… “you have not been shortlisted on this occasion…”

Second job applied for and no interview for this one either. At least this one didn’t inform me that I must be disappointed! I was politely wished ‘every success’ in my future career!

I’m still thinking of this as a ‘win win’ situation… I now have an up-to-date CV and 3 pages of my work achievements all nicely summarised so if any future opportunities arise, it wouldn’t take long to put in an application.

And as a director role it would have meant more pressure, more responsibility and probably longer hours. At the moment I’ve got an excellent work/life balance and I’m in no hurry to work late or work weekends or have a stressy job.

Unless it pays a big fat salary… as this one did…

But all is good! I’ll continue to enjoy my current job and maybe apply if any more ‘exceptional’ opportunities arise.

 

 

Second job of 2018 has now been applied for! I’ve decided on my job application criteria… as I enjoy my current job, it pays me enough money to travel fairly often and it gives me an excellent work / life balance I will only apply for and consider exceptional opportunities.

This job is pretty exceptional and as ‘Director of Digital and Technology’ would be a substantial promotion. The closing date was today so fingers crossed and lets wait and see…

 

 

So, I heard about the job application today with an email to inform me that “My application wasn’t successful and I must be disappointed…” (job rejection letters are always a bit patronising…)

Oh well… never mind…

I’ve learned from 13  years in the Civil Service that applying for a job is more about how you word the application form than whether you are actually any good and suitable for the job or not! I think a lot of people must have applied as they only considered the first ‘competency’ (another civil service thing…) out of 5 or 6 competencies that I gave examples on…

At least I now have an up-to-date application form of examples, albeit they probably need a bit of work to shape them into ‘civil service style’…

 

 

 

 

 

 

I’ve actually applied for another job! As ‘Head of Digital and TechEd’ but for another Government department it seems similar to the job I currently do and I spent a fair amount of time trying to get the application as good as possible… this is the first job that has really jumped out at me all year so far…

As mentioned 6 months ago, I love the flexibility of my current job so I’m hoping this opportunity would also enable me to work from home a couple of days a week and with a similar flexible working pattern…

This is already a ‘win win’ as even if I don’t get an interview at least my application is up-to-date meaning future job apps will be easier! But lets see how things go… will provide an update in due course…

 

 

 

Advertised jobs I’ve been tempted to apply for so far this year = 8

Jobs applied for = 0

I’ve been in my current job since 2010 and at the beginning of the year I had a big urge to look for something different thus decided to include this at the last minute as one of my 50@50 challenges.

The issue I have at the moment is that I actually enjoy my job and have a relatively high degree of flexibility which suits the way I wish to lead my life… this is great but on the other hand I also love change and the prospect of ‘starting a new chapter’… I am a bit of an experience junkie and find the prospect of experiencing a new job and a different place to work to be hugely exciting…

Good things about my current job:

• 32.5 days annual leave (and I carried 10 over from last year)
• 2 flexi days per month (handy for weekend trips)
• I work with fantastic people and we all get on well
• I can work from home 2 x days a week
• I enjoy my job with new projects and areas of work each year

What is appealing about a different job:

• Higher earning potential = retire earlier/better pension… (proper retirement planning is important when you are 50…)
• I love change and new experiences

As is often the case, decisions are about striking a good balance in your life. I am fortunate to have such a flexible job which enables me enough time to take several trips each year which meets my desire to travel.

But… if I push myself a little could I potentially find a higher paid job, retire on a better pension and travel more when I’m older…