Sunday, July 6, 2008

Jon's job search and our potential vechicle acquisition

Well, I must say this has been an interesting job search thus far. I began by applying for positions in late April and May but those have yet to really go anywhere- they were mostly in publishing sales and other sales roles. I have been getting a fair amount of calls and interviews for jobs in recruitment consultancy (staffing/headhunting). I have one company who is possibly making an offer in the next day or two though it seems they want to hire an experienced person and pay just a tad over an entry-level salary. We'll see if they make an offer, what it is, and even then I'm not 100% on it being the right fit (long story but it is about a 40 minute drive each way by car and I'm just not excited about it). I also have a first face-to-face with an agency in Milton Keynes tomorow though that commute would be even longer than the other company (just over an hour each way by car). I have even gotten a few calls about London jobs, which pay much, much better, though that would be an even more terrible commute. It is hard to evaluate what is "fair" for salary packages here. We definitely see the cost of living differences so want to adjust for that but certainly don't want to overshoot expectations either. It is freeing to have so much flexibility though I do look forward to focusing more and having a job to fill my time! We have heard this is not the booming time of year for hiring (many the graduates have been getting jobs over the last months) though there does seem to be some activity. Once I am working that will also help us know what side of town we want to settle-in long-term.

And on the topic of commuting.... We do not yet have a car, though we are starting to see the strong case for having one- we could take personal trips across the countryside and run errands much more easily and not having a car is limiting my job search pretty tangibly. Plus we can pick folks up at the airport when they visit- Ahem Ahem... :) Taking the buses is ok getting around town but using them to commute between towns would add a large chunk of time on both ends of the day that could be cut in half (or greater) with a car. So, instead of 1:00-1:40 each way I would be looking at 30-45 each way. Still not an ideal commute, especially with gas over $10 gallon, but much better and would not have to schedule my life around the buses (they are often late though I must say they are very clean and easy to figure out the lines, etc.- plus free WiFi on-board and they have plugs in the walls to charge devices!).

It has been good to get some traction/interviews already though I feel like I am sort of going down the wrong path. Most of my interviews thus far have come from recruiters who have called me about my online profile. I have been applying for "better fits" but those have yet to turn into anything though I will be following-up on a couple of those early this week. I do plan to hone my job search almost exclusively to Oxford instead of including the more outlying towns; there are a couple of other towns that are easily commutable as well. I have not yet seen a lot of great jobs here, more of a univeristy-town than a booming technical area but there have to be a few companies I have yet to find. I am pretty sure we're going to get a car whether my job requires it or not- probably something older just so we can get around. We have identified a few later 90s and early 00s BMW and Audis that have caught our eye. They are actually cheaper than Japanese cars and everybody says not to buy an English car. There seem to be a lot of Peugot and Renault as well but am not excited about those. We could always look for Saabs and be the envy of Uncle Dave. :)

It is a bit rainy and cool here today. It has been pretty warm (some days even hot) and dry lately so this seems to be more of a taste of what we anticipated. I think that about sums it up for now. Cheers, mates!

3 comments:

Dean said...

Jonathan, are you going to have to wear a girdle to fit into those cars?

You know, you can always try to open up an American style sandwich shop. See how those Brits like southern BB-q. Heck!! Just serve them some sweet tea!

BTW, the only one I know in England that is looking for a job is you. :)

P.S., it rained on the 4th here. Did you celebrate there or just keep it low key?

Robin H said...

Well, I might wear a girdle anyway... but the BMW 5 series and the Audi A6 are pretty good sized.

Opening a restaurant would be fun- eating out prices are high here so not as nickel and dimed (more like 25 pence and 50 penced). I am not sure they would like sweet tea- likely be confused by it.

Who else would you konw looking for work here? The fellow I know who works in gaming does it in the US and is looking for more contacts. He's all about IT as well so if you ever wonder what else is out there...

Rainy 4th? boo! We just went out for dinner and it was nice. We even had a coupon- a Hesselink must have! :)

-J

Dean said...

Did I mention there are two guys in my singles group that work for Redstorm / Ubisoft?

That means discount games for me!! Woo hoo!!