I’m pretty open about most aspects of my life, but somehow I’ve always held back to write about my job. Kind of ironic since that’s what I spend most of my time doing. So let me give you a little insight in what I do on a daily basis, how much I earn (no just kidding on that one), and what I like and dislike about my job.
Prior to the job
Since 6 months I work for an E-commerce business based in Perth called Bstore. I’ve been super lucky to find this job and I want to tell you a little bit more about the process of my job hunt when I came to Australia, before I tell you more about the job itself. I knew since the start that I’m not entitled to practice law in Australia with my Dutch degree and converting my degree to Australian would need at least another 1.5-2 year of studying. Not to mention the huge fees involved. Both Hassan and I have had in mind to not to stay longer than 4 years, so based on that I figured it wasn’t worth the investment of money and time to get an Australian law degree. And that’s where the tricky part starts: if you’re not going to work in the field that you’ve graduated in, then what?
I started with making a list of things I enjoy doing and based on that I looked for a job. When I came across the job description of the company I now work for, I was instantly enthusiast. It compiled everything I liked doing: online, writing, social media and just learning everything about the daily business of an online store appealed to me a lot. So I wrote this genuinely enthusiast cover letter telling what I liked about the position and related a lot of skills they were looking for to my blog: building social media channels, writing posts that appeal to readers, and my passion for everything fashion related (Bstore sells shoes).
Looking back at my start in Perth 1.5 years ago, I regret that I didn’t get started quickly enough. At the very moment I arrived here I had absolutely no clue what I wanted to do, but instead of getting myself together and try to find something I actually LIKE doing and what I’m good at, I wasted quite some time at jobs that I absolutely hated. I worked in a hotel for three months and some of my worst memories in Australia have been made there. It’s during those months that I’ve been really astounded by people (in a bad way) and I’ve asked myself many times: is this for real? Is this really happening? Just to quote one of many things said: “those foreigners just don’t get it”. When I worked at the hotel, I just stayed in my own world and to pass time and entertain myself I gave the people I hated most nicknames. Hobbit and Blobbit for example, I should probably not explain why I called them that, but you’re free to make a guess.
Enough looking back, l’ll know discuss the part where all the good stuff started…
What I do
I start my job at 08.30 every day and lucky for me, I live only a two-minute bike ride away from the office. It’s located in a residential home and I like how it’s not a very corporate environment; wear whatever you like, bring your pets (my boss brings his dachshunds). It’s been very interesting to work at this company, because it’s in a process of big, continuous growth. Just to paint a picture, I was the third employee in the office, now we’re with 9. One of the fun parts of working for a smaller business is that you’re involved in all parts of the operation. What I do on a daily basis is processing the orders that come through, update our social media channels, email marketing, a lot of web development related things (new features on the website), getting new products online and sometimes there’s even a little buying involved. That last one is probably my favourite; deciding what new brands we’re going to stock or which styles for the new season we’re getting. It’s SO incredibly interesting and exciting to see whether your picks are going to sell good. Because I’m doing quite some different things during the day, it sometimes gets really hectic. At the HQ of an online store there are always plenty of deadlines to meet, reports to fill out and just in general things to stay on top off. Sometimes the hustle and bustle gets the best of me, but in those cases there’s always coffee! (or a bike ride during my lunch break to relax).
Colleagues
Something that I believe is hugely important at work besides the position itself is the people you work with. We’re an (almost) all girls team, except for my boss and the boys who deal with the warehouse and stock and each and every one of them is just super nice. Especially taken in mind my previous job here in Perth, I appreciate the people I currently work with even more. My colleagues and I share the ‘hobby’ of both chocolate and coffee, so each time someone goes to the nearby shopping centre for whatever reason, we’ll give that person a coffee order. To be quite honest, I’m probably the worst addict in the office and everyone knows without asking that I’m having a ‘Cap with 1’. Everyone is just incredibly friendly, funny and nice and I couldn’t be more grateful for that.
Learning
Looking back at myself when I just started at Bstore and right now: what a difference! My English has improved a lot, I learned heaps of new words and expressions and not to forget: the real Australian slang (I now totally get what a Bogan is, thanks guys). I also found out that it’s totally normal for a guy to say to a girl: G’day mate (or is it?!). Other than that, I think that having my first ‘real’ job has been great for my self-confidence and personal development. Like I mentioned before, because the company is relatively small, I’ve had the opportunity to learn many things that I’d never have the chance to if I’d have been working for a big company where your job is usually limited to one particular domain. Having the chance to do a bit of everything and discover each part of the operation is enriching and gave me a great overview on how to run an online business, the best ways to tackle problems, how to deal with people, etc. I’ve also found out that having a law degree and working in a completely different field is not problematic at all. The great thing about law is that it’s a useful degree in terms of analytical thinking- there isn’t a career where it doesn’t have value.
I really hope you liked this up-front post on my everyday life and if there’s anything else that you want know, please feel free to ask me in the comments below.
Picture 1 Pinterest / Picture 2 The Every Girl / others are mine
