Compromise

Part of job hunting is compromise. When you first set out to find a job, unless you are especially flexible you set a number of criteria which any potential job has to fill. These may be location based, occupation based, money based or based on an entirely different premise altogether. When I first set out to find a job I wanted a marketing exec position in the south that paid over 15,000.

The money was the first thing to go. After all its less important really. For many Graduates, a salary at all is just numbers and I picked 15,000 as a limit as I thought that was reasonable. Of course clever firms are cutting costs by offering significantly lower salaries because they know how tight the job market is.

Next I cut down to look for any marketing position and soon got a few interviews for marketing research positions. This is turn became any business based position which involved marketing which has led me to apply to some rather odd job titles.

Location cannot be changed. I am tied to a contract in Southampton and dont want to leave what I have here and in a way it limits me as much if not more than the others.

I am fortunate in that I have some savings and therefore do not have to literally take anything. The question is though how far do we have to compromise?

Last week I applied for a purely Admin position, a job description which could be filled my a school leaver and which duties include filing and making tea. I justified applying because it was a year contract and would give me office exeperience.

I think this is where I have chosen to draw the line. I don't see any light at the end of the tunnel with regards to the economic situation and I don't expect the job market to simply pick up. I have therefore ruled out jobs which have absolutely no application to my chosen career in business. I could go and work in a shop but then I am effectively just wasting time. Time which for the moment I can use to hopefully find one break. I am not naive to think that with that first job everything will be exceptionally easy, I do think I will be considered for more positions, and at least the excuse "you have no experience" will not be flung at me.

Incidentally I have an interview for a sales and marketing position with JPA tomorrow. When I originally applied the position was a marketing one, the sales was tagged on later. However I was impressed with the company and the position has marketing in the title. It is after all, all about compromise.

Bepuzzlement

As my main post today was about a general thing this is a shorter job related post.
Still waiting to hear from Amicus ITS a month on. Applied for a general admin job which is on a year contract.

Heard from College Chambers. Sounded like the standard conversation. It was a very tough decision, lots of good candidates...(yeah yeah get on with it)..so we are inviting everyone back for a second interview...

You will hear from us next week..

What?! I made a total hash of the interview. I looked nervous, clueless and totally unsuitable. Even if your giving everyone a second interview you may as well rule out some people, surely. Mystifying. I shall obviously wait to hear from them next week but it has left me a little bit of a predicament. From reading the earlier post you will know my thoughts on the job.

But its a job, which pays money and gives experience.
Its a difficult one.

The Big "C" Approaches.

Those of you who have been reading this blog since the beginning will know that Thursday is effectively Job Search day. Where I check all the sites for relevant positions I can apply for.
Today I find 0 suitable positions, not one single job which I was a candidate for. I put this down to the approaching of Christmas, which although still a month away begins to steal peoples consciousness about now, not helped of course by the media and the retail industry. It is a common joke that the appearance of Christmas stuff gets earlier each year. Soon we will be able to purchase over priced chocolates, novelty fish and decorations in August.

With the looming vastness of Christmas I think many firms are not looking for change. Its not a good time to break some one into the company only to have them disappear for a week or more over the Christmas holidays. This is especially true of Graduates who at times require hand holding and training.

I am left with a choice then really, a question that has been haunting me and I imagine other graduates since their unemployment:

Do I look for a part time job or do I spend the time spamming organisations with speculative applications when no other jobs present themselves or seem likely to in the foreseeable future.

Part time job

Pros: Money- obviously the biggest pro as a little extra cash around the holiday period is always welcome
Experience - Unless you get it in a relevant discipline then this is pretty minor
Something to do - Sitting around on your arse most days isnt fun, at least a part time job will give you tasks and allow you to meet people
Reference- That all important employer reference, gives you some variety on your C.V at least.
Cons: Money- Working more than 19 hours a week will mean you are unable to claim JSA and subsequently housing benefits. This may mean you earn less then youd get from the government, which seems counter productive if your not getting anything that makes you more employable and could be using the time for better purposes
Time consuming- Part time jobs especially around Christmas can be very time consuming, you usually end up working in the retail sector and working several days a week.
Working until Xmas - Chances are, you work for a retail firm and they will want you until Xmas Eve. Travelling home then isnt going to be fun.

Speculative Applications

Pros: May get you a job - The whole part of a speculative application is to show an employer that you would be an asset to their company so that when a position opens up they think of you, that or if you really impress them they open a position just for you.
Contacts - Even if a person reading the application doesnt want to hire you they might write back and you may be able to contact them in the future
Cons: Wasting your time? - Last year when I was searching for a position I sent out a number of speculative applications. One responded. Just one of the eight I completed and that required significant chasing only to get an almost automated thanks but no thanks letter.
Christmas - Here it is again, are people really going to be interested in your application with the piles of work they have to complete before they can make merry with their family, probably not. I sent a spec application to Twinings last year and took nearly 2 months to deal with as it got lost over the Xmas period

So there we go, a difficult decision. There is always do nothing, or maybe something I have not thought of. Thoughts?

Preying on the Needy.

In the world we live in there will always be disreputable people willing to make a quick buck or to con people for their own personal gain. We have all seen the emails puporting to be from Nigerian Princesses or wealthy single old ladies attempting to make us reveal bank details or to even give money. They are part and parcel of using the internet.

Recently the level of scams has began to evolve with the targets becoming more wide ranging.
Yesterday I recieved a job offer from a company in America offering me the position of Financial Representative. I was initially suspicious but read the email anyway, after all an unemployed graduate cannot just ignore a job offer completely, that and the email suggested it was from reed.co.uk, a site I was signed up with. On opening the job specification it was several pages long and quite authenticaly produced. I followed the link to the website of a venture capitalist firm in the U.S.A. Thinking it would be mad just to ignore it I forwarded it to my Dad who confirmed it was a scam. On further examination I found a site that showed it was one that had previously been operating in a number of different countries incl. South Africa, Australia and Thailand.

Now I am naturally suspicious but if someone desperate for a job recieved that they may just give the "employer" everything they want. The fact the bogus company are using reed as well just adds to the illusion of believability.

For anyone who is interested/who recieves the email. It looks a little something like this

> Date: Thu, 12 Nov 2009 14:21:47 +0300
> Subject: [Reed.co.uk] Anthony March, we have a great job offer for you!
> From: careersuk@assetmanwork.com
> To: cariassus@hotmail.com
>
> Dear Anthony March,
>
> This is David Hanson from Asset Management Company. I was assigned your
> Regional Instructor and from now on you'll be working under my
> supervision. I'll be providing you with all necessary information and
> submitting tasks to complete. I do hope we'll enjoy working together.
>
> We have received your resume. We are happy to say to you that you are
> qualified for the position of Financial Representative. This position is
> limited. You may find more about salary, hours and duties at job
> description.doc
>
> Application process:
> 1.Read job description document and respond me back with your agree word.
> 2.I will send you employment agreement and application form, you need to
> fill it out and send back signed
> 3.I will forward your application documents to our HR dept
> 4.You will be noticed about acceptance by e-mail
>
> Note:
> You may find more information at our web-site or feel free to ask any
> questions about your job duties and salary.
>
> My job is to assist you in managing payments and I'll be happy to do the
> utmost to help you whenever possible.
>
> My e-mail is: david@assetmancompany.com
> Please don’t use e-mail careersuk@assetmanwork.com for asking questions.
>
> I will serve as your account manager. Feel free to contact me regarding
> any issue.
> I will co-ordinate your work; therefore you can contact me anytime via
> e-mail and get an answer to any question of yours within 12 hours.
> Besides you can leave me a message on my answering machine anytime.
> Feel free to contact me anytime. My contact information is given below.
>
> This is not a spam! If you don't wish to apply - just notify me.
>
>
>
> --
> Best regards,
>
> David Hanson
> Employment Manager
> E-Mail: david@assetmancompany.com
> Phone: +1 646 462 4591
> Fax: +1 646 619 4183
> Address: Asset Management Company
> 2100 Geng Road, Suite 200
> Palo Alto, California 94303, US

I emailed Reed to warn them but I am not sure really what they can do. There really needs to be more stringent laws to catch this internet scammers. Another common one is to suggest there has been an issue with your bank account, with emails seemingly coming from banks such as HSBC, Lloyds and Natwest. It seems that the only defence the actual banks have against these is to state they would never send an email asking for such important details. Yet some people must be fooled

Later on in the same day I recieved another email. It thanked me for sending my C.V and then preceeded to ask for my Resume and details. It wasnt even signed by a company or individual.
Now I know I have sent a lot of C.V's to random places, but if in in the incrediably unlikely case it wasnt fake, if a company is quite so blaize about recruitment I am not sure I want to work for them anyway!