Nibble

As well as bites I suppose you could have a classification called "nibble".

Like today, I phoned an agency about a job I saw advertised. He said he was wading through all the applications but will put mine to the side and have a look later. So, that's a positive response but not as good as a bite. But I'm not going to track nibbles.

Today I applied for two jobs. I finally got through to an agency I had emailed yesterday and they said they'd forward my c.v. to their client. Now that's a solid, through the muscle and ligaments, bite.


Job of the Day (1)

I saw an agency advertise on a web site for a role with the British Computer Society.

I'll repeat that: I saw an agency advertise on a web site for a role with the British Computer Society.

For those that don't know, the BCS is the primary professional organisation for people working in IT. In recent years its membership has been rapidly growing. They hold many seminars, which includes networking opportunities, and also publish magazines and email briefings.

So why do they need a City agency to help them recruit by advertising on the web?

OK, looking at other blog sites most of them, practically all of them, concern themselves with other things. Like John Kerry can't be president because he shares a Christian name with his running mate. Or George Bush might have been ever so slightly naughty regarding the invasion of Iraq.

But this blog has a different agenda and won't be swayed by the odd invasion, election or pictures of naked actresses.

Job of the Day (2)

I'm not going to highlight all the job adverts I've seen with outrageously poor grammar and spelling. And I'm certainly not going to highlight adverts posted by Europeans in English.

Except this one:
"LANGUAGE SKILLS: DUTCH and ENGLISH; if you do not speak Dutch, please do not hesitate to send your cv!"

It's a little bit ambiguous. And as the Dutch are the best speakers of English (better than most English people) I'm surprised by the ambiguity.

I didn't apply because they had other skills which I couldn't offer (though then again, maybe they wanted me to apply if I didn't have the skills they listed).

Europe

I mentioned Europeans in the above section so I better clear-up a common misconception.

No-one can doubt my European credentials. I've worked and lived in Germany, speak the language (a bit), am trying to learn Finnish, and have spent nearly all my holidays looking at European women.

I was once on the phone to a colleague who was Australian but living in London. I said something about the company's European offices. There was a pause, yet despite the silence I could hear the panic. Eventually he said "I thought we were in Europe".

My contention, which of course is correct, is that the UK is not geographically part of Europe, or the Continent as we used to call it. Neither are we Europeans. The UK is, of course, part of the European Union and also part of the "European project". But culturally I've observed that we're quite distinct from Europeans. Which is no surprise when you consider our weather.

So, when I write about Europe and Europeans, I mean that mass of foreigners over the Channel with their croissants, fine wines, sausages and furniture. I'm not including the British with their umbrellas and milky tea.

Glad that's clear.