ooVoo

Over two years ago a friend and former colleague put me in touch with his boss who was recruiting for a project manager in London.

The first telephone chat went well and he wanted to see me over a video conference call.

Unfortunately they didn't use Skype and I couldn't work out an alternative method (for example using SIP or finding an affordable service in Munich). Then I got a job where I am still working.

Skype is, of course, very good. I use it all the time. But the video quality isn't great.

Recently I stumbled upon ooVoo.com which provides a very good level of video quality and, like Skype, provides a no-charge option for basic usage.

I'm now using it every day.

It can also be used by people who don't have the application but do have a web browser (and webcam and mike, of course). You simply send those people a personal URL generated by the application itself.

So, if I ever find myself in a similar situation (needing to do a vid con interview) I might well use this service.

Not so cheering

Article in the New York Times about the despondency people feel who cannot find work.

Right now my job seems to be surviving the global recession. And Germany is actually out of it, having grown a whopping 0.3% in the last quarter.

In fact due to my contract I don't think I could be made redundant (or resign) until the end of the year.

But the article reminds me of how grim it is when things are bad.

World survey

Investment banks haven't had a good reputation recently.

But when they publish a comprehensive review of prices and earnings around the world, for free, then it's not surprising they've been losing money.

Useful site ...

... http://mashable.com/2009/02/19/laid-off-sites/ containing useful sites, but not mine.

It's not all doom and gloom ...

despite the financial turmoil, according to The Telegraph: skills still in demand.

Though none of the skills mentioned are ones I could offer.

A refresh

I'm at the ancestral home in England and quite bored.

I invite a friend to connect to me on LinkedIn and Xing.

Whilst I'm there I update my details on both sites, something I haven't really done for 18 months. Only takes 10 minutes.

A few days ago I also updated my photograph across these sites as well as Facebook. Not sure what difference it'll make but I think it looks better.

Now, I don't expect the phone to ring as a result, but I just feel keeping everything up-to-date and fresh is no bad thing.

That whole Japanese-German business thing

Working in Germany, and having recently visited Tokyo for a fourth business visit, I am glad to read about Japanese companies relocating from UK to Germany.

A phone call

Despite suffering from near fatal influenza blokus I yesterday called a recruitment consultant who had found me a job in Munich a couple of years ago.

We actually spoke a few months ago when he called me to check my availability. Things were looking up in the recruitment world.

Of course things are now looking "50/50" in the recruitment world. Still, I sent him my c.v. and will call him on Friday.

Slow down

I didn't let the week before get me carried away in a job hunting frenzy.

My efforts last week was limited to attending a Xing dinner.

This is a networking dinner operated by www.xing.com in Munich.

You sit at a different table for each course and meet new people.

Really though, in terms of making useful contacts it's not very beneficial.

But for me it's a chance to practise my German.

And the food's good.

Slept

Yesterday I updated c.v. and then slept on it.

Just as well. I had tailored it quite specifically for my Telepresence experience (that's what's the job for) but didn't think to change the section header. It said "IT Project Management".

Today I changed it to match the contents ... it now says "Telepresence Project Management"

So, today I applied for one job, for which I was contacted on Friday and so that counts as a bite.

A nice start.

Timing

I'm not unemployed but the feeling at work isn't good. There will be redundancies.

Lots.

Must be ready, update my c.v., actively network and survey job sites.

Must, must, must.

Yesterday one of my mobile phones rings. It's an agency in London. They're looking for project and programme managers with experience in Telepresence.

In other words, they're looking for me (I have project and programme management experience in Telepresence).

The timing might be good. Their client isn't ready just yet but may be they will be when I know, by the end of October, if I'm in the first round of redundancies.

I'll leave you now as I must check and maybe up date my c.v.

Local difficulty

Do you realise how difficult it is to job hunt when it's the Munich Oktoberfest?

Very.

Deep joy

I've been listening to Pink Industry's "What I wouldn't give" and Force Majeure's "Out of My Mind" so life is undoubtedly good.

But not that good.

You see I was working as a freelancer for a major company. And it was going so well that they asked me to go permanent. Which I did.

And it is still going well ... for me. For the company generally, not so good. In fact not good at all.

Within six months they've gone from talking about increasing headcount to announcing the need for major redundancies.

Time to get job hunting.

Labour Day

Interesting how to celebrate Labour Day those in labour don't do any labour.

Today was my first day as a full-time employee.

That's right.

I've taken a permanent job.

Well, it's the same job that I was doing yesterday, as a freelancer, but now with less money.

But a few benefits.

Like being paid on a public holiday which today is in Germany.

Permanent jobs. Oh, these days that's as believable as a Zimbabwean election result.

So, now is the time to get my job hunting act together.

The time to look for a job is when you are in a job.

So, I'm going to start taking networking more seriously again.

And updating this blog.

OK, I'm happy where I am and things are going well (not least as they asked me to go permanent) but in the fickle world of work it makes sense to be paranoid.

Should, or when, this job comes to an end, for whatever reason, I want to be ready.

Passing fad

Try this one, videojobshop.

Could make comments but I don't think I could make any original ones.

(Hat-tip to the Downloadsquad)

Good weekend

On Saturday (and only Saturday because on Sunday it's illegal in this country) I bought a couple of things:

- an external monitor for my PC
- lots of RAM for my PC.


It took a while before I could get the monitor working. My PC is actually a tablet and the key combination expected to work didn't.

I now have four times as much RAM, although my PC isn't four times as fast.

But why? And why did I blog this?

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.