Under normal circumstances I would not have taken the call during Eastenders. It is my one show that has a blanket ban on telephone conversations, I refuse to answer both my mobile or landline. The reason I did, was because I had been expecting a call from an agent, Sam but his e-mail on Monday evening had stated that he would hope to contact me at around 7.30pm. The time had come and gone and it was 8.13pm when he did contact me. I took the call and spent some time on the phone discussing a potential telephony related job in Basingstoke. As usual, the recruitment agent was on top form, going into the details of the role and asking all the relevant questions to see if I was a good fit. I was guaranteed a telephone interview later this week I was informed, but as usual I took all this with a pinch of salt, you have to. I have spoken to numerous agents now and many you speak to once and never hear from again. They sent off your CV to the client and that is their job done. The reality is, I should not be chasing them for the job, they should be keeping me informed. Jobs seem to come and go and in the current market place, I am advised it is better to keep probing new opportunities rather than chasing existing ones. After all, if they want to get hold of me, they will have my details. I have to though, go into the details of an application I made for a Technical Support Role in Reading on Tuesday morning. I had seen the job advertised in one of my daily e-mail alerts on Monday afternoon and opted to leave the application filling to the following day. I spent about twenty minutes, going through the various options and providing all the information required. My application was submitted at 10:11am and I was confident that I would hear from the company later that day or more likely the week. A mere nine minutes, yes nine minutes, I received an e-mail from Rebecca. Apparently after “careful” considering my application had been rejected. I was gob-smacked. That had to be the quickest rejection in the history of job applications. I went to vent my frustration on both Twitter and Facebook to the amusement of my friends. After what perhaps appears to be months of bad news, I bring you some good news. I have a job! On Monday I was left a message that I had been selected for the Group Screening Stage at my local ASDA supermarket. Okay, while some of you laugh or jaws drop to the floor in shock, let me explain my reasoning behind this decision. Since I my return home, I have become bored. Being a person that thrives on routine, the lack of it has sent me into a spiral downwards into a spat of major laziness. What is the point of doing anything, if you have no reason to get up and get going? So that is my motivation for joining a supermarket. Sure, it is hardly going to be brain surgery, but the idea is that it fills a void over Christmas giving me a chance to start a new position in January. My Group Screening took place yesterday evening, at the odd hour of 5:30pm, ending just before 7pm. It was a standard group interview scenario, being observed by a group of departmental managers and the HR Manager (or as they call them here People Service Manager). There was the initial ice breaker and then role playing game (to sell an item) before we hit the shop floor with a questionnaire to fill in. As a fellow candidate pointed out to me, “They are not exactly looking for a brain surgeon, so just fill in the answer with something basic that makes sense!”. As I walked home, I saw my Mum getting into her car and she asked if I would drive her over to Marlow to collect my sister from school. I obliged and when we got back home around 7:45pm, I already had a voice mail waiting for me. (I really think it is time we got an answering machine again, rather than relying on BT’s 1571). I had passed the Group Screening Stage and was invited back for an interview this morning. Success at last, I thought to myself. The interview was arranged for the morning and took place in a corridor just outside the canteen of the store. Around thirty minutes later I left the store with a clear indication that I would be starting early next week. It felt good to have a job, even though I knew it was not anything permanent and hardly the ideal career move. However, the saying that does ring true and has been constantly used by myself and others is, that in the current climate, “A Job’s A Job!”. Never was a phrase to downright true.