The toughest week of my life

For those of you who don’t know, my Wife is a Headteacher. And we left Kazakhstan last month for her new job based in Cairo, Egypt.

Moving home can be a nightmare. But moving to another country can be overwhelming. Because everything is thrown at you in a short period of time. You have to figure things out quickly, establish connections and find your way around all at an accelerated pace all in a different language and culture.

Here's us at Cairo airport with 13 suitcases (excluding hand luggage).

So why has the past week been the toughest of my life?

The main stress was centred around finding somewhere to live. We had just 5 days to find an apartment. Both my Wife and I are proactive, so we had arranged viewings before coming to Egypt and found two good agents.

But it has been an emotional rollercoaster. And as a 41 year old man I’m comfortable to say that I’ve even been comforted by my 10 year old daughter this week. How roles were reversed! The film Benjamin Button kind of springs to mind.

No different to any industry we’ve met some REALLY great agents and some REALLY sh1t agents. So my Wife and I agreed on a 3 strike rule. The first apartment should be the best that they could offer. Then they had two chances to refine their search based upon our constructive feedback. And if we saw three crap apartments in a row we said goodbye. Any begging would be ignored. Because we didn’t have time to waste.

We lost count of the viewing when we hit 22 apartments. But we finally landed on one which we had originally discarded. Because we had seen everything on offer and had to make a decision. Or continue our stay in a hotel which would be costly.

My daughter wasn't impressed moving all of our luggage from the hotel to the apartment.

My Wife's touch making our new home look homely.

The link to recruitment

One of the school's agents (Mohammed of Avenue 21) was exceptional. And as a Recruitment Consultant I can draw many parallels with his industry and recruitment.

These are the reasons why he’s exceptional:

• Before we started searching for an apartment we sat down, had a coffee and a discussion about what we wanted and didn’t.
• He educated us on the local areas and provided his recommendations.
• He told us what we needed to hear, not what we wanted to hear.
• He was honest.
• He took control. And was confident.
• He listened and responded to our feedback.
• He sought clarification through questioning.
• He spoke in English so that we always knew what was being said to any landlords.
• When it was more relaxed, he took the time to get to know us as a family, his Wife took my daughter shopping and even invited us out for lunch.
• The after care has been phenomenal. To be quite honest it’s not his job. And he’s even taken us to get things like Wi-Fi set up, food shopping, App demonstrations and the best Mango smoothie I have had in my life (called Mo Salah obviously).
• And when the finish line was in sight (his pay cheque). He repeatedly told the landlord “do not sign yet” because he wanted to ensure that there was full clarity and no surprises down the road.

My final thoughts

Part of the reason for moving was because the time difference between Kazakhstan and the UK is 5 to 6 hours (Summer / Winter). Which meant that I would quite often work until midnight (Kazakh time)/6pm UK time most days logging on at 7:15am (up to 15 hours per day). So in part this move was as much about me as it was my Wife’s job. Even reading a book with my daughter at 7pm (1pm UK time became a challenge).

So this is 100% shameless!!

If you know anybody who is recruiting permanent finance professionals based anywhere in the UK and would consider working with a recruitment consultant. Please pass on my details as I now need to grow and establish my business further.

Thank you in advance for your support.

David

PS. If you have a permanent finance recruitment need, need an independent sounding board or career mentor please contact me here www.jammyrecruitment.com