The Victoria Sponge Sandwich - A Cautionary Tale!

Please bear with me, the relevance of the following should, hopefully, become apparent!

On Sunday, finding myself in possession of a jar of orange curd for a filling, all the other requisite ingredients, and an oven warming up for the roast chicken, I resolved to bake the eponymous cake.  I cut no corners, even putting some sugar through the blender (as I had no caster sugar), and properly sieving the flour! 

A Rough Idea of the Intended Outcome
(Apart From the Filling)

It mixed up a treat and went into the oven looking the cat's pjs!  It was only when I came to take it out that my fundamental mistake became apparent.  Plain flour does not the perfect Victoria Sponge make!

The reason I'm telling you this, gentle reader is that I think I understand how the cake felt - unexpectedly flat!!

The problem, you see, is that my first forays into applying for 'Employment Advisor' positions have been met by a barrage of (admittedly well-written, and apparently sympathetic) rejection notices.   The available feedback suggests that, while I present as a good candidate, my lack of appropriate experience still counts against me!

Now, it might just be me, but doesn't this, in essence, put me right back where I was on the Damascus Highway (not advisable given the current situation in Syria), awaiting my next revelation?  If I was a software dude (which apparently I'm not) I would be inclined to look for the danger of getting into a closed loop here!!

...and, on an unrelated and lighter note.......

Adrian Worger's presentation to the North West Hampshire Job Club (which, to my shame I now realise was a fortnight ago) revolved around alternative investments.  Adrian, of Top Marks Partnership, talked about the desirability of taking control of one's investments and pensions (would that I had any!).  He gave us an overview of how well (or otherwise) FSA regulated schemes are currently performing, then went on to show us some examples of 'alternative' investment opportunities with UK-based companies involved in a variety of overseas development projects.  (My usual 'that's how I understood it' caveat does,of course, apply!)

John Randle of SME Insider (http://www.smeinsider.co.uk/) has also joined us a couple of times recently, discussing the website he has been developing for the exchange of information between Small and Medium-sized Enterprises.  He is also in the early stages of setting up a Job Club in Salisbury, and we've discussed ways in which we can build a mutually supportive relationship in terms of (for instance) shared marketing.

I've got a meeting at Andover College next Wednesday regarding the possibility of starting a Chartered Management Institute (CMI) Coaching and Mentoring course.  I'm also awaiting details from A4e in Winchester of an introductory session on becoming an NVQ assessor - you never know!

So, with the sun beaming down from a clear blue sky... "Onwards and upwards..."

All Change!

So....A new CV for a new job search! 

I must confess I found it a bit of a wrench chopping out all the techie-specific, 'propeller-head' skills, to be replaced with an altogether 'warmer and fluffier' set, to match my new-found helping, caring and nurturing persona. 

That being said: the more I look at what's involved in pursuing my new career course (which is, hopefully, to become an employment advisor, in case you've forgotten or, heaven forfend, you've not read any of my previous offerings), the more I feel that not only can I do it, but also I should do it, and, most significantly, I really want to do it!!

(If you are that hypothetical new reader, so cruelly parenthesised in the middle of the last sentence, someone really should have warned you in advance (not that they could have warned you in arrears) about my predisposition toward impenetrably long and labyrinthine sentence construction!) 

I try to control it!...I really do!...Honestly!

Anyway, back to the point.... I'm actually very pleased with my new CV (which you, my IT skills permitting, should be able find attached to the top of this page, alongside the previous version, which so singularly failed to get me so much as an interview as a 'software dude').  (n.b. Mr Newbie, that was the original career before the single dad phase kicked in.) 

I've now started sending out said CV on-line, so fingers crossed for a bit of success, now I've finally  accepted not only the necessity, but also the desirability to adopt a realistic 'plan B'.

We have a guest speaker (Adrian Worger of Top Marks Partnership) at the North West Hampshire Job Club tomorrow - I'll give you my thoughts next time!