The First Hurdle is the Highest - Portfolio Underway!

My homework for this last week was to go to job agency and get at least one of my portfolio forms completed. It was something that I was really tempted to put off until this very morning when Maarten asked me to call into Tempo-Team on my way to work and drop off his keys (he used to work there and still hadn’t handed back his keys – let’s hope they changed the alarm code by now).

So, there was no way out of it. To not get the form signed would be the height of laziness and just plain ridiculous.

So off I went. It was really nice walking into Tempo Team actually. Maarten finished working there about a month ago, and I used to visit him regularly and quite like his colleagues. Today it was almost like I was popping in to visit my own friends. I dropped off the key, made some small talk, then dropped the bombshell – can someone help me with my inburgering?? No problem. I sat down with Eloi (Maarten’s main partner in crime) and I actually surprised myself with my ability to communicate! Eloi printed out a job that he has with ABN Amro and we discussed the hours per week, the salary, who I would be working with (if it wasn’t a purely hypothetical situation) etc. It was really very simple and I was comfortable. We talked about my current job and how I have just received a new permanent contract (yay for me!). Eloi was very happy, because he was the consultant who initially placed me with my company.

I walked out of the office with a spring in my step and feeling really good about myself. I went straight around the corner to pick up a bottle of contact lens solution and had no hesitation speaking with the woman behind the counter (although, I did only ask for the bottle of solution!) and have been in a great mood all day. Since then I’ve managed to complete four other portions of the portfolio, so am effectively already a quarter of the way through it.

The first hurdle most definitely is the highest. Although, I’ll have to keep you posted on how things go when I have to report my bike as being stolen to the police..!