The last week taught me an important lesson; you have to take care of your own bussiness, and that means cutting out the middleman.
I've lost count after 45-ish, but I'm well over 60 applications made during the week. I've had 2 automated responses pointing me to further tests, but that is all.
I've had a few tips and I'm going to follow, which are mostly about to take a face and use it for personal approach of jobs.
Take care, and don't rely on agencies.
Monday, January 25, 2010
Sunday
I took the day off in the sense of fixing the laptop of a flatmate. Haven't had much luck aside of that. I've read a forum topic on gumtree, looks like it's not only me having problems with agencies. They most probably are after the commissions and you, as the candidate have nothing to do with that unless you match the job they have exactly.
And that is the smaller problem. They don't seem to ever get back to candidates to tell what the problem is exactly with their application, they just hum along and pretend to have never heard of you before.
Pathetic.
I am taking another approach, as in addressing companies directly.
And that is the smaller problem. They don't seem to ever get back to candidates to tell what the problem is exactly with their application, they just hum along and pretend to have never heard of you before.
Pathetic.
I am taking another approach, as in addressing companies directly.
Day 6
This is ridiculous, It took me 45 minutes to fill my data then another 45 minutes to fill a test about various hotel environments, along the lines of what is missing from the picture. I felt like I was having an IQ test and all this for a linen porter job. I know they have to filter applicants, but an hour and a half for that? Are you out of your freaking mind?
Day 5: Black Friday
On friday I had no success whatsoever, applied for a few low-profile jobs, no answer.
Friday, January 22, 2010
Day 4 : High Wycombe
I had an interview yesterday which went quite smoothly in spite of all my fears. High Wycombe turned out to be a lovely town after all, I like how the whole thing feels.
The company is doing VoIP and resells of BT landlines, so the job would be mainly about supporting other resellers, I wouldn't say it is hard at all, but speaking in english for 8 hours a day would definitely take a toll.
I crunched some numbers and looks like I can move to High Wycombe if it is inevitable, but give me a straw and I'm hanging on to in in London.
Still no answer for my applications. I would advise everyone to keep away from the 'big' jobsites, waste of time and motivation.
The company is doing VoIP and resells of BT landlines, so the job would be mainly about supporting other resellers, I wouldn't say it is hard at all, but speaking in english for 8 hours a day would definitely take a toll.
I crunched some numbers and looks like I can move to High Wycombe if it is inevitable, but give me a straw and I'm hanging on to in in London.
Still no answer for my applications. I would advise everyone to keep away from the 'big' jobsites, waste of time and motivation.
Thursday, January 21, 2010
Day 3: Dark clouds
I managed to churn out 6 whopping applications yesterday. And I still haven't got a single reply. I may just as well give up big sites. Having spoken to a recruit agent we are now both on the same opinion that they are all rubbish. Jobs posted there are non existant and I think they are mainly for gathering data. I see double-triple posts for urgent and immediate starts with the same wording paced out in a few weeks time, and I am now in the firm belief that they do not worth a minute of your time. Or mine.
Today I am going to have an interview for a job I will not take due to the distance I would have to travel each day, so one could say it is wasted time. May be wasted, may be extremely well spent, compared to reed and monster it is still busy work.
Today I am going to have an interview for a job I will not take due to the distance I would have to travel each day, so one could say it is wasted time. May be wasted, may be extremely well spent, compared to reed and monster it is still busy work.
Tuesday, January 19, 2010
Day 2: update
While I haven't made any applications, or at least not any considerable amount I still think that today has been a great success. I accompanied a friend as she was applying for a nanny vacancy. I had a little chat with the agent and she offered me a few answers to my swarm of questions. She was pessimist about what the future might bring on the job market, recession has been a great success so far, better than wars at burning excess money for sure.
Today I was contacted by a company located a few miles outside of London. They were about to hire my girlfriend as a programmer but we couldn't solve commuting so we had to turn the offer down, now it seems the coin is showing the shiny side, because they contacted me, that they have a job tailored for my CV. I answered a few questions about my approach to people and work and now am waiting for them to get back to me. There is one possible spot I can fail on and that is my spoken english.
Today I was contacted by a company located a few miles outside of London. They were about to hire my girlfriend as a programmer but we couldn't solve commuting so we had to turn the offer down, now it seems the coin is showing the shiny side, because they contacted me, that they have a job tailored for my CV. I answered a few questions about my approach to people and work and now am waiting for them to get back to me. There is one possible spot I can fail on and that is my spoken english.
Day 2: Revving the engines
Fighting with some hangover I might say that yesterday was a success overall. I got a bit distracted by family members greeting me for my birthday, what a sweet distraction :)
I still managed to send 25 job applications in various areas and called 2 agencies at the morning. In my experience calling agencies is not going to work, because they tell people to send their CV to an email address you can find on their home page. It is not really productive to work that way but I might pull that trick later on different set of agencies that do not necessarily keep their pages up to date. You know which ones I mean. Today I am aiming at 40 applications made and I might just not call any agencies yet.
We'll see if this shotgun approach of job seeking works.
I still managed to send 25 job applications in various areas and called 2 agencies at the morning. In my experience calling agencies is not going to work, because they tell people to send their CV to an email address you can find on their home page. It is not really productive to work that way but I might pull that trick later on different set of agencies that do not necessarily keep their pages up to date. You know which ones I mean. Today I am aiming at 40 applications made and I might just not call any agencies yet.
We'll see if this shotgun approach of job seeking works.
Monday, January 18, 2010
Day 1: Laying the Foundations
I've been living in London for 2 months odd, and so far I like it. People are usually nice, weather is okay and God there are so many things to see.
Too bad I didn't come here to see things and on that part, London fails miserably. I've arrived to get a job and work for a money that isn't humiliating, I came here to be treated like a human being and to see how laws can be taken seriously. I've had enough with my former life mainly due to stress and the need to constant struggling simply to stay alive.
I came to London to see the bright side of life, and I will.
I've been trying to get a job for 2 months, sending CVs and calling agencies at least 2-3 times a week, applying for a few fitting jobs at a time. That doesn't sound a lot, but trust me on that one, it gets frustrating after you send a hundred emails and nobody cares enough to write a reply; they simply look through my emails it seems.
This is what made me realise that my approach to finding a job is flawed and needs to be corrected. I'm also at the point financially where drastic actions are required, though the tie isn't tight just yet I definately see the bottom of my pocket.
I am also curious. An experiment is always a great way to conduct some research and to get some answers to my questions.
1. Is it possible to get a qualified job in London as a foreign candidate coming from the EU?
2. Is it possible to get that job during the recession?
3. Is it possible to earn enough for the rent in the recession and in a quiet phase of the year?
4. Is it possible as an immigrant and in a week?
Basicallyy what I'm trying to figure out is whether the problem lies in my lack of motivation or it lurks behind walls I cannot climb. I'm wondering if I would go all out taking reckless actions would I be more successful, than sniping those System Administrator or Customer Support vacancies I tend to see posted every second week with same phrasing and modified start date.
There are a few expectations I have and I think I'm not overestimating myself to ask for them as they are needed for survival:
1. The vacancy has to be full time with at least 35 hours a week.
2. The position needs to be paid according to laws of employment in Great Britain.
3. The job has to be in London for the sole reason of being able to commute.
4. It can't involve risks to life or health, including the right to good reputation.
And that is it. I spent a year running a network of around 300 computers in a high school and another eight months handling customer inquiries on the phone. By any means my english is far from perfect, but honestly, I think it would be just enough to grab a plate and serve the guests or grab a vacuum and clean a room. I also think that considering my previous experience in qualified roles I would be able to get away without the mandatory 6 months experience required in UK mantra all the employers like to grind.
I simply think that as a citizen of a fellow European Union member country I should be entitled to be able to get a job as much as the laws would like to imply.
This one week experiment will start at 18/01/2010 09:00 AM and ends at 25/01/2010 06:00 PM GMT.
I will be posting updates on statistics about how many agencies, hotels, bars and whatever I might think of during the week I called on a particular day. I will also add a statistic on what my email application success rate looks like and anything interesting I might run into will also be posted.
Let the game begin, and happy 24th birthday to me!
Too bad I didn't come here to see things and on that part, London fails miserably. I've arrived to get a job and work for a money that isn't humiliating, I came here to be treated like a human being and to see how laws can be taken seriously. I've had enough with my former life mainly due to stress and the need to constant struggling simply to stay alive.
I came to London to see the bright side of life, and I will.
I've been trying to get a job for 2 months, sending CVs and calling agencies at least 2-3 times a week, applying for a few fitting jobs at a time. That doesn't sound a lot, but trust me on that one, it gets frustrating after you send a hundred emails and nobody cares enough to write a reply; they simply look through my emails it seems.
This is what made me realise that my approach to finding a job is flawed and needs to be corrected. I'm also at the point financially where drastic actions are required, though the tie isn't tight just yet I definately see the bottom of my pocket.
I am also curious. An experiment is always a great way to conduct some research and to get some answers to my questions.
1. Is it possible to get a qualified job in London as a foreign candidate coming from the EU?
2. Is it possible to get that job during the recession?
3. Is it possible to earn enough for the rent in the recession and in a quiet phase of the year?
4. Is it possible as an immigrant and in a week?
Basicallyy what I'm trying to figure out is whether the problem lies in my lack of motivation or it lurks behind walls I cannot climb. I'm wondering if I would go all out taking reckless actions would I be more successful, than sniping those System Administrator or Customer Support vacancies I tend to see posted every second week with same phrasing and modified start date.
There are a few expectations I have and I think I'm not overestimating myself to ask for them as they are needed for survival:
1. The vacancy has to be full time with at least 35 hours a week.
2. The position needs to be paid according to laws of employment in Great Britain.
3. The job has to be in London for the sole reason of being able to commute.
4. It can't involve risks to life or health, including the right to good reputation.
And that is it. I spent a year running a network of around 300 computers in a high school and another eight months handling customer inquiries on the phone. By any means my english is far from perfect, but honestly, I think it would be just enough to grab a plate and serve the guests or grab a vacuum and clean a room. I also think that considering my previous experience in qualified roles I would be able to get away without the mandatory 6 months experience required in UK mantra all the employers like to grind.
I simply think that as a citizen of a fellow European Union member country I should be entitled to be able to get a job as much as the laws would like to imply.
This one week experiment will start at 18/01/2010 09:00 AM and ends at 25/01/2010 06:00 PM GMT.
I will be posting updates on statistics about how many agencies, hotels, bars and whatever I might think of during the week I called on a particular day. I will also add a statistic on what my email application success rate looks like and anything interesting I might run into will also be posted.
Let the game begin, and happy 24th birthday to me!
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