Culture

Last week I attended a two-day seminar on understanding Chinese, Japanese and Indian cultures and how to work with them.

Apparently simply telling them to get on and do the job just isn't enough these days.

Still, I've been working on a project out in Beijing for the last five months so it's good to know where I've been going wrong.

Today, via The Register, I saw an article on just about the same topic in Blognation.

Nowadays everyone seems to be banging on about how important China is for world business. So, learning about handling the culture is no bad thing.

Social network envy

There's LinkedIn, Xing (openBC), Facebook ... and now there's Plaxo.

Yip, Plaxo is getting all social-networky, bless 'em.

Now, where's the value in all this?

The German efficiency question

A response!


"Thank you for your application and your interest in working for xxxxx.

After thoroughly checking your application we have to inform you today that we cannot consider your application for this position.

...

We thank you for your interest in our company and wish you all the best for your professional career."

Gosh, those Germans really are thorough. I applied on 20th December 2006 and had two interviews at the beginning of this year.

I received the above reply a month ago.

Not a big problem as I'm working as a global project manager based in Munich. To give you an indication of how global my job is, this posting is being written in Beijing.

And just because I have a job doesn't mean any let up in the job networking front.

So, more later ...

Big Monday

That's right, on Monday 1st November it's International Project Management Day.

I'm a project manager, I have an international background, and I work internationally.


So really, it's all about me.

Gosh

It's been over a month since I last posted?

Bad blogger! Bad, bad, bad blogger!

It is, of course, always a teensy, weensy little bit difficult to maintain a job hunting blog when you're not actually job hunting.

But what's made it more difficult is that in this new job I'm travelling all the time. In fact I'm going off to Beijing for the third time ... now.

Procrastination

Interesting article in The Sunday Times about this civilising activity. Most of it is why many are reluctant to job hunt.

It doesn't go into it in enough detail for my liking.

I tend to procrastinate though, ironically, not when job hunting. It's in my nature and is, I believe, in many ways beneficial to where I work. And I try to conpensate the negative effects by strong time management.

I haven't been procrastinating when it comes to this blog, honest. But it is very difficult writing about job hunting when you're not job hunting and especially when you've just been on long business trips.

But I will be writing more.

There's a war out there

... and it's not between vampires and werewolves.

Well, not the war to which I'm referrring.

It's the social networks versus business networks battle and it might get nasty.

The BBC news website posted a link Skrentablog which has an article about how people are switching to Facebook from LinkedIn.

A couple of weeks ago I received an invitation to join Facebook from an old friend. As in, not a young friend. As he is older than me I was surprised that he was on a social network which seemed dedicated to teens and young adults.

Anyway, if it's free it's for me so I joined. I then found other friends on it too.

It's rather nice. There's an immediacy to it; thanks to its Web 2.0 functionality you can see what your friends are up to. And that gives it a currency which you don't get from business networks like LinkedIn and Xing. Those have a file and forget feel to the contacts you amass. At least compared to Facebook.

Anyway, now - in the last month - it seems that Facebook is being taken more seriously. People are using it to maintain potential business contacts. At least that's what Skrentablog writes. But I can see it happening.

Nevertheless I'll keep using LinkedIn and Xing as well as Facebook.

By the way the comments are as good as the article itself.

How much?

So that's where all my money went?

Germans I know say that "Munich is zo expensive".

I tell them that actually it's quite cheap.

They reply "ah but you are having ze madness, nein?"

"Actually", I retort, "I used to live in London".

"Ah zo", they concede, "you are having the right, Munich is cheap".

And it is. Today the Mercer list of world's buggeringly expensive cities was mentioned on the BBC's news web site.

London is the second most expensive city, just after Moscow.

Helsinki is 22nd and Munich is a pathetic 39th. That's cheaper than Glasgow, Madrid or Amsterdam.

So, I don't want to hear any complaints about the cod-accents I used above. If Germans moan about Munich being so expensive they deserve all the mocking I can be bothered to give them.

Planet Meetings

Last week I was in Sweden.

Well on Monday.

On Tuesday I flew to London.

There I attended a meeting which lasted three days. At one stage I felt I should have worn flight socks, as I was sitting around all day.

In the evenings I met up with friends.

At first I found it difficult going back to London. It's just not very nice compared to Munich.

But on Thursday and Friday I rediscovered the vibrancy against which Munich cannnot, and does not really want to, compete.

Still, they could clean up the place.

Well, that was a complete waste of makeup

Went to the airport.

Checked in.

Went through security.

Sat in the departure lounge close to the gate for the aircraft. I was a bit peeved that my travel to the airport was so smooth I had loads of time to kill.

Mobile rings.

It's my colleague phoning from Sweden. The trip to China has to be aborted.

Er ... ok then.

Try and eventually leave the departure lounge. Not easy.

Go to the office but can't do much as there's a spate of public holidays in Europe this week.

Now going for a curry in Munich. I hope that isn't cancelled too.

That's a relief

Yesterday I had to be in the Swedish office for an announcement.

I was a little bit worried by the use of the term "announcement". Tends to be associated with the word "redundancies". And having just joined as a contractor ...

Anyway the announcement was made by the CIO. It was his strategic and tactical vision for the IT department worldwide.

After about 10 minutes he said that this new strategy wasn't a cover for redundancies. In fact, his problem is finding people. The department remains in a state of growth.

Phew.

Now flying off to Beijing.

First day

Well, it was fine.

In fact, rather remarkably, I had computer and voice services ready and waiting for me.

They did, however, spell my surname wrong. But that's not unusual.

And on Friday I'm going to the Swedish office. Just for the day.

This means a very early start.

And worse, tomorrow I have a networking dinner at Xing. Which won't finish early.

I am, of course, still networking. When you have a job is the best time to do it.

Plus, being a freelancer, I am open to other opportunities if I can fit them in.

Anyone need a consultant for occassional use?

More ITIL

Apparently there's a new version of ITIL out.

Foundation exams can be taken from 13th June. I suppose I better get round to studying for it.

Shirts

As you can imagine it hasn't been easy to find shirts in Munich that won't make me vomit. Or don't have short sleeves. Or don't have logos on their breast pockets.

But I've managed it.

I've also polished my shoes, had my suit dry cleaned (I hope to only use it this first little week) and printed out a map to the actual site.

Scanning

Today I brought a scanner/printer/photocopier device.

Last night I read up (on the www, where else?) about the HP F380.

There were mixed reviews.

Today I went to the shops to buy one. I was just about to make the purchase when I saw an HP C3180 at only €10 more.

Er.

So, I ran out of the shop and found an internet cafe where I spent an hour researching it.

This model has slightly fewer grips on the internet.

Anyway both were cheap. My needs are simple. Scan in receipts for my work (for expenses), maybe print off a few things, maybe, just maybe the odd photocopy. The other important thing is that I wanted it to be small. I don't have much desk space and I have no desire to have a big-ass machine which I will seldom use.

Spent the rest of the day casually setting it up. Not that easy when there aren't any instructions for it written in English.

Anyway, I've checked it out and it seems to work fine.

I've even scanned in the receipt for it as it will be a business expense.

Interestingly, HP have a policy of not including the connection cable to the PC. Now, this thing can work stand-alone, as a photocopier, but then why would you buy a multi-functional device? Buying this cable added €10 (that's seven quid) to the price.

Bit of a delay

One thing you need to know when you start a new job is where will you be actually working.

I didn't know this. And it would be no use saying go where I was interviewed. Because I was driven by the agency from their office to the client's office.

Another good thing to know is when to start. Some companies start before 9 am (bad ones) and some at 9 am (just about ok ones).

So, I emailed the manager whose contact details I had been given. But my email was bounced by the client's spam filter. I tried again using a different Reply to address (I know, I should have also changed the From address). Same result.

Then my phone rang. It was the manager I had just been trying to email.

By coincidence he wanted to talk to me anyway. He felt it would be better if I started on Wednesday next week as then I'll be able to meet another manager with whom I'll be working.

Very fine with me.

A summary of the problems facing Germany today

Today I tried to buy some new shirts to go with my new job, starting next week.
Pretty easy: go to downtown Munich, go to one of the large department stores, go to the mensware department, find the shirt section ...

That's where the trouble set in.

First of all it wasn't clear if I was looking at shirts or pyjamas.

Secondly, Germans clearly do not appreciate removeable collar stiffners.

Thirdly, practically all the shirts had logos on them. Discrete but still logos.

Fourthly, a lot of the shirts were short-sleeved ones. In a modern, advanced, democratic society there really is no excuse for that.

Fifthly, the shirts which did not have logos but had long sleeves then didn't have breast pockets. Just about acceptable except for ...

Sixthly, the colours and patterns could only have been designed by ... well, by Germans.

Tomorrow I'm having another German lesson and although we don't do phrases I may ask my teacher the best way of formulating, auf Deutsch, "Please could I buy a shirt that doesn't make me vomit".

Good habit

I've started adding my address to one of my email signatures.

This is because, as a German registered freelancer, you must put your address on all official correspondence.

Normally I really would not like to do this but it is required here in Germany.

And the answer is ...

... I start on Monday 21st.

Just been advised this by the ageny.

Another week of slacking.

Obviously

So the last two posts should answer the question you've all been asking:

"Now he has a job will he no longer be updating the ultimate job hunting blog?"

Of course I'll be updating it; I'm made of sterner stuff than giving up a job hunting blog just because I'm no longer job hunting.

Wondering

Today I talked to a tax consultant to get lined up for the new job (as I'm now a freelancer in Germany and it's all very complicated and German).

I've been doing a few other things this week too.

I've also been wondering if I will start on Monday, or will have to wait another week (as they're looking for desk space for me).

Think I'll call the agency tomorrow.

Found it

When I was in England a few weeks ago I gathered up all the German audio cassettes I could find, and shoved them in my cabin bag.

These cassettes are criminal plays given to me by Fat Frank, a friend of mine who used to work in Germany.

If I'm ever involved in a murder intrigue in Germany I reckon I should be alright.

Except that I couldn't find my Walkman. I looked everywhere. And when I say "everywhere", I mean just a few places in my bedroom.

So, when I returned to Munich I went to the big-ass electrical store to get another Walkman.

"Ein was?"

Apparently you can't get Walkmans these days. At least not the ones that play audio tapes.

As a result the cassettes have been keeping the dust off one of my shelves.

But today I was looking for an instruction guide to my Wifi router and I found my Walkman (and I also found the instruction guide as well).

Er, good.

Email

Today's Times has an a list of hints on sending email.

They're taken from a book I may one day buy.

I reckon I could hold a masterclass on emails. Here's a few things I would mentioned, as well as those mentioned in the article:


- one phone call (or better still, face to face chat) saves 10 emails
- emails are read harsher than they're written
- DON'T i.e. at work don't use the worst form of communication humans have ever invented if there's an alternative.

Und now ve vait

Goddamn it. It's the waiting I can't stand.

The phone didn't ring this morning.

But I interviewed so well.

Stoically I went for my German class.

But my handy (German for mobile phone - see, I'm learning) didn't ring.

After lunch I chilled out a bit.

But how can I chill when I'm waiting for a job offer which might not happen?
Quite easily actually.

Then my mobile phone did ring.

And it was the agency.

And they told me that their client wants to take me on.

Would the middle of May be ok? Absolutely, gives me time to sort a few things out in fact (I had thought that if they wanted me, they would want me to start this Monday).

They may even have to postpone the start date by a week as they have space problems.

That's fine for me too.

This week I applied for no jobs, had one interview and one offer, which I'm going to accept.

Dog-free

This morning my Skype made that incoming-call sound as I was getting dressed.

I rushed to my PC but didn't make it in time.

The caller left a message on my Pamela add-in.

It was the agency handling the contract job in Vienna. Their client wanted a telephone interview with me.

I quickly wrote an email telling the agent that I'd call her this afternoon, as I had to shoot.

And indeed I had to leave quickly so I would get to my second attempt at the final interview for the global PM job based in Munich.

I reached the agency in plenty of time so hung around nearby outside. I then bumped into someone with whom I used to work at the last company, here in Munich. He was on a bicycle and is now a student - studying for a PhD in ... outsourcing.

We had a quick chat and then I went into the agency.

No dog this time.

The agents (there was two of them) drove me to their client's office. And I had the interview with the recruiting manager.

The agents also attended the interview which is a first for me.

The interview went very well and I should hear tomorrow.

I actually think I have it in the bag - the recruiting manager said, as he departed, that he hoped we would work together soon.

But ... but if life was like that then life wouldn't be a bitch. And we all know what life is.

So, I wait to hear tomorrow.

When I got home I phoned the other agency about the Vienna job. But didn't get through. Then, she phoned me back but once again I didn't get to my PC in time.

Anyway this time I phoned her right back. I explained the situation and nevertheless we've agreed to have a telephone interview with the organisation in Vienna on Tuesday. If I hear good news tomorrow I'll cancel.

Now going off to a German-conversation group.

That was quick

This morning I went to the agency in Munich who would then take me to their client for the interview.

Not sure why they wanted to do it this way but they did.

At their offices there was a medium-large dog who tried to make friends with me whilst the receptionist went to find my contact.

(Germans sometimes take their dogs into work).

I then went into an interview room. Eventually, but not too long, they came and told me that their client was stuck at Heathrow airport so we would have to reschedule.

That's ok, I said, and as I left said goodbye to the dog.

Later they called and confirmed that the interview will now take place tomorrow.

Now going off for a German lesson.

Quick update

Yesterday I was rather tired - I had had too much weekend.

But I cleaned my flat.

Today I sorted out a few things (like paying essential bills) and prepared for the interview tomorrow.

Oh, and I went to the gym.

Didn't job hunt though.

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.

Quick chat

So, my friend arranged for his programme director to call me today to discuss a possible PM role in London.

The chat went well. He was concerned that I didn't have any pure business project management experience and seemed to have a strong IT career. But he said he'd like to see me to do a quick scenario excercise. And rather than me flying over, I suggested we used Skype or a similar solution.

Nice

A friend, former colleague and regular (still, I hope) reader of this blog sent me an Instant Message, er, message this afternoon.

I picked it up at home remotely via my LogMeIn connection.

He asked if I classed myself as a project manager these days, which I do.

After my reply he asked me to send him my c.v.

Just did it. Thanks EM.

Now off to a Xing Stammtisch (regular table) near where I live.

Interviewing tips

Some more, from Lifehacker.

The comments are good too.

short weeks

A couple of days ago I was contacted by an agency for a contract job in London requiring a relocation project manager.

Yesterday I called him. At first he didn't remember who I am and then, when he'd seen my c.v., he wasn't sure I had enough relocation experience.

But by talking to him I could indicate the relevant bits in my c.v. As a result he became rather interested and wanted to put my name forward. First he sent a job spec over.

It was rather brief, less than a page (and therefore the shortest one I've ever seen). But it did say it was envisaged that the PM would only be required three days a week.

Actually, that would be fine as long as it payed over the odds and I could still afford to fly back to Munich every week (and keep my flat here, and take a hotel, or apart-hotel in London).

He asked for a rate and so I gave him one, quite a high one but in the circumstances not unreasonable.

I'll see what he says.

Another bite

My email alert service is working again. That is, I get a text message on my mobile when I'm sent an email.

And I've been using logmein to occassionally look at my home PC whilst at work.

But I logged out of it around 5pm (CET) yesterday.

When I got home there was an email from a contractor agency. For some reason I wasn't alerted to this fact from my email alerter service.

The agency wanted to know if I was interested in a relocation project management assignment in London.

Well, I am, if it pays enough so I can commute from Munich.

I emailed a positive response and will try to call him today.

I'm thinking more and more of getting one of the new Blackberry devices so I receive emails directly on my mobile phone device. A couple of years ago I used one of the original Crackberries but didn't like it too much. For a start I'm left-handed and the design made it very hard for us superior-beings to use it. Also, their Enterprise software seemed a bit unstable.

But now the design has improved. I'll be looking into getting one in a while.

Cool stuff of the week

When I thought I'd have a lot of spare time I volunteered to be project manager for the Munich Hash House Harriers' Oktoberfest event.

It's the 15th one this year and 80-100 people come from all around the world.

I even started a blog about it but then lost the password.

It's been a bit of a problem getting everyone together for meetings. Well, it's the usual scheduling problem.

But yesterday I was looking through Lifehacker and found that someone had raised a post looking for a solution to just this problem.

There were two main recommendations: Doodle and Where2Meet.

The most suitable for my needs seems to be Doodle. Very easy to use.

A quick trawl

For the first time in a while I did a trawl through my usual on-line sources for jobs in Munich.

I found nothing to which I could apply.

At the moment I feel strangely relaxed. After all I have about three live jobs for which I'm being considered. I'm also networking well - attending Xing and American German Business Club meetings in Munich. And I'm improving my German.

This relaxed feeling, however, may change when I've had a few months like this but without my job. Which is now due to finish at the end of this month.

Oh the bleedin irony

After landing in Heathrow yesterday I took a taxi to the main railway station.

Funnily enough I was driven by a standard issue London taxi driver.

So, we talked. I don't know how he managed it but he didn't once say "hanging's too good for 'em".

He did, however, go on about how London was deteriorating (true by the way) and how he was fed up at all the underhand black market type activity. He might have then said "Innit" but I'm can't remember.

At the station I paid him and he asked if I wanted a receipt. Which I did. He then asked me if I'd like him to fill it in or leave it blank. Fill it in I said (ripping off employers - which in this case is me - or taxpayers - which in this case is also me - isn't something I do).

He did but then gave me another blank receipt for me to fill in as I pleased. A clear example, I think, of underhand-type activity.

Airports

I like airports. Well, nice ones like Flughafen Munich not horrible ones like Heathrow to which I was flying yesterday.

I'm in the UK for a few days. No need to get excited.

Whilst I was waiting for my flight at Munich airport my UK mobile rang. It was an agency asking if I was interested in a contract job in central London.

From the description he gave my background ticked all the boxes. More importantly, the rate he mentioned ticked my requirement big-time. It would mean I could easily afford to commute back to Munich at the weekends.

I was interested.

He sent over a job description. But I noticed a couple of blocking points, ie they required experiences I've spent a career-time avoiding. But written job descriptions often deviate from what's really desired. In fact the job description for my current role in no way matches what I've been doing.

So, I sent a reply, emphasizing my interest but pointing out where I lacked the skills they were requiring.

Then - and this is the important bit - I phoned him. A quick chat confirmed that those lacking skills were not that important after all.

Hurray, a bite.

Airports are different. At Munich I could hear the phone call. Even better I happily took out my TabletPC and used it in the departure lounge. If I did that in Heathrow the coroner would give a verdict of suicide.

Beep

During the working day I put my mobile phones (that's right, I have two) on a discrete setting. They only beep once when someone calls.

So, when they're in my pockets I don't always hear them.

Like today.

Anyway a message was left. It was the agency who called me a couple of weeks ago about a global project management freelance role.

She wanted to know if I was still available.

Well, I am, but now from April, not March. That seemed fine with her; it seems the job hadn't so much died as gone into a bit of a coma. But was slowly waking up now.

Thanks for the tip

Cheers GB,

Charming snakes, pleasuring wilderbeest, managing projects in an international business environment ... so hard to choose.

(By the way GB is a regular contributor to Chase Me Ladies I'm In the Cavalry. One post on GB's own web site, about Hawaii 5-0, gets more responses than I've had in total from over 800 posts)

Pamela

A couple of days ago I used Logmein to have a look at my computer at home from work.

It's useful for a lot of reasons. One of them is it allows me to find out how to do things using my own English language versions of the Microsoft products they use at work.

Anyway, my home desktop showed that I had a voicemail on Skype waiting for me.

I would have to wait until I got home, though, to find out what it was.

Drat.

When I did get home, past 6pm UK time, I found it was from the agent trying to recruit me for a role in Vienna. He'd left a simple message, no details, but wanted me to call him back. He also mentioned that he had tried to call me on my German mobile but hadn't been able to get through. Not sure why.

Double drat with a side helping of bugger.

Right then. So, there and then I installed Pamela, an add-on package for Skype. And really I only needed one feature it had - the automatic forwarding of Skype voicemail to your email address.

After quite a bit of pfaffing around I got it to work (Mr Dafty Trousers here had allowed Skype's own voicemailbox to answer before Pamela, so there was no way Pamela could intercept the call. I think they could have been a bit clearer about this).

So, if anyone phones me on one of my Skype numbers, and I use the German one on my c.v., I will get an email if they leave a voice mail. And yes, the email carries the message as an attachment.

The next day I phoned the agent who had called.

He told me that the client felt that I lacked the particular industry experience they were seeking.

Oh bloody well.

Nice squeeze

A bit of news

Yesterday I managed to squeeze out one application.

I made a note to call the agent today.

This morning my mobile (we call them "handys" here) rang, in German.

It was the agent. She had called me first!

She liked my details and said she'd put my name forward, at a slightly higher rate than I had asked for.

Now, she did mention that they had already sent two c.v.s to their client. But she felt I had a good chance as well. Not least as I'm already in Munich and am available from the beginning of March.

Other news

This afternoon boss asked me whether it would be ok if, stressing if, they could extend my contract to the end of March.

She knows I'm actively looking and I explained that I work on a first come, first served basis. Two minutes later she put her phone down and told me my contract had been extended.

Great.

Obviously this conflicts a bit with other potential jobs. But I know wheels can grind so slowly that it may not be a big deal at all.

Just the one

What with one thing or the other - but mainly the other - I haven't been doing a lot of job hunting recently.

(Although I have just had a second interview).

Anyway I did a big trawl this evening and managed to squeeze off one application.

That'll do.

Interviewed

Not much to write here but I'll carry on anyway.

This morning I went for the interview. It went well I think.

The interviewer, from the company's HR department, did tell me that they were interviewing others. He also said that I should hear back from them in about two weeks. I translate that into three weeks (we were speaking English, I'm just a justified cynic).

I didn't go into work afterwards. Instead I went through my personal Inbox and then went to the gym. It's nice going during the daytime but I fear I'll have plenty more opportunity to do that soon.

Anyway now I was going to job hunt for an hour but a meet-up with a friend has been brought an hour forward.

I must dash, you must stop reading this now.

Oh, oh

You may notice that my titles are getting lamer. Sorry. I have written over 800 posts on this blog alone and I'm seriously running out of ideas for titles.

Anyway on Monday I emailed the agent about the job in Vienna, as I still haven't heard anything.

On Tuesday he replied that he still felt that his client should see me. However, the client suspected that I lacked experience in a certain area they required.

So, initially I may just have a telephone interview.

Oh, well.

A bit later I received an email from the company who interviewed me a couple of weeks ago in Munich.

I had been wondering when they would get back to me. The few days they had promised was now well over a week.

Still that's companies for you.

Oh yes, the email: it said they wanted to interview me again this Thursday.

!

They being HR.

!

I had a quick word with my boss to see if I could take Thursday off. No problem.

Within an hour I had replied confirming the interview. And they rather nicely replied back, thanking me for being able to interview at such short notice.

And this time the emails were all written in English (my favourite language).

So, tomorrow I have a second interview.

Now, I should get super excited but I have a slight caution. I have a sneaking suspicion that German companies sometimes go through the whole recruitment process even if they don't want to actually recruit you. And at my first visit to the company HR were unexpectantly unavailabe.

This view may be unfair of me. I hope they're interviewing me because I did well at the interview with the line manager. I really think there's a good fit between the job and me.

Another day at work

But after work I eventually did a trawl of job sites. First time in ages.

It's not like I've being doing absolutely zero on the job hunting front. I have been to networking events etc. But today was the first bigt trawl for a while.

Nothing found though.

Advert of the day

This one offered:

• Schnelle Aufstiegsmöglichkeiten
• Ein individuelles Vergütungsmodell
• Ein nettes Team

If you don't know German don't worry about the first two, it's the third one. That's right, they offer you the chance of working in "a nice team".

So not your typical, kick-arse bullshit consultants then.

That's all very well ...

Networking is an excellent thing to do.

But you still have to hunt and apply for jobs.

Except, I haven't recently. I still have three live jobs where I've been bitten. This includes the company who interviewed me last week and haven't got back to me yet.

The thing is I planned a lot to do in January and these plans were blown, bizarely, because I got my old job back.

Mustn't complain.

More networking

Last week I went to the American German Business Club in Munich. This is despite not being American or German.

It was very good. Food was excellent, they also had a ready supply of alcohol.

Networking was easy. For example, someone bumped into me and after a while we exchanged business cards.

Yesterday I went to a Xing (formerly openBC) networking event in Munich.

Previous ones have been mixed but last night was good fun. Lots of people there and eventually I got chatting.

A couple of things I've learnt about networking:

• drink, obviously not too much but don't be sober
• hijack a table, preferable a standing table ("Stehtisch" as they're called here) and start talking to the people there.

At Xing a lot of people avoided eye contact. I guess Germans aren't very good networkers, even the ones who know the importance of networking. The tactics above helped.

Oh, and another thing, don't bother wearing a suit, unless you're only comfortable wearing one.

At the American German Business Club very few people were not wearing suits, though everyone was smartly dressed. I was one of them. I found this strangely helped.

After tonight's German lesson I'm going to a nearby pub where I hear there's a Xing Stammtisch (regular table). But only for one drink mind.

Still alive

In early January I contacted an agency in Munich about a job here (not there as I'm in the city).

As it's now early February I thought I'd give them a call.

The agent was there but called back a few minutes later. She apologised for not calling earlier but she'd just had feedback from her client.

They've been terribly busy since the New Year but the job is very much alive.

Well, so am I.

The question

During the interview today the manager asked me what sort of salary I was looking for.

Well, I'm a fan of Guerrilla Marketing for job hunters so I gave the advised reply ("it's the package that's most important", "I'm sure it will be fair" etc).

It turns out this approach doesn't always work.

"That's a very good answer", he said, "but not what I wanted".

"So I didn't get away with it" I said laughing. He agreed and also seemed to find it funny. Which I think was a plus as far as the interview went.

So I gave my ball-park figure, stressed it was a ball-park number, explained my reasoning behind it and he seemed to accept that.

Ich habe geinterviewed

or is it "geinterviewet"?

Anyway today I went for my interview with the company in Munich.

It went quite well. Well, once we switched to English. I could understand what he was saying but couldn't formulate replies in German.

I should have been interviewed by HR as well as the recruiting manager but the HR lady wasn't available for some reason.

As I said, it went quite well. The interviewer did bang on a bit about how useful it would be to have good German. So I banged on a bit about how determined I am to have good German - one-to-one lessons, "to speak another language is to have another soul" etc - all true.

They said they'd get back to me quickly and that there might be another interview.

I do hope so, I think I would rather like the job and the company (which has just been IPO'd and is going through a bit of growth and change - my favourite situations).

I'm not going back to work today. Just don't feel in the mood (work expected me to take the whole day off anyway) and am instead going to have a haircut.

"Kurz".

Back ...

... from Spain.

Flew over on Friday returned yesterday evening.

Rather tired now. Not least as I have a bit of a cold due to the hotel's air conditioning.

I've also eaten rather a lot of steak. Well, I was in Spain.

And I did queue for two hours for a train ticket which, in UK or Germany, could be taken from a machine but in Spain requires at least 20 minutes at the counter.

But that's not important as my mate was getting married and he reads this blog.

This Friday I have an interview at a company in Munich. So this evening I thought I'd better read up about the company, recall which job I had applied for and find out exactly where the interview will take place.

All done.

Bed time now.

Night night.


Achoo.

Busy

Sometimes I think I'm busier when I don't have a job.

Today I did my German homework and then went for my next German lesson. It's pretty intensive stuff and afterwards my brain is totally mashed.

At the beginning of the lesson my teacher improved, radically, the reply email I had drafted asking for an interview's date to be changed.

During the lesson my friend and business partner tried to call me from Finland.

After the lesson I walked home, perhaps two or more miles.

During this journey my old boss, where I worked last, called me and said she might be able to ask me to come back to them for a while. But she'd know next week.

That would be nice.

Then I got home and phoned an agency about a job for which I applied yesterday. It turned out that the job, based in Munich, required native German. Now, I think you can ask for fluent German but I think asking for native German is discriminatory. Anyone in the EU, who speaks fluent German, should be able to apply.

Anyway I don't ... yet.

But the agency had a similar job, for the same company, in Vienna. I confirmd my interest.

After the call was finished my old boss called again.

They've decided they need the resource and could I start next week.

Absolutely.

So, next week I'm back in work. Not sure for how long and I'll continue pursuing good roles here. But with a bit less urgency ... for now.

Oh, and I'll still going off to Spain on Friday for my friend's wedding.

And I'll still be taking German lessons, as intensive as possible considering I'll now have less time.

Oh again, I'll still be updating this blog.

Oh, the stress

The BBC news web site has an article about the stress of redundancy, for those who aren't made redundant!

A bite I think

Before Christmas I applied for a job with a large company in Munich.

Today I received an email in German. It seems to be inviting me to an inteview.

Das ist ein Bite.

Great, super.

But ...

They've set a date that I'm supposed to fly out to Spain for a friend's wedding.

I mean he's only a mate, I've only known him since 1984. He is still a twat.

But ... but, well, he's one of the few readers of this blog, it's not every day he gets married and he is a mate. So, I'm going to Spain and the company will have to reschedule the meeting.

Not sure how to word that in German but I'll be working on it.

Wednesday is a job hunting day

But everyday isn't Wednesday yet (you may have to be a hash house harrier to understand that).

Anyway, today I applied for two jobs. Which is good as that means I've applied for five jobs this week.

There are results and there are reasons

Yesterday I didn't apply for any jobs.

Look, I had a German lesson in the morning, then I went to the gym in the afternoon, then I got fed up and went for some beers in the evening ...

So I didn't look.

OK?

More activitiy

As well as job hunt I did a few other things:

• found out about a Munich Toastmasters club, I'll go along to tomorrow's meeting
• found out about another Munich Toastmasters club, I'll go along to Wednesday's meeting

(er, so I can chose between the two)

• signed up for a meeting of the American German Business Club in Munich. I'm neither German, nor American but apparently that's fine with them
• signed up for a Xing (used to openBC) networking meeting in the beginning of February.

Anything else? Oh yes I tried to join in with the CareerTalk skypecast but it wasn't working. So, instead I phoned (over normal Skype, which did work) the host who works in San Jose. We'll try again next week.

Maybe if Skype don't get their finger out I'll send them my c.v.

And, er ... I applied for a total of three jobs.

It's funny, two of them wanted very good English. They wrote this, along with the rest of their adverts, in German. So, I applied, but in English ... very good English I like to think.

German on-line apps

Just completed one for a large German company.

I hate these.

Worst, their form wasn't working completely 100%. More reason then, for them to recruit me so I can get it sorted out (I didn't mention that though ... not that I had the opportunity ... the covering letter bit wasn't working).

Crap management

Article on the BBC website about how managers feel there would be productivity improvements if they could sack 5% of the workforce per year.

Well, I've got an idea for even better productivity: sack these managers with such stupid views.

Now, I've - er - worked people out of roles. Sometimes it has to be done. But it's the job of the manager to get the best out of people, even people who are having performance problems.

Oh well

This week I applied for a total of three jobs.

If I was in the UK I would be quite dismayed with this number. But I'm in Munich so I'm not sure it's too bad.

One of the jobs for which I applied turned out to have already been taken.

Oh well.

So, not a great week. But I did start German lessons and I have been to the gym three times this week.

Tomorrow is my day off, from job hunting.

Skype to the rescue

So, I've found a good German teacher.

But she's abroad for a couple of months starting next week.

When we met this morning, for the second lesson, we both had the same solution: Skype .

We'll conduct lessons over it, hopefully including the video function it has.

That's the idea. Next week we'll see how well it works.

This week I'm having lessons with her probably every day and, amongst other things, that should help us build a rapport - a useful thing to have for the video calls in subsequent weeks.

Busy, slow today

Well, it was busy on the busy front:

• I had another German lesson - good
• I went to the gym - good
• I actually did some research work for the Finnish business (but I'm not updating that blog just yet) - could be good
• I setup my iPAQ which will very soon replace my old Palm T3 -bloody essential

But it wasn't busy on the job hunting front:

• Today applied for no jobs. I didn't even look.

Bad, bad. Although I'm getting back into good habits (gym, language study) I must keep the momentum on job hunting.

Quiet

Unlike last week it seems a slow start.

Didn't apply for any jobs yesterday. Today, only one application.

I did, however, go to the gym yesterday, for the first time in months.

Muscles now hurt.

And today I had my first German one-to-one lesson.

Brain now hurts.

Schmoozing

or networking as I call. Guy Kawasaki has some good tips on this.

Trepedation

On Friday I wrote a bit about this.

Today I returned to Munich.

Normally I job hunt on Sundays. But I won't today. Start, instead first thing tomorrow.

And I'm not going to be too methodical about planning what I need to do.

Sure, I will do some planning over the next few days but the important thing is to get stuck in.

Round up

There's been no change from yesterday.

I didn't look today after my phone call. Kinda ran out of steam.

Anyway, this week I applied for six jobs and received three bites.

Which is good.

Nevertheless I'm getting some trepidation about going back to Munich. Apart from the flight being booked I have a flat which I'm contractually obliged to keep renting for some months.

And in fact it'll be a better environment to focus on job hunting, learning German seriously and requalififying for PRINCE 2.

Moreover, if I do get a job in Munich I'll be well chuffed.

But there's still some trepedation. Germany is a hard place to get a job, even for those with German, damn it even for Germans.

So, I've set myself quite a challenge.

LinkedIn ...

some advice, found off Lifehacker .

Oops

Whilst I'm in England I make calls to Germany using Skype. Much cheaper.

Today a company, to whom I had applied on line yesterday, emailed me asking for references. Nothing indicative in that, just what they like to have.

Their email was in German so I wanted to ask if there was any point applying now, when my German isn't that good (in their German written advert they had asked for good English but hadn't mentioned skills in German, so I applied, in English).

I phoned the person who had emailed me.

We spoke in German but I couldn't get a word. Really, I couldn't hear she was saying.

I kept turning up the volume on my headset but it made no difference.

Eventually I realised that the headset wasn't plugged in. I was using the laptop's built-in microphone and headset.

D'uh.

Things improved after that. The lady agreed that I should improve my German but said there was no harm applying now.

Beaten to it

This morning I looked at Skypecasts (Skype's new live chat thing).

And I had an idea: why don't I set up a Skypecast about job hunting ideas?

Then I looked through the directors of Skypecasts and found this has already been done (Career Talk).

Worse, the recruitment company behind it has a blog which covers job hunting issues and even worse than that, it's quite good!

So far

It's Thursday, in the first week of 2007. So far this week I've applied for six positions.

And I received three bites.

One of these was for a permanent job in Munich. The other two were for contract assignments in London.

You can't win

Some recruiters want to see my technical skills on my c.v.

Others don't.

For example today one agency, who liked my c.v., felt it was emphasizing IT too much. They were looking for a more general project manager with my skills - which I gained in IT.

So I amended my c.v., mainly by removing "IT" wherever it occurred.

Confused

Made a few calls today. Some for contracts in London, but one for a job in Munich.

During one of these calls I gave my desired daily rate in Sterling and also pointed out that I could fly back to Munich at the weekends.

She then pointed out that I had called her about a permanent job in Munich.

"Ah, yes..."

I quickly recovered the situation and she's sending the c.v. over to her client.

A bite.

Bit of a job hunting day

Today I applied for three jobs. And yesterday I applied for one job too.

Which is good. Traditionally my target has been five jobs per week.

I have my doubts that I could consistently achieve this when looking for a job in Munich.

For a start, the job situtation in Germany is still not very good.

Then, quite a few jobs ask for excellent levels of German. I don't apply for those. But otherwise, if a job is advertised in German, and it seems appropriate, then I do apply, in English.

A couple of todays jobs were written in German. Well, I can read them fine so I felt there was no harm in applying.

The third one was for a contract in London. I don't really want to work in London. But the description did seem rather appropriate (at least the first time I read it) so I applied. And it may well be possible for me to fly into London during the week and fly back to Munich at the weekends.

Most contractors do it the other way round, so maybe I'll be zigging when others are zagging.

Week speling

Saw this mini-quiz on the BBC's news web-site relating to spelling on c.v.s .

If you tell me your score I'll tell you mine.

Connection sluts

As you know I tend to decry the value of Linkedin and Xing users who have hundreds of connections. I'm also wary of people who ask to connect with me but don't write a personalized message. I specifically ask for this on the Linkedin site.

Anyway, I was recently contacted by one of these connecters.

The thing is he could actually be a useful contact. In fact he works in a company associated with one of my recent clients (at a rather high level).

So, I've accepted him as one of my contacts. I'm going to see if I can get value from this approach. I've sent him a personal message including the fact that I'm an experienced manager now available.

Thanks TJ

One of the Munich Hash House Harriers lives in Switzerland but "runs" with us frequently.

He's given me other leads but today spotted a suitable looking job in Monster and emailed it to me.

It was quite appropriate so I sent off my c.v. and will call them (an agency) tomorrow.

Good news

eweek. com has an encouraging article, What's on Tap for IT Pros in 2007?

Ok, so it clearly focusses on the US market. But it bodes well globally.

In anycase I wouldn't mind a short stint working in the States. Although I'm quite content to stay in Europe.

Taxis

Yesterday I went up to London and, with a friend, went to a bar in Chelsea. It's quite a bar, bit exclusive but rather nice.

We took a taxi there.

On the way, a man ran across the road in front of the taxi. He almost got away with it but didn't. The taxi clipped him and he fell over.

The taxi driver pulled over about 30 meters away from the incident. People were looking at the man who was standing.

After a while we got out of the taxi and went over to him. Just to make sure.

He was covered in blood. Not only was his nose cut but he also had a nosebleed. There was an awful lot of blood on the ground.

The man was coherent and seemed stable. But he was surprised when I said his nose would need stitching. No medical training needed for that one, it was obvious.

Anyway, I eventually realised that no-one had called an ambulance.

I couldn't see why not. He'd been hit by a taxi (London taxis are very big, solid things), his nose was cut and he was drenched in blood. Amongst other things there was a risk of hypothermia due to his clothes being so wet (and it being a cold night). Plus shock, plus any other internal injuries he may have suffered but not noticed due to alcohol and a general shocked state.

So, I called the emergency services. They disputed with me that I was in Chelsea. The cheek. But I was standing next to a street sign, and was wearing a Barbour jacket, so I eventually convinced them.

A few minutes later the ambulance came along and I went on to the bar.

No further incidents to report (oh except I met a rather nice girl in the bar, exchanged numbers but was too, er, tired today to arrange a meet-up before going back down south).