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16 minutes ago, ckn said:

I was slightly off, 7th February.  Just come out of the Board meeting where it was approved.

Just need to get them to start paying me now :P

I think it's time to reinstate my old policy of buying myself a very nice whisky with the first paid invoice of each contract.  Hmmm, I'll plan for a nice 18yo Laphroaig I think.

Congratulations!

Always one of those threads were you want to ask how its going, but know if there was any news you'd say!

Enjoy that first dram!

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Had a really positive interview the other day for an amazing charity.

Yesterday got the email to say I had come an 'agonisingly close second'.

That's the words of the CEO who wrote me the email.

He's a nice guy but I really could kick him so hard in the nuts right now.

Build a man a fire, and he'll be warm for a day. Set a man on fire, and he'll be warm for the rest of his life. (Terry Pratchett)

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21 minutes ago, Saintslass said:

I failed to get the job I interviewed for recently. :(

I hope you have a better outcome than I did.

Did you get any feedback as to why?

I have only ever failed 1 interview - the feedback was that they were going internal. Still.. give me something to work with. Pesky ANZ... glad i didnt get it.

Running the Rob Burrow marathon to raise money for the My Name'5 Doddie foundation:

https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/ben-dyas

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Just now, gingerjon said:

Had a really positive interview the other day for an amazing charity.

Yesterday got the email to say I had come an 'agonisingly close second'.

That's the words of the CEO who wrote me the email.

He's a nice guy but I really could kick him so hard in the nuts right now.

Are they the type to create a role for you?

Running the Rob Burrow marathon to raise money for the My Name'5 Doddie foundation:

https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/ben-dyas

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1 minute ago, MattSantos said:

Are they the type to create a role for you?

I know he looked into it as part of the process because he said he would look at that if it were close. But that would be dependent on where/if there were any gap in my specific areas (it's quite a broad job) and those of whoever 'won'. Plus, as it's a charity the likelihood is that the business case that's gone via the trustees includes only a certain amount of extra expenditure.

I have another first round phone interview tomorrow. It's a job I could do in my sleep. Meanwhile, I do still have a rolling contract for a very dull job at a decent charity that doesn't pay as well as it should. Things could be worse.

Build a man a fire, and he'll be warm for a day. Set a man on fire, and he'll be warm for the rest of his life. (Terry Pratchett)

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9 minutes ago, gingerjon said:

I know he looked into it as part of the process because he said he would look at that if it were close. But that would be dependent on where/if there were any gap in my specific areas (it's quite a broad job) and those of whoever 'won'. Plus, as it's a charity the likelihood is that the business case that's gone via the trustees includes only a certain amount of extra expenditure.

I have another first round phone interview tomorrow. It's a job I could do in my sleep. Meanwhile, I do still have a rolling contract for a very dull job at a decent charity that doesn't pay as well as it should. Things could be worse.

Things could be worse.. it's always the fear that makes us stay where we are. 

I'm keen to get out of banking, but again... what are other places like? Is it worth it etc etc

Running the Rob Burrow marathon to raise money for the My Name'5 Doddie foundation:

https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/ben-dyas

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16 minutes ago, gingerjon said:

Had a really positive interview the other day for an amazing charity.

Yesterday got the email to say I had come an 'agonisingly close second'.

That's the words of the CEO who wrote me the email.

He's a nice guy but I really could kick him so hard in the nuts right now.

I've had that, it'd almost be better to hear "Nope, you bottled the interview, you came dead last" than another "sorry, oh so close".

"When in deadly danger, when beset by doubt; run in little circles, wave your arms and shout"

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19 minutes ago, gingerjon said:

Had a really positive interview the other day for an amazing charity.

Yesterday got the email to say I had come an 'agonisingly close second'.

That's the words of the CEO who wrote me the email.

He's a nice guy but I really could kick him so hard in the nuts right now.

 

1 minute ago, ckn said:

I've had that, it'd almost be better to hear "Nope, you bottled the interview, you came dead last" than another "sorry, oh so close".

As a 21 year old, I had two letters that went into great detail as to what a good candidate I was.  One was an email, one was actually hand written by the head of the interview panel.  As it was the closest that I had come to a sniff of a job, I actually found it very positive and hence I remember it twenty years later.

"You clearly have never met Bob8 then, he's like a veritable Bryan Ferry of RL." - Johnoco 19 Jul 2014

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2 minutes ago, MattSantos said:

Things could be worse.. it's always the fear that makes us stay where we are. 

I'm keen to get out of banking, but again... what are other places like? Is it worth it etc etc

That's where a good bit of my career instability comes from, I'd spent 14 years in mainly the legal industry, but with a few short jumps out to other areas from my past such as telecoms, but I'd had enough.  I got a lucky break through a mate in getting into the NHS and that's where I am now, unfortunately most recruiters and NHS places look at my CV and go "private sector" because I've only been in the NHS for four years and am up against people who have been in for 20+ for the jobs I can do well.

My biggest challenge has always been convincing people that it really isn't about the money for me, as long as I get enough in to pay my bills and put a small bit aside then I'm happy.  The challenge I've had at every NHS interview has been "we can see how much you were on in the legal industry, why would you take such a pay cut?  Are you that desperate to work and won't you just leave if there's a higher paid role?"

Even in the stuff I've got now, my retainer figure in my consultancy contract is a minimum of 1/4 time in return for commercial exclusivity.  The Board simply couldn't understand why I'd ever accept only working one week in four at the lowest need, I spent nearly 30 minutes working it through.  The work is funded for around 150 days over a year and they've had too many people refuse to apply when they were pitching the work as a fixed term contract because that's about 68% of a working year.  For me, that's an outstanding luxury because that means most weeks I'll do three-four day weeks and still be able to take a good few weeks off, all at my own cost.  If I get one week in four paid then we can pay our bills in a month, just, every day beyond that is extra money.

For contrast, in 2011, in the legal industry, a similar contract saw me get lots of money but 8am-6pm hours and only three working days off in that whole year.  I had to do that because my wife's medical bills were still struggling to get paid even with that much higher rate, 2010 had emptied our savings accounts.

The trick in looking at other industries is transferable skills and understanding the language of the target industry.

"When in deadly danger, when beset by doubt; run in little circles, wave your arms and shout"

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11 minutes ago, Bob8 said:

 

As a 21 year old, I had two letters that went into great detail as to what a good candidate I was.  One was an email, one was actually hand written by the head of the interview panel.  As it was the closest that I had come to a sniff of a job, I actually found it very positive and hence I remember it twenty years later.

I agree that that's nice, but when you have it for a few interviews in a row it turns around and becomes demoralising.

"When in deadly danger, when beset by doubt; run in little circles, wave your arms and shout"

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1 hour ago, Saintslass said:

I failed to get the job I interviewed for recently. :(

I hope you have a better outcome than I did.

We've had our differences on this site but I really hope you get some good news about a job.  Let me know if there's anything I can help with.

"When in deadly danger, when beset by doubt; run in little circles, wave your arms and shout"

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1 hour ago, Bleep1673 said:

Haven't had an interview for over two years.

Did you have a go at the transferable skills exercise I suggested last week?

"When in deadly danger, when beset by doubt; run in little circles, wave your arms and shout"

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1 minute ago, MattSantos said:

I have friends who are quitting and off to Bali to faff about for a bit.

He'll do consultancy sales jazz from a coffee shop and she'll end up running a little fashion store.

Jealous.

I've mentioned this before on here but one guy I worked with in the legal industry was a shell of a man after years of stress, he went on holiday to the Dominican Republic, met someone there, two years later he resigned and went there to run a scuba diving business.  I still see the occasional Facebook post from him where he's at sunset reading on the beach.  His income is enough that he doesn't have to touch the money he gets from renting out his house in England meaning he's developed a very healthy savings account to cope with retiring back to the UK at some point in the future.

Another one, one of the guys I shared a student house with at university was an outright nerd, scruffy, spotty and far too introverted for his own good.  He now owns and runs a popular middle-class bar in one of the Spanish coastal areas and every week or so I see his Facebook pics of him fully enjoying life.  He used every penny of equity from his house when he sold it to buy the bar, did it up and it's now a roaring success.  I caught up with him for a beer last year and he was just one of those pictures of health and happiness that you see on adverts.

I'm not jealous, I just wish I had the cohones to do something like that.  The only jealousy that slips in is in the thoughts "I could be there if I had the balls to jump".

"When in deadly danger, when beset by doubt; run in little circles, wave your arms and shout"

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1 minute ago, Bleep1673 said:

Yes

Did you get anything from it?  Share it with other folk who know you well and ask them for their opinions?  Share it with someone who knows you but really hasn't a clue what you used to do at work and ask them if you've truly removed all the jargon and narrowly focussed stuff.

"When in deadly danger, when beset by doubt; run in little circles, wave your arms and shout"

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Can anyone recommend a decent job site ? So far Indeed seem to be the best but I'm not sure if a should speak to an agency or just surf through the rubbish that some job sites have on .

Homer: How is education supposed to make me feel smarter? Besides, every time I learn something new, it pushes some old stuff out of my brain. Remember when I took that home winemaking course, and I forgot how to drive?

[

i]Mr. Burns: Woah, slow down there maestro. There's a *New* Mexico?[/i]
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10 minutes ago, Ramite said:

Can anyone recommend a decent job site ? So far Indeed seem to be the best but I'm not sure if a should speak to an agency or just surf through the rubbish that some job sites have on .

What type of work are you after?  The second post on this entire thread has a list of the most common ones.

"When in deadly danger, when beset by doubt; run in little circles, wave your arms and shout"

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6 minutes ago, ckn said:

What type of work are you after?  The second post on this entire thread has a list of the most common ones.

Thanks , there are a couple on there I've not looked at.

At the minute I deal with fire safety. So something in that or possibly a move into wider statutory compliance and or PPM .

Homer: How is education supposed to make me feel smarter? Besides, every time I learn something new, it pushes some old stuff out of my brain. Remember when I took that home winemaking course, and I forgot how to drive?

[

i]Mr. Burns: Woah, slow down there maestro. There's a *New* Mexico?[/i]
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4 minutes ago, Ramite said:

Thanks , there are a couple on there I've not looked at.

At the minute I deal with fire safety. So something in that or possibly a move into wider statutory compliance and or PPM .

Have a look at Guardian Jobs then in addition to the ones you've seen.  I'm sure I've seen jobs on there that sound like that.

"When in deadly danger, when beset by doubt; run in little circles, wave your arms and shout"

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2 minutes ago, ckn said:

Have a look at Guardian Jobs then in addition to the ones you've seen.  I'm sure I've seen jobs on there that sound like that.

Thanks I'll have a look 

Homer: How is education supposed to make me feel smarter? Besides, every time I learn something new, it pushes some old stuff out of my brain. Remember when I took that home winemaking course, and I forgot how to drive?

[

i]Mr. Burns: Woah, slow down there maestro. There's a *New* Mexico?[/i]
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3 hours ago, Ramite said:

Can anyone recommend a decent job site ? So far Indeed seem to be the best but I'm not sure if a should speak to an agency or just surf through the rubbish that some job sites have on .

I've consistently found surfing the job sites to be a waste of time but it may be that your line of work has a specialist site?  Mine doesn't.  I have secured work via agencies (only ever temporary though in spite of me saying I actually wanted permanent work), Indeed and Twitter (a one-off that one I think!).  I also register with company sites.  At present that includes universities, the civil service, the NHS, police, etc and local authorities.  I would register with big private companies too only there aren't any within public transport travelling distance.

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