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Source: (consider it)
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Thread: AS: Job Search Support Thread
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sophs
Sardonic Angel
# 2296
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Posted
Interview over, I'll get a phone call today if I get it, if not I'll get a letter - eventually.
I feel really depressed at the moment - every second that ticks by makes me feel like I've not go the job and I am cuddled up in a blanket with a tub of Pringles.
Posts: 5407 | From: searching saharas of sorrow | Registered: Feb 2002
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Malin
Shipmate
# 11769
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Posted
Any news?
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'Is it a true bird or is it something that exists within a-'
'It's a thing that is,' said Granny sharply. 'Don't go spilling allegory all down your shirt.' Terry Pratchett
Posts: 1901 | From: Norwich | Registered: Aug 2006
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sophs
Sardonic Angel
# 2296
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Posted
No. So I've not got it. I'm going to walk round and drop the next application off tomorrow.
Posts: 5407 | From: searching saharas of sorrow | Registered: Feb 2002
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Og: Thread Killer
Ship's token CN Mennonite
# 3200
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Sandemaniac:
quote:
Originally posted by Molopata The Rebel:
At least a platitude is better than what I've often encountered: stony silence. After making you write multi-page statements to certain topics etc. to be submitted with your application, your prospective employer doesn't as much as acknowledge they've received it.
I went for an interview nine weeks ago, and I still haven't heard back. After a month I rang them, probing for feedback, and got fobbed off with an excuse that they couldn't tell me anything while "matters were still ongoing".
Fuck 'em.
Fuck the horse they rode in on.
AG
Hmmm.....having been on the other side of that I would have said to you something like. "There is a process going on and when I can tell you something, I will. That's the best I can do." 9 weeks is long, but I've seen weirder things happen.
What I've noticed is that once a decision is made and then something weird happens, it throws managers for a loop.
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I wish I was seeking justice loving mercy and walking humbly but... "Cease to lament for that thou canst not help, And study help for that which thou lament'st."
Posts: 5025 | From: Toronto | Registered: Aug 2002
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Piglet
Islander
# 11803
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by sophs:
No. So I've not got it ...
Sorry to hear that, Sophs. ![[Frown]](frown.gif)
[platitude alert]
Better luck with the next one. ![[Smile]](smile.gif)
[/platitude alert OFF]
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I may not be on an island any more, but I'm still an islander.
alto n a soprano who can read music
Posts: 20272 | From: Fredericton, NB, on a rather larger piece of rock | Registered: Sep 2006
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Taliesin
Shipmate
# 14017
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Posted
... just thought I'd report once more not being invited to interview, so that was another 5 hours of my life wasted trying to write a good application.
Posts: 2138 | From: South, UK | Registered: Aug 2008
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Malin
Shipmate
# 11769
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Posted
Sorry to hear that all - I am jealous of those in work areas where you can simply forward your CV and wait to see if they are interested.
ALL my job applications involve organisation specific application forms that are 10 pages long, uniquely laid out and ask you to detail in essay form why your experience and skills match their job perfectly - based on a person specification and job description.
I have 13 tabs open on my computer for job search pages right now - if only they were in one place it would be a start!
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'Is it a true bird or is it something that exists within a-'
'It's a thing that is,' said Granny sharply. 'Don't go spilling allegory all down your shirt.' Terry Pratchett
Posts: 1901 | From: Norwich | Registered: Aug 2006
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Sioni Sais
Shipmate
# 5713
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Posted
Following the appointment of Santander's former UK boss Lloyds TSB has announced another 15,000 job losses. Lloyds is a major employer in Newport and there have already been many job losses.
I find it utterly appalling that on the news of another 15,000 being thrown on the scrap heap is greeted with glee in the city. The share price is up by 9% since yesterday's close, which is good news for the fat cats and city traders: after all, someone will have to pay the taxes for all those on the dole.
Sorry to be Hellish, I only came here to ask for ![[Votive]](graemlins/votive.gif) for those who are going to be looking for jobs and, worst of all, having to compete against their peers.
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"He isn't Doctor Who, he's The Doctor"
(Paul Sinha, BBC)
Posts: 24276 | From: Newport, Wales | Registered: Apr 2004
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Sandemaniac
Shipmate
# 12829
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Posted
(gratuitous swearing owing to deleting post by mistake)
Today was my last day at work, but the department are paying for me for another month while I try to find a job within the university as it's cheaper than paying my redundancy - so effectively I'm on gardening leave).
I also had an interview - but may have torpedoed myself within the first minute as I'd carefully prepared myself round the "tell me about yourself" spiel around what I understood the job to me... and which they promptly told me did not include the bit that had made me apply in the first place (having spoken at some length to the administrator, so it's not like I was coming to the job cold).
GGGGGGGGRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR! And words that rhyme with duck. I'll tale it if they offer, but I'm not stopping hunting!
A particularly miffed (and post-leaving do...)
AG
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"It becomes soon pleasantly apparent that change-ringing is by no means merely an excuse for beer" Charles Dickens gets it wrong, 1869
Posts: 3574 | From: The wardrobe of my soul | Registered: Jul 2007
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Sandemaniac
Shipmate
# 12829
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Posted
And another one tomorrow morning, and visiting an agency that I just happen to pass on the way home.
To add to the fun, I cannot get any of the references the group website links to to work from home... and can no longer go into work to do it there!
On the bright side, it turns out I know someone in the lab so I can do my due diligence and not end up working for a nutjob like the last one. I went into his lab disillusioned and demoralised. Three and a half years later...
AG
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"It becomes soon pleasantly apparent that change-ringing is by no means merely an excuse for beer" Charles Dickens gets it wrong, 1869
Posts: 3574 | From: The wardrobe of my soul | Registered: Jul 2007
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sophs
Sardonic Angel
# 2296
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Posted
Just got another rejection and a new application form. I'm getting very demoralised and am ready to curl up in a ball and give up.
Posts: 5407 | From: searching saharas of sorrow | Registered: Feb 2002
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Auntie Doris
Screen Goddess
# 9433
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Posted
Well come the end of this month I will be unemployed. PaulW and I are packing in our nice, well paid and secure jobs to move to a rock in the middle of the English Channel. I hope it all works out!
Having said all that I have been doing a reasonable amount of networking with the social care department. Through a variety of rather random meetings and contacts I have met some interesting and useful people.
Yesterday the Assistant Director of Adult Mental Health Services phoned me for a chat about the social work jobs they have coming up. The plus side is that they will be advertising several jobs, one of which is within substance misuse which is my specialism.
The downside is that they want all the people they recruit to me AMHP (Approved Mental Health Professional) approved or willing to undertake the training. Rather frustratingly this would mean doing training in the UK, but hopefully it would mean coming over either for a few days, or a few weeks to Bournemouth for lectures and/or placement. Should take up to a year. The advantage is that the department would pay for the course and all my flights, accommodation etc.
So, I guess I have to make the decision as to whether I am prepared to undertake further training or not. I think it would be worth it though in order to get a good job which would probably give me prospects in the future.
Anyway, enough rambling. Who knows what is going to happen!
Auntie Doris x
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"And you don't get to pronounce that I am not a Christian. Nope. Not in your remit nor power." - iGeek in response to a gay-hater :)
The life and times of a Guernsey cow
Posts: 6019 | From: The Rock at the Centre of the Universe | Registered: May 2005
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Sandemaniac
Shipmate
# 12829
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Posted
Well, I stuffed up Monday's. Between still in a mess over the Thursday one, no time to prepare, applying out of desperation rather than anticipation, and not being able to get to the material I needed, it was a bloody shambles. Ah well, better luck on Monday - when I DO have the preparation sorted!
Didn't get the teaching tech job - to be honest, without the working with the undergraduates, I'd have only taken it out of necessity, and buggered off the moment that I got something better.
However, that was my chance to try something different. With that gone, I guess it's back to the same methods that have found me maybe three or four things that I really wanted to apply for (and got none of them) in about six years...
Is it really that hard to find something I give a monkey's about?
AG
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"It becomes soon pleasantly apparent that change-ringing is by no means merely an excuse for beer" Charles Dickens gets it wrong, 1869
Posts: 3574 | From: The wardrobe of my soul | Registered: Jul 2007
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Og: Thread Killer
Ship's token CN Mennonite
# 3200
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Posted
A good job is worth the training, especially if they pay for it.
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I wish I was seeking justice loving mercy and walking humbly but... "Cease to lament for that thou canst not help, And study help for that which thou lament'st."
Posts: 5025 | From: Toronto | Registered: Aug 2002
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Sandemaniac
Shipmate
# 12829
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Sandemaniac:
Didn't get the teaching tech job - to be honest, without the working with the undergraduates, I'd have only taken it out of necessity, and buggered off the moment that I got something better.
Well, there has been much spluttering in the daepartment and tiptoing around me because the person they offered the job to... is working down here in washup alongside me! Luckily, I seem to be the person least put out by it, because I realised I didn't want it - but no-one else seems to believe that.
Yet another interview yesterday - weird stuff, arrived to find no room booked for interviews and half the panel hadn't seen my CV, and the formal sit-down part was over in 15 minutes with fairly desultory questioning. It took me longer than that to get there... The tour was a much longer affair, and I ran into two people who had worked here before me, one of whom was a fellow bellringer (obviously my CV went round the whole company!), and would be providing maternity cover for someone married to the brother of someone I used to work with. Small world...
AG
Posts: 3574 | From: The wardrobe of my soul | Registered: Jul 2007
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Jengie jon
Semper Reformanda
# 273
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Posted
Actually when I used to do tours of the department for job interviews, we found that the tours were as effective a tool as the interview at sorting out candidates. I know this because we were called in after the interviews were over and discussed our impressions of the candidates. These nearly always formally agreed with those of the interviewers.
Jengie
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"To violate a persons ability to distinguish fact from fantasy is the epistemological equivalent of rape." Noretta Koertge
Back to my blog
Posts: 20894 | From: city of steel, butterflies and rainbows | Registered: May 2001
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Sandemaniac
Shipmate
# 12829
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Posted
That's why I asked lots of questions, tried to tie what I saw in with what I read, and generally tried to be really interested.
Fingers crossed... It's the lack of a room booking that confuses me, and the panelist not having seen my CV. That smacks of a rush to me, yet there was no reason to hurry - plenty of notice (to me at least) of the interview, no desperate rush to fill the post. Unless they felt they had to interview me, but think I'm over-experienced and expensive (that's happened before).
AG
Posts: 3574 | From: The wardrobe of my soul | Registered: Jul 2007
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Ariel
Shipmate
# 58
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Sandemaniac:
Yet another interview yesterday - weird stuff, arrived to find no room booked for interviews and half the panel hadn't seen my CV, and the formal sit-down part was over in 15 minutes with fairly desultory questioning.
Uh oh. I once arrived for an interview to find nobody on Reception, nobody answering the bell and no way of getting into the building. Luckily someone was going for lunch so let me in. I wandered up and was eventually greeted in an offhand sort of way and given a seat in a corridor piled high with cardboard boxes and rubbish, where I waited for half an hour. Nobody asked if I even wanted a cup of tea of anything.
The interview eventually took place - only to have the interviewer say partway through that he'd been doublebooked and was simultaneously interviewing someone else in another room! So the interview continued in instalments during which I was left to stare out of the window and come rapidly to the conclusion that I wasn't at all sure I wanted this job.
Anyhow after 6 weeks and two phone calls I still hadn't heard anything so phoned for a third time only to be told, "Sorry, you were interviewed by the wrong people. Can you come back again and we can do it again?"
My answer was a fairly decisive refusal; and the company has since been taken over.
The point of this anecdote being that when you go for interview you can get a fairly accurate impression of the place and what it would be like to work there. If they're disorganized and offhand before they've even hired you, they won't be any better once you're there.
Posts: 25445 | Registered: May 2001
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Sandemaniac
Shipmate
# 12829
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Posted
Well yes, Ariel - I once handed in my notice on arrival on day one because the company concerned had finally, having taken months to get me to their door when I could have walked in right at the start, committed one piece of bungling idiocy too many. Funnily enough, they've since been taken over and closed (and a good job too!).
However I'd had really good reports about this place from someone who'd spent three years there, hence my bemusement. I've been offered another one today... but they will send further details about time and place tomorrow, which seems like a really weird way to do it. Ho hum.
AG
Posts: 3574 | From: The wardrobe of my soul | Registered: Jul 2007
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sophs
Sardonic Angel
# 2296
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Posted
I applied to a big company online and was rejected before filling in the form. I emailed the customer support service and asked why this was, and was told that it was a problem with the system and my application would be deleted and I could apply again within 72 hours.
They finally got round to it today and the bloody job has gone. I am really not happy.
In other news, I've now signed on again as I just can't afford to live on the pittance my agency work gives me.
Posts: 5407 | From: searching saharas of sorrow | Registered: Feb 2002
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Sandemaniac
Shipmate
# 12829
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Posted
Three consecutive Mondays... three consecutive 10am interviews! So here's some hints for interviewers.
1. Your candidate has made the effort to get there, booted and suited, early, and prepared to the best of their ability. How best to respond to that?
A. By arriving late, having a meeting in the interview room first, then pointing out at the end of the interview that they're already over-running - without asking them whether they have any questions*
2. You've sent said candidate an email stating that you will be asking questions based on the selection criteria for the position as set out in the advert. How do you do that?
A. By going back to their CV and asking them to go through what they were doing fifteen years ago.
YOU ARE SCREWING WITH MY TIME, MY EFFORT, MY HEAD AND MY CAREER HERE! As far as I'm concerned, they've made a contract with me to be there at that time. I've fulfilled my part, so why are you dicking me about?
![[Mad]](angryfire.gif)
AG
* like "Why are you so bloody useless?"
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"It becomes soon pleasantly apparent that change-ringing is by no means merely an excuse for beer" Charles Dickens gets it wrong, 1869
Posts: 3574 | From: The wardrobe of my soul | Registered: Jul 2007
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Sandemaniac
Shipmate
# 12829
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Posted
Well, it's not all bad news, I guess. As someone else has left wash-up (post-doc heading from wash-up to a teaching tech post, which says a lot about the job market...), I've been offered their post. It's a mere 35% salary reduction (with the possibility of a regrading if I take on more responsibility... ). On the other hand, it's job, and it's better than Job Centre Minus.
Frankly, the plan is to piss off as soon as possible - please, God?
AG
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"It becomes soon pleasantly apparent that change-ringing is by no means merely an excuse for beer" Charles Dickens gets it wrong, 1869
Posts: 3574 | From: The wardrobe of my soul | Registered: Jul 2007
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Piglet
Islander
# 11803
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Posted
Glad to hear you've got something, Sandemaniac - as you say, it's better than being on the dole, and it's always easier to get a job when you're in one.
Hope it works out for you.
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I may not be on an island any more, but I'm still an islander.
alto n a soprano who can read music
Posts: 20272 | From: Fredericton, NB, on a rather larger piece of rock | Registered: Sep 2006
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Sandemaniac
Shipmate
# 12829
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Posted
Let's put it his way, Piglet - I've just emailed our letting agency to ask for their plumber's details - see whether there is still a shortage of skills there!
AG
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"It becomes soon pleasantly apparent that change-ringing is by no means merely an excuse for beer" Charles Dickens gets it wrong, 1869
Posts: 3574 | From: The wardrobe of my soul | Registered: Jul 2007
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Jack the Lass
Ship's airhead
# 3415
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Posted
When I was peed off with my PhD a few years ago I did half-seriously think about enquiring about plumbing courses, but (around here anyway) they are so over-subscribed that the days of every plumber raking it in and making a fortune appear to be over, sadly.
I have another (another!) Open University interview next week, this time for a postgrad module which I'd really like to do, as I don't (yet) have postgrad teaching experience. I am also in the process of applying for a postdoc, but that is research-only, so I am hoping that if I get both I will be able to wangle it that I can do the OU teaching stuff as part of my professional development. We'll see. The postdoc looks great, and is 3 years (my own uni department usually offered 1 year postdocs). I think it's got my name on it, but I am sure they will have their own PhDs (I will be an external candidate) they already have in mind for it. I won't know though if I don't apply - nothing to lose etc.
for all who are still slogging away at the jobhunting.
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"My body is a temple - it's big and doesn't move." (Jo Brand)
wiblog blipfoto blog
Posts: 5767 | From: the land of the deep-fried Mars Bar | Registered: Oct 2002
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Sandemaniac
Shipmate
# 12829
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Posted
Well, I've just got the contract for the wash-up job - to start Monday (like I haven't already!). It's a 9K pay cut, but at least it's a job, and my boss will be an old friend from way back who understands my situation so I will have support when it comes to interviews and so on.
Now I have to work out how to sell this on a CV...
AG
Posts: 3574 | From: The wardrobe of my soul | Registered: Jul 2007
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Piglet
Islander
# 11803
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Posted
Best of luck, Sandemaniac.
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I may not be on an island any more, but I'm still an islander.
alto n a soprano who can read music
Posts: 20272 | From: Fredericton, NB, on a rather larger piece of rock | Registered: Sep 2006
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jacobsen
seeker
# 14998
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Sandemaniac:
Well, I've just got the contract for the wash-up job - to start Monday (like I haven't already!). It's a 9K pay cut, but at least it's a job, and my boss will be an old friend from way back who understands my situation so I will have support when it comes to interviews and so on.
Now I have to work out how to sell this on a CV...
AG
Washup? Does that mean what it sounds like?
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But God, holding a candle, looks for all who wander, all who search. - Shifra Alon
Beauty fades, dumb is forever-Judge Judy
The man who made time, made plenty.
Posts: 8040 | From: Æbleskiver country | Registered: Aug 2009
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Sandemaniac
Shipmate
# 12829
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Posted
Yes, washing up lab glassware... My predecessor lasted four months - I hope it's not going to be that long for me...
Add another interview into the mix that I didn't feel went very well, and a phone call from an unknown number that my phone wouldn't let me pick up because I missed the green button and hit 1 instead, and you have a recipe for a distinctly unimpressed me.
AG
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"It becomes soon pleasantly apparent that change-ringing is by no means merely an excuse for beer" Charles Dickens gets it wrong, 1869
Posts: 3574 | From: The wardrobe of my soul | Registered: Jul 2007
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Sandemaniac
Shipmate
# 12829
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Posted
Me again...
Down to one interview that I'm waiting to hear from (this is one where I was dicked around with, so I can't say I'm hopeful, especially as it was some time ago and I've actually emailed their administrator to remind them...). However, I did get through to the head of the panel for one of the others that turned me down this week, and got some clear, frank feedback that actually made me feel quite good in the circumstances. In fact, it was a model answer as far as feedback goes.
It seems that I was the outside candidate, as I didn't have the relevant experience but was obviously organised (!), adaptable and very experienced. Apparently I interviewed well, was likeable, and would have fitted right in. However, for a six month contract, they really had to go with someone with the experience. I understand that, but it's a shame, because a short contract to learn a new technique would have suited me very nicely.
Now that I've signed a contract, I guess that I'm secure (if considerably down on income - about 35%), so I can panic a little less, and perhaps be a bit more selective? I'm concerned, though, that if I stick to jobs where I have all the experience that I'll end up doing the identical stuff to before, and a change would be nice. That and there aren't a lot being advertised at the mo, of course.
I think at the moment the plan will have to be work on the jobs outside of the university - make speculative enquiries, prod the agencies, and try not to get too stressed. Usually the university jobs market picks up in September-October, though what it will do this year is anyone's guess.
AG
Posts: 3574 | From: The wardrobe of my soul | Registered: Jul 2007
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Og: Thread Killer
Ship's token CN Mennonite
# 3200
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Posted
Job search for me isn't just about resumes and interviews it seems. Gosh this has all been so humbling.
Been out of work for over 13 months now.
Taking a trip today for a week to see family and between that fun break and us probably getting a couple of cats in the next few weeks, and the natural enjoyment I anticipate with the coming of the fall, I feel like the second half of the adventure of my life is about to begin. ![[Yipee]](graemlins/spin.gif)
Unfortunately, that hope is laced with fear.
I've been facing bouts of fear of death. I've reached 47 (well in a few weeks) and although I don't feel old, (I'm actually healthier now then I was 5 years ago), I just don't feel young anymore and I also know that in all probability, I've more years behind then ahead.
Before I lost my job, I still felt I was young and life was ahead of me. I now am curious what the 20 year olds I worked with thought of me but...oh well. This year off has me switched over. I guess we all face this at some point but, I don't know if I'm adjusting well to this.
In short, I'm fearing I might die before I get to do stuff again. If I had a job, I'd be OK as I'd be doing something and not have this on my mind. But, without that daily routine, the dread of death is just that bit more poignant to me.
I have never lived life in fear before, always trusting in being able to move forward and keep doing stuff. Yet, today, for example, I feared a little errand I ran might be my last errand and I wouldn't see out the day. I faced up to it and did it. I can't live like this, this being afraid that I will die and stuff I wanted to do won't get done.
You can see how this is tied up in not having a job. I can't do what God has me do, be it with my wife, my kid, these two cats we will be getting or in a job if I'm afraid I won't be able to do stuff before I die.
Apologies for the essay. Can't sleep as I woke up thinking I was dieing by falling down between two parts of the couch I'm sleeping on in the summer heat. I debated putting this in the prayer thread but thought, "This is about me getting a job ultimately."
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I wish I was seeking justice loving mercy and walking humbly but... "Cease to lament for that thou canst not help, And study help for that which thou lament'st."
Posts: 5025 | From: Toronto | Registered: Aug 2002
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Welease Woderwick
Sister Incubus Nightmare
# 10424
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Posted
Og
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I give thanks for unknown blessings already on their way.
Fancy a break in South India?
Accessible Homestay Guesthouse in Central Kerala, contact me for details
What part of Matt. 7:1 don't you understand?
Posts: 48139 | From: 1st on the right, straight on 'til morning | Registered: Sep 2005
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sophs
Sardonic Angel
# 2296
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Posted
I've been scraping the bottom of the barrel jobs wise and have an interview for a job today. Only I've just read the information and think that what they job actually is, is commission only cold calling.
Am I being stupid by not taking the job? I've been unemployed for ages and really want a job, but not commission only - there's no financial stability in that.
This sucks. I hate being so unstable and not contributing to the house in a monetry way.
Posts: 5407 | From: searching saharas of sorrow | Registered: Feb 2002
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Sioni Sais
Shipmate
# 5713
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by sophs:
I've been scraping the bottom of the barrel jobs wise and have an interview for a job today. Only I've just read the information and think that what they job actually is, is commission only cold calling.
Am I being stupid by not taking the job? I've been unemployed for ages and really want a job, but not commission only - there's no financial stability in that.
This sucks. I hate being so unstable and not contributing to the house in a monetry way.
It's lousy, it sucks and it costs in shoe leather and travel to work, but (and this is the sole advantage) it fulfils the old saw of having a job from which you might get another. Do you know of *anyone* who may be a slighly less cold sale amongst your (perhaps erstwhile) friends and acquaintances?!?.
I'm not suggesting you or anyone else tries it, but selling goods is handy training for selling yourself in lengthy application forms and at interview.
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"He isn't Doctor Who, he's The Doctor"
(Paul Sinha, BBC)
Posts: 24276 | From: Newport, Wales | Registered: Apr 2004
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Jack the Lass
Ship's airhead
# 3415
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Posted
I have an interview (for the postdoc I think I mentioned upthread) in a couple of weeks. Eek.
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"My body is a temple - it's big and doesn't move." (Jo Brand)
wiblog blipfoto blog
Posts: 5767 | From: the land of the deep-fried Mars Bar | Registered: Oct 2002
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Gwai
Shipmate
# 11076
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Sioni Sais:
quote:
Originally posted by sophs:
I've been scraping the bottom of the barrel jobs wise and have an interview for a job today. Only I've just read the information and think that what they job actually is, is commission only cold calling.
Am I being stupid by not taking the job? I've been unemployed for ages and really want a job, but not commission only - there's no financial stability in that.
This sucks. I hate being so unstable and not contributing to the house in a monetry way.
It's lousy, it sucks and it costs in shoe leather and travel to work, but (and this is the sole advantage) it fulfils the old saw of having a job from which you might get another. Do you know of *anyone* who may be a slighly less cold sale amongst your (perhaps erstwhile) friends and acquaintances?!?.
Just be careful to not take a job so very frustratingly unsuitable that it lowers your self worth and makes you feel less salable. I've seen people do that and it doesn't help.
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A master of men was the Goodly Fere,
A mate of the wind and sea.
If they think they ha’ slain our Goodly Fere
They are fools eternally.
Posts: 11914 | From: Chicago | Registered: Feb 2006
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Malin
Shipmate
# 11769
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Posted
Hmm. After a dearth of options I've seen another possible Part time post arrive on the scene. I've received all the info from them but they fail to mention whether the 16 hour post is in my county (it's advertised as two posts - 30 and 16 hours and the charity works across two counties). It also fails to indicate at all how those hours would be worked, ie 2 or 3 set days a week or very flexibly every week/weekend/evenings.
I am on holiday in the Hebrides and happy to put in the work to do the form, but only if the job would be possible with the two small people to organise childcare for. If it has to be utterly flexible and varied every week I won't find childcare.
I'm finding it so much harder to find work now I've got childcare to sort.
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'Is it a true bird or is it something that exists within a-'
'It's a thing that is,' said Granny sharply. 'Don't go spilling allegory all down your shirt.' Terry Pratchett
Posts: 1901 | From: Norwich | Registered: Aug 2006
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Malin
Shipmate
# 11769
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Posted
Application sent in. Still unsure if the hours will be feasible but that only matters if I get an interview!
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'Is it a true bird or is it something that exists within a-'
'It's a thing that is,' said Granny sharply. 'Don't go spilling allegory all down your shirt.' Terry Pratchett
Posts: 1901 | From: Norwich | Registered: Aug 2006
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Sir Kevin
Ship's Gaffer
# 3492
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Posted
My lovely bride looks like she may get a lucrative job tutoring high school kids for their college entry exams. Long drive and maybe no benefits, but should beat unemployment...
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If you board the wrong train, it is no use running along the corridor in the other direction Dietrich Bonhoeffer
Writing is currently my hobby, not yet my profession.
Posts: 30517 | From: White Hart Lane | Registered: Oct 2002
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Jack the Lass
Ship's airhead
# 3415
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Posted
Fingers crossed Malin and Zeke. I know exactly about the dearth of jobs and then several coming up, it's just like the buses. I have had several interesting-looking job ads come up recently, and have an interview tomorrow - once that's out of the way I will hopefully have a feel for whether I should apply for some of the others or if I can relax. We are trying to move at the same time, so it's lots of stresses at the one time ![[Help]](graemlins/help.gif)
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"My body is a temple - it's big and doesn't move." (Jo Brand)
wiblog blipfoto blog
Posts: 5767 | From: the land of the deep-fried Mars Bar | Registered: Oct 2002
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Malin
Shipmate
# 11769
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Posted
How did it go Jack? Hope you hear soon anyway so you know whether to put lots of energy into the next forms.
Where are you moving to? We have almost settled into our new place but I can't wait to unpack the last things, get a desk up for me, start our new weekly playgroup routine and feel a little less chaotic while swanning into job applications attempting to appear calm, in control and full of time to do their wonderful employment ....
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'Is it a true bird or is it something that exists within a-'
'It's a thing that is,' said Granny sharply. 'Don't go spilling allegory all down your shirt.' Terry Pratchett
Posts: 1901 | From: Norwich | Registered: Aug 2006
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Jack the Lass
Ship's airhead
# 3415
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Posted
Thanks Malin. It went OK, but not amazingly - I am not going to hold my breath, but don't think I made a complete arse of myself so I suppose that's something, and maybe they'll surprise me. I am going to have to do the other application today as it is my last chance - closing date is the 31st, and I'm away at Greenbelt till the 30th (we're hoping to move to Stirling. If Royal Mail losing letters doesn't scupper the mortgage ![[Waterworks]](graemlins/bawling.gif) ).
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"My body is a temple - it's big and doesn't move." (Jo Brand)
wiblog blipfoto blog
Posts: 5767 | From: the land of the deep-fried Mars Bar | Registered: Oct 2002
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Jonathan Strange
Shipmate
# 11001
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Posted
I've made so many applications and got ZERO interviews... its tough staying positive.
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"Wrong will be right, when Aslan comes in sight,
At the sound of his roar, sorrows will be no more,
When he bears his teeth, winter meets its death,
When he shakes his mane, we shall have spring again"
Posts: 1327 | From: Wessex | Registered: Feb 2006
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Malin
Shipmate
# 11769
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Posted
Jonathan - that must be so disheartening. Are you applying in a really popular field or is there something about your previous work that doesn't fit 'neatly' into the boxes your potential employers are trying to tick?
(In my case I've done a wide range of jobs that give me a range of good skills but you have to really read what they involved to see that, if they skim my application they will miss tons).
I'm waiting to see if I get invited to an interview for this latest job - deadline was last Tuesday so I'm thinking they shortlisted maybe Weds or Thurs ... wrote out the letters Fri, posted them, should get here today or tomorrow second class given the bank holiday....
Desperate, moi?! And I still have a sneaking suspicion they will want a lot of the 16 hours worked flexibly which wont be possible when I've got to fix childcare hours.
Still hunting and hoping. I've got the interview suit all lined up after my last attempt ....
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'Is it a true bird or is it something that exists within a-'
'It's a thing that is,' said Granny sharply. 'Don't go spilling allegory all down your shirt.' Terry Pratchett
Posts: 1901 | From: Norwich | Registered: Aug 2006
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Malin
Shipmate
# 11769
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Posted
Well the suit will be getting an airing next Tuesday. I've got the interview; now to work on my stunning presentation, knowledge, snappy answers to questions I don't yet know etc. All the while trying to work out if the job is a good fit.
Hope some of you are hearing some good news too!?
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'Is it a true bird or is it something that exists within a-'
'It's a thing that is,' said Granny sharply. 'Don't go spilling allegory all down your shirt.' Terry Pratchett
Posts: 1901 | From: Norwich | Registered: Aug 2006
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Jack the Lass
Ship's airhead
# 3415
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Posted
I didn't get the postdoc I interviewed for last week. I have though submitted an application for another postdoc (closing date was yesterday) so we'll see if anything comes of that.
Good luck for Tuesday Malin.
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"My body is a temple - it's big and doesn't move." (Jo Brand)
wiblog blipfoto blog
Posts: 5767 | From: the land of the deep-fried Mars Bar | Registered: Oct 2002
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Sandemaniac
Shipmate
# 12829
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Posted
No positive news here - got second place again (with a note that if he needed a more senior position he'd love to recruit me) this week.
This morning I had the first interview where I have ever been moved to call someone an arsehole. He really was that unpleasant. He's now given our departmental secretary abuse as well - twice - and she's lodged a compaint against him, bless her. Pity the administrator was away - she'd have given as good as she got! Still, better to find out now than if I got the job and took it...
AG
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"It becomes soon pleasantly apparent that change-ringing is by no means merely an excuse for beer" Charles Dickens gets it wrong, 1869
Posts: 3574 | From: The wardrobe of my soul | Registered: Jul 2007
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luvanddaisies
the'fun'in'fundie'™
# 5761
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Posted
Hello, new to this thread.
My job was a two-year one, and as of the end of November, I'll be unemployed. I've sent off my C.V. to lots of places, and I've applied for a Merchant Navy cadetship, for which I didn't get an interview.
Running out of ideas now, and feeling somewhat .
Anyone here own a square-rigger that's looking for deckhands?
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"Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines, sail away from the safe harbour. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover." (Mark Twain)
Posts: 3711 | From: all at sea. | Registered: Apr 2004
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Malin
Shipmate
# 11769
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Posted
Welcome luvndaisies. Sorry to hear your contract end is approaching, but hope something arrives asap to tie in neatly. Merchant Navy cadetship sounds a vocational course - it would presumably then lead to work that required a long time away at sea? If you have that flexibility which bit drew you to apply? The being on the sea, the engineering/trade side of it? Any online careers advice on things that are 'similar'?
Jack - fingers crossed for this postdoc.
sandemaniac - glad you didn't end up working with someone who has zero people skills. Still hard to close another metaphorical door though.
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'Is it a true bird or is it something that exists within a-'
'It's a thing that is,' said Granny sharply. 'Don't go spilling allegory all down your shirt.' Terry Pratchett
Posts: 1901 | From: Norwich | Registered: Aug 2006
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luvanddaisies
the'fun'in'fundie'™
# 5761
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Malin:
Welcome luvndaisies. Sorry to hear your contract end is approaching, but hope something arrives asap to tie in neatly. Merchant Navy cadetship sounds a vocational course - it would presumably then lead to work that required a long time away at sea? If you have that flexibility which bit drew you to apply? The being on the sea, the engineering/trade side of it? Any online careers advice on things that are 'similar'?
Thanks.
I used to be a musician, but ran away to work on sailing ships in 2009. In 2010 I started a two-year job on a smaller sailing boat that is coming to the end of its contract at the end of November. I had wanted to go back to square-riggers, but I'd wanted to do an Officer Of the Watch ticket - hence the application for the Merchant Navy cadetship. I can't afford not to have any income at all, so I'd need a company to sponsor me if I wanted to do that.
The alternative is finding work as a deckhand on another square-rigger, but those jobs are hard to come by - there are very few and lots of people want them, although they're badly paid. There are a few boats I sail on as a volunteer in addition to the one I work on - but you need to have an OOW in order to do paid work on them. <sigh>
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"Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines, sail away from the safe harbour. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover." (Mark Twain)
Posts: 3711 | From: all at sea. | Registered: Apr 2004
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