Beau de Jour - moi?

It is, I'm afraid, my sad duty to inform you that I have been advised by someone for whose profession opinion I have recently developed much respect (Christopher at A4e), that I should cease the publication of this blog under my own name.  He feels that it sends out the wrong message to prospective employers who, on seeing my CV or LinkedIn profile, choose to Google me. (Please, please, I implore you, be aware that other search engines are available.)

His view (that my ramblings represent a negative and/or unprofessional image) does not, however, meet with the views of the majority of those (by and large positive and/or professional) individuals who responded to my informal straw poll on the subject.  In fact, most of those I spoke to were of the opinion that what I present here can only serve to fill out a picture of me as a 'well rounded' individual (and, incidentally, that anonymity would drastically curtail whatever small readership I've developed!)

I have therefore decided that , despite the frisson of 'Belle de Jour' naughtiness that I might gain from anonymous publication, I will adopt the Duke of Wellington's maxim: "Publish and be damned!"

I am however looking into Christopher's suggestion that I get involved in developing some software for an 'open source' project, in the hope that it will serve as an example of current work to show to prospective employers.

"So," you sigh impatiently, "enough waffle: what's been going on this week?"

Well....phone calls from agencies seem to be on the increase, and, after running through my CV, they seem to be becoming more inclined to put me forward to prospective employers.  This can only be a positive, and at this rate I might actually find myself in a position where I need to sharpen up my interview skills (and perhaps think about becoming a trifle less 'well-rounded' in a purely physical sense!)  I've also put myself forward as a volunteer for Age Concern (Hampshire)'s computer literacy scheme - I'll let you know how that pans out!

After a fairly uneventful 'Job Club' session with A4e on Tuesday, I then had an interesting 'transferable skills' session with Robin at A4e in Winchester on Wednesday.  We looked primarily at those skills which, for whatever reason, one might have the potential to develop, but (through anxiety, fear, unfounded beliefs or whatever reason) opt not to.  This, to me, seemed, serendipitously, to tie in quite closely with Paul's session at the North West Hampshire JC last week.

Sam from A4e in mid-presentation

Speaking of which..... Thursday saw the long-anticipated coming together of two major strings of my job-hunting bow (now there's an interesting image!), as Sam and Neil from A4e paid us a visit at the North West Hampshire JC.  Sam (one of the advisers covering the Andover area from their Winchester office) gave us a short presentation on A4e and its involvement in the government's 'Work Programme', both nationally and in our area.  He and Neil (A4e's local manager) then fielded questions from the group.  Overall they (I believe) helped to get rid of some preconceptions, and reassured any of our members who might find themselves on the scheme in the future that we're all essentially on the same side.

There then followed an especially lively and productive group discussion, with a wide variety of practical advice and assistance being shared among club members.  (I would, at this point, like to say how good it's been to see some new faces at the club recently, but won't do so, as that somehow sends out the wrong message given that it's a job club!)

Finally, on seeing Sam and Neil again on Friday, their first impressions of the North West Hampshire Job Club included "the sort of thing more people should be doing" and "inspirational". 

So, on that positive note, farewell until next we meet!

The nature of belief...

Aside from the usual 'routine' stuff, the main jobsearch-related thing to have happened since last we met here was another presentation from Paul Sherwood at the North West Hants JC.

I think he really outdid himself this time, with a really powerful session entitled "Believe - A shadow of the past, a window on the future."  As is usual for Paul, this was far from being a 'talking head' presentation, with much group participation and, I think it's fair to say, self-examination, involved. (The latter is true, at least in my case, if nobody else's.)

Allowing for my usual 'it's what I took from it' caveat; what we looked at was how our beliefs, be they justified or not, are ingrained into our world-view very early in life and how they have an enormous influence on how we perceive and interact with the world.

Given this situation, we looked at ways of replacing 'Limiting Beliefs' (negative beliefs which create a negative feedback loop and thence restrict the capacity to achieve one's goals), with positively-worded and success-focused alternatives.

I'm, by nature, quite sceptical about this sort of exercise, but was amazed at the burst of 'positivity' that came with crossing out my old belief and then writing down and reading aloud the new one.  Perhaps most importantly, that feeling didn't dissipate as soon as I walked out of the room!

Unfortunately, one positive belief that I took into this meeting was that an agency guy I'd spoken to earlier in the week was getting straight back to me with news of a telephone interview.  Unfortunately, no amount of positive belief and/or email communication seems to have brought this about as yet.

Ho hum! 

So THAT'S how LinkedIn works!

Hello there!  Apologies for my extended absence from the blogosphere - it's what comes of relying on the (excellent) local library for Internet access during the bank holiday season!

Again a quiet early part of last week.  A4E still have to confirm what training they've got lined up for me.  Their job club session was slightly enlivened by their LAN playing up a bit, limiting computer access there as well!  Since I've largely settled into a routine of working my way through the weekly list of C++ developer applications emailed to me by indeed.co.uk it wasn't really a problem.

No NW Hants JC (Easter Break!) on Thursday, but post signing-on on Wednesday I hung around Andover for a few hours (always a joy) to attend a really useful 'getting the most out of LinkedIn' session.  This is run (out of the goodness of their hearts, as far as I can tell!) by two local businessmen, Ian Malcolmson and Ed Thomas, on the first Wednesday of every month at the Wolversdene Club.  It was suggested at the start of the session that those present divide into two groups: total LinkedIn novices and an 'experienced' group of those with something approaching a workable presence in existence.

Much to my amazement the second group consisted of .......me!  I'd never considered my LinkedIn presence to be anything more than scratching the surface, but I suppose all things are indeed relative!  This meant I had Ed's undivided and wholly supportive attention for the time I was able to stay, for which I am extremely grateful.  His advice was mainly concerned with the value of joining existing interest groups within LinkedIn, and even more pertinently, identifying a unique factor to justify establishing one's own group.  'Lone Dads with Blue-Haired Sons and a Desperate Urge to Reenter the World of Software Development' anyone? 

Ed's other suggestion, apart from some tweaks to the history in my profile (another work in progress slowed by lack of on-line time) was that I establish a link to this blog within my LinkedIn profile.

So, if you're a new reader who's stumbled into my ramblings via this route, a very warm welcome to you!

Same old same old (mostly)

Not a lot to report in the first part of the week.  This is largely because I've devoted a bit more time than has been usual recently to living a vaguely rounded life. (Or at least I've been doing a few things other than banging my head against the 'This Way to the Jobs' door!)  These would be things for my other blog, if such a thing existed!

So what has gone on?  A4E JC on Tuesday.  Applied for C++ jobs on-line, as usual.  Gave Emily my first stab at a skills list, which she's distributed to her colleagues for comment.  What's come back largely seems to consist of 'Has Les considered an Admin role?'  The answer to that is 'Only about as much as I've considered driving a 6" nail into my right eye'. (That's pretty much never, in case you're worried!)  There's a reason I've always done software, and that's not a predisposition toward the administrational.  I'm more what you might call an administratee!

Apparently I've got some A4E training coming up - not sure what it is - I'll no doubt let you know when I do.

North West Hants JC on Thursday was, as is so often the case, the high spot of my job-searching week.  Jane Buxton of Simplyhealth came to give us a presentation on “How to sell your skills and experience to employers”.  This involved, amongst other things, a simple and very effective demonstration of how different individuals' attempts to project 'neutrality' in their body language can be interpreted very differently by the same target audience.  Thus if retreating to 'neutral' is your 'default setting' when unsure of yourself,  you may not be giving out the signals you think you are!  This could have enormous implications in, for instance, the interview situation. 

We also spent some considerable time looking at what skills we really possess, as opposed to those we feel we should have based on our previous experience and job titles.  (As always, this summary comprises my own thoughts and impressions of what I took from the session, and should in no way be taken as representative of (a) the group or (b) the intentions of the presenter.)

Finally we looked at the importance of personal/cultural fit in starting with a new employer.  The best skills fit in the world won't necessarily work if there's a major personality clash or mismatch of cultural expectation.

I really hope that our propensity, as a group, to take a subject and run with it didn't disrupt Jane's 'lesson plan' too much.  Possibly not, as she's apparently agreed to come back again in the future.

Actual activity update

Right, whinge out of the way!

"What steps", you ask (or at least I imagine you do), "has Les been taking this week to further his chances of rejoining the ranks of the working masses?"  (I have to hold this virtual conversation with you, dear reader, or I'm reduced to the level of 'that bloke who sits in the corner of the library talking to himself!' It's only one step from there to having people move away from me on the bus.......in fact, thinking about it.....)

On Monday came the second and final day of my A4E induction course.  This week we covered (to my mind) some much more interesting topics, including CV writing (my current effort standing up pretty well to scrutiny), and, most usefully for me, produced skills lists associated with various occupations. 

This served to help me in getting started on writing up my own list of existing skills, and so to identify my 'transferable skills'.  This is an area where I've got a bit bogged down, largely by my continued self-categorisation as a 'Software Dude'.   It's becoming increasingly (and, to some extent, painfully) apparent that my 'do a C++ course and sail back into software development' approach has been somewhat over-optimistic and simplistic. (This hasn't been helped by any and all on-line aptitude assessments I've ever tried asking me, on completion, what sort of software I would like to write!)

It's obviously time to look realistically at incorporating other skills I've got, particularly those gained in fulfilling my parental duties.

A4E Job Club on Tuesday afternoon: Many more of the job-seeking fraternity (and sorority) than in previous weeks, meaning both keyboard time and face-to-face time with advisers was somewhat compromised.  I was hoping to get some help in developing my skills list, and, more importantly in finding out how to apply it in identifying my options.  I've arranged to spend some time on this with Emily next week, so I'll keep you posted (this might constitute a pun in this context, in which case I apologise!)

Signing on day on Wednesday - I think I've pretty much covered my thoughts on this in my previous post!

North West Hampshire JC on Thursday.  Nick was away doing some short-term employment stuff, so it fell to Paul Sherwood to run things.  Unfortunately we didn't have one of our larger attendances, which was a shame, as Paul gave us a really informative and enjoyable session on active and empathic listening skills and collaboration.



Children at Play (apparently the best-performing group really are kindergarten children!)

The highlight of this presentation involved a team of four of us attempting the 'Marshmellow Challenge' (sic), which involved building the highest possible structure to support a marshmallow, using only dry spaghetti,sticky tape and string.

Incidentally, my schoolfriends used to claim I'm from a different species 'Pedantic Man'!  I know it's an annoying trait but I really can't stop myself!

Joined-up thinking

As I understand it, a large part of the reason for my being on the government's 'Work Program' is that A4E have taken over, from the Job Centre, responsibility for overseeing and monitoring my job search. 

A4E have repeatedly declared themselves happy with what I'm doing on a day-to-day basis, while they help me to put into place a longer-term plan, identifying my transferable skills and hence other suitable employment options.

This (apparently totally satisfactory) activity involves my making numerous on-line applications for C++ systems development positions, which, by their very nature involve going through multitudinous layers of  agencies without, in most cases, uncovering the true identity of the potential employer.  Quite a lot of this takes place under the direct supervision of my A4E adviser, at their weekly Job Club.

I present details of this search (along with the reference numbers of jobs I've applied for from the Directgov website) as my 'evidence' at the Job Centre when I sign on.  Why is it then, that at this point I'm still met with: "Yes, but what actual companies have you applied to?"?

Is just a hint of 'singing from the same hymnsheet*' really too much to ask?

*Other sources of religious/secular lyrics/music are widely available!

What WAS I thinking? (OFF TOPIC ALERT!!)

I woke up suddenly at about 03.00 this morning with the word "GALAXY" burned across the front of my brain. 

Having checked for, and dismissed, a sudden desperate chocolate craving and/or some sort of seizure, I did a spot of rational thinking (as best I could!) and realised I'd used the phrase 'The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Universe'.  I may never be able to hold my head up again in the company of my (equally sad) peers!

My excuse is that, whilst typing, I had quickly checked the synopses to check that the appropriate section wasn't in 'Life, the Universe and Everything'.

Having decided that I wouldn't stoop to revisionism by simply amending the previous post, I can but say "mea culpa!"