Hit The Road Jack....

Whoa. A long, long time since any updates. That is very poor. So, a bumper update....

I lasted three weeks in the driving/delivery job. The driving was OK, the delivering was bearable, what rankled was having to do both in inaccessible areas of the City during rush hours with an extremely punishing time schedule and poorly functioning equipment. Once it started to affect my mental state as well as my physical condition I had to re-evaluate things. It means going back to very little money as opposed to not a lot of money but I remain very optimistic that something will turn up. Meetings with local recruitment agencies today have been encouraging, and I continue to apply for information-related stuff....

Talking of which, high time to update the list I posted last month I think;

1. Local Government - Information Specialist - 20/01
2. Central Government - Committee Specialist - 26/01
3. International Charity - Information/Research - 26/01
4. Law Firm - Librarian/Information Specialist - 26/01
5. Business Consultancy - Business Research - 28/01
6. Oil & Gas Co. - Information Consultant - 05/02
7. Multinational - IM Consultant - 05/02
8. Consultancy - Content/Info Manager - 05/02
9. Government Dept - Records Manager - 11/02
10. Business Link - Information Consultant - 13/02
11. NHS - Information Manager - 16/02
12. Schools & Academies - Information Manager - 17/02
13. NHS, Midlands - Information Manager - 20/02
14. Librarian - Law Firm - 20/02
15. Information Manager - Alternative Energy - 25/02
16. Information Officer - Charity - 25/02
17. Business/Information Research - Energy - 04/03
18. Services IM - Borough Council - 20/03
19. Information Services - Corporate - 23/03
20. Training/Communication Consultant - Business Consultancy - 24/03

Here's the rundown:

1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 8, 10, 11, 12 & 13 - Rejected (I am working on the assumption that anything applied for over a month ago is now closed and a short-list has been determined).
4 - Considered - I was asked to supply more feedback as to my IT skills and previous knowledge of the dept I would be working in. My application was not taken further as I did not have the necessary departmental experience.
9 - Short-listed - and herein lies a tale. I was emailed an invite to an interview/assessment day at the end of this month, which then got changed to a different location. I then received a phone call this week to say that all the other candidates had withdrawn (YAY!) but that they could not continue the process with just one candidate (WHAT THE...?). They will re-advertise the position and I will re-join the process when they have more applicants for the interview stage. Typical of my luck methinks....
14 - Unlikely - this was a tip-off from a fellow law librarian friend that a mutual friend had someone leave a post at his firm and he wanted to pre-empt the recruitment process by having a copy of my CV ready. Unfortunately, they have not yet advertised for anyone. And it is in Kent, which would mean a three-hour round trip every day and a huge season ticket price on the train....
15 - Possible - emailed the recruitment agency at the end of last week to see what was going on with this one. I am 'one of the candidates that they are looking at closely'....
16 - ???
17 - Unlikely - although this job has yet to close as far as I am aware I don't think I will get anywhere. Mainly because it is a re-advertised post that I originally applied for in January. The consultant persuaded me to re-apply....
18, 19 - Too early to say
20 - Interesting - this has involved preparing a few pre-selection tests and submittals, which I enjoyed doing very much, so I have high hopes for this one. It doesn't close until the middle of next month so there's a long way to go....

After a two-week hiatus it is reassuring to see some jobs of my area/calibre starting to filter back into the spotlight again. Fingers crossed that something turns up soon....