Happy Holidays

Well this week has been kind of slow. Work wise the month of August tends to grind to a halt as everyone heads off to catch some sun. Job hunting is no different. Most of the direct applications that tend to keep me busy over the week are becoming thin on the ground. This means I have quite a bit of time on my hands. Not used to that at all and am starting to go stir crazy.

Altho there is a silver lining - some recruitment agents seem to be getting more roles in. I am being put forward for loads at the moment. No feedback on the ones that are a 'no' but at least my CV is out there. One of them has come good though and my next interview is on Monday being a BD exec for a project management company. Lots of swotting up this weekend and then I will be ready to rock n' roll.

The End of Week 8

Well it has to be said that it's seems like ages since I was checking out the beaches of Thailand, heading to half moon (wicked) and full moon parties (rubbish and full of 18 yr olds being sick!). It's been 8 weeks since I started looking for work. Heading to a networking and self promotion workshop 2 days after landing was the wake up call I needed that I had to get my mind back into that 'finding a job' framework. Bit of a culture shock really as my head was certainly still in the clouds.

Week 8 has been ok. Had 1 interview for a fundraising and events role - the results will be out in a weeks time so fingers and toes crossed as it's a cool job.

Had quite a few calls from recruitment agents with roles mainly in the BD arena but I do have a targeted CV for that so fingers crossed. Things do seem to be picking up for certain good agents - others are still deathly silent.

Done quite a few direct applications too although I am starting to get a bit punch drunk and am starting to get extremely tired of talking about me.

Interviews - now just where is that hoop!

OK - I am chuffed that I managed to get 2 interviews this week. No mean feat in the current climate. Just 4 weeks into my job search so have to keep on going on that endless treadmill of applications.

Hhhmm, interview number one was the job that I wanted. It was a role in fundraising for a university. Of course there were many hoops to jump through. A 20 mins written test, a 10 min presentation (about developing a fundraising strategy), followed by a 3 panel interview. OK, that was a pretty intense process for someone who hasn't worked since the beginning of April. I was shattered once it was done but also somewhat elated. Anyway, I thought I performed well but what do I know? Needless to say I had the thanks but no thanks email waiting for me by lunchtime the next day.

Interview number 2 almost got off to a bad start. I was running late or at least I thought I was. Turns out the recruitment agent gave me the wrong time - half an hour too soon. So the fact that I rang the interviewer to apologise for running late was news to him. Turns out my mad dash from the tube to get there was unnecessary. I didn't need to work up a thin layer of sweat after all! Ho hum, the interview went fine. The upshot is the role is busy and technically I would be selling my soul to the devil. I would have no life but earn lots. One to ponder - that is if they want me in the 1st place.

Are Interviews Like Buses?

Well, maybe they just are. Don't see one for a while and then 2 come along at once. Yes, that's right, I have 2 interviews. One is non-marketing which I am rather excited about - it's to do fundraising for a university and the other is a bid manager role so not too dissimilar to the things that I did before.

The main bummer is that the said interviews are back to back. I ideally wanted a bit more of a gap so that I can prepare for them but that just isn't going to happen.

The fundraising role is precisely what I want to do but it is located 1hr 40 mins away from where I live so moving would have to be part of the deal. Moving is no bigger really as I can still get into London pretty easily.