Tuesday 25 September 2012

No luck with the second job either

After a period of radio silence I got in touch with the agent who was talking about the job in London at the financial firm.  It turns out that the firm has persuaded the incumbent chap to stay on.  It would have been nice if someone had bothered to let me know!

If I get sold any more pups I could open my own kennels

Yesterday I signed on for jobseekers allowance.  In the past there has always been some reason why in fact I could not receive this but this time it all seemed to go through very smoothly.  Kudos to the staff at JobCentre Plus here in Ely who were very friendly and helpful.  Its only £74 per week: but better than the nothing I had been getting.

So: onwards and upwards (again).  I spoke to an agent today who is looking for someone for a £60K role which I seem well suited for,  perhaps something will come of that one.

Thursday 20 September 2012

No luck in Norwich

I went over to Norwich yesterday for an interview with a small IT firm there. 

The interview itself went OK in as much as I got on well with the interviewer and liked the firm.

However.....the description of the role had been changed a little from what my agent had been told.  They really wanted to focus only on the sharepoint part of what I had thought would have been a more general role.  I have a feeling that this alone would not really make up a "proper" job and that they will struggle to fill the role as advertised.

They won't be filling it with me as they spoke to my agent this morning to reject me....ho hum.

I'm still waiting to see if an interview is confirmed for next week with a London investment company who sound very good.  The nice thing about this one is that the current IT manager is making big efforts to do a proper managed handover,  which is a very good sign of a well organised company. 

This morning I started my roundup of new jobs coming onto the market and at last I am seeing a few positions which actually pay decent money.  I have applied for a batch of roles today that are offering more money than I was on in my last job.  This is the first time since I was laid off that I have seen roles which could actually make me better off financially.  One of them is with a legal firm so I should have a decent chance there given my 7 years experience at a law firm.

I'm not giving up.

One more straw in the wind: I applied for jobseekers allowance yesterday online: in the past when I have done this I generally find that I get work quite quickly: and then have to go through the hassle of backtracking again: would that I have that problem again!

Wednesday 12 September 2012

Hopefully I have another interview coming

I'm just off the phone to a more than helpful agent who is representing an equity firm who require an IT manager/SysAdmin.

I really like the sound of the company and it was great to hear that the current incumbent is really making an effort towards an orderly transfer.  The chance of a good outcome is always greatly improved under these conditions.  Its just round the corner from where I was working recently.

My details are going over now but with a bit of luck that will be another interview in the offing.

My interview at the Norwich firm has been confirmed for next week: so its full speed ahead on that one (which also sounds very interesting as they deal in near field communications).  Working in Norwich sounds nice also: and its only a short walk from Norwich station so that would help a lot.

Thanks for all the messages of support.

Monday 10 September 2012

Some light at the end of the tunnel?

After the misery of my last posting (apologies) some good news to report at last.

I have an interview in Norwich next Wednesday: so fingers crossed for that.

It looks a good role,  actually,  systems admin for a company working with near field communications: not exactly a market which is likely to decline in the future.

Saturday 8 September 2012

Hitting a new low....

I had hoped that the end of August would bring about a change in fortunes,  but no.

Either there's nothing out there or I just can't find it.  When you hang around all day for a call from an agent about a job that pays £15K less than you were on,  in somewhere miles away that you don't want to go and you get depressed because there is (inevitably) no call back....something is very wrong.

Been going a bit bonkers lately: not eating much.  In fact I managed not to eat anything at all for 4 days!

The effort of "keeping my chin up" is getting too much: I feel like giving up.