed it or if it’s because i’m on windows 7 on a different computer but it’s SUPER CUTE AND CLEAN!!! LOVEEEE ITT!! *SPAZZZZ*

lol *COUGH*
anywho! hahaha we all deal with that problem! it’s like, write a 50 word blurb about yourself! It ends up being too short or too long @_@ I suggest writing about what you want people/visitors to perceive you as ^o^

oh my, that experience at the radio station is beyond horrible. extremely disrepectful. at least TELL you. bah. And sorry to hear about your other experience too…that’s probably worse because it sounds like something your ex-coworkers had as well, not limited to your supervisor.

but with all shitty experiences, comes experience. it sucks and it hurts like hell, but it’s nothing we all can’t make through! it’s good that you got let go in these places since they don’t seem like a great place to work anyway. i’m sure you’re tons better at your new place! keep working hard and as you say, it’s about the experience! :D

Just a quick comment for you, love! ♥ I’ve missed reading/commenting on these blogs ever so much.

“But writers will always be their own worst critic” – true to the letter. With lyrics and poems, not so much, since I just write it, fiddle around a bit and save the file. With stories or essays, I’m horrific – editing and changing and deleting whatever I feel is shittifying the final piece. Sometimes I wish I wasn’t so hard to satisfy. /ehh
That said, when I feel that I’ve done a good job, I feel on top of the world and go crazy. /type

Good luck with that puzzle of yours! My family and I did one like that one holiday, of a street in London at Christmas. All the lights in the street were so hard to do.

I’ve only had one job and it wasn’t really a proper job – I volunteered in a charity shop for three months. Sigh. I want to go and ask round at the pub though, see if I can do some washing up or something.

… They just deleted all your work? What a fucking douche. Goddamn. Stupid unco-operative moronic piece of torsofuck. 💥

As for just casually having no jobs for you to do… casual, sneaky and rude. Hmph. Some people need balls. I mean, if you don’t tell the employee that they’re sacked how the hell are they supposed to get out there and find another job?

My friend got fired from working at a restaurant because she was too small to use some of the machines. /bash

Bahhh, major suckage. I hope you keep your current job for a long time, though, because it makes you happy and you’re learning lots and lots. :3

Missin’ you! ♥

Take care! xx

When I was a teenager (hahaha), I love answering about yourself or describe yourself thingies. But ever since I went back to blogging and joined several social networking sites, I find it hard answering those questions. Maybe because I feel like people might mistakenly think I’m bragging when they read that part. To be safe… I only put “ask me specific questions then i’ll tell you.” :))

I wanna try that 1000 pcs puzzle too. I hope I can find time anytime soon.

I miss visiting your blog. ;)

I imagine that it’s not easy to fire someone, but if it’s your job to inform the person … then you do it, and in a professional way. /poo

I think the key to being able to look back on your own writing is simplicity and truth. If those two things are combined, you’ve got a winning piece on your hands. Sometimes without those two things, or only having one of the two (e.g., truthful but verbose), we look back and think ‘man, there’s a lot of bullshit going on here/this is hard to read’ lol. XD

I do have to agree with you because I too have that mentality. I am a writer myself and we are always so harsh on ourselves more than others are.

It is a bit worse for me since I’m harsh about everything-not just my writing.

Yeah, sorry about that situation you are in ;( Man, I missed so many blog entries!