Wow, that is a long title! When I was telling people I was going it was such a mouthful too. Either way, I had such a great time that I had to tell you about it.
If you haven't watched RuPaul's Drag Race UK yet then what are you waiting for? You can watch it here on BBC IPlayer.
If you are unaware of what Drag Race is completely, then it is a group of drag queens who compete in challenges and someone goes home every week until they crown a winner. There are many seasons in many countries so if you haven't watched any, do it!
A fun fact about me is that I wrote a 10,000 word dissertation on the representations in RuPaul's Drag Race for my final year of university (and got a first which I tell anyone, any chance I get).
A bit of background information about the event
Related: 9 to 5 the musical at the Mayflower
The queens
My favourite acts
At the end
This is a guest post written by Chloe from chlodoeslife.com.
You did it! You finally graduated and landed your first job. Life after university can feel very overwhelming and starting your first full-time job sounds scary, but I’ve created a list of amazing tips to help you navigate through your first job and be successful.
Hi, my name is Chloë and I blog over at chlodoeslife.com. I graduated in May 2020 and started my first (corporate) job in August of that year. In the year and a half between starting that job and writing this post, I’ve learned a lot and now I’m sharing my tips with you. Thank you, Lauren, for giving me the opportunity to guest post!
1. First Impressions Matter
It sounds cliché, but it’s definitely true: first impressions matter. Make sure that on your first day - and every day after - you’re dressed properly and look neat. Of course, you dress according to your workplace - make sure you know beforehand what the dress code is. If there is none, you can easily wear jeans and nice jumper, but just make sure that you don’t look as if you’ve just rolled out of bed. It gives your employer the wrong impression of you.
Not only your outfit is important, there are a few other things to take into consideration as well. Make sure that you have everything you need to make your first day into a success. Take a notebook and a pen to make notes, bring some snacks and a water bottle if you’re not entirely sure your workplace will provide these. I wrote a whole post on how to rock your first day on my own blog, so make sure to check that out if you’ve finished reading here.
2. Always Ask Questions
And you can take always quite literally. You just graduated and have only limited to no work experience, nobody expects you to know everything from the start. Even after months and after a year and longer, it’s still okay to ask questions. Nobody is perfect and even senior profiles still need help sometimes. It’s better to continue asking questions than make big mistakes that could cost you your job!
You need to ask questions in order to be able to be successful in your first job. Finding solutions to a problem yourself is time-consuming and not efficient. Of course, you shouldn’t just bother your manager with every little inconvenience. I once read a tip online about the 20-minute rule: if you can’t find any possible solution within the first 20 minutes, ask your manager. If within the first 20 minutes you have a slight idea of how you could solve it, try that first. If that doesn’t work, speak to your manager. This way you don’t unnecessarily bother them and still find a solution in a timely manner.
Related: 10 productive things to do on a Sunday for the best week
3. Take Additional Training
As someone who has just entered into the workforce, you naturally don’t have all of the skills you need yet to grow as a professional. Along the way, you automatically notice there are things you can’t do yet, and you should take every opportunity you can find to expand your skill-set. Not only for your current job, but any future positions you will take on in your career.
Most companies have a training budget available, so make sure you check in with your manager about how much you can spend yearly on courses. When you find a course that’s relevant to your job, talk to your manager to see if you can attend - you shouldn’t pay for these yourself. If there is no budget, there is also plenty of free training available online that will help you expand your skill-set. For example, some of the tools I work with or some of our business partners offer free online training on various subjects that I try to attend as much as I can.
4. Learn To Say No
This probably also depends on the department you work in and on your individual skills, but as a new hire, people from different departments will ask you for your help, especially if you have one specific skill that might be useful for them as well. I, for example, speak German fluently, so the marketing and customer service departments often ask me to help with some translations.
What’s important to remember, is that you make sure it fits in your schedule. Always do your job first and then see what you can do for other people. I know that especially in the beginning it’s very hard to say no to others, because you want to make a good impression, but you should always put the tasks you were hired for first. If a favour for someone else doesn’t fit in with your other deadlines, say no politely. Most of them will understand. This is super important to avoid any unnecessary stress and to not feel burnt out after a while.
5. Stay In Touch With Your Friends
Nothing is more important than staying in touch with your friends. Even if you have less time now than you had before, find some space to squeeze in your friends for a drink after work every now and then. As a junior, you can feel very out of place sometimes, especially in the beginning, and being able to talk to your friends about it, can be a huge relief.
It’s the perfect way to let out those frustrations that you can’t share with colleagues or family, because they simply won’t understand. Talking with people that are on the same level as you will make you feel understood. After all, most of them will be going through the same thing and it will help you feel less alone at times.
Related: What now? A life after graduation
These are my tips to be successful in your first job! I hope you enjoyed them and that they’ll be useful for you in your job too. Thank you again, Lauren, for the opportunity and for letting me write a piece for your blog.
Yours truly,
Chloë
As my boyfriend and some of my friends are living in London at the moment, I am finding myself visiting there a lot at weekends so I thought I'd share some of the fun things I have been up to lately.
I feel like we have been a lot more drawn to Shoreditch lately as there are just so many cool and fun things to do there. Also, it means I can split these posts up for different areas of London rather than one big London one that I would have to keep adding to. So here are some of the fun places I have been to in Shoreditch lately.
Top 7 things to do in Shoreditch
1. Ballie Ballerson
Ballie Ballerson is a bar that has adult ball pits inside. Before going here I have to say I was dreading it a bit because I get really claustrophobic with things like that but it was actually a lot of fun.
The balls get a bit samey after a while but you can go in and out of them as many times as you want in your time slot and they play some really good tunes at the bar.
I would definitely recommend trying here if you haven't already, it's just so different from anything I've done before and you can get some really good pictures for Insta.
2. Hijingo
3. London Cocktail Club
4. Simmons Bar
5. Swingers Mini Golf
6. Spitalfields Market
7. Box Park
Similar to Spitalfields, there are a lot of food stalls here but instead of being a market, it is just a place to sit, have food and drink and chill with friends. When you get there, you can scan a code on your table and order drinks to the table. When ordering food, you order at the table and they text you when it's ready to pick up to avoid queuing.
Again, it's great to be able to all choose different things to eat and there is so much to choose from.
When I visit more fun places in London outside of Shoreditch, I will definitely write some more recommendations. Have you been to any of these places?
Related: 10 European cities you need to visit
Also, if you have any London recommendations for me, please let me know.
I find that the start of the new year is a good time for a social media clear-out. Whether that be unfollowing any accounts that produce content that is not really relevant to you anymore, or even archiving some of your own posts that just don't feel very you anymore.
It is also a good time to follow new accounts that lift your timeline up. This is why I am sharing some of my favourite accounts to follow on Instagram in 2022.
I wrote a blog post a while back about why social media doesn't have to be negative and this is exactly what I mean. A lot of people have negative experiences with social media, especially Instagram. However, you are in control of who you follow, so make sure it's accounts that add something to your life and make you feel positive after seeing their content.
Also, do you use TikTok? Let me know if you want to see a TikTok version of this post too since I am always scrolling on there and would love to share my favourite accounts on there with you too.
Anyway, here is a list of some of my favourite Insta accounts to follow at the moment that you should check out, categorised into the main theme of their content, e.g. fashion or food. Emphasis on SOME of my favourite accounts as I follow so many great ones, these are just my favourites of now.
Instagram accounts you need to follow in 2022
Lifestyle
First up we have me!!! Yep that's right, why not put myself first? If you regularly read my blogs, chances are you follow me on Instagram anyway but if not, come and say hello at @_laurenken.
- Demi Colleen
- Ketrina Teresa
- Enviroline Blog
- Lana Suhova
- Jas Writes Stuff
- BeffShuff
- Sarah Lauren Blogs
- Katie Floss Blog
- Sweet P Blog
- Florence Given
- The Aimee Effect
- Asia Jade Walker
Travel (or people showing local hidden gems)
Foodie
- Lauren Jaji
- Brunching Blondie
- Always Brunch
- Fiona's Funky Food
- London Food Guide
- The Italian Foodaholic
- Female Original (drinks and music blogger)
- The Hungry Vicky
- 15 Mile Foodie
- Salisbury UK Foodie
- Beth Doherty Media
Fashion
- Bryony Heynes
- Alice Lisam
- Frankie Smith
- Bethany Heath
- Louise Marguerite
- Robyn Poppy
- Luke Heywood
- The Rosa Room
- Sophia Tranter
Related: 5 steps to taking successful Instagram pictures
Who are some of your favourite creators on Instagram at the moment?
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