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.
A diary based on my latest attempts to get a job; this time in Munich. I'm an engineering graduate (and chartered engineer) with more than 10 years' experience in IT. Over five of these years have been spent in team leading and project management roles both in the UK and abroad.
Wednesday, February 28, 2007
Monday, February 19, 2007
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.
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.
Sunday, February 18, 2007
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.
(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.
Thursday, February 15, 2007
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.
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.
Wednesday, February 14, 2007
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.
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.
Monday, February 12, 2007
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.
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.
Wednesday, February 07, 2007
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.
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:
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.
Labels:
Networking,
Tips
Friday, February 02, 2007
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.
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.
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".
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".
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