Well, it's Tuesday and I've officially started work. For the first week or two I'll be working in the office in Burnaby doing things like safety courses, software training, and all those sorts of things they can train me on while I'm here. After a week or two, they'll be shipping me off to Fort Mac!
So far, the first two days have been good. Everyone is super nice to me. I've even made a friend (at least over email) with someone who is also new to the company and is in Fort Mac right now! On my first day, I got my picture taken and wrote a little blurb about myself that was sent out around the office so everyone would know I was new and would know who I was. I suppose it got sent to some people I'll be seeing on the work site as well. I got an email from a lovely fellow named Tom who warmly welcomed me, and will be giving me some insight into the lifestyle in "camp". So far, he says it's clean (which leads me to believe that "camp" doesn't mean tents??) and the food is good. Either way, it's nice to know someone - at least by email - before going there.
Tomorrow I'll finish off my 7-hour safety training course, and start on something new. Let's hope it gets more exciting! By the way, everyone in the office is looking at me with great pity since they've all been through the training and feel the need to remind me how unbelievably boring it is. They're correct.
Tuesday, 28 June 2011
Tuesday, 14 June 2011
It's finally here!
The formal job offer letter arrived today. It felt like forever waiting that week between the call that said I had the job and the actual written offer. For those of you who are interested, my official title is "Construction Site Clerk", which doesn't really tell you much about the actual position. The job description is basically this: monitor construction progress, record-keep, and cost control (make sure they stay on track and on budget). My first day of orientation here in the Lower Mainland is Monday, June 27th.
While this isn't exactly my specialization, it's in my field and that's what counts. I missed out on a lot of work experience having not completed an undergraduate degree in engineering, and need to catch up now. This means taking crappy jobs for a while, impressing the pants off of my employers, and climbing the proverbial ladder.
As for the nitty-gritty details, it pays about the same as I'm making now, which is good. I'll be travelling back and fourth from Vancouver to Fort Mac - a few weeks on site, long hours, long weeks, then they fly me back to Vancouver to have a week or so off. I'll find out more details on that stuff during my orientation, in case any of you were wondering.
How do I feel about all of this?
Well, I suppose words such as excited and nervous are the obvious choices. I'm sure going to miss my easy west coast lifestyle, my amazing friends, my fantastic boyfriend, my adorable cat. I'll be experiencing real Canadian winter for the first time. I'll need to buy steel-toed boots and a parka or something. Maybe I should try some new outdoor activity that I can do while I'm there. Snowshoeing perhaps?
Well, I suppose that's it for now. On a completely un-related note, it's Game 7 tomorrow of the Stanley Cup playoffs. Boston vs. Vancouver. GO CANUCKS GO!
While this isn't exactly my specialization, it's in my field and that's what counts. I missed out on a lot of work experience having not completed an undergraduate degree in engineering, and need to catch up now. This means taking crappy jobs for a while, impressing the pants off of my employers, and climbing the proverbial ladder.
As for the nitty-gritty details, it pays about the same as I'm making now, which is good. I'll be travelling back and fourth from Vancouver to Fort Mac - a few weeks on site, long hours, long weeks, then they fly me back to Vancouver to have a week or so off. I'll find out more details on that stuff during my orientation, in case any of you were wondering.
How do I feel about all of this?
Well, I suppose words such as excited and nervous are the obvious choices. I'm sure going to miss my easy west coast lifestyle, my amazing friends, my fantastic boyfriend, my adorable cat. I'll be experiencing real Canadian winter for the first time. I'll need to buy steel-toed boots and a parka or something. Maybe I should try some new outdoor activity that I can do while I'm there. Snowshoeing perhaps?
Well, I suppose that's it for now. On a completely un-related note, it's Game 7 tomorrow of the Stanley Cup playoffs. Boston vs. Vancouver. GO CANUCKS GO!
I've been sittin', waitin', wishin'...
Hello everyone. This is my first blog post EVER. Let's hope this comes across how I'd like it to.
Let's get straight to the point. I'm blogging because I have a job opportunity in Fort McMurray, Alberta. The purpose of this blog is, at the very least, two-fold. First, it's to keep my friends and family updated as to what I'm doing, where I am, and whether or not I've frozen myself to a tree. Second, it's to keep myself sane by emoting to the world how awesome/lousy the job is.
As it stands now, I'm still waiting for the formal job offer. I was told last Monday that it I had the job, and that the written version of the offer would be sent by email. That was a week ago. Let's hope it arrives soon! I expect it'll tell me when I start, what I'll be paid, travelling and accommodation details etc. I'll keep you updated.
I'll be bringing a small camera with me to take pictures of Fort Mac, and upload them here. That way you can see how big the bugs are in the summer, and how big the snow drifts are in the winter.
Thanks for following me!
M
As it stands now, I'm still waiting for the formal job offer. I was told last Monday that it I had the job, and that the written version of the offer would be sent by email. That was a week ago. Let's hope it arrives soon! I expect it'll tell me when I start, what I'll be paid, travelling and accommodation details etc. I'll keep you updated.
I'll be bringing a small camera with me to take pictures of Fort Mac, and upload them here. That way you can see how big the bugs are in the summer, and how big the snow drifts are in the winter.
Thanks for following me!
M
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