This is the start of Week 3

After the activities of Day 10, I definitely needed the weekend to recharge the batteries. The problem I now have is that the days are actually blurring into each other; what is a work day and what is the weekend? It doesn’t’ help that my wife is not working either whilst on her summer break. This in itself is a good thing as I have company and a welcome distraction every day. It also gives me someone to speak with in person who whilst impacted by #myjobhunt and has a direct vested interest in me being employed, isn’t actually part of the activities. However being around all the time makes each day feel like a weekend!

My wife is studying psychology and isn’t shy of using some of what she learns. Whilst a lot of the time all I hear is “blah blah blah blah”, there are times when what she has learned draws me in and opens up an enjoyable and very useful discussion. It also helps keeps the balance between the push to find a job and the positive mental attitude to actually do so.

I was looking forward to today; 3 interviews all with the same company throughout the afternoon and into the evening. Have a good feeling about the people and the company for this one and was hopeful that it would be upheld after speaking with each of them.

But first let me share the first part of the day with you. The first 5 or 6 hours of the day to 13:00 were dominated by LinkedIn. As you will know by now I am concentrating my efforts on using Social Media and my network of friends and contacts to pursue opportunities. The dominant platforms for me in this space are Twitter, LinkedIn and this blog. I post this blog both here and on www.garyffranklin.wordpress.com to give my quest greater coverage, that’s the hope anyway. Whilst it is good to get my thoughts down, reflect on the day past and look forward to the next, I am conscious that what I write and how I write it could have an influence over #myjobhunt. This is a job hunt. And whilst it doesn’t stop me from being open and honest, it does mean that certain ethics and conventions are adhered to, being discreet being chief amongst them. And not talking crap is another

I digress – A LinkedIn Day. It wasn’t LinkedIn themselves as an organisation that dominated the first part of the day, although I did put a call into them, but the activities within my communities on LinkedIn. With approx. 80 million users I expect you will have a profile as I do. Whilst I have one profile, I have two different networks on LinkedIn; I have my usual connections and I have a Group that I am heavily involved in – yeah you guessed it, The Forum for In-house Recruitment Managers or The FIRM. Taking some advice from someone last week I decided that now I know the finish date at my current employer and therefore when I will be able to start a new job (26th August if anyone has a job for me!), it was time to update my LinkedIn profile to reflect my new status. I did this at the weekend. I am not sure if having done this or having previously made both communities aware of my quest, was the cause of nearly all of the communications I got on the morning of Day 11, but by changing my profile it reminded all that I was looking. Throughout the morning I had communications, via email and InMail from people I knew via LinkedIn or from others on LinkedIn I who had just found me or who had been referred to me. Each of them offered help, conversation or actually sent me links to jobs they had seen. I doubt I will ever know exactly what prompted this level of activity but the coincidence is there. I’m glad I did what I needed to.

The rest of the day was dominated by the interview schedule. Unfortunately the first one got postponed until later in the week. So after a little bit more work I took the rest of the afternoon off.

The second and third of the scheduled interviews took place as planned.


I will say that I was very tired and ready to call it a day a good couple of hours before the first interview started. I had a moment early on when I was worried that I was too tired to actually do the interview and give a good account of myself. However from an interviewers perspective (this is what I am after all) this wouldn’t really be acceptable. In a work environment we are all asked to perform to normal high standards even when at our lowest. I asked myself “how would I be if this was a crucial business meeting that needed full concentration and clarity of thought?” I had to wake myself and get my game face on and fast. I knew I couldn’t reschedule and needed to perform.

Thankfully the first interviewer was very engaging, full of enthusiasm for her job and for the people she worked with. An infectious and impressive attitude. I think because I recruit for a living I find myself very aware of how others conduct interviews. If my opinion was asked for, I’d have to say that this one was faultless and an enjoyable 45 minutes on the phone. The only problem was that I don’t think I gave a very good account of myself. Have to think about that one and reflect on the performance and answers to the questions. I can’t change it now, but I can learn from it.

So the last interview of the day is at 915pm and I am pleased to say this was a much better performance. Looking at these two it is important to recognise that whilst I had a feeling that they went well, based on enjoyable conversations with each interviewer, they were in fact interviews that had a focused agenda. No matter how well I got on with either of them, if they don’t think I can do the job or fit in with their team they won’t endorse my hire will they. For my part I liked what I heard and actually liked the questions I was asked. Therefore I hope I did make the right impression for the job. Fingers crossed.

Music of the Day – If I Had a Million dollars by Bare Naked Ladies