Job Hunting

One of my main goals on returning to the Uk was to start working again.

I have been an Accountant all my life and I love it. So, I have been bugging agencies on every vacancy I think I can do, knowing it will not be easy to get a job. After all, I have been out of the job scene for over 2 years, I am the wrong side of 50 (and no, I don't include my age on my CV but anyone with half a brain can work out an approximate), my last role was in senior management not hands on accounts and I'm job hunting on the back of the worst recession so I have a battle on my hands.

The biggest hurdle I have found so far is getting the agency staff to accept that I am capable of doing a proper job again. Fortunately, I have a couple of agencies that have taken to me and are working hard to find me a permanent position. In the meantime I am working on a temporary assignment for 3 weeks.

Tomorrow will be the end of week 2 and so it was with some puzzlement tonight when the HR Manager came to speak to me and commented that tomorrow would be my last day. I showed her my paperwork that confirms it's a 3 week assignment and that I was expecting to be working there again next week.

According to her they have only approved funding for 2 weeks!

I rang the agency to tell them of this latest piece of information and they will sort it out for me. In the meantime, if I am finishing tomorrow the agency have another assignment for me that would take me through to Christmas and beyond, starting Monday.

So, it looks as if I will be working next week, I just don't know where. The work experience can only help my CV and in the meantime I am able to go in, do my job and come home and switch off.

Well, time to go and trawl through the latest vacancies published on the various websites. Last time I was job hunting it was a case of buying the local paper on a Thursday night and working your way through the Situations Vacant pages with a biro and a notepad. Now it's as easy as search, sort, click apply and attach CV.

And no matter how many you apply for the one thing that hasn't changed - you rarely get an acknowledgement or letter advising you have been unacceptable - and how difficult would that be with e-mail?