Week Seven - It's brutal out here!

As I sit here writing this I'm now starting to wish I hadn't bothered...I now feel obliged to write about my own failings as another week passes by without success in the job hunt. I was happy to put it all out there when I was positive and energetic in the first few weeks, things were going well, it was easy, but now it is less easy to communicate. However, I know that for me personally it is cathartic and therapeutic to write and so I will continue to open myself up and share my experiences. I'm not going to lie, week six was brutal..in so many ways for me. Two further rejections, a half-term holiday that was no holiday at all and some pretty stressful news in my personal life.

I will save you the details of the non-work related stuff but of course it is not just the pressures of finding work that are piling up at the moment, for all of us. Work is just one of the pressures we all face and every so often life will remind you how unimportant work is in the grander scheme of things! Support physically and emotionally is worth far more than the monthly pay cheque. That said, sadly the mortgage and bills don't pay themselves so I have to keep pressing forward on the job hunt whilst coping with all the other shit life throws at you on the way.

So, Tuesday last week was a bad day. Firstly, I get a call from the recruiter for one role with an update. "Sorry Phil but it is a no"....the words you don't want to hear, your heart sinks and you zone out for a few seconds. As always, positive feedback from interview but after a sudden influx of new applicants they felt other candidates were a bit better suited. They were spoilt for choice. Apparently I could have answered one or two questions better...there are those fine lines again! I'm sure I could have answered ALL questions a bit better but I guess it wasn't to be. A real shame as I was excited about how I could impact on that company. I felt that particular agency was in need of something a bit different to what they already had, maybe they'll still get that, but based on the feedback it sounded like they wanted something closer to the existing mould. I personally thought I would bring rich client-side experience, some new areas of expertise and coupled with a solid agency foundation a skillset that would really push them forwards. Not to mention my contacts in the Tech and Media worlds, oh well, their loss. Blow number 1 of Tuesday 16th Feb.

Blow number 2 came later that day. A call from unknown number...oooh this could be it...."Hi Phil, sorry, but it is a no"...heart sinks, zone out briefly...just pipped to the post this time! You made it a very hard decision but ultimately the other person did this one thing that you didn't. I'm paraphrasing of course but as nice as it is to hear you've done well....ultimately it was not well enough. I was very excited about that role, again a move away from client-side but to a role that would really fit my skills and experience as well as my personality and future career ambitions. Gutted, and by the sounds of it, nothing else I could have done to win the race...therefore nothing I can learn from the experience and do differently another time. The thing I didn't have...I could have done that, no problem at all, but because it wasn't already on my CV or mentioned in an interview, I lost out. Fine lines or one ingredient as Mr Lloyd Webber puts it above!

So where does that leave me...square one frankly. I do have one remaining live role but having had the final interview nearly 5 weeks ago I'm assuming this role isn't happening. Last I heard it was caught up in an internal finance review so whilst I'm still crossing my fingers and hoping that no news means the role is mine if it gets signed off, I'm assuming the worst whilst hoping for the best. Surely they would tell me if it was a no regardless of whether it gets signed off or not??!! Frustrating to say the least, especially as the role would be a brilliant fit for me on so many levels. [UPDATE: As I write this, I've had an email.....with no further updates thanking me for my patience, sigh!]

On a more positive note, there was a bit of new action in the market last week. I made 4 new applications so lets see if I get any bites there. One was a particularly interesting application. Standard online portal approach but this time with an added question, I guess designed to separate the time wasters from the serious applicants. This will give away my application to anyone else reading this who has applied but I have to share the question, it went something like this..."How would you go about developing a roadmap to build the culture and vision for the research profession? How would you then align it to our business and stakeholders". Answers on a postcard please! I wrote a considered answer but this is a rather large question for an online application...maybe I get separated on to the 'no' pile...by Artificial Intelligence software for not writing 3 or 4 key words LOL!

There was one other role of interest that a few of my network have also highlighted to me but I'm reluctant to apply as it specifically calls out "You should come from the FMCG industry". I have all the skills and capabilities for the role and believe strongly that the principles of research and analysis are fundamentally universal/category agnostic, but I know that my CV won't make it through the screening due to not having an FMCG brand on my list of companies worked for. This opens the interesting debate around how can you do things differently if you only ever hire the same people. At the moment brands can take their pick but are they picking mini-me's or pushing their boundaries and looking for that person that could bring something new to the business?

OK that's it I think for this week. I'm feeling positive today and ready to face whatever week 8 brings....things can change quickly as I saw earlier this year so who knows what will happen this week. In the meantime...with my daughter back in home school...I can practice some MarioKart whilst she works hard hahahaha!

Phil