Interesting Job Opportunity
Perhaps I am insane. Only time will tell. I've been on the lookout for a better paying gig since Scott left the restaurant for the teeny tiny kitchens of the Coast Guard. He is doing half the hours at 3 times the pay. Okay, he works 28 days on, 28 days off but for $45 Gs a year so could I (except for that seasickness business). Anyway, I found the place on the Public Service website to apply for the Coast Guard inventory, which I may do since the deadline is the end of the September.
But while I was perusing other government job sites, I came across an agency that recruits staff for Canex, etc. Oh well, maybe they need cooks somewhere. So they do! In Afghanistan. For 6 months. Starting 15 December or so. Yep, the army needs civilians to run the camp Tim Horton's of all things, at about 5 times what I'll be making this winter if things stay as slow as they have been. So I applied. Just squeaked in under the deadline. I saw that they also need travel coordinators, so I applied for that too.
Fast forward to the next Monday - what do I see when I get home from work? A call from "Ontario." Must be a telemarketer. Nope. It's "Chantal" from the agency. Wants to talk to me about, of course, the travel agent position. I'm excited since I've wanted to see Afghanistan since I went to Pakistan. Chances are I won't see too much of if, except perhaps from the air. It took almost a week of phoning back & forth to actually talk to Chantal. I had a telephone interview the following Wednesday morning, which I thought I bombed (no pun intended). The job turns out to be more of a travel liaison between the personnel on base and the travel agent in Ottawa, so not exactly a travel agent, but close. Also there is the possibility of being sent to other departments, like the Tim Horton's. It sounds very interesting.
So, I didn't bomb the interview and just after the long weekend was offered a space on a training/selection course in October. It's 2 weeks and paid but very, very intense (includes fun stuff like the gas chamber). It starts early every morning with exercises and doesn't end until 10pm every night. However, before the course, I need to go down to the base and have medical, dental and psych evaluations. And before I go to the medical that I have to go to my own doctor and get her OK to take the course and the medical evaluation (I hope she doesn't faint, it's been awhile). Luckily I can get all my base appointments done in one day so I don't have to miss too much work.
I've listed out the pros and cons, since if I get selected not only will I miss my level 2 cook's course but the level 3 as well and be 6 months behind in work hours, so it will put me behind about a year finishing my Red Seal. Although, it occured to me that I'm already short on hours, so I may not be as far behind as I first thought. Then there is being away for so long - although both kids have said they are OK with it, and maybe they would appreciate me a bit more afterwards (I can always hope!). All I need to do is find someone to take the dogs for 6 months. I just got a batch of books on Afghanistan from bookcloseouts, so I have plenty of reading material to keep me going for the next little while.
But while I was perusing other government job sites, I came across an agency that recruits staff for Canex, etc. Oh well, maybe they need cooks somewhere. So they do! In Afghanistan. For 6 months. Starting 15 December or so. Yep, the army needs civilians to run the camp Tim Horton's of all things, at about 5 times what I'll be making this winter if things stay as slow as they have been. So I applied. Just squeaked in under the deadline. I saw that they also need travel coordinators, so I applied for that too.
Fast forward to the next Monday - what do I see when I get home from work? A call from "Ontario." Must be a telemarketer. Nope. It's "Chantal" from the agency. Wants to talk to me about, of course, the travel agent position. I'm excited since I've wanted to see Afghanistan since I went to Pakistan. Chances are I won't see too much of if, except perhaps from the air. It took almost a week of phoning back & forth to actually talk to Chantal. I had a telephone interview the following Wednesday morning, which I thought I bombed (no pun intended). The job turns out to be more of a travel liaison between the personnel on base and the travel agent in Ottawa, so not exactly a travel agent, but close. Also there is the possibility of being sent to other departments, like the Tim Horton's. It sounds very interesting.
So, I didn't bomb the interview and just after the long weekend was offered a space on a training/selection course in October. It's 2 weeks and paid but very, very intense (includes fun stuff like the gas chamber). It starts early every morning with exercises and doesn't end until 10pm every night. However, before the course, I need to go down to the base and have medical, dental and psych evaluations. And before I go to the medical that I have to go to my own doctor and get her OK to take the course and the medical evaluation (I hope she doesn't faint, it's been awhile). Luckily I can get all my base appointments done in one day so I don't have to miss too much work.
I've listed out the pros and cons, since if I get selected not only will I miss my level 2 cook's course but the level 3 as well and be 6 months behind in work hours, so it will put me behind about a year finishing my Red Seal. Although, it occured to me that I'm already short on hours, so I may not be as far behind as I first thought. Then there is being away for so long - although both kids have said they are OK with it, and maybe they would appreciate me a bit more afterwards (I can always hope!). All I need to do is find someone to take the dogs for 6 months. I just got a batch of books on Afghanistan from bookcloseouts, so I have plenty of reading material to keep me going for the next little while.
posted by Sue at
4:35 PM
|
3 Comments
