10.00am As I’m browsing through Careers Service’s vacancies online, I find that a company is looking for a Chinese translator. The deadline is today.

10.05am For a brief moment, I get really excited – the job requires 12 hours a week, and the pay is 7 pounds an hour. Excellent opportunity for a poor student like me!

10.10am But my sanity tells me I can’t apply for that, because, as an MA student who’s already doing an NWE project, blogging for the Careers Service and freelancing for a Chinese newspaper, one more job isn’t what I can possibly handle (or is it?).

10.15am But surely there’s no harm in applying? I just can’t help feeling that this is really the kind of job I will do well at (a Chinese translator!), and on the other hand even if I do apply there’s a possibility I won’t get it in the end. So, what have I got to lose?

10.20am -10.50am I quickly write my new CV and spend a little time phrasing the cover letter, attach them in the email, click ‘send’, done.

10.55am I get an email back! And it’s a ‘No‘. The position unfortunately, has been filled. But it is also said my CV is ‘very good’ and they will keep my details and let me know ‘if any other positions open in the future’.

11.00am I feel relieved as well as disappointed. I needn’t have worried about balancing my time after all. However, I have learnt a few things too:

NEVER wait until the deadline if you really want the job

I thought deadline meant you had a chance until then; I was proven wrong today. And also,

There’s no harm in trying, because you’ve got nothing to lose

Especially if you have the time to think over how to balance everything if you get the job, use that time to apply for it. Because it can turn out like this: you work out a really good plan, but the job is not yours in the end.

But I actually did get something in the end – a potential future opportunity with the company! And for that all I needed was an hour.