What goes round..

I went for a couple of interviews at the JobCentre yesterday; these were pleasant enough - the process took about an hour. I have a "Job Maets" session to attend next week (yes - that is the correct spelling). I am flabbergasted by the complexity of the signing on procedure - and the amount of paperwork is staggering. Oh, the hoops we have to jump. How on earth do benefit cheats have the patience to go through all of this? It's bad enough for the bona fide claimants!

I also signed with yet another agency in Loughborough. This one was different - it took ages to fill in the requisite paperwork - and I also had to include my bank details. I then had an interview with a girl who told me that there's a temporary position at the electrical engineering place where I worked for 20 years! She's sending my CV - so we'll see what happens. The money isn't great, but quite frankly, I'm not that fussed. I can carry on searching while I'm temping. If this all happens, I'll then have to tell the JobCentre that I don't need any further benefit. All that sweat for nothing!

I met up with Paul (kid brother) for a beer - we exchanged moans/experiences/observations. He and I are starting to think that it's probably not worth pursuing further IT work: there are so many applicants, and the whole market is geared around the young bucks (and does). He shares my opinion that a change of direction and pace is needed. I'd rather be in a job where I'm happy.

I was surprised later on to find an email from a bloke at a recruitment agency who has matched my CV with an IT job in Derby. I replied, asking him to contact me so that we can discuss this, but no reply has arrived yet! This job sounds rather familiar - the criteria in the description sound the same as the one I was interviewed for the other week..