I am not a gym-junkie. In fact, the only time I ever went to a gym was for muay thai lessons, and I quit after 4 sessions. I mean, there's something intimidating about going to a gym and being surrounded by either rich people who can afford a personal coach or avid "gymmers" that will put you to shame.
I have always been curious how people start gyming, I mean, we all gotta start as noobs before we make it up, but just how do you do that??? Maybe some people just aren't suitable for gyms...like me:D
Ok anyway! The gym that I went to wasn't even really the classic gym. It was more of a place where martial arts, self-defence and blah were taught. And I only considered it because my friend was learning muay thai there and so I kinda got roped in. I was considering another gym before this because that gym seemed more established and "proper", if that's the correct word.
Fight G was the gym my friend was already with, and the one I ultimately signed up with. The other gym in consideration was Kick.Box.Punch (I think that's their name.....) and they seem to focus entirely on Muay Thai. Also, they seem more structured in the sense that it was fixed instructor and a fixed class size.
On the other hand, Fight G really came off very messy and confusing when I first stepped into the gym. There seem to be little structure and everything seems more like a gathering place for groups of professionals or avid martial artists than earnest new learners.
Maybe its just me. I like order and structure.
So why did I end up going with Fight G even though it was so not my style? Because they were cheaper. Supposedly. Their per 4 sessions fee was lower than KBP. And since I already have a friend at Fight G, I went with Fight G.
Seems like I made a mistake though, because I ended up having to pay an extra $160 for 2 months of membership fees that I did not use at all and the late payment.
So apparently, Fight G works like this. There is a minimum term of 3 months when you sign up with them, meaning you have to pay fees for at least 3 months. And I didn't know that. I misunderstood the phrase as "signing up means you will be a member for 3 months" instead of "you have to at least pay for 3 months of fees". Gosh.....
And the worst part, I didn't continue after a month, so I didn't know I have to pay at all, and so I accumulate $135 worth of late payment fees.
Imagine my shock when I opened the letter and found myself in debt.
Naturally, I was shocked and furious. Like what do you mean I have to pay over $200 for nothing???
After negotiating with the gym, I managed to cut down my payment to $160. Which is still a large sum for a uni student like me. I mean, 160 means 16 more tops bottoms and makeup. And I'm paying for nothing!
I tried to argue my way out, but I have apparently signed a damn contract. So yea, unless I feel like going to court for $160 of payment, I'm just gonna have to suck it up. And I did.
And that's where a painfully expensive lesson was learnt. Sometimes, paying less now means paying more later, especially if you aren't careful. If I had just went for the more expensive gym, my cost will only be $120. Now it's $200++ :( Poor me....
Thursday, December 22, 2016
Sunday, December 11, 2016
My experience with Recruit Express
So I was thinking about working part-time during my winter break to earn some extra cash and chanced upon Recruit Express.
It is basically a recruiting company, as the name suggests. However, it is a bit more personal than other online platforms such as Fastjobs, in the sense that a consultant will actually be helping you. So I just signed up, not thinking much, going in with the mentality that even if I don't get anything its fine since I was just thinking about working to spend my time for fruitfully.
So well I went down for a consultation with my assigned consultant and after obtaining my preferences, my consultant tried to find a job opening for me on the spot. However, as I could only part-time for a month, he couldn't find anything just yet. So he told me he will try to find something suitable and will contact me as soon as possible. Well, I was perfectly fine with that, I understand that most part-time jobs require a minimum 3 month term.
The only problem I have is that within a span of just one day, I received 18 calls from Recruit Express, each call of a different consultant, all so eager to help me get a job.
I appreciate that enthusiasm to help out (or perhaps to obtain commission), but what I do not appreciate is that there seem to be no system to check if an applicant has already been contacted by a consultant. I had to repeat the same phrase for 5 times before I could take it no longer and simply rejected that rest.
Recruit Express, please do something about this.
Well besides this little bummer, I have to say they are quite active in helping you find a job of your preference. I did receive quite a few calls for job openings. Unfortunately I was quite picky in the sense that I wanted to have some free weekdays while most of the jobs they offered were for Mondays to Fridays. Also, I could only work till the end of December while most jobs require a longer term. So I had to give quite a couple a miss.
Well that's that. But, I did notice something else. So I received a call from a consultant about a one week retail assistant job at a departmental store. She said that I needed to send her my resume asap. So I did. I didn't hear anything from her till she called me again to notify me of another job opening. I actually didn't realise they were the same person until I asked for her email to send her my resume and it turned out to be the same. I then asked her about the retail assistant job, and she seem to stutter a bit and said she thought that I wasn't very suitable for it. I then asked her if she actually received my email with my resume. Her reply was quite odd, she said that she has to check, and then she took a while before she confirmed that she did receive it. I didn't think much of it till I hung up. That's when I realised that she found me unsuitable for the retail assistant role before she saw my resume. And I have never met her, I have only talked with her over the phone 2 or 3 times. How could she have possibly "found me unsuitable" for the job?
Perhaps there is something else, another reason. But its just really odd. I mean, if its because there were no more openings, you can just tell me right? That would be a much better and more acceptable reason than "I found you unsuitable".
Another incident was this. So I applied through this agency with my sister because we thought we could work together and have fun while we're at it. So a consultant texted us about a job opening at a shopping centre and initially said there were 2 openings. After we agreed to it, he suddenly said there was only 1 left and thought it would be better for my sister. Honestly, till now I only feel really frustrated with them. They seem to be all talk but no results.
Another incident was on a miscommunication of information. My sister very clearly told the consultant that she could only work till end January, but the consultant offered her a job that turned out to be a 3-month commitment. And mind you, we had to spend all the time and money travelling down to the location to be interviewed before we found out about this. Basically, time and money wasted.
My conclusion: this particular website, Recruit Express is not useless. However, don't depend on it too much. If I were you, I would keep my options and resources wide open.
It is basically a recruiting company, as the name suggests. However, it is a bit more personal than other online platforms such as Fastjobs, in the sense that a consultant will actually be helping you. So I just signed up, not thinking much, going in with the mentality that even if I don't get anything its fine since I was just thinking about working to spend my time for fruitfully.
So well I went down for a consultation with my assigned consultant and after obtaining my preferences, my consultant tried to find a job opening for me on the spot. However, as I could only part-time for a month, he couldn't find anything just yet. So he told me he will try to find something suitable and will contact me as soon as possible. Well, I was perfectly fine with that, I understand that most part-time jobs require a minimum 3 month term.
The only problem I have is that within a span of just one day, I received 18 calls from Recruit Express, each call of a different consultant, all so eager to help me get a job.
I appreciate that enthusiasm to help out (or perhaps to obtain commission), but what I do not appreciate is that there seem to be no system to check if an applicant has already been contacted by a consultant. I had to repeat the same phrase for 5 times before I could take it no longer and simply rejected that rest.
Recruit Express, please do something about this.
Well besides this little bummer, I have to say they are quite active in helping you find a job of your preference. I did receive quite a few calls for job openings. Unfortunately I was quite picky in the sense that I wanted to have some free weekdays while most of the jobs they offered were for Mondays to Fridays. Also, I could only work till the end of December while most jobs require a longer term. So I had to give quite a couple a miss.
Well that's that. But, I did notice something else. So I received a call from a consultant about a one week retail assistant job at a departmental store. She said that I needed to send her my resume asap. So I did. I didn't hear anything from her till she called me again to notify me of another job opening. I actually didn't realise they were the same person until I asked for her email to send her my resume and it turned out to be the same. I then asked her about the retail assistant job, and she seem to stutter a bit and said she thought that I wasn't very suitable for it. I then asked her if she actually received my email with my resume. Her reply was quite odd, she said that she has to check, and then she took a while before she confirmed that she did receive it. I didn't think much of it till I hung up. That's when I realised that she found me unsuitable for the retail assistant role before she saw my resume. And I have never met her, I have only talked with her over the phone 2 or 3 times. How could she have possibly "found me unsuitable" for the job?
Perhaps there is something else, another reason. But its just really odd. I mean, if its because there were no more openings, you can just tell me right? That would be a much better and more acceptable reason than "I found you unsuitable".
Another incident was this. So I applied through this agency with my sister because we thought we could work together and have fun while we're at it. So a consultant texted us about a job opening at a shopping centre and initially said there were 2 openings. After we agreed to it, he suddenly said there was only 1 left and thought it would be better for my sister. Honestly, till now I only feel really frustrated with them. They seem to be all talk but no results.
Another incident was on a miscommunication of information. My sister very clearly told the consultant that she could only work till end January, but the consultant offered her a job that turned out to be a 3-month commitment. And mind you, we had to spend all the time and money travelling down to the location to be interviewed before we found out about this. Basically, time and money wasted.
My conclusion: this particular website, Recruit Express is not useless. However, don't depend on it too much. If I were you, I would keep my options and resources wide open.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)