13 weeks to go. Bob-a-job

Bob-a-job was a tradition carried out by The Scouts where they would knock on your door and for a quid they'd wash your car or clean out your drains or help you bury a suspiciously large plastic bag no questions asked. It was a kind of olden days trick-or-treat from the times when people were nice to each other. They're probably not allowed to do it anymore because everyone's a paedophile so they must get their money for Kendal Mint Cake from somewhere else. Probably selling crack.

Anyway. Now that flight is sorted and Dog and Cat are almost ready too, I have no excuse not to think about how I will earn money in Finland. At the moment bob-a-job might be the best alternative. That or selling crack. 

It's been a while since I've had to get involved in the traditional means of job seeking and I'm just beginning to realise how fortunate that makes me. What a soul-destroying process. Spend hours writing and researching and checking and re-checking and printing out and checking again and almost sending but then checking again and then finally finishing your application and then screwing it up and throwing it into the sea. Or at least it feels like you might as well. Once you push 'send' then all your hard work falls like a tree into the silence of cyberspace. No thankyou, no feedback, no anything.

Last time I was in this situation was when I had just graduated as an ESL teacher and I was futilely* sending applications to institutes in Spain. After a few weeks of effort I decided just to fly to Spain and turn up at some institutes with my crooked smile and crooked CV. Within a week I'd been offered several jobs. Every job since then I've got in the same way; Get an address or a name and then turn up on the doorstep. Essentially my USP is proximity. "I'm here, now. Surely that makes up for the gaps on my CV?"
   I guess I figured I'd do the same in Finland but it's probably a good idea to try and sort something out before hand, or at least to try.

So that's how the days are passing right now. Cover letters, CVs and online applications. Job seekers don't get the credit they deserve. It's a barren life.

On the other hand. This week the mighty Bristol City became Champions of the English third division. Steve Cotterill, you're going on the wall of heroes. I bet you didn't have to fill out an online application.

*what an adverb - High five!