This is supposed to be my Day 8, but due to social activities at the end of said day I have to write it at the very start of Day 9 and before I do anything else.

It is hard to reflect on Day 8 and get myself into the right frame of mind to write about it. 2-3 minutes jotting down all of the key points from yesterday put some order to it though and a different perspective.

It has to be said that the first few hours was spent doing a load of housekeeping, filing (yeah right binned most of it! – sorry recycled, ok?), and general organisation ready for some calls I had to make and others I was looking forward to receiving after 10am.

Whilst I was doing all of this I was keeping an eye on an evolving discussion on The FIRM’s discussion board. It was revolved around In-House v’s RPO (or outsourcing). Some great thoughts and opinions all of them of value and all of them from a perspective of experience or objective thought. There is a great analogy used about Whisky to highlight how and why an RPO engagement will or wont work; “it’s not the drink but the drinker that has the problem!” I like it.

There are parts of the discussion that touched upon the “will I, wont I” work for an RPO organisation question which as you might expect is in my mind at the moment. I can see clearly where and how RPO engagement will add significant value and clearly understand how it will prove problematic. It also has to do very much with the willingness of the suppler to add value to the customer and its internal business units, rather than just making money out of the deal as well as th willingness of the customer and the disperate hiring communities to fully engage with the RPO provider, as if they are part of the organisation I know of the best and the worst in this instance.

However the whole discussion has opened the door further for an idea I had last week during my conversation with APSCo, Day 4 I think it was. More on this in the next few days I am sure.

Then serendipity played its part as an RPO vendor, well its Biz Dev Manager, with whom I had never had any direct communication called. He called because he’d heard that I am looking for a new position – it is so fantastic how word spreads and where it spreads to. Whilst the job he wanted to discuss wasn’t what I was looking for, the call did give me the opportunity to discuss RPO and what they thought of joining in the aforementioned discussion, albeit external to The FIRM. Again more on this in the next few days.

One of the early calls I had been expecting was for an interview for a contract position. My expectations were high for this call for know other reason that it sounded good and I was referred in. However I have some work to do to secure this one. That’s fine, it will be better for it.

I also had a call from a chap at another agency. This came about as a direct result of one of his colleagues following me on Twitter and reading this blog. Does make you want to shake people who resist Social Media as a valid communication medium and sourcing tool, doesn’t it?

I had a lot of good calls and email exchanges yesterday, some of which were with people who are in the same situation as me, i.e. looking for their next job. Some of them have been out of work for a while and others not even a day. All I can say to them is don’t sit back and wait for the jobs to find you. They wont! I was encouraged for my own circumstances, by others who are also finding opportunities to pursue, it does seem the job market for the in-house recruiting types is very good at all levels at the moment, if you know how to promote yourself and find them! That’s the key.

At this point I think is worth pointing out that I have had a couple of knock backs already. The reasons for the knock backs; lack of a degree, (as if that really matters, with over 28 year of “real world” experience to my credit!). The vacancy is cancelled – frustrating for all those involved who have put work into it and finally I’m too expensive. Can’t help that, budgets are what they are. Whilst disappointed I am not surprised, it has to happen; the important thing for me personally is to ensure for every rejection I get I have to have 1 or 2 new opportunities started to keep the positivity going and keep advancing the cause. Today I had three new ones come my way.

What have I learned today? - In a conversation I had at the end of the day, with someone who I met through Twitter who now has become a very good friend, I was reminded that whilst I want #myjobhunt to be a sprint, it could well be a marathon and a much harder challenge. The first 8 days have been very positive and full of optimism and I have no reason to be negative, but it doesn’t hurt to set the right level of expectations for myself does it?

Music of the Day – Breaking into Heaven by The Stone Roses