Hi to the visitor who found the site by typing “I am fed up with my job” at Yahoo UK. Jen is out of work and is not missing it for a minute. Get the job and then spend it all on their toys.

posted by Martin Wright at 10:38 am | Link

As a recipient of £53.95 a week under the Jobseekers Allowance scheme I find myself noticing extreme wastes of money more frequently.

I continue to question the justifications behind the firefighters request for a 40% pay rise. I am not convinced that their job warrants such an increase and their union leader Andy Gilchrist is doing very little to convince. Although I’m sure my opinion could be swayed over an £800 curry at the Cinnamon Club. In fact, he could probably stretch to feeding me, my fellow job seekers and JobCentre’Plus’ staff.

Andy’s spending would seem sensible, if not appropriate, in light of the fact that Carey Young is shortlisted to win a £20,000 prize from Becks Futures for producing a piece of art whose very ‘essence’ is that no one will ever see it! There is apparently something artistic, although I can only see farcical, about the display of a non-disclosure agreement detailing the unseen artwork. It smacks of being paid to not turn up at work on your first day.

But the last straw comes from Jack Straw with his war chest of £1.75bn. I’m sure there are plenty of people would could find a better use for it.


posted by Martin Wright at 10:36 am | Link

When I was updating my CV for the first time in 6 years, little did I realise that it would be out of date 4 months later.

I already have 3 versions of my CV depending on which job type I am applying for. Each of these versions may then be tweaked to highlight the skills relevant to the position on offer.

Now that I am broadening my job search out to further horizons I am required to create another batch of CV’s that indicate I am willing, indeed keen, to relocate and providing more information about where previous jobs were.

I am also finding that the jobs I am prepared to apply for are less in line with my previous experience. I have been trying to correlate a simple administration job with a technical CV. This has lead to a further rewrite where I am breaking down all my skills to their most basic level. Sections such as training skills, presentation skills and writing skills would have had no place on my CV 4 months ago, but now might be the key to my transition from unemployed to employed.

I have also posted my CV’s on my web site so that they may be seen by a wider audience. It was not long until one visitor pointed out that whilst these CV’s are OK for sending direct to a interested client they were not suitable for the wider speculative audience. The advice given was to prepare one short version offering a summary of my experience, with a longer version offering a more detailed list of achievements and qualifications.

That will create a total of 10 basic versions to cater for the various positions and locations I am applying for as well as the situations where I am hoping that someone will contact me.

posted by Martin Wright at 6:19 am | Link

The Londoners Job Fair is on today and tomorrow at the New Connaught Rooms, Great Queen St, London WC2 (off Kingsway, Holborn) It is open from 11am until 7pm and entrance is free. They advise smart dress in case of interview and a batch of CV’s to give to prospective employers.

posted by Martin Wright at 3:05 am | Link