Sad Johnny does some housekeeping...

... well it's all I can do at the moment, still unemployed, nobody loves me, waste of space grumble, mutter, sulk...

I think it's fair to say I've been having a frustrating time so far in England, finding a job has been a lot harder work than expected. I've been a little spoilt in the past when switching jobs, so perhaps I was a little bit complacent, but it also hasn't been entirely my fault.

Take Job 1 for example. I was called up in mid-December about this opportunity to work in central Bath in a very good role, on a 6-month contract at an excellent rate. They liked my CV, and it all sounded magic. Then the main decision-maker goes on holidays until mid-January, so no progress for a month. Finally he gets back and I go for an interview. They ask me all sorts of curly questions (example: "So, how do you learn?") and I do so-so. The feedback comes that they like me but perhaps not for that role, there was a different one available, but would I be able to complete a technical challenge? I would, and did. I write 14 pages of research and analysis in less than 3 days. They invite me back for another interview with some different people. They say they like me. They say they like the work I did. Then they say they don't want to give me a contract, they want me to come on board permanently. Now I'd been honest from the start, and said that our long-term plan is not to be in Bath for ever, in fact by the end of 2007 we'll probably be elsewhere. So I couldn't really then take up a permanent position with them and then quit in August could I? Well, not if I'd like a nice reference. Hmmm. Sad.

So over a month of waiting, 2 interviews, and 14 pages of useless research, for nought. Then there was Job 2. Nice little 3-6 month contract, not Bath-based but not a terrible location, and the work would have been interesting, and in a new domain for me, Defence. And therein lay the problem. Despite having been born in England, having a UK passport, British father, and quite liking a pint of room-temperature ale, I was unable to pass a low-level Security Clearance. Mainly because I'd been away from the motherland for too long. Apparently change is coming, and in just a few months Commonwealth citizens will get cleared as easily as Brits do, but that's no use to me. Hence all jobs that mention defence (and there are a lot around here) are out; very sad.

So now Bec - who leads the job hunt two-nil so is qualified to advise on these matters - has recommended that I be slightly more economical with the truth. I'm now looking at both permanent and contract positions, which expands the market massively. The South-West isn't exactly overflowing with contract opportunities. So now I'm applying for permanent jobs, and keeping my big mouth shut about going anywhere.

Now, where was I - oh yes, housekeeping.

To save a lot of questions later, "Show us your Bristols" is a reference to the Cockney rhyming slang term "Bristol Cities". The rest is left as an exercise for the reader...

Bec used our digital still camera to take the little video snippets, apologies for the quality, but how clever is she? She seems to have a built-in probable-goal detector - she captured both Bristol goals! We started to think she was actually somehow causing them, but sadly not.

Oh, and I'm 30 next month. I'm not asking for any gifts or donations, please just wish/pray/sacrifice small animals for me to be employed by then, otherwise I'll be a 30-year-old unemployed living-at-home computer nerd. Now that is sad.