What is temping?
It’s an abbreviated term for “temporary employment”. You’ve often heard it in Rom-Coms (romantic comedies) where the main girl is a temp at a new [insert business or magazine name here] firm, then temp girl meets boy, and then temp girl home wrecks the boy and his already perfect romance. ..Or something like that. I’ve always been curious about temping and wondered how fluid and chameleon-like one has to be in order to work in fast-paced, changing environments and be competent.
Since I’ve been out of school, I’ve had quite a few job experiences–none of which I’ve ever felt as unique as temping. I’ve been a content contributor, an in-home tutor, a receptionist, an admissions assistant, a medical assistant, and even a barista. (Okay, not really a barista, but I did try to work at a coffee shop for 1 day). I would say I’ve had a good taste of the corporate world–the good, the bad, and the downright intolerable. There was never a dull moment, and I was constantly challenged by opposing viewpoints and work ethics. But I had to do what I had to do to pay the bills. And then I decided to give temping a try. All I can say is that even though temping doesn’t give me that sense of security; it sure keeps things interesting.
Even if I hated where I temped, I can always say to myself, “well I’m out of here in a few weeks, as opposed to these corporate heads who are committed for life”. But I don’t hate it at all. It’s like catching a glimpse of a kind of life I would never have the chance to experience. Walking around downtown LA during my lunch break, I’m always so amazed at what I see–all the busy bodies hustling to and fro Point A to Point B, Blackberry device in one hand, laptop case/bag in the other. I love to watch these people and their facial expressions (not in a direct stare/creepy way) to try to see if they are truly enjoying their lifestyle. Is it just a job to them, where they’re constantly busy and stressed? Or do they genuinely care about the people/problem they are helping to fix? And how about salary? Is anyone ever content with how much they’re being paid? I mean, it’s so hard to settle with a number when they are surrounded by high materialism and competition to LOOK successful. It’s a great opportunity to learn new fields and become that well-rounded type of individual we should all work towards.
Temping was one of those things I wanted to check off my list before I pursue grad school and a real profession. I am happy to say that it did not disappoint. You can choose to find temp jobs through many means: a recruiter, an agency or even online posts such as Craigslist. Just be sure you don’t shell out any money to agencies if they do land you a gig. They always make a good amount of money off of the employer for staffing you.
Stay fluid,
n.
GradSchools.com has a great read on tips for the grad school application process (HERE). They break it down to 5 necessary components:
- 1) interview the experts – talk to the professionals in the field that you’re looking to go into. They can provide great insight and inspiration of all sorts.
- 2) take tests – you know all those acronyms – GRE, LSAT, MCAT, GMAT, CSET…the list goes on. Take the test as the most serious test you will ever take. Study and prepare well. Be confident!
- 3) recommendations – this might be one of the most grueling steps of the process, but make sure to ask waaaay in advance and follow up accordingly. Your professors are very busy people and need little bits of reminding. And when they give you the letters, it would be a great gesture to buy them a thank you gift, big or small.
- 4) killer statement of purpose – this is THE hardest piece of it all. But it can be done. It just takes a lot of time and dedication. It’s not a procrastination piece so don’t even think about it! Write, rewrite, and revise! It’s KEY to get your statement down to a final draft that you a truly comfortable sending in.
- 5) the application itself – this is probably the most simple aspect, but hey, you gotta pay the $70/80/90 application fee sometime, right?
I’d like to add a few more that I personally found crucial to obtaining that end goal: a big ol white envelope with your dream school’s name on it.
- 6) save up (or have monetary support) – applying to grad school rack up costs real fast and can cost anywhere between $800 to $5000, depending on what program and how many schools you apply to. It’s definitely not a cheap “investment” into your future.
- 7) have patience – easy does it, practice makes perfect, if at first you dont succeed…whatever the saying is, patience is definitely a huge part of the process. if you dont have the patience, learn to get some because every single step requires a lot of time commitment and in turn, gives you slow but steady results.
- 8.) read read read – educate yourself as much as possible about current events, relevant discoveries in your field of interest, or just read for pleasure. reading will help expand your knowledge and help you become more well-rounded. Schools love well-rounded candidates, right?
- 9) Don’t be too proud to ask for help – if you have little or no clue what to do, ask others for help. It will help a TON. Even if it’s just a quick peer edit of your rough personal statement, you can never pass up a chance for a 2nd opinion. Objectivity is necessary.
- 10) Believe in yourself – dont be a debbie downer, negative nancy, party pooper! Applying is not the most fun task, but it’s also not rocket science. Don’t nag or complain, just man (or woman) up and do your best! You can be proud of your finished products later. Trust.
And this should not be a last tip, but a constant reminder to start planning as early as you can. Don’t put grad school planning off because it will only cause you unnecessary stress and worry. Oh and one more thing…if at first you don’t succeed, you WILL get it right the second time.
🙂
stay prepared,
n.
…You better finish school.
Learning, tackling, and worrying about owing money to pay for school is nothing new. I don’t know one person who isn’t in some kind of college debt. I stumbled across this finance article that I thought was a good-to-know, pleasure-reading tidbit. As someone who constantly worries about my loan payments, credit card balances, and potentially accruing bad credit, I found some peace of mind after reading this. Enjoy!
Did anyone ever read that detective children’s book, Encyclopedia Brown, as a kid? I did. Boy, did I love reading those short stories, anticipating the end where the mystery gets solved. For those who’ve never heard, Encyclopedia Brown was a series of children’s short stories featuring a very bright kid detective named Encyclopedia Brown. I really enjoyed reading Brown because I felt interactive with each story. I remembered flipping through pages, trying to solve each mystery as I if I was Encyclopedia himself (sometimes I even snuck a quick read in class). I was a total bookworm, but I digress.
Encyclopedia was my hero. He was always filled with information that exceeded the capacity of a 35-year-old. This kid, albeit fictional, knew pretty much every fact written in history. He was the boy genius of all children’s books. The sad truth is, I doubt that my kids or even today’s kids will have any clue who Encyclopedia Brown was. Or what an encyclopedia looks like..Do they still make those?
Circa 2001, the soon-to-be most popular online encyclopedia was born: WIKIPEDIA. The Wikipedia “article” on Wikipedia describes it as:
“a multilingual, web-based, free content encyclopedia project based on an openly editable model. The name “Wikipedia” is a portmanteau of the words wiki (a technology for creating collaborative websites, from the Hawaiian word wiki, meaning “quick”) and encyclopedia. Wikipedia’s articles provide links to guide the user to related pages with additional information.”
Currently, Wikipedia is worth $16 million, profiting from only donations and grants (no ads on Wiki, score!) and it promises to remain non-profit (we’ll see, though). Wiki gets 400 million visitors to the website every month. The average contributor to Wiki is a 26-year-old male (looks like we needs more tech-savvy dudettes in our time). Wiki has expanded to more than 40 languages since its birth. It’s one of the most visited website, next to Google and Facebook. Thank god for Wikipedia, right?
Maybe. Wikipedia has really changed the process in which we research, inquire, and apply our knowledge. It is an open-editorial forum in which anyone can contribute their posts. Of course, there are editors-at-large who manage and weed out the not-so-good posts, but the idea of open editorials is so fascinating to me. I use Wikipedia pretty much every day, but I know better not to depend on it. I stand fully on the side of educators and administrators who refuse to accept Wikipedia as a research tool. We can’t be so lazy as to look at Wikipedia and believe everything we read. There are claims that are debatable, questionable, and just entirely false. We must remember that information of encyclopedic quality takes tons of research, citation, verification, and time. Oh my god, so much time. The amount of time and money it takes to publish one edition of an encyclopedia is amazing. It’s enough to make me want to drive to the closest library, walk over to the stacks of encyclopedias and pay homage to those authors and publishers.
I’m definitely not bashing on Wikipedia. It’s friggin’ revolutionary. I’m just kindly reminding myself and whomever reads this blog…that real research is always better. Pick up a book, an article, a REAL encyclopedia, or a reliable friend who knows his/her stuff, and go from there. Let Wikipedia help you but don’t let it limit you.
I must say though, job well done. Happy 10th birthday to our Wiki. If you didn’t know, its sister projects include: Wiktionary, Wikibooks, Wikiquote and lots more.
Gotta admit though, I miss reading the Encyclopedia Brown series. No need for those anymore, now that we’ve got our very own Wikipedia Browns.
stay resourceful,
n.
Happy 2011 to everyone!
hot off the press!
As I reflect and reassess on what I need to change for the new year, I kept getting reminded by people around me that life has so much to offer, and by offer, I mean, to teach. I go days without realizing that I’m constantly learning something new, something useful, something that could ignite a flame in us (and no, I’m not citing Katy Perry). I would like to share my learnings through an accessible means, which is none other than this lovely blog right here.
Please stay tuned for more useful ramblings on school systems, urbanization, student life, college tidbits, words of the wise, and finally, ways to beat the system. Pshh, just kidding on the last one.
stay motivated,
n.
learningpains 