Saturday 9 May 2009

Update on the Jobcentre situation - and the job situation

This is a going to be a very quick post as it's my lovely boyfriend's 28th birthday today, so I will need to head off very soon for the birthday party I've been busy organising all week. Would you believe it, I completely forgot to buy him a card despite trying to organise the big day... how the hell did I manage to forget that???? After all, it's not as if I actually forgot his birthday (well, you'd hope not, seeing as I've spent the week organising it!) Ah well, hopefully all will be forgiven very soon!

The rest of the week has been spent battling a nearby wasps' nest - the little blighters keep mysteriously getting into our bathroom - and sorting out my application at the Jobcentre. I'm pleased to tell you that the interview went smoothly this time, so hopefully things will be sorted out soon.

The other thing that's kept me busy this week is writing an article for one of my favourite blogs, Laura Reviews at http://laurareviews.blogspot.com. Quite aside from my article (about things for a bookworm to do when in London), I do urge you all to go and visit this intelligent, insightful and frankly wonderful blog, dedicated to reviewing the written word in all forms.

I still haven't managed to find an accountancy job, though, and dole money won't be enough. So what I'm considering now is other paid employment, specifically Teaching English as a Foreign Language (TEFL), which is what I did in China in 2004. While there aren't so many long-term TEFL opportunities in England, plenty of schools are recruiting for the summer months at the moment. OK, the salary's a fraction of what I got as an accountant working for a global bank in the City (London's version of Wall Street in New York), but it'll be just about enough for the mortgage and bills I think - and I don't mind living cheaply for a while. At the moment it's just more important that I have some sort of income coming in! Many people working in my field (particularly at the Bank I worked at till this February) tend to live very luxurious and expensive lives, but fortunately for me I cut out a lot of those things over the last year or so for the future career change, so I'm more used to it than most!

I've heard from my recruitment consultants that many newly-qualified accountants like me are struggling to find jobs as a result of the credit crunch, so a lot of them have either gone travelling for 6 months, found voluntary work, or are generally doing something completely different to keep them busy until the jobs market picks up. Personally I'm happy for the opportunity to do something different... and dare I confess it, secretly enjoying my time off...
Bookmark and Share

4 comments:

  1. Happy birthday to the boyfriend! And thank you for the kind words about the blog. I think your post received the most comments of any post yet!! Keep the faith about the job situation - your optimism is infectious!!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Just keep your fingers crossed. I believe a job is not necessarily about big income (although it's a consideration), but we also need to feel happy about what we're doing. So I wish you the best, and hope you'll get the job that you'll enjoy this time :)

    ReplyDelete
  3. I am one of the those who are saving up to go travelling due to credit crunch and I am actually really happy for it because if I tried to do it later i might not get the chance to go for so long!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Thanks for your comments guys!

    Laura:
    The boyfriend says thanks :-) We had a great time yesterday. And about your blog - I meant what I said! I'm glad a lot of your readers seemed to enjoy the post. I'm also glad two of my followers agreed with me and decided to follow you as well :-)

    Sometimes it's really hard to be optimistic about the job situation. I'm trying to, but the lack of income is a bit stressful sometimes. Fortunately I saved a good few months' worth of money during the last year, so being unemployed is not as stressful for me as for some people - and I'm keeping busy which is good as being idle drives me mad :-) Even so, I can't deny that I do get the odd day when it's a real struggle to keep my chin up.

    Jan:
    Thanks ever so much for your encouragement. Depending on circumstances, income MUST be a consideration though :-) but you're right, it shouldn't be the only thing (unless you live in a place where you really don't have a choice in your life, but hopefully that's not many of us). Thanks for your comment and I left one on yours too :-)

    Faker:
    Go for it! Absolutely go for it! I went travelling round China when I was 22 and fresh out of university (5 years ago now...) and I didn't regret a single moment of it - in fact I only regretted that I didn't stay more and see more! I think now is a good time to do it and hopefully when you come back the job market will be better.

    Btw, I hear the TEFL industry worldwide is holding up pretty well - and certainly when I was in Shanghai it paid for a good lifestyle and for travelling to other places (like Beijing and Nanjing) for a few days each....

    ReplyDelete