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The job hunting support thread

Artaxerxes said:
Yeah I'm in tech as well.
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The agents he has been able to get hold of have all been saying they are totally swamped by 100s of CVs for everything, most of which aren't even relevant and it's just hard to get yours seen, which is why he tries to phone them, but a lot aren't calling back.

He has in the past got contracts via people he's worked with before bringing him on a project they're doing and I want to nudge him to contact those people, but i think they may both be on public sector/civil service ones, which he swore never to do again as they were always car crashes, but I'm not sure he has the luxury of choice now.

I'm finding quite a lot of jobs, but having difficulty clinching the deal. In the past I would have said it might be me being not confident in interviews, but I don't actually think I have that issue anymore - thus far it's either been pipped at the post by someone with more specific experience, or on other occasions there just being a technical question I couldn't and wouldn't have the answer to, confidence or no. I've just started doing this marketing course and hoping it might help.

I now have a screening call at bloody 8am on Tuesday (recruiting person is in Poland, I think) for an odd writing role about sustainability and shipping, with Lloyd's Register.
 
So - you know I had two facilities management bid writer interviews last week for same firm? Both recruiters want to offer :eek:

I'm going to talk to both again next week and establish which one's best for me. It's tricky - the healthcare one is good, as it's healthcare. The other is central government contract bidding and that could include things like services pertaining to removing immigrants, which I would have an issue with, but I particularly like the manager for that one. The other manager seems nice as well, I just warmed to this guy a lot. I think I'll just have to ask him about what services they cover - he definitely mentioned MoJ and MoD and I'm OK with them, not sure if he mentioned Home Office, and can't recall if it's M&E or 'softer' services (which could include security).

I actually have an interview in person in an hour, I have decided to go because things ain't over til they're over and I should keep my options open and I can be nice and relaxed during it.
 
I had an indeed message about an admin/ reception job in a GP surgery. Would it be NHS pension scheme? I think it would probably be a nightmare anyway.
 
Thanks nottsgirl and Puddy_Tat - this morning's interview was useful as it was an equivalent role and have me some more context. Also it has a very detailed job description, whereas the one I have for the jobs on offer is more general so the JD from this morning gives me some good qs to ask about each role, as potentially the teams might handle it quite differently, as the interview process was different for each. For example, this morning's interview role includes some other document and knowledge library responsibilities, though I suspect the business that has made the offer probably has full-time knowledge manages for all the documentation stuff as it's much bigger, but it's worth asking.

It is a big relief as I've been getting to the point of waking up in the night thinking 'Shit! We've got no money coming in!' and these are both well paid, to the point we could manage the household and a bit left over on just that salary which is good to know if gsv is going to try launching a business in the next 12 months.

Of course this happens just as I a) cut down a load of payments coming out of my current account and b) bought an expensive training course in something that's not relevant if I carry on down this path. I think I was subconsciously doing that in the hope that it would manifest a job offer! I can get a refund for the course in the next week - I wondered if I should do it anyway, just in case things don't work out, but having looked at one unit I don't think I could manage it while also picking up a new career direction. i feel bad as I paid for it once before and exactly the same thing happened - I got offered by last job a few days after buying it. But they will refund, no questions asked, in first fourteen days.
 
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Thinking about what questions I need to ask to differentiate the two roles, I'm thinking:
  • Is it just bid writing, or what other aspects to the role are there (eg managing libraries of info, writing any other kind of material)
  • Opportunities for training or to go to industry events
  • Double check the pay - I know the salary for one for definite, but need to check
  • How many bids per year/working on at a time
  • Are bids all for same kind of service, or does it vary
  • Checking perks re health insurance, holiday etc
 
Massive congratulations Cloo it's just such a numbers game at the moment and keeping going with writing applications and cover letters is really hard to do. You did it, really proud of you :)
 
It's not really that much work, it basically amounted to 5-6 applications a week over an extended period and I had a basic template for CVs and cover letters (if needed) that I adjusted slightly. I seemed to have hit on a fairly decent formula, so I didn't mess with it too much.

Funnily enough I'd just been booked in for first job centre appointment next week - should probably tell them just so it's not held against me if I need it again in future.

Something very nice and high paying has actually asked me to interview as well, I've said yes for now but pushed out to slot at end of next week, just in very case. I don't think I could clinch it though, as it's medical related so not my area, was kind of surprised they came back to me. Also this week for first time I've had recruiters reaching out to me through my CV on indeed, one of which was a bid writing role, which definitely backs up my feeling it's a bit of a shortage skill.

I kind of wish I'd just been offered one role so it was in the can as this makes it feel up in the air even though I know nothing's realistically going to happen to it. I suppose you always feel a bit anxious when you really need it - when I was forced out of my first job due to evil boss but luckily was offered another before my notice ended I remember developing this massive anxiety that they'd have a drug test (which there was no reason to believe whatsoever, but I think I'd only just heard of them being a thing) and because I'd smoked a joint a few weeks back it would show up and I wouldn't get the job. :facepalm:
 
Cloo said:
It's not really that much work, it basically amounted to 5-6 applications a week over an extended period and I had a basic template for CVs and cover letters (if needed) that I adjusted slightly. I seemed to have hit on a fairly decent formula, so I didn't mess with it too much.

Funnily enough I'd just been booked in for first job centre appointment next week - should probably tell them just so it's not held against me if I need it again in future.

Something very nice and high paying has actually asked me to interview as well, I've said yes for now but pushed out to slot at end of next week, just in very case. I don't think I could clinch it though, as it's medical related so not my area, was kind of surprised they came back to me. Also this week for first time I've had recruiters reaching out to me through my CV on indeed, one of which was a bid writing role, which definitely backs up my feeling it's a bit of a shortage skill.

I kind of wish I'd just been offered one role so it was in the can as this makes it feel up in the air even though I know nothing's realistically going to happen to it. I suppose you always feel a bit anxious when you really need it - when I was forced out of my first job due to evil boss but luckily was offered another before my notice ended I remember developing this massive anxiety that they'd have a drug test (which there was no reason to believe whatsoever, but I think I'd only just heard of them being a thing) and because I'd smoked a joint a few weeks back it would show up and I wouldn't get the job. :facepalm:
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What start-date are you thinking of and have you had the formal offer letters yet? Because if it's still going to be a couple of weeks after your appointment, take the money for those weeks.
 
Cloo said:
Funnily enough I'd just been booked in for first job centre appointment next week - should probably tell them just so it's not held against me if I need it again in future.
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Don't think it will be 'held against you' if you don't turn up but probably best to go through with it.

and for that matter, i'm inclined to say you should keep the claim going until you do start work - although they may expect you to show you're still job hunting, even once you are at the stage between job offer and starting (have potential new employer said anything about start date, seeking references etc?)
 
Interesting, did wonder - I have a claim backdated to start 13 May, so maybe worth going to claim a couple of weeks of it? I'll still have a month to six weeks without income until I'm paid. No start date yet, but I imagine that if we shake hands on it mid next week, it's probably still a fortnight for references, setting up on systems etc
 
RubyToogood said:
Don't forget @Cloo you get NI contributions if you sign on and otherwise you end up with a gap you have to do something about.
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Cloo said:
Yeah, aware of that too.
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it's not quite as rigid as having to have a 'stamp' every week any more - i've had a few short gaps between jobs where i've not signed on (because i've got another job lined up, but for one reason or another ended up with a few weeks' off between them) that don't seem to have caused a problem - those years are showing as full years on my NI record.

this seems to suggest that so long as (over the course of any financial year) you pay at least the equivalent of 52 weeks' contributions at the lower earnings level, you're OK for that year - so if you're in a job that pays well enough for 6 months of that year and not working / not getting NI credits for the other 6 months, you should be ok.

and of course the odd missing year isn't a big deal if you still get to 35 years' worth of contributions (I have one missing year after i got made redundant and was only doing little bits of part time work, but i've still got 35 years' in - so it's probably not worth doing anything about it, although i do wonder if the bastards will change the rules again before i hit retirement age.)

may be worth, for 2023/4 and again come the end of this year, checking to see whether they have been credited as a full year and doing something about it if it hasn't been, if it might make a difference come retirement age.

but in general, i'd say carry on with the JSA claim - you're entitled to it, and until you've got the job offer / start date on paper, it's not definite.
 
gsv needs to look into this as he's basically been living off savings for two years now working on his own product, and not taken any benefits. He's had a fe job gaps of 2-3 months in the last decade as well when he's never claimed because basically he's too proud to.
 
Cloo said:
gsv needs to look into this as he's basically been living off savings for two years now working on his own product, and not taken any benefits. He's had a fe job gaps of 2-3 months in the last decade as well when he's never claimed because basically he's too proud to.
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would have thought registering as self employed and paying the self employed NI contributions might be right for him - i had a patch of 'self employed' status a few years ago which was fairly unspectacular in terms of work, and i might have been better off on JSA for some of it, but it was a way of keeping up with the NI contributions.

From distant memory, self employed contributions don't count the same for things like claiming JSA, but they seem to count for state pension.
 
Good to know.

I just had a conversation with gsv about whether he should look into tech bid writing, seeing as it sounds like there is a lot of demand for the skill across all industries. He knows the software business, has been on the assessing side of bids (and appalled by how badly they're written) and is a stickler for detail, so honestly I think he'd be good at it and people might be willing to give him a go because he has a relevant skill/knowledge set.
 
Cloo said:
has been on the assessing side of bids (and appalled by how badly they're written)
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as an aside, i once had to plough through some fairly lengthy bid documents which included CV's for key staff. one CV included a spell of employment at Springfield Nuclear Power Station, and gave Mr M Burns as a reference.

Someone had thought nobody bothered to read all that bumf...
 
The job market seems to be fairly buoyant right now yeh? I've left my job after 4 years but there seems to be a lot around, so ive been chillin. I've been sent a test to do, a powerpoint test, but thats actually weirdly where the money is these days for graphic designers. They told me to spend 3-4 hours on it but I've got a week. So natch I'm procrastinating and not done anything on it yet. Apparently 70 people have tried this shit and failed. How hard can a powerpoint deck be....
 
Petcha said:
The job market seems to be fairly buoyant right now yeh? I've left my job after 4 years but there seems to be a lot around, so ive been chillin. I've been sent a test to do, a powerpoint test, but thats actually weirdly where the money is these days for graphic designers. They told me to spend 3-4 hours on it but I've got a week. So natch I'm procrastinating and not done anything on it yet. Apparently 70 people have tried this shit and failed. How hard can a powerpoint deck be....
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There seem to be a lot of jobs in most fields (other than tech, apparently) but also a lot of competition, I'd say. I've been able to apply to infinitely more stuff than 12 years ago, and got a lot more interviews, but it's been slightly tricky clinching the final one.
 
Petcha said:
The job market seems to be fairly buoyant right now yeh? I've left my job after 4 years but there seems to be a lot around, so ive been chillin. I've been sent a test to do, a powerpoint test, but thats actually weirdly where the money is these days for graphic designers. They told me to spend 3-4 hours on it but I've got a week. So natch I'm procrastinating and not done anything on it yet. Apparently 70 people have tried this shit and failed. How hard can a powerpoint deck be....
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As someone who used to deliver in complex PP master brand decks to clients, finding good, reliable PP specific designers is super hard and they aren’t cheap!
 
I'm in a funny spot for next few days when I'm still not ready to just say to recruiters I have a new job so don't want to turn down interviews which are still coming through, but I'm just pushing them out by a few days so I can say 'No' only when I have something in writing. I doubt anything's going to go wrong and I will have no issues with references, but I'm just keeping options open until things are more concrete.

Had a good chat about one of the offered roles today and got a full job spec, will have same discussion about other tomorrow and we'll see.
 
Well not ideal area wise as its more financey than procurement but they seem to want both looking at other roles. I found there is a role I could do at a yacht building place extremely locally, lots of marine around here so would be good to have some experience in it. Has ruled out one job I wanted already at the dock company, tho that would require getting there. It is literally a 5 minute walk from the house, variable hours but 30-40 to be discussed and they wanted flexibility for hours etc but its mostly 9-5 with some adjustments for tides and maybe paid overtime at weekends.

Odd thing is I was here for years and never knew it was there until I visited them when dealing with council loans for EU projects, so I have already had a tour of the place and met the leadership team. Not that I would remember them now. Might be a useful thing to have already interacted with them for what got them a large extension. Also its not public so I would actually be able to have a normal bloody conversation with them about it instead of following some dumbass formatted bullshit and I've done the channel islands on a yacht with my dad in charge and sailed small boats before, plus thinking about it helped with some of the yacht he did build. Either way a 5 min walk would be ideal if I am forced into in person working and they seem to be in a hurry.

They actually have a range of things I almost (no marine) fit which pay better than this they are advertising for, bit of industry specific training and it would be no problem. Be interesting to see what the hiring manager is actually after as a couple of these overlap to the point I could do 90% immediately of 3 other roles that appear to be rather different until you read the job description. Sure this will end in absolutely nothing but my hopes are already raised for no reason at all, so will ignore it and get on with other applications once I have applied to distract myself.
 
Hope something works out newme

I have accepted the role I had a gut feeling would be the one - just a bit more variety and bigger contracts, which means bigger bonuses potentially, which wouldn't hurt. The manager seems lovely and like he knows his stuff. It is effectively remote if you want to, but I imagine I will go into office once or twice a week as it's in the Shard, which is easy for me to get to and you have Borough Market etc, which would be nice for a change of scene.
 
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