Talk about London buses eh? No job offers for six months then three turn up at once! Well no, not quite, but things may just be perking up in what my recruiting friends are calling the 'professional recession'. Given the flat calm of the job market over the past few months I fully expected it to fall off a cliff in the August holidays, but far from it.
I couldn’t accept a job just now even if I was offered one as I have too many interview commitments. Maybe we are at last seeing the long-promised and much longed-for recovery in the recruitment market.
Or maybe it’s just that on my latest CV I’ve magically become six years younger. I’ve had several interviews as my boyish new self and no-one has suggested I look mature for my age. If you suspect you’re a victim of ageism I advise you to follow my example, (accepting that you’ll need my charisma and good looks).
I realise I’m swimming against the post-Enron tide of ultra-ethics here but I’ve got to feed the kids and I’d hardly rank a fib about my date of birth with corporate fraud. It gives me no pleasure to counsel dishonesty, but if they are shallow enough to shoot you down on the grounds of age then surely you are under no moral obligation to pass them the bullets.
Worry about being found out when it happens. Get in there, do a good job, and it’s unlikely anyone would even care.
The Dark Arts of the recruitment consultant continue to confound and amaze. I applied for a job advertised in a national newspaper and was invited to interview. A few days later the consultant told me he’d lobbied hard for me with his client but they preferred other candidates.
Later that same day a completely different consultant rang to say he’d got something that might interest me. It quickly became clear it was the same job with the same client by whom I had just been (allegedly) rejected.
He fixed me up with a phone interview and now I’m on the shortlist. Explain that one. James Andrews ACA (a pseudonym) is currently unemployed. He is writing occasional dispatches for Accountancy Age. Email: [email protected]. ?: