Experteer

I've just upgraded my membership of Experteer to Premium for the next three months.

Basically it's a site which claims that a lot of headhunters use it.

Yeah, right.

But I met a highly qualified job hunter at an Internations dinner and she said that it was effective.

I am not convinced as I would have thought LinkedIn and Xing would be as sufficient.

But I am finding the market tight for what I want to do. So, I will give it a go.

I've already made a note to cancel my subscription before they automatically renew it.

Zwei

Today I applied for two jobs.

In Germany.

In German (I think).

the company which should know better

clearly doesn't know better.

Pout.

Dissing the enemy

In times of turmoil I turn to Cracked for some interesting reading which is often funny (I think they would like it to be always funny).

They had their usual articles of lists, one of which today, in its number 2 section, had the wonderful phrase: Well, you think, everyone knows that people who work in HR are jerks.

You think that's unfair? Then read this example.

And if you still think that these are valid reasons, or, in particular, handwriting analysis is a real science then go-away. I don't want you reading my blog. You probably work in HR anyway.

More uh oh

A contact I know socially (um, guess that's a friend then), who is a recruitment consultant (does that make them best friend for ever, no really?) contacted me today.

None of her clients want non-German speakers.

And this is in Munich.

Strange. It's like there are people who speak German, on a regular basis, here in Munich (and not just in the Arbeitsamt).

Who'd have thought.

But as I was told today (from a speaker of German in the Arbeitamt) apparently I do speak German.

So maybe this post should be titled "Mehr ach nein".

Uh oh, German bureaucracy

This morning I went to Munich's Arbeitsamt, employment office.

This is something you have to do if you live in Germany and are losing your job.

I've heard a lot of bad things about this place. One friend had to ask the official at her meeting if their comments were appropriate and if she would have to return with a lawyer.

I have also read frightening things on Toytown about this office.

So ... Well, they couldn't have been nicer.

In the first meeting the official was surprised to be told by me that my German wasn't very good. Perhaps it was because I told her this in German. Or perhaps it was because we had been talking for about an hour without any English being exchanged.

By the second meeting I was a bit tired and the official took mercy on me and spoke in English.

I then tried to get to work but the underground train drivers here in Munich have gone on strike.

On strike!

It's 2010, masses of people are losing their jobs, they are already paid well and have great job security. And they are on strike.

Anyway I fired up the VPN and am working from home.

Another week, another application

Last week I managed, and it wasn't easy, to apply for one job.

And I am supposed to do five per week.

Today, and it is only Tuesday, I saw an advertisement in Xing.com for a suitable job in Munich. In English.

I applied.

Slightly less evil

So on Friday I received an email from the company who should know better.

They told me there was an "Other - not listed" option for college.

I had looked - honest - but there were a lot of entries under the letter O and we are not talking the largest typeface (renders as about 9pt on most browsers) so I guess I missed it.

Anyway last week I applied for one job, eventually.

Even more evil

So, I emailed the company which should know better's technical support.

And they were prompt, acknowledged my email and forwarded it to the recruiting team.

Who were equally as prompt and asked me for the reference to the job advert in question.

Good. Nice experience.

But when I reply to them the email is bounced by their internal systems (it seems the address given is an alias and the real address is not valid).

Bad. Not nice experience.

So, I've sent another email to their technical support.

Part of me thinks this doesn't bode well.

Once after an interview I was knocked down by a bus. A big red London one. I was only grazed but should have taken it as an omen. I didn't, got the job and it turned out to be the worst company for whom I have ever worked.

So, I'm now worried when things don't go well.

Anyway for now I'm persevering.

But if they make it too hard to apply, or I suffer calamitous accidents during the selection process, then I will withdraw my application.

More evil than the world can bear

What happens if you give The Enemy* access to the internet?

On-line application forms.

To be more precise: on-line application forms which don't fully work.

This morning I applied to a company for whom I have a lot of respect. A company which should know better.

The job, which they were advertising on-line, is very appropriate for me. In fact, another company already approached me about a very similar role having read my details in LinkedIn.

But this high-technology company, which should know better, waited for me to find their advert and then only gave me the option of filling out their form. On-line.

Part of the form included giving details of my degree and alma mater.

There was a long pull-down list of colleges and universities, including the Beijing University of Chinese Medicine, the Beijing Dance Academy and Beaver University where I guess they study beavers.

But not my university - with a good reputation and established early in the last century - where the study of beavers was a purely optional, private matter.

These fields are mandatory. You can't submit an application without completing these fields and there was no "Other" option.

I found an email address on their page. But they sent an automatic reply: "Thank you for contacting jobs@thecompanywhoshouldknowbetter.com. Please use our online application form".

Then I found an email address to technical support so I emailed them.

I guess I will have to be patient in waiting for their reply.

*H.R.

Speaking foreign

I've found a global job which requires fluent German.

Crazy in a country which rarely requires you to speak their language (and seems to actively discourage by refusing to speak to you in German).

In fact, this job found me due to my entry in LinkedIn.

It was about a month ago and apparently I ticked all the boxes.

I hadn't heard anything after the phone interview, which had gone very well (the interviewer had said he wanted to speak with me again).

Yesterday I contacted the agency which had arranged the interview. They phoned me back and told me that the job had gone to someone else and the only issue with my details was my lack of German.

Leider.

Excuses, excuses

But they are good ones.

Three weeks ago I had a bad cold.

Two weeks ago my girlfriend visited me from the States. Whilst she was here the idea of job hunting never entered my head.

One week ago, after she left, I got another bad cold.

Still feel under the weather.

But, now that I am on my own again, I will get back to job hunting. And updating this blog.