Linking up with Ashley and Neely for the Sunday Social!
-
What is your dream job?
I don't really have a dream job anymore. When I was younger I had quite a few (none very realistic). For a long time I wanted to be in the theatre, I even used to get 'The Stage' every week.
Then I spent a brief period (probably coinciding with my A-level study of the subject) wanting to go into Politics. When I decided after school that I didn't want to go to University I wanted to go and work in TV/films behind the scenes (didn't happen). My first year at University studying music I wanted to be a singer (until I decided I wasn't thick skinned enough).
So I ended up as a Quantity Surveyor. I can't say it's my dream job, it pays the bills.
-
If you had just won the lottery and didn't need to work for money, what would you do with your time?
This is a question that has been discussed a lot over drinks in pubs and so forth. Unlike a lot of people I wouldn't go travelling (crutches and mobility issues make travelling a nuisance for me). I wouldn't keep my current job though either. I'd probably find some charity to work with... I know from several long spells sick in bed that doing nothing all day doesn't suit me! -
When you were a kid, what did you want to be when you grew up?
Apart from those mentioned above... like lots of little girls I wanted to be a ballerina ('The Red Shoes' has a lot to answer for!). I also wanted to be a teacher, a lawyer and a pilot. I think this may reflect jobs of people my parents knew and my limited world experience! the pilot is because my Granddad was a pilot in the war... and I adored my Granddad. -
What piece career advice would you give to someone just starting out in your field?
Get the widest range of experience you can. Quantity Surveyors often get pigeon-holed into only working on one type of project (hotels, offices, residential, etc.). Make sure you get experience in every sector and at every stage you can. Get Chartered as soon as you can after your degree whilst your brain is still in study mode! -
What are your biggest pet peeves in life, blogging, or at work?
Probably too many to mention! I have a fairly short temper, and can be intolerant of weaknesses in others (whether Government, colleagues or myself).
Right now it is the disruption of daily life in London caused by the Olympics - the Olympics has been annoying me ever since it was announced that they were coming to London 7 years ago, so that will leave a big hole to fill with something else!
For the past several months it has been various follies of the Government, not least the Welfare/Benefit reforms.
Generally poor grammar; for example the incorrect use of the reflexive pronoun deeply irritates me, "If you just send it to myself"... it makes me scream inside. The conversational place holder 'you know' - I am consciously trying to eradicate it from my vocabulary.
-
What are your biggest fears?
When I was younger everything frightened me - I think the Victorians would have given me a lot of smelling salts, I certainly was fairly neurotic! It was just 'worrying' about these things, it was full blown fear - I'd have actual panic attacks.
Here are a few that I remember: the ramifications of a volcano eruption in the South Pacific (I was seven); the results of a lightening strike (nine); staying away from home (eight through sixteen); terrorism, this was the IRA and my mum worked in the City (eight through eleven); people I knew dying (started when I was five and realised people died); missile strikes, thanks to the first Gulf War (16 through 18); the flesh-eating bug (nineteen); the Ebola virus (twenty); the effects of a mental illness... I blame 'The Bell Jar' (late teens/early twenties); terrorism, this time Islamic fundamentalists - after 9/11 I wouldn't ride the tube for a year and viewed every passing aircraft with suspicion.
I don't know if it is having MS which actually gives you something to focus on - but I really don't suffer from this anymore. I've become much more 'zen' and accept that what will happen will happen. I can happily say I hardly ever have panic attacks now!
So now you've met the chaos inside my head! Be nice :0)