Pyjamanating

Well, I have to admit yesterday was hard going for various reasons. The online application went in before the deadline, a little brief perhaps, but better than missing out. I am reminded that the human resources people have seriously broken the whole process of recruitment. CVs are not accepted and the trend these days is to require a whole bunch of evidence which matches the candidate against a person specification. The only trouble is that the person spec is drawn up by a committee of stakeholders, who each have to add their own slant into the proceedings in order to exert their influence. The result is a long list of essential skills and experience, across a broad range of fields, in depth and with proven knowledge of both the discipline and the sector. In other words they end up insisting on looking for somebody who is already doing the same kind of job for the same type of organisation, who is capable of being all things to all people. Then they offer a short term contract on the lowest terms and conditions in the market. Anybody who is a suitable applicant on their terms wouldn’t dream of applying, and anybody who does apply is inherently unsuitable for the job as described, and thus likely to be filling in the application with a whole load of answers which bear little or no resemblence to the truth.

Enough of that for a while.

Today I need to get started on designing a course outline for some part time adult education in the local boroughs. It needn’t be too detailed, in fact it needs to be quite adaptable so I’ll use a wiki for the draft and invite my partner to collaborate. This will be creative and fun!

If it doesn’t rain all day like yesterday I’ll spend some time in the garden too.

Ironically one of my first tasks in the role as an independent freelancer is to apply for a position which, if I took it, would effectively put me back as an employee again. But only for a few months. If I get to interview, I will explore the possibilities of making it a part time contract for a start. Then there’s the opportunity to build up experience and contacts which this particular position offers. Filling in job application helps to focus on current skills and experience, keeping the CV up to date and thinking about opportunities. It’s also a task which I will tend to avoid if possible, so getting this done today is a good way of telling myself that I am at work and not on holiday!

I applied for a part time, home-based content editing job today. It’s on a topic which I’m passionate about, has a lot of relevence to this pyjamanating project, and requires skills that are right up my street. So this could suit me down to the ground.

There’s just one tiny little snaggette….

But hopefully the potential employer will be broad minded enough to see it as an opportunity to take the site beyond any perceived restrictions. There could be some interesting business to be made between us.