Long weekend

Look, just because I didn't post here during the weekend doesn't mean I wasn't job hunting but instead taking advantage of the weather, the bier gardens and the bars of Munich. I'm not that predictable.

OK, I wasn't job hunting and I was taking advantage of the weather, the bier gardens and the bars of Munich. But lack of posting doesn't definitely mean that.

I'm not going to job hunt this morning as I want to prepare for my German lesson which is a few hours away.

Tomorrow is a public holiday in Bavaria (and maybe the whole of Germany) so most people take today off as a "bridge day".

A little while ago, however, my mobile phone rang. It was the agency who had arranged a telephone interview a couple of weeks ago. They were going to get back to me with a date for a second interview on Thursday.

But instead they phoned today and asked me to interview this Wednesday. Which suits me fine.

Hot

If you say "Ich bin heiß" then Germans will think you are horny.

Anyway, today I got up and did my German homework. Then I phoned some agencies who I emailed or otherwise contacted recently. Most were on voice mail but I did get through to one agency. They confirmed that they had put my c.v. to their client in Munich. So now I must wait.

After that I went to my German lesson.

It's Friday, it's Munich and it's summer. So it's hot and I'm very hot.

Grey

When I was in England last week I watched some British TV.

I noticed that whenever there was an outside scene it was grey or even raining.

Compare to Munich where it's often bright.

Slackers who lunch

Woke up early, before 7am.

Oops. So went back to sleep.

Eventually got up around 10am. Clearly yesterday was a bit much: travelling all day then a business club meeting.

Mid-day I went to a little gathering I had organised in Munich: Slackers who lunch.

Basically lunch/brunch with some others who have better things to do than work.

This evening I'm too tired to job hunt or do my German homework.

I'm going to have to do the homework first thing tomorrow morning as I have a lesson at midday.

Big trip

Well not that big but I flew back to Munich today.

Achoo

Not me, the taxi driver (from the London railway station to the airport) sneezed.

"Bless you" I said.

"Oh, that's alright", he said, "I like sneezing".

I guess everyone needs a hobby.


I said Munich

At the airport I presented my open return ticket and asked for the next flight to Munich.

"Oh, you just missed one", the lady at ticket sales informed me, but she found a seat for the next flight.

I then went through security, into the departure lounge. There I looked at the display but couldn't find any flight to Munich at the time I was booked to go.

Then I realised she'd booked me on a flight to Frankfurt.

Why I don't know. Well, at least it's in Germany. But I really didn't want to go to Frankfurt, don't really even like it there.

I eventually found a customer desk and they managed to change it for a flight to Munich. Well done chaps.


It's all go

After landing at Munich I got the train back to the city. There's a mainline station close to where I live. I quickly showered, put on some fresh clothes and went to an American German Business Club meeting.

I'm a member even though I'm not American, or German. But, then again, the president of the Munich chapter is also British.

From a networking perspective it wasn't the best for me. I was tired from travelling and had decided not to drink anything as it would probably have had a stronger effect on me.

Normally I think it's better to have a drink at these events to loosen up a bit.

Now rather today.


Here's the excuse

I didn't apply for any jobs today and also no agency called me about my recent applications.

I guess I could have phoned from the train whilst travelling up to London. But I didn't want to get my tablet PC out and ... well I just didn't ok

An even better day, I suppose

Today I applied for six jobs.

None were in Munich but one was in Amsterdam.

My calls generated some interest. I also got a bite from one of the people to whom I applied yesterday.

The average contract daily rate seems to have gone up in London.

A couple of agencies expressed interest but didn't follow through. One asked for more information, specific to the job. I sent it but he didn't call back. Another said he'd send a job spec. but didn't. In the latter's case there was a lot of doubt that I'd be suitable for the job anyway.

The thing is I should be flying back to Munich tomorrow so most of the day I'll be unavailable. I might make some calls from my mobile whilst on the train but the route doesn't have full mobile phone coverage.

Good start, I suppose

It's Monday and already I've applied for five jobs. Five being my weekly target.

All these were freelance jobs in London.

I would have applied for jobs in Munich but I couldn't find any.

Ooops

I haven't done it very often but nothing in an email says "I'm a switched-on IT professional and project manager who will bring you lots of value and here's my c.v. to prove it" than then to forget to attach the c.v.

Lifehacker has some solutions.

I might just try the more technical solutions.

Progress

I've been back in the UK for a few days attending to personal business.

This means I'm been back in the town where I grew up.

Once a day I've walked into the town centre.

Let's just say that inbreeding is terrible.

The air in this town is heavy with inertia. Nevertheless I applied for a few jobs last week - and these were well received applications. Just now I did another trawl but nothing relevant was posted over the weekend.

Busines card advice ...

... from The Sunday Times:

"- always write something on a business card before you hand it over to someone. It doesn’t matter whether you add an extra phone number to the one on the card, or jot down the date or the place where you handed it over — if there is something written on the card, people are much more likely to look at it, rather than leaving it on their desks for three months before throwing it in the bin. And yes, it does work."

Might try that out soon.

Searching for jobs in Munich

There's an expat community who make great use of www.toytownmunich.com - an online forum for English-speaking people.

On it someone asked about how a non-German could go about getting jobs in the city. Although others have already written quite a lot about this on the forum I gave some advice based on what I've been doing.

Here's what I wrote:

- use the Monster web site
- try the Jobserve.co.uk web site
- try stepstone.de (might be better for you than it has for me)
- www.mbade.com if you're in IT
- www.satzsoft.de if you're very techie (especially if you know about SAP, sadly I can't even spell it)
- leverage your contacts in Siemens, at least the ones not under police investigation
- get on www.xing.com, rather popular here (but it will only add marginally to your chances, nevertheless it's popular, I've just been put forward for an IT management role because of it)
- read Süddeutsche Zeitung, don't just look at their online job-börse, get the Saturday paper and check out the careers section. If a big multi-national company if recruiting, not even in your area, they may have other openings for you
- get your face around Toytown (e.g. Tuesday drinks, Wednesday curries, Friday drinks etc), a minor but useful networking activity
- ensure you have a German handy* so recruiters can get to you quickly (I'm assuming you live in Germany). Also ensure you can readily check your email. You don't need a Blackberry but being able to deal with your emails at least daily is useful if you're in the market.
- tone-down a bit any guerrilla-marketing approaches you might have used in the UK. Some of them will be appropriate here, for multi-nationals, but the whole place is a bit more conservative.

There is a market here for people with Anglo-Saxon approaches to business (e.g. in IT, project management etc).

It's also a mattter of luck, but remember that the harder you work the luckier you get.


* "handy" is German for mobile-, or cell-, phone but is often used by English-speaking people in the country too.

Think global, act global

Encouraging article in The Sunday Times about how headhunters are valuing overseas experience.

Just what I wanted to read.

Nice end to the week

The agent who advertised on Xing called me back this afternoon.

We had a nice chat and she's going to send my c.v. over to her client.

The client won't be back, however, until the beginning of May.

This week I applied for three jobs and received two bites.

I have a feeling that although I'm applying for less jobs I'm getting more interest. And that this is genuine interest which will result in (and has already resulted in) interviews.

A few years ago I was getting positive responses (i.e. "bites" as I call them) from one in 10 applications. And one in 10 of those bites resulted in interviews.

The stats now seem better although the volume is lower. Not bad considering I'm focussing on the Munich area and only applying in English, for English-speaking jobs.

Xing

A girlfriend, who runs two businesses, told me that using Xing and LinkedIn wasn't going to be effective in getting a job in Germany.

Being an ex-girlfriend, however, means she's wrong about everything.

Today I did my usual trawl through the job sites. Found nothing.

Then I looked at the Xing forum for freelancers. There I found a most suitable job in central Europe. I dropped the recruiter an internal (to Xing) memo and then called her.

I was the first response she had received to her posting of the requirement.

Then I made a few calls and left messages. A few minutes later someone called back on my London Skype number. It was a recruiter for a contract role in Munich. Someone I know in Munich has alerted me to this job (on Jobserve) a few days ago.

The recruiter seemed impressed and is going to talk to his client about me right away.

A bite.

Like a day not at work

Hang on, it is a day not at work. I don't have a job.

And I couldn't find any jobs to which I could apply today.

Cities' quality of living rankings

Hat-tip to Frank who mailed me an excerpt from The Economist.

Went to the Mercer site, which had the whole list.

Best placed to live, apparently, is Zurich. Then Geneva. It carries on its list of boring cities till it gets to number seven - Frankfurt (or "Fuckfurt" as someone I know calls it).

This is one above Munich. So Frankfurt (and I assume they mean Frankfurt am Main, not the one in the former east Germany) is better than Munich. Right.

Amsterdam is 13th, Berlin is 16th, Helsinki is 29th, Singaport is 34th (well, it is a fine city) and London is 39th.

All the top five cities in the Americas are Canadian.

I can't believe Frankfurt scored higher than Munich.

Delayed

So, after the phone call yesterday, today I receive an email from the agency fronting the contract PM role in Munich.

It turns out that they can't interview me next week. The interviewer is away until 3rd May.

Alright, that's ok as long as I do eventually get a face-to-face interview with them.

Quite good news

Despite this being a bit of a job-dire day there was some good news.

My mobile phone rang.

OK, I have two mobiles, so the mobile phone which is German rang.

It was the agency which arranged the telephone interview last week.

The client now wants a face-to-face interview.

Next week. They even asked if I preferred earlier or later in the week.

"Later, please".

I heard at an outplacement course that it's better to apply (or at least have your application received) or be interviewed later than earlier in the process. And anyway, later suits me better.

Just the one

Someone I know in Munich sent me a message about a job on Jobserve.

I had actually seen it and dismissed it yesterday.

But I looked at it again a bit more closely.

It still didn't seem suitable (or rather I didn't seem suitable for it) but reading a bit more into it I had the core skills required.

So I applied.

Cheers Richard (though I don't think you read this blog).

Otherwise, didn't see anything to which I could apply.

Round up of last week

Due to, well whatever, I didn't keep this blog updated last week.

So here goes:


Interview

That was on Friday 13th but went rather well. The feedback from the agent (who was listening in to the call) was that it was good. Although the client is obliged to interview others there will be no surprise if I'm called for a face-to-face interview.

Interestingly the recruiting manager wasn't that happy with telephone interviews. Of course I too prefer face-to-face but I have taken part in quite a few calls (as interviewer and interviewee) so am quite relaxed.

The actual chat only lasted half-an-hour but that seems to be all that was needed.

Forms

Another agency was interested in my application for a freelance job.

I found that out by phoning them. They were indeed relieved to hear from me as that day was the deadline, from their client, for them to submit candidates. So I'm not sure why they didn't phone me earlier.

Later that day they sent me a form in German. I was going out so the next day I phoned them. The form, as I suspected, was a contract. They explained that the contract would only come into force if I was taken on in the role. Wasn't too happy with that but they said they'd send the contract in English.

This they did, well, I recognised some of the words but not really the language.

I tried to work out how to sign it as I don't have a printer.

I wanted to convert the PDF file into Word and then add a digitial signiature I have.

This took quite a while to find suitable, effective and free software. Eventually I gave up and emailed them a statement saying I accepted their contract.

Today they emailed me saying the job had gone to someone inside their company.

Bit disjointed

Messy start of the week. For various reasons.

Wasn't able to look yesterday and today didn't find anything.

Slow day

Got up late, feeling crap.

Did some things, then my German teacher phoned and asked where I was. She was waiting for me at the cafe where we meet. But several hours earlier than the agreed time (she doesn't use an PDA).

No worries. I shot over there and had a good German lesson.

Came back and sat on the balcony for about 45 minutes doing a quick trawl.

Saw a couple of jobs on the web but decided they could wait till to tomorrow. So I sent them to OneNote and made a note to check them out.

First time most of my skin has seen sun in quite a few years. Better go in now.

Big five

My long time goal is five applications per week.

But that was assuming I was focussing on UK jobs.

Of course, nowadays I'm not. Which makes it harder.

Nevertheless today I applied for five jobs.

Two were in England. One was in Alicante in Spain, one was in Munich and one in Berlin.

Actually I didn't respond to any advert for the Berlin job. An agency in London contacted me about it. So that constitutes a bite.

And the agency I mentioned in the post below called me again to confirm a telephone interview with their Munich based client. This Friday, 13th.

I'm not supersitious, of course (heck, I'm still trying to develop a herbal cure for gullability) but does anyone have a black cat they could lend me?

Back to not working

Whoa. Those Germans certainly know how to celebrate the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Funnily enough it involved alcohol. Lots of it. Mainly in proper sized glasses (that is, about a litre). None of those namby-pamby pint things.

Now, if I want to continue this lifestyle of drinking beer, eating pig (and curry) and sitting in my Jacuzi then I will, at some stage, need another job. Unless, of course, my last client calls me back.

So, today I need to start job hunting again.

But before I could settle down at my Table PC (part of the lifestyle) one of my two mobile phones rang.

It was an agent who called in early January about a contract job in Munich. Looks like they now want to interview me, probably by phone, probably this week. Even today.

Oooh, it would be nice if I get sorted for a new job so quickly.

Anyway, must now start the usual trawl.

Big chill

Yesterday was a day of taking it easy.

There's was no point job hunting, there's a nasty outbreak of public holidays at the moment.

Also, I had a German lesson in the morning, and a friend came round in the afternoon for some one-to-one tuition in chilling. We sat on my balcony and drank wine.

Before then I sent an email to the guy who wants to interview me over a video conference. I gave him the Munich telephone number assigned to me by my local SIP provider.

I received an automatic out of office message that he's now away for over a week.

Later on I received an email from my SIP provider. It was in response to my queries I sent them a few days ago. Basically the service provider does not support video!

Just as well the guy is now on holiday. We couldn't have a video call after all. I have about a week to find another solution.

Drat.

Good start

Well, today I applied for four jobs.

Which is good considering we're coming up to the long bank holiday.

None of the jobs were in Munich but I'm not too surprised about that around these weeks.

One was actually in Amsterdam.

Oh, and one was a sort of bite as the agent was interested in my c.v. and sent me some details to consider. As promised I tried to call him back but it turns out he then went off to a client site.

On the SIP front I replaced Kapanga with X-Lite and that seems to work. Not sure if it'll support calls to video conference suites. I did send the service provider an email but have had no reply. Can't complain as it's free.

(In case you don't remember this is so I can be interviewed by video conference rather than fly over to London or, more expensively, rent a vid con suite here in Munich).

In a little while I'm going to a Xing regular get together in a pub near where I live.

Serious advert of the week

Seen in JobServer

We are looking for 2 Desktop Support candidates for a 5 month project in
Marysville, OH. YOU MUST BE ABLE TO PASS A DRUG AND BACKGROUND CHECK. We are an Equal Opportunity ...

The text in upper case was like that in the original advert.

Fair enough I suppose. I've heard of companies in the US who ban people who also smoke and drink ... even outside of work!

Planet Holiday

It's sunny in Munich but not very warm.

OK weather news over.

I looked through all the job sites today and found nothing to which I could apply.

It is important that I get back into the swing of things. Although three groups within the last company want to use me again I can't rely on that. I musn't think that this is a nice little break. So, I'm going to job hunt on the assumption that they won't call.

Which means it was almost a bit despondent today.

You may remember that in December I was rather relieved that my job had ended then, rather than in the Summer. That's because Germans do have a lot of holiday. So, looking for a job now isn't the best time. Everyone is on holiday.

Job hunting

OK, I haven't been sitting on my arse all day thinking how nice Munich is in the summer.

Oh no, I have been drinking and partying trying to get SIP working on my PC.

Why?

Well, the company who called me last week want a second interview. Preferably a video conference call.

Hiring a video suite here in Munich costs more than a flight probably would.

I have Skype but the company does not have any web cams.

(!)

So, after a bit of thinking, I've decided to try a SIP option. I'm hoping it's possible to use it to dial into a normal video conference device.

I've installed Kapanga client software and am now trying to find a suitable VoIP/SIP provider who will support the H263 protocol.

In fact I spent most of the day researching this (once I got up). So, I haven't even looked for other jobs.

Anyway, bit fed up with it all now, so am going to stop.

Nice break

Friday was my last day at work.

Well, people wanted to keep me on but it didn't happen.

Anyway, three groups there want to use my services and may well contact me in a few weeks. They all have my contact details.

Which is nice.

Right now I'm fine about it. Gives me a break, to be honest. Munich is rather nice in the summer.