OVER THE SLEEVE

I finally had a job interview last week with a wildlife park in Kent as I've recently been considering a move to the UK if I want to get work in my field, anywhere near my field, 3 paddocks over from my field...Mr Francais has also expressed an interest to move also but for now I'm thinking mostly of my own career goals as the compromises I have been making career-wise to stay in France are not doing either of us any favours.


So far 2007 has been a wash out, both in the employment and in the personal sense. Presidential elections in May have meant that funding has dried up for most administrations as they wait and see what the new government will bring, the July-August period is generally regarded as fruitless for any long term contracts (though there may be some short term temp work on offer), and in June I'll be in Australia so I can't take up any temping jobs that cut into that month. My unemployment benefits run out sometime in August. Home life is already stressful enough now, it's not an experience I'm prepared to take on for the sake of remaining in France.

The interview went well, though it involved a crazy amount of travel and hairline precise connections as I had to get myself to the Ferry terminal, over La Manche (aka the sleeve or The Channel as the Brits prefer to call it) and take a couple of local bus connections out into rural Kent.

A little piece of Dover

The interview went pretty well. Definitely a different style of interview technique - more like the Australian approach. French interviews are highly jobs focused - they ask you about many of the positions listed on your CV, whereas I'm more used to the skills based approach - which is a lot easier as it gives you more scope to group skills together and more leeway to gloss over jobs that were less glowing (the fact that I got through some of them at all without being fired or quitting is probably more of a testament to my capabilities than the fact that I was simply employed). 

Whether I impressed them enough to have got a job out of it is another matter. It would also mean moving to southern Kent, finding a place to live and buying a car all rather speedily (plus the new puppy complicates things). The fact that I'm also not here in June plus the extra time needed to get myself settled might not bode well for me in the eyes of the interviewers - so I don't want to get my hopes up at all, and simply regard it as being a good sign that after only a few applications over the water, I already have scored an interview. It's a start.