Today had always been ear-marked as a ‘reading-day’ and as such, I found myself frequently moving around the house trying to find the quietest spot to avoid the Hoover and my sister’s bang-bang-thumpy-dance-music.
Before all that though, it was once again time to ‘sign-on’. As I walked from my favoured parking spot on the outskirts of town toward the centre, it suddenly hit me how quickly the last fortnight had passed. Within the busy schedule of 'regular' life - commutes, work, pleasure and leisure are all tightly squeezed into a short space of time, which naturally makes a week whizz by in no time at all.
Before you know it - it’s a Tuesday again and it doesn’t seem two minutes since you last did your Tuesday work-out/weekly Tuesday task/Tuesday visit to Aunt Beryl's or watched your Tuesday night TV program.
So in that respect, it was nice to feel that the last two weeks had flown by and I felt the reassurance that I’d kept myself busy over the last fortnight.
At the Job Centre, I actually spent more time waiting to see my consultant, than I spent talking to him! I briefly filled him in on my activities and he seemed pretty pleased with my progress, so I was in-and-out of there in less than ten minutes. Unfortunately, the bad news was that I need to attend a ‘Back to Work’ session for an hour before I see him again in fortnight’s time. But ...as he optimistically stated ...I might not have to see him again. Here’s hoping for a huge slice of good fortune and a sprinkling of magic-dust sometime in the next thirteen days!
I’d earlier printed-off the Job Description for the BBC position so before heading home, I stopped off for a McBreakfast. With my McCoffee in one hand and my McPink highlighter pen in the other, I took my time and read through the McDocument and made some notes of my queries. I also McPencilled in a few work-related examples in anticipation of any questions that might come up at interview. I then disposed of my waste in the McBin. (Enough of that now. McApologies.)
Returning home, I started to prepare for my copywriting trial at JD Williams and did some research on the FashionWorld brand.
I concluded that FashionWorld is positioned towards the ‘top end’ of the Younger/Downmarket sectors. This means that the customer base is amongst the elder part of the younger half of the sector and despite being in the ‘Downmarket’ quarter, is actually very close to being considered an ‘Upmarket’ brand, synonymous with quality, choice, reliability and good value.
The typical FashionWorld shopper is 46 years of age and a size 18. She is a working Mum, who spends most of her time running around after the children. Whilst being up-to-date and fashion-conscious, she prefers to follow the styling of her more confident friends, rather than take the lead. The brand is recognised as being parallel to Primark and New Look, but slightly higher than Matalan and Evans for its age-range. Customers enjoy that they are able to try their clothes on at home and they sometimes find it difficult to find the right size on the High Street. They listen to Radio 2 and Smooth FM and read Take a Break, Chat and Women’s Own magazines. When shopping, she looks out for special offers and often puts her husband and children first, before treating herself.
In summary, the customer is looking for larger sizes, choice, a reliable range, everyday modern basics, good value and fashionable lines for the whole family. I think we all know someone very close to us that reminds us of this person, so it was ladies in my own family that instantly came to mind.
The brand imagery states that if FashionWorld was a person, she might be Fern Britton or Gloria Hunniford. However, some of the other examples across the document gave me an impression that the market research might be a little dated.
In that respect, I’ve decided that I’ll be writing all my pieces over the next few days as though they’re going to be read by Coleen Nolan. She’s a Size 16 and at 46 years of age, slightly younger than the ‘mid-point’ FashionWorld customer. However, with all the time I’ve spent with her via daytime TV over the last few weeks, she’s kind of become a new friend within the subconscious world.
She’s a very likeable character and someone I think women will find easy to relate to. She seems happy with who she is, speaks her mind and can whip up plenty of laughter without being too outspoken or rude. She’s certainly not fake or glamorous in an artificial way, yet she always looks pretty. And with her curvy boobyness …she's a little bit sexy when she wants to be too!
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| My imaginary new friend, Coleen Nolan in all her glorious 'boobyness'! (As seen in this week's edition of Closer magazine) |
In the end, despite whichever imaginary friend I intend to direct my copy at, I don’t think I can alter my writing style too much over the coming days. (I hate this saying …but,) ‘at the end of the day’, I am who I am - and If I provide the right copy under the wrong persona, I could only keep up those pretences for so long. I need to arrive, present myself and work as I normally would and hopefully, that will be enough.
Which leads me on to my next micro-dilemma: What to wear! RD specifically advised me to “just come casual”, but as a bloke, this is something I’ve always struggled with. ‘Smart casual’ omits the wearing of jeans and therefore, automatically resricts a gent to trousers. When wearing trousers though, the only real option is to team them with shoes. And if one is wearing trousers and shoes, one needs to wear a shirt!
The shirt of course needs to be tucked in, so by the time you’ve got your shirt, your trousers and your winklepickers on …you may as well go the whole hog and just put your tie and jacket on anyway!
Hmmmn. I could wear trousers, shoes and perhaps a polo shirt, but I don’t want to look like I’m going for a game of golf? Alternatively, trousers, shoes and an open-neck shirt, with perhaps a lightweight-knit over the top seems like the most sensible way to go...
The thing is …I’ve been bumming around in my casuals now for the best part of two months and although this isn’t a formal interview, I don’t want to turn up looking like I don’t care! I want to make sure my peers know this trial matters to me and I feel it’s really important that I make a sterling first impression. Luckily, there’s still plenty of time to assess the wardrobe.
Finally, I received further information from the BBC this afternoon regarding some additional online tests. Already, I’ve completed four online exams stretched across three hours to get this far and now I await a link to take me to two final exams: An ‘Excel - Essentials Test’ and an ‘Online Proofreading Test'.
The Excel assessment will evaluate my experience in sorting and filtering data, entering basic formulas, modifying cell formatting and content, inserting and labelling charts, using templates, saving workbooks for earlier versions of Excel, viewing and printing workbooks and the management of workbooks and worksheets.
The Online Proofreading Test will measure my skill in spotting errors in spelling, punctuation, grammar and word choice, as well as my ability to correct those errors.
I’m not too concerned with the latter test, but Excel is an area that I haven’t delved too deeply in over the years. I’m okay-ish with design layout and making it look pretty, and I’m happy enough with basic formulas and editing. I'm not so familiar with the more advanced features though.
Luckily, I located an online help guide earlier this afternoon, which has helped me out loads. Via the download of some snazzy new video software (Microsoft Silverlight), I’ve been able to watch a bundle of tutorial videos which have helped me out with some of the more complex features of Excel.
I genuinely wouldn’t have been able to find the time to do all this research and self-help if I was at work, and even if I was, it certainly wouldn't be in such a calm and comfortable way. So, my conclusion to today's blog is purely to only confirm what I’ve already mentioned in a previous blog: Finding a job, really is a full-time job in itself.
And with that, it’s back to work.
Until next time, many blessings.
Jason
Footnote:
I enter an alien world tomorrow where my schedule will be taken completely out of my hands. I’ll be catching the train to Manchester for the next two days at least, so I can’t guarantee a blog tomorrow, but there'll certainly be at least one edition over the next two days.
Once again, thanks for reading and as always, thank you for the continued support, messages, help and encouragement via your Facebook messages and texts. Cheers, Jay x
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