Not all of them are actual applications – I write an entry for every conversation with a recruiter, every phone interview, every real interview.
OK I’ve just counted, actual applications from myself directly, as opposed to recruiters/employers that have found me, is 99.
Sometimes I apply for jobs that I’m not qualified for. If they ask for 1-2 years experience then I’ll often send an application across, on the off-chance. I have even applied for jobs using two different e-mail addresses two weeks apart a couple of times, when it has been a job I have really wanted. I do tend to take the technology stack required with a pinch of salt too – in my view I can learn whatever extra technology is required, and if a company doesn’t want to train and mould me, then it probably isn’t a company I want to work for.
I was having a few doubts last week once I reached that not-so-magic 100. Would I actually achieve my dream? What if I’m always going to be up against greater competition? Maybe the technology stack requirements are outpacing me? It was a good 3 or so weeks without even any possibility of an interview.
I also have my suspicions that some of the jobs are fake jobs – maybe the Kremlin is creating fake jobs to increase disillusionment for the young (and reluctantly middle-aged) people of this country. Being serious, I do suspect that some of the jobs are created by recruiters just to retrieve candidate information to meet targets. And the amount of times I have hopeful-sounding calls with recruiters who then ignore my follow-up calls/e-mails – do those jobs actually exist?
But things have changed this week.
Firstly I had a phone interview on Monday. But I mumbled and rushed through the first question, “what projects have you worked on recently”, like an Olympic diver forgetting his moves on his first dive. Thankfully, I rescued it, brought my personality and passion across, and have scored enough points with the Olympic judging panel to gain an entry through to the final round, a face-to-face interview and apparently a meet-the-team (pub?) moment too. It seems an exciting company, they have a good ethos and apparently a table football table – I hope they like losing if I do get the job. Plus they want to train whoever they employ on .NET and C# – two technologies that I know nothing about, and I do love adding to my skill set.
I gather that I am the underdog, certainly in terms of experience compared to other candidates, so I’m going to have to impress on personality and passion to stand a fair chance. Needless to say, Sunday will be spent looking into .NET and C#.
Then I have a coding challenge to do for a role in a really quite prestigious company. Though I’ve been sent a file I cannot open without Photoshop – I don’t have Photoshop and am loathe to spend money I don’t have on a month’s Adobe subscription. It also involves making a banner – never made a banner before! And use 3 JavaScript libraries that I have never used previously. So a lot to learn before I even attempt the challenge. Yikes.
There are two other roles that I might hear back from in terms of potential interviews, one from a company directly, another from an agency.
Plenty going on. My expectations are low, so that I do not get disappointed like last time, but you never know. As long as I do my best, and learn from any mistakes I do make.
And as soon as I do get a job, I am going to buy the fattest rib-eye steak Morrison’s will sell me.
