Hello all Grazia readers [update: article scans!]

Click through for larger versions of the article

Hi everyone who found me through my two-pager in Grazia (Australia)! I answered a callout on SourceBottle last week and got called in for a photoshoot and an interview. I was surprised at the space - I honestly thought it would be just a headshot and a paragraph! Now I can say I'm in the pages of a mainstream women's fashion magazine ;)

Just some things about me that the article probably didn't make very clear:

• I'm not that desperate for a job, haha! I was pretty desperate by mid last year, before my parents' allowance stepped in, and there are months where I often wonder when or if I'll get any income. I find that things tend to sort itself out, though yes, if it weren't for my boyfriend (who works as a web developer) or my parents I would definitely be in much worse conditions!
  
  
• Despite what the article implies, I do actually have stacks of experience. I've been active with events, festivals, non-profits, media, social enterprise, culture, youth, and performing arts in one way or another since about 2001 - possibly earlier. Here are my latest resumes (professional and performance). I get a LOT of praise and rave reviews about my resumes - both the look of them and the diverse range of experience - but I never seem to have the "exactly right" experience they're after. Which can be befuddling, especially when they don't seem to know what they're after either.
  
  
• The freelance stage and events management work I do that was mentioned in the article is as The Merch Girl. As Tiara the Merch Girl I create performance art, assist creative productions & creators with their administrative or menial tasks, and am growing into event & project production. I love being The Merch Girl, and if I could I would just like to keep doing all sorts of creative projects and not worry about being properly "employed". But, as the article says, the money isn't reliable or much, so at this stage it would be good to have a part-time job that allows me enough flexibility for me to work on my own projects. (Or have people sponsor/hire me enough to just be The Merch Girl full-time. Ooo!) Besides that, I also do some temp childcare work from tiem to time.
  
  
• The main drama surrounding my jobhunting is actually my Bridging visa. I came to Brisbane from Malaysia in 2006 for university and hung around to pursue performance and production opportunities. I applied for Australian permanent residency in May 2009, and while theoretically it means I can work just about anywhere anytime, realistically a lot of companies and agencies have no idea what to with you. The visa doesn't have an end date, despite being temporary (it expires 28 days after a decision is made on your PR application), so sometimes even forms don't work for me. I've had HR in companies knock back my application in seconds because they didn't understand the bridging visa (one time HR was telling me my visa was ineligible, at the same time the direct supervisor of the role I was applying for asked me to come in for an interview). The vagaries and inconsistencies of the migration system in Australia is something I am deeply passionate about. I suspect my ethnic last name may be a factor too.
  
  
• I don't tend to write job applications at 2 in the morning - I like my sleep! - though I have done job applications in the middle of the might mainly due to jetlag. I did reach a point where I was applying for every job possible, not getting anywhere, and feeling physically ill - just looking at job advertisements made me sick. Now I've pared down my approach; I only apply for roles and/or companies that feel like a great match with my skills, ethos, and personality.

Here are some other articles I've written about the jothunting process:

Should I change my name for a job?
On software and the job-hunting process
Tiara, Brisbane, and the Creative Industries - let's work together!

And once again, my resumes, and my work as The Merch Girl.

Feel free to get in touch if you have any questions, want to commiserate, or perhaps have a job offer!