(no subject)
Just checking into Livejournal because its been quite some time - there is no specific plan for this entry other than a catch up.
Hello, how are you? Good, good. And the kids?
Oh my, yes - that's quite an exciting age isn't it?
Me? Well y'know, same old, same old. Which is largely this:
So, the two job interviews I mentioned in the last entry: I didn't get either of them. I'm pretty sure I came second in one, whilst the other is less impressive as I know they were looking for five people and, well - I wasn't one of them.
And it seems that that week of (gosh) 2 interviews was like all my Christmases coming at once because since then I've had diddlysquat attention from employers of any kind. Ignoring how depressing it is that I consider getting a job interview to be as exciting as Christmas for a moment, here's a tally of how many jobs I have applied for since graduating in July:
29 through Reed.co.uk - 3 interviews, 2 more have been polite enough to let me know hadn't got an interview.
7 applied to directly - 0 interviews and 0 replies.
2 through Monster.co.uk - 0 interviews and 0 replies.
1 PhD.
39 jobs then. What can we learn from this? Well firstly, that people in human resources and recruitment are for the most part pretty damn rude. I mean, how long does it take to send a quick "You're not what we're looking for, all the best" style email? To type that sentence, it took me around 5 seconds, so I conclude they're just plain lazy. And mean. Lazy and mean.
It also shows that I have a fairly poor hit rate of making my application stand out enough to be considered. That's fair enough - I think like every new graduate I was guilty of applying a little out of my league at first, and have now lowered my standards. Not low enough to apply to the plethora of telemarketing, recruitment and head-hunting roles that make up 97% of Reed's graduate pages, but I've lowered my expectations. It's a nice advantage at this stage in my life that I don't care where in the UK I end up: the way I see it there's only 3 settlements in the UK where I know more than 1 or less people, so I may as well let fate decide and not limit my options.
A while ago, I vowed to myself that if I was still unemployed by Christmas I'd do something drastic and go and teach English in South Korea. I think it's safe to say when I made that bet, it seemed unlikely. Now as it seems more and more inevitable, the recklessness of this vow has become apparent. Little details like having 6 months to run on a phone contract and similar have made me feel like chickening out, to an extent. But then again, the idea does appeal to me on a certain level. In fact if it weren't for the fact that I'm not sure how good it would look on my CV, I'd have probably already applied.
Oh, sorry am I keeping you? Oh no, you go - that's fine. See you around! Send my regards to the kids.
Hello, how are you? Good, good. And the kids?
Oh my, yes - that's quite an exciting age isn't it?
Me? Well y'know, same old, same old. Which is largely this:
So, the two job interviews I mentioned in the last entry: I didn't get either of them. I'm pretty sure I came second in one, whilst the other is less impressive as I know they were looking for five people and, well - I wasn't one of them.
And it seems that that week of (gosh) 2 interviews was like all my Christmases coming at once because since then I've had diddlysquat attention from employers of any kind. Ignoring how depressing it is that I consider getting a job interview to be as exciting as Christmas for a moment, here's a tally of how many jobs I have applied for since graduating in July:
29 through Reed.co.uk - 3 interviews, 2 more have been polite enough to let me know hadn't got an interview.
7 applied to directly - 0 interviews and 0 replies.
2 through Monster.co.uk - 0 interviews and 0 replies.
1 PhD.
39 jobs then. What can we learn from this? Well firstly, that people in human resources and recruitment are for the most part pretty damn rude. I mean, how long does it take to send a quick "You're not what we're looking for, all the best" style email? To type that sentence, it took me around 5 seconds, so I conclude they're just plain lazy. And mean. Lazy and mean.
It also shows that I have a fairly poor hit rate of making my application stand out enough to be considered. That's fair enough - I think like every new graduate I was guilty of applying a little out of my league at first, and have now lowered my standards. Not low enough to apply to the plethora of telemarketing, recruitment and head-hunting roles that make up 97% of Reed's graduate pages, but I've lowered my expectations. It's a nice advantage at this stage in my life that I don't care where in the UK I end up: the way I see it there's only 3 settlements in the UK where I know more than 1 or less people, so I may as well let fate decide and not limit my options.
A while ago, I vowed to myself that if I was still unemployed by Christmas I'd do something drastic and go and teach English in South Korea. I think it's safe to say when I made that bet, it seemed unlikely. Now as it seems more and more inevitable, the recklessness of this vow has become apparent. Little details like having 6 months to run on a phone contract and similar have made me feel like chickening out, to an extent. But then again, the idea does appeal to me on a certain level. In fact if it weren't for the fact that I'm not sure how good it would look on my CV, I'd have probably already applied.
Oh, sorry am I keeping you? Oh no, you go - that's fine. See you around! Send my regards to the kids.