My New Job

Today I had some great plans to show you some of the great layouts I've worked on in the past year, but alas, I am having some crazy technical difficulties using Sean's camera.  I pressed something and now the camera won't focus :( and of course Sean isn't answering his cell so I can't get a quick fix from him over the phone.  So that plan is out the window for today, and I'll double up on the layout photos on my next post.

But not to fear, I still have a great topic to blog about, my fantastic new job!!!

So, Sean and I have been in Vernon since November 1st, and literally I started looking for a job here back in August when we came for our summer visit.  I even had some interviews lined up before we came out.

I met with someone from a great golf course here called Predator Ridge and I interviewed for a marketing manager position with BC Tree Fruit.  Lastly, I interviewed for a marketing position with a new resort here in Vernon called Sparkling Hills.   

The resort opened in 2010 here in Vernon and is owned by Swarovski Crystal and there are over 3.5 million crystals used throughout the hotel. 

To say this place is fancy is an understatement, it has 40,000 square feet of spa and views to die for! Sean and I were fortunate enough to stay at the resort for one night (thanks to my MIL) and the best part of the resort is there are sauna's, steam rooms and 3 pools that are included with your stay.

Here are some pictures from their website

an aerial view

The gorgeous view from their hotel rooms (and the glowing red thing is a crystal fireplace)

Valet and front entrance

The Lobby

So I applied for the marketing position but it turned out I wasn't the right fit for what they were looking for. 

Once we finally drove out here I hit the computer hard looking for a job, and really I was looking for ANY job.  I applied for office admins, admin assistants, and anything that had marketing in it.  But Vernon is for sure not a hot spot for employment right now and I knew to find a job needing my skills I was going to have to commute to Kelowna.  

Now, I have no issue with commuting.  I commuted 75 minutes each way to Shoplogix and driving 50 minutes to Kelowna each day is not so bad, but secretly I wanted a job in Vernon. 

So after 5 weeks of hearing NOTHING from any of the jobs I applied to (almost 40) I thought it was time to speak to an employment agency.  

I enrolled in the program at the Centre for Business Development (CBD) in Kelowna.  The purpose of this Centre is to help professionals with their job search through their workshops. They don't find you a job, but they give you the skills you need to find a job.  Carol was my coach and without her I wouldn't have found a job.

Carol found the posting for an event coordinator at Sparkling Hills and she helped me tailor my resume.  After a lot of hard work and editing to my resume, I submitted it and I was overjoyed when I got the call to come in for an interview.

The interview was 2.5 hours! Basically it was a lot of questions from the Director of HR and the Events Manager (who I would be reporting to) and then it was time for the tour exercise.  Marlene (events manager) walked me to various spaces in the hotel and asked me questions regarding how I would handle certain situations....ie: in this room we can fit 145, a bride wants 160, how would you set it up and what restrictions would you have? What would you use this space for, or how would you arrange for a board meeting.  

The Ballroom

The Terrace

 

All of this I thought I answered very well, but now I had to wait to see if I moved on to the next step - reference check.

Well after two long weeks of waiting patiently for an email, I finally found out I was selected to move to the reference check step.  I provided my current references (who were all from Shoplogix) but then I was asked to give names of people I worked with at Allstream and U of G - what a process that was.  I still chat to Kathy at U of G so that was just a matter of leaving her a message on facebook, but Allstream was going to be a challenge.   My manager JoAnne no longer works at Allstream and I had no personal phone number or email for her,  but thankfully after a lot of phone calls and emails I was able to track down someone at Allstream who a) remembered me and b) could talk about the job!

Finally on December 29th I was offered the job! and what an exciting day that was! I called Sean practically screaming that they chose me and that I finally had a new job to start on January 10th!

This job has lots of great perks, but the best is, my drive is under 20 minutes to work! WOW, what a change from my life in Ontario!

For a good two years I had truly been missing event planning! I don't regret working at Shoplogix, but in hindsight I don't know if I would have taken the job again if offered it.  I moved into more of a marketing role because of the size of the company (they were just too small to have a dedicated event planner) and for five years I really had to put my event planning career on hold.  

But now, I am back doing what I love.  I know this is an entry level position and the hours are going to be long but I can't express to you how excited I am to have this opportunity and to jump back into event planning.  It's the career I knew I was meant to have.  It is truly my passion.

My life is back to organizing, notebooks, lists and my favourite of all PENS!!!!!!!!!!

Tuesday can't come soon enough, and trust me, there will for sure be a post letting you all know how great my first day was!

Ta Ta For Now!

xoxox Bri