dimanche, décembre 09, 2007
I cannot help but hear his voice
Well, I might have proven that I'm not an idiot by federal government standards, but I don't think my other exam went so well yesterday. I didn't sleep much the night before, kinda doing some cramming for that accounting exam in the morning, and by the time it was time to write, I was almost too tired to focus. In the afternoon, when I went to write my "general competence" test, I was even having trouble with some simple math questions! I really hope everything works out alright.
This studying-for-exams nonsense is reminding me that I'm done with school, as in, can't raise my motivation to the appropriate level for optimal learning. Please, oh please, can I just get a job in January. I've been applying like crazy, with the government mostly, since they're the big employer in this town, but the process is so slow (they told us yesterday that our idiot-test results would only be available in February) and the potential necessity of speaking French looms over me.
Did I mention I've become somewhat anti-French from living here..? I just don't get how a language group that represents less than twenty-five percent of the population gets to dominate civil service jobs. Devin told me that at an employee event he went to a while ago (he works for a pretty big branch of the government), something like sixty percent of the attendees indicated that French was their first language. We learned in my Political History class last year that a Quebec politician long ago got frustrated that Quebecers couldn't work for their own federal government because of the language barrier, but I feel like we've gone too far in the other direction. I wrote a test at the Justice Department recently and felt like I'd wandered into some deep French territory. Everyone around me was French, and most of the people in the room were taking the test in French, but pas moi - you're allowed to take your testing in the language of your choice. Almost all of the jobs I apply for indicate at least a minimal level of bilingual-ness as a required element. And yeah, I've already scored C and B (these are higher than 'A') on reading and writing, but it's the speaking assessment I'm worried about. I suspect I'm not quite at the often-required B-level.
For now I've got a couple more school exams to get through. I'm writing Provincial Politics tomorrow night. Time to get rested up. | ¶ 11:33 p.m.
This studying-for-exams nonsense is reminding me that I'm done with school, as in, can't raise my motivation to the appropriate level for optimal learning. Please, oh please, can I just get a job in January. I've been applying like crazy, with the government mostly, since they're the big employer in this town, but the process is so slow (they told us yesterday that our idiot-test results would only be available in February) and the potential necessity of speaking French looms over me.
Did I mention I've become somewhat anti-French from living here..? I just don't get how a language group that represents less than twenty-five percent of the population gets to dominate civil service jobs. Devin told me that at an employee event he went to a while ago (he works for a pretty big branch of the government), something like sixty percent of the attendees indicated that French was their first language. We learned in my Political History class last year that a Quebec politician long ago got frustrated that Quebecers couldn't work for their own federal government because of the language barrier, but I feel like we've gone too far in the other direction. I wrote a test at the Justice Department recently and felt like I'd wandered into some deep French territory. Everyone around me was French, and most of the people in the room were taking the test in French, but pas moi - you're allowed to take your testing in the language of your choice. Almost all of the jobs I apply for indicate at least a minimal level of bilingual-ness as a required element. And yeah, I've already scored C and B (these are higher than 'A') on reading and writing, but it's the speaking assessment I'm worried about. I suspect I'm not quite at the often-required B-level.
For now I've got a couple more school exams to get through. I'm writing Provincial Politics tomorrow night. Time to get rested up. | ¶ 11:33 p.m.
