Introduction to Technopark
worker replacing a childcare leave emplo
Two days after receiving my librarian certification, I succeeded in getting a job as a contract worker replacing a childcare leave employee for a small library as a 35-year-old with no experience. Knowing that it's not easy to get a job as a librarian, I thought it would be difficult to find a job.
I planned to start as an assistant in the library on weekends, thinking that I would take it slow, as I had a hasty feeling about starting my major in library and information science late. However, life didn't go as planned. Part-time workers don't need a librarian certification, so housewives and college student applicants flocked in, making the competition intense. It was heart-wrenching to learn that even a part-time job as a library assistant is not easy to come by, but I know that nothing will change just because of that.
For a while, I didn't have a fixed concept of time as I wasn't tied to a job, and I had my own free time. I decided to learn braille in the morning. When I was young, I had a curiosity about braille when I read about Helen Keller, but there was no place to learn it properly. The Bucheon Hamil Library, a social welfare facility for the visually impaired, was operating a braille class for local residents, but office workers couldn't attend because the classes were only held in the morning. With the freedom to use my morning time, I finally had the chance to learn braille, something I had wanted to learn for a long time.
I thought learning braille would be easy. I mistakenly thought that if I just learned the consonants and vowels in braille, I could apply them just like in Korean. But braille consists of only six dots, and there are many contractions, so if I didn't focus on the braille instructor's explanation during class, it was difficult to keep up with the lessons.
I can't do multiple things at once. During class, I received a call from an unknown number. Some people stop what they're doing and go out to answer the phone, but I'm not someone who considers phone calls to be important, so I didn't answer it. An hour later, I received another call from the same number. It felt a little strange to call it a spam call, so I called back after class. It was an organization to which I had submitted a job application a few weeks ago. They called about the interview schedule, but since they couldn't get through to me, I was informed that I was excluded from the interviewees. I was very disappointed to have missed the interview opportunity, but I decided to focus on studying Braille since it wasn't meant to be for me.
A few days later, the same number called again. After hesitating for a moment, I answered the phone. They asked if I could come for an interview. I was very confused because they had already posted the list of successful applicants on their website. I asked why they were asking me to come for an interview when I assumed the successful applicants had already been chosen. Through the phone, I could sense that the person on the other end was very flustered. They explained that the final successful applicant had quit a few days ago, so they needed to conduct interviews again. I asked what the reason was for the person quitting, and they gave a somewhat dubious answer that they had quit due to personal circumstances and leg pain. Despite feeling uneasy, I faced the reality of being an older job seeker and decided to go for the interview.
The institution seemed to be in urgent need of hiring, judging by their rushed interview schedule, but I wasn't in a hurry as I had already cleared my mind for another place. I scheduled the interview for a week later and searched for transportation options to the interview location. Using Naver Maps, I found that the small library located in the welfare center within the Techno Park complex was only 4.8km away from my home and would take around 14 minutes by car. As I didn't have a car, I searched for public transportation options. Several routes involving one bus transfer were suggested, with a travel time of around 20-30 minutes, but I was hesitant about the transfer as waiting times were not fixed. So, I decided to take a less recommended but more reliable route that involved taking a comfortable bus directly to a nearby location and then walking the rest of the way.
To prepare for the interview, I searched for information about the institution, but there didn't seem to be any specific results on their operation programs or ongoing projects. However, as there didn't seem to be many ongoing projects even for an entry-level position, I felt somewhat relieved.
I have an interview today at 2 pm, so I left home early because I thought I needed to arrive a little earlier than the interview time. The local bus had a longer interval than usual, so I had to wait for a long time. I could have arrived earlier than the interview time because it only takes about 11 minutes to pass through five stops on the bus, but the driver continued to drive without stopping at the stop where I rang the bell. So, I had to pass one more station and cross the overpass and ended up getting off in Incheon instead of Bucheon. The driver kept apologizing, saying he didn't see me ringing the bell. I was very surprised, but there was nothing I could do. Later, I realized that the Techno Park stop had few passengers getting on and off outside of commuting hours, so I could understand why the driver just passed the stop. The driver told me to take the same bus without swiping my card after crossing the signal, as he had contacted the opposite bus driver in advance and told him about the situation. But it seemed difficult to wait because the bus had a long interval. I called the organization and told them that I might be a little late for the interview because I took the wrong bus. No matter how I thought about it, it didn't seem like fate for me to meet this organization. I tried to catch a taxi, but there were no taxis passing by as it was a suburban area near the border of the city. I used the Kakao Taxi app to call a taxi, and after waiting for about 10 minutes, the taxi arrived but passed me by. It was so bewildering. The Kakao Taxi stopped at a gas station 150m ahead, and I received a call from the driver's number provided in the app. He couldn't find where I was, so I said I would come to him, and I walked a long way to take the taxi. I was the only person in the middle of nowhere, so I felt like it was impossible for him to miss me. Today, I didn't think things were going to work out well because of this incident. The taxi driver also seemed a little surprised. He wondered how I managed to take a taxi in this area where there were almost no people calling taxis. So, I had to explain the whole story in detail. Actually, I was on my way to the interview, but the bus driver didn't let me get off, so I tried to catch a taxi. But the taxi driver didn't pick me up, so I told him that I might be late for the interview. Fortunately, the driver drove me quickly, so I arrived on time.
At the organization, I had resigned myself to the fact that I would be the only interviewee, as they had called to say that the other candidate was running late. However, when I arrived at the interview location, I felt relieved to see their reaction. The interview went quickly, and since I was the only candidate, it felt somewhat formal. As soon as I left the interview room, they told me the salary would be low and asked if I could start right away, which made me feel like there were no other alternatives for me. I received a gift from the organization and left the welfare center. I had a bad feeling that I wouldn't be able to catch a bus at the bus stop on the same route back home, so I ended up taking several buses and a long route home. It was a very thrilling day. A few hours after returning home, I received a call from the organization asking if I could start working the next day, as the current librarian would be resigning. Since I had a full 24 hours to myself, it wasn't a difficult task. And so, I began working as a substitute librarian for a small library located in the Techno Park complex from March 10th, 2021 to January 31st, 2022, while on childcare leave.
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