Countless job applications and 7 rejections later.. I HAVE A JOB!

Applying for  jobs was becoming a hobby, the end result of actually getting a job started to become less important. The first thing i would do and the last thing at night was to apply or search for a jobs.  The majority of interviews and the job i got was found on Gumtree. A lot if people don't give it a chance but i would recommend it. Also Linkedin, Facebook and Twitter each found me a potential job to apply for.
 We all have experienced in our lifetime the sheer prep there is in applying for job. From filling out an application form, writing a covering letter, researching the company, preparing for the interview. It's a lot of work in itself. After the seventh rejection i was certainly feeling down and out. I stopped telling people i had interviews for places, as my superstition kicked in.


With only £20 left of my overdraft, the heavens opened and the sun shone and i finally heard those words. 'We would like to offer you the job'. Relief, disbelief and happiness was the first things i felt all rolled up into one. My insomnia sleeping pattern suddenly had a rude awaking to the early bedtime routines. It replaced a 40 hours week with weekends to appreciate.

Where I work....

I would at a printing company, based in Ancoats who's main focus are B2B. My role within the company comes under the title of  Customer Service Representative. Don't underestimate the job title, there is a lot more than meets the eye. I will revised this blog in due course with some of my duties.


Everyone is really friendly and helpful, the whole team are professional and produce quality products for their clients. I've only been there a week today so I can't tell you much at the moment but i will definitely will keep you informed. I feel i will be happy there for a number of years and excited of where i could go within the company.



Some advice i can give to people who are looking for a job is just to keep going. I'm not saying i didn't have weeks of having meltdowns, doubting my abilities or secluding myself from the world. When i snapped out of the mode it was full steam ahead for the next couple of weeks. It's been two years since leaving university and i finally got my foot in the door. I can safely say that my experience on my cv, not having to many gaps it in really helped. Be proactive.  Did i mention i cant wait for pay day!!

I need YOUR participation!! : Questionnaire

Hope all is well.  As you well know from the previous blog i posted, i am on the market research stage of my idea.  This is where you come in. A lot people i know an have idea, set it up as a business and can't understand why it wasn't successful.  No research, no feedback, no trial run. Just because you have an idea doesn't mean the masses will agree with you. 

Think of it like the evolution of man. There are stages, planning and all that jazz.

I would greatly appreciate you answering this questionnaire:

If you are a small business please answer this.

If you are an individual please answer this.

Thank you in advance! 

Entrepreneurial spirit is in full force: Cheeky little project up my sleeve

Being an entrepreneur you are constantly coming up with ideas and solutions for a problems, sometimes they even creep up in you're sleeping! As Richard Branson wrote in one of his many blog post right down every single idea that creeps into your brain! Before he said this of course i was writing them down, I even have a notebook and pen in my drawer next to my bed. You never know when that eureka moment will come to you. Having an idea is the easy bit, it's all the graft in-between before you produce your service/product which is the hardest thing.  I'm working with a graphic designer who is a naturally talented when it comes to designing on the computer, she plans to go to university this year to get fully 'qualified'. I mention the word research and the response was 'can you do the research bit and i'll just design' Not the answer i was looking for and certainly not a way to run or start a business research before design is key. In our case even more so because one of us believes our target audience would be B2C and the other B2B (sme's).

Here a snippet of the idea:beautifully produced artwork that is displayed on different substrates that is appreciated.



So i am building questionnaires at the moment which i would really appreciate you guys answering when done. Also if anyone is interesting in hearing more and wanting to get involved (pref living in manchester) dont hesitate to get in contact!



Watch this space for more info!

The Outcome: Interviews

A couple of blogs ago i mentioned going on my first interview of 2013. Well a couple days after that I had another one. This blog i will talk about the outcome of them and a brief detail of the job role I applied for.


Social Media Assistant- I applied for a part time position at a charity run sports gym based in Manchester. The job description was extensive, so you can imagine my face when i started hyperventilating when I scrolled down and realised there was two pages. I decided to print it out and highlight the key information and tailor my cover letting to the requirement! (Always save a copy you never know you might be able to use it again or the ingenious might come back to quickly).
Within 2 days of applying i received a phone call to be brought in for an interview. Preparation commenced I learned the ins and outs of the company, everything they offered to their customers, how many other clubs they had, what their vision and mission was. Everything i could possibly learn so i would be prepared for the interview. As i was googling whereabouts the gym was it dawned on me this distance it was. This was the OUTSKIRTS of manchester, like motorway. Luckily my friend to offered to take me, i could of got public transport, leave 2 hours before and get two buses. Even in the car it was 30 mins. The interview went well i was really nervous, which usually i am ok in a interview enviroment. When it was my turn to ask questions, the pay was minimum wage, it was only 12 hours a week and the social media aspect of the business was none exist even though the company was over 10 years old and this particular site was open a couple months. When I asked their objectives for the next 12 months for the gym site it wasn't really in-line with their companys mission. To cut the long story short I didn't get the job, on reflection i'm glad financial the money would of just covered my travel to get there.



Digital Trainee Support - The dreaded moment when you realise they don't want your cv, they don't want a cover letter it's an application form!! It's safe to say it took me two days with breaks in between to complete. It was another charity based company and this one was actually based in the city centre. This interview came in three parts. 1. 45 digital test (creating a poster in a program that  I personally never used, never heard of and don't know anyone who uses it)  2. 5/10 minute presentation on a product, project or blog i was involved in. 3. Questions from the interviewers.

They were very impressed on the project i mentioned, they were astonished how much i accomplished, how i got a team together, free publicity and artwork done without costing a thing. After the interview i felt very confident and started spending the monthly wage on getting rid of debts and starting living life again.  Two days later i received the phonecall...... my heart dropped. I didn't get the job. I haven't been upset about not getting a before but her reasons were like a dagger to my heart and a character assaisnation. I took it out on the people closest to me or who came  i into contact with that day. In a nutshell she said ' You were really good, however we feel you're not much of a team player and more of an independent in a good way that probably doesn't make sense. The girl we chose we could just see she would really just fit in perfectly (in a very enthusiastic voice). Don't give up your ambition and drive is great. It was very close you came second though. '
 I pride myself on being a team player and for that not to come across was really upsetting. Telling me I came second and mentioning how great the other candidate was didn't make me feel any better. I kind of got what she was trying to say but how she was put it across wasn't the correct way to do it.


A couple of days after i was in a state of ' cant be bothered to try and get into the field I want to work in, i'm just going to apply for normal jobs' mode. You cant help but imagine yourself in a company you're applied for because of all the background research you've do on a company before you even apply. It takes a lot out of you.  I've got back on the saddle, however with only £70 in my account dream job vs survival job is now kicking in.

What's this blog about anyway?

 You may be thinking that my blog posts are pretty erratic. One minute i'm talking about different apps and software technologies I use, the next minute i'm talking about my first interview of the year and my months abroad in Barbados.  Well in essence, I'm trying to do exactly what the title of this blog is called. I'm showcasing to you the public what i'm all about and the steps i'm taking to succeed, my interests and how they could benefit me in the long run. Researching and finding out about new technologies helps me keep in the loop and on top of trends. I have an entrepreneurial spirit so I can use these techniques I've learnt in my self- directed projects.


We envole as individuals everyday, which could lead to different career paths, life paths, love interests. Our wants and needs change constantly, we may have some type of plan in our heads but it doesn't mean it will turn out that way. So it's best to keep your options and mind open to change. People study science at university and end up in business. You just never. Some think they will stay in their hometown for lifetime but end happier on the  other side of the world. There's so many opportunities nowadays, the possibilities are be endless.



I hope this blog interests you in some way, whether that's opening your eyes to a piece of technology you never heard of before, making you think about your career choices or relating to someone in the exact same boat as you.



So i want to open you a dialogue with you guys! Either comment on a post or get in touch

First Interview of 2013

Yesterday I received an email regarding a job I applied for two day prior! It's a perfect job to gain more experience in my chosen career. For those who don't know what that is it's..... well a mixture and marketing strategies, idea generation with a hint of social media. This job, is a social media assistant role. Its part - time 20 hours which is ok as it gives me time to concentrate on this business idea my friend and I have. 

The company is a registered charity and aim is not encourage disadvantage families and individuals in the community to turn to physical activities and exercise to improve their quality of life.  

I've done what your suppose to do before an interview and that is research the company and also write some questions as all interviewers say at the end ' have you got any questions?'  Never say no always have questions it shows you've really thought about the role and thought about working with them.

Well wish me luck!!! A progress report will come soon! 

To teach or not to teach?

Now for the last couple months teaching has been on my mind. Even when i'm start on the beach with a rum punch in my left hand, my right is scribbling down a rough workshop curriculum. It would kind of be like my course i graduated from the University of Salford. It would be an open class to an array of people who are either design led or business/marketing led. For example on my course there was graphic designers, fashion designers, account managers, UX designers, photographers, 3D designers, set designers. You get the jist. We all were different but we learnt the same principles. How to get from having an idea to conception. This included a full investigate research, from questionnaires, looking at the competitors, interviews, group work, presentations, how we would market it, mock ups and so on so forth. We weren't just creatives', we are creatives' with the ability to investigate which is an asset to a company, we can do more then just design. Unfortunately the course has been cut due to budget cuts which is a real shame.

Are you as confused as me?

I would if i did teach, adults I feel some of the older population has got talent and want to make it on their own. The last 20 years technology has been progressing at a alarming rate (but great) and i feel that they just don't where to begin. I would consider doing after school sessions with secondary children because when i was at school the only 'design' was art class which i was told by the teacher not to take it up as a G.C.S.E because i was bad. charming! I did a SWOT analysis and things that would hinder me starting it up would be not having a reputation and a teaching certificate. But as i said this is just a thought.






I came across this website via twitter called Go-On, their main objective is to get the older generation using this fantastic technology that we have access to. They help the communities around manchester with the help of volunteers to teach them the basic IT skills and also how to use social media. The volunteers range from local businesses or individuals like you and I. I've put my request in to help out maybe it will help me to figure if teaching, if in my spare time or part time is for me.

I have never wanted to be a teacher, i've always wanted to be the one to keep learning. A friend of mine graduated from university the same time and wanted to work with the youth offenders. She tried and tried but couldn't get anyway. September of 2012 she started on a teaching programme and will finish this year with probably a guaranteed job offer. Dont get me wrong she enthused with what she's doing now, its her life and she loves it.  I dont want to be  disingenuous to the teaching profession, as a know a good few people who have gone into nursing and teaching because the majority of the time its guaranteed work.  I want to have the passion and the drive in the profession i choose and not be in it just because. However things are getting hard and it is time to start working and saving up for my pension! Lord knows David Cameron's not going to help with my heating bills!!


Either way i need to start working it been too long now.... lets hope the many jobs i've applied for something comes up!

Get a life: Friends venturing out around the world

The last two years the amount of friends that have gone abroad for either a new life or for a gap year is unbelievable.


All of them have a similar reasons of why they are packing up and leaving everything behind. They believe that there is more opportunity abroad, that more employers will give them a chance when it becomes job propects. Number one reason is lifestyle change. They want to live life instead of existing in life.


It's quite sad to think so many people want to leave the only country they've ever known to go out into the unknown. It sad to think the country doesnt offer what they want which isnt much.

However. one of my friends Josie, left for Hong Kong last year January, but sadly returned to the uk in October. Read why from her person blog. On the other hand Louise  loves Hong Kong and is there for a year as part of her Business course at Manchester Metropolitan Univeristy. She vows to come back to England graduate and find a job somewhere in the world other the England. She's had a taste and wants more.

Others have gone to Australia, France, China, Thailand, America just to name a few.


How do you feel about your home country? Have you took the plunge and left your native country and settled somewhere else?  Did you settle somewhere else and now back in your homeland?
I want to know your thoughts let me know.

Get A Life: Finding a opportunity in everything

Sometimes i'd wish my brain would switch off and stop conjuring up ideas or soultions for problems, but then i wouldn't be me!!

So my dearest mother is from Barbados and every week she gets their national paper called The Nation. It's just another way of keeping up to date with things. Anyway there was an article in there titled 'We need new ideas" well you know my attentiveness grew and i wanted to know more...


To cut the long story short is was all about them needing new ideas brought to the table to entice more tourists to the island, as the number have dwindled since the recession. After reading that article ideas came to like night and day. Whether they were over the top ideas i just wrote then down.
I didnt stop there, people have said in the past once im hooked on something i will research so much i could tell someone i invented it and they would believe me!

In the article it mentioned the president of tourism for Barbados, my investigative soul couldn't help but the use my catch-phase i've been using for years that i used to get bullied for in high school! 'Google It' How the word changes, in your face! I found him on Linkedin and sent him a short message with a few rough ideas, i never thought he would get back to me. He did! He liked what i had to say (i think he like my initiative approach more than anything) He passed on my details to the new president of tourism as he was finishing his term.

A nervous wait, but soon she got in contact and quoting her words... 'I had a look at your ideas below and I think that many of them are really good and worthy of further discussion.  I believe the best idea would be for me to forward your ideas to our Marketing Committee Chairperson so that you can meet and determine the best way to move some of these ideas forward.' 

Well this had made my night, as at that moment of time i was sat in bingo trying to pay my next phone bill. It made me feel like maybe i did had a skill to offer to organisation. If you have been in my shoes after a while you start questioning yourself and your abilities if no company will give you a job. Especially in the creative world, when your skill can't be physically seen like a web designer, graphic designer, fashion designer etc. 

It gave me an extra boost and incentive to show someone what i'm made of.  

Tip: Make your own opportunities, if you have an opinion about something or a suggestion to solve  a problem don't just keep to yourself or tell your friends. Tell that person/organisation what have you got to lose? What you got to gain? Well in my personal circumstance they now know my name, who I am, I have shown that i'm not afraid to voice my opinion, that i want to help solve a problem and i have gritty determination.


Find out what my next step was...

Get A Life: Looking further afield

As you know from the previous blog I graduated in July 2011, brimming with excitement doing everything possible to get noticed. I went to numerous networking events, with my final group project i was one of three who went out to numerous companies to pitch so i was collecting business like i was collect shoes. By January 2012 my optimism was wearing thin, people telling me how brilliant i was was getting hard to believe because the ultimate way to show this wasn't happening. I was still un-employed. I either didn't have enough experience, even though what i did have for just being 5 months out of university was pretty good. My writing skills weren't good enough, I can't really blame my dyslexia fully. I was over qualified for the position i was applying for. Someone had more experience than me. It's not what you know, it's who you know ringed in my mind a few times.

I knew a lot of people at the time were moving aboard or moving cities as they had secured jobs or decided to take the plunge and look elsewhere. As much as i didn't want to move, not because i would miss Manchester but the finer details of finding somewhere to live, finding a job, building new friendships would be hard work.

Throwing caution to the wind nerves me, ask anyone i'm a planner but March came round and application to America and Barbados starting flying out. Why these two places you say? Well my friend went to New York for 3 months; she's a fashion photographer her experience of meeting people and been given chances to showcase her talents in the industry; made me think. My sister's friend left for the big apple 10 years after emailing a company with her ideas, got job and then eventually set up her own successful business.

Barbados, the sun, sand and beach for one. Two I just believe there's more that be can be over there to exploit the island. I googled every sort of creative agency there could be, not thinking there would be many. However  i was wrong. I then started emailing them all asking for an internship or work placement with their company when i return to the island. Within 3 days I had over 6 replies expressing their interest in taking be on for a few days a week. I was amazed, as I had been constantly emailing companies for any sort of job in England and had no replies, not even to say I didn't get the job. I wanted to hop on a plane and go then!

It was something to focus on, even if nothing came out of it. They replied, which implied my cv was good or my opening spiel in the email caught their eye. I started to feel positive again, I started to feel my luck may finally change.

Tip: Be flexible, it would be nice to stay in your hometown but sometimes when the tough gets going, you just have to cast your net a little further. Make yourself known go to networking events in your area, sign up to twitter and have a business card handy.

Who am i?

Alisha Forrester. T: @maverick2design

It's been a long time I've been signed up since March 2011, i'm not a big blogger but I've decided to try and start. If it's not work, life, love or trying to gain a degree its having a cocktail in my right hand and a interesting book in my left that stops from getting started on my blog. So let's by having a little background on the one and only shall we.....

Born in the late 80's surrounded by noise from 3 older siblings and nephew, the constant pirate radio station playing the latest reggae and calypso tunes and a mother whos trusted best friend was her cake making machine and sewing machine.  Ever since i can remember,  i was always the type of person that liked plan my life out, i decided i wanted to be a computer programmer. Not knowing what that involved i was adamant that was my job role plus a ranger rover parked outside my house that was the size of buckingham palace.

Fast forward to the days when Britney spears was toxic and 50 cent was 'in da club'  still my job role was to become a computer programmer so I took information Technology as a GCSE which wasn't the greatest.
    College, I studied a btec national diploma in ICT, each module covered every aspect of ICT and that's where as if a light shone bright above my head, I decided I wanted to become a Website designer.  Why? because i enjoyed making something astehically pleasing to the eye.

In 2007, I enrolled at the University of Salford onto a course that unfortunately was all geek and no design. I stumbled onto the course I graduated in called Design Futures, which was right up my street. From being on this course i came to the conclusion that there is more to design then designing something and that there is more behind the scenes and more roles to produce art work or a product.

With all the projects we were given, it gave me the chance to 'play' different roles in an organisation and that eureka struct! Marketing strategies, business development and idea generation are my passion and even before i graduated i started building up my portfolio with a 3 month internship at Photolink Creative Group. Working with another intern, on then a new venture which has sky rocketed, Little Black Dress, we worked together coming up with ideas and Stephanie writing fantastic content.

From there on i did a few more paid work for them and got myself a mentor, who happened to be the founder of NorthernSoho. Time went by and my positivity and enthusiasm slowly was fading as every headline in the paper was 'Students coming out of university will have a hard time finding a job'. The economy was taking a nose dive and getting any type of job was hard. That was then(graduated 2011). That is still now, the end of 2012 and all i've managed to secure is a one day a week job. Keeping myself occupied in the mean time i have been doing some freelance jobs, writing a marketing strategy for a jazz band, Yasmin and the Wild Things.


My entrepreneurship has never left my side. I tried to set up a networking organisation, Creative Championships,which had great feedback on the idea however the team all found jobs and couldn't commit which i fully understood.

So thats me really, you're are now fully up to date with my 23 years of existence. If you want to know how it came about me travelling aboard in a few weeks to try and impress important to maybe land a job just read my next post!


p.s Apologies on the aesthetic at the moment, i'm a newbie!