Candidates,

The Hearty Vendor greeted me and no longer attended to the situation. The bottles were scattered, I chose two and replaced the rest. I perused the sugar and gawped at the 17p Fudge. It tasted just the same as the older 15p ones.

The non-event occurred. The sugar was of great use. It ensured that I could be useful until the end. The Donor of Arcane Ruffle was judged as I hadn’t for a while. I have grown so tolerant that it shocked me. I considered apologising but no one told me that The Donor of Arcane Ruffle was my superior.

The Governor of Disposable Facts asked. I knew nothing for I am in control of nothing. The postman knows more. The phone knows more. Emithers know more. In carrying out such indirect research, he only ever gains opinions. The Governor will ask someone else.

The Buoy of Free Trust ate comically and stupidly. I thought it tasteless. The Buoy stayed in the game, embarrassingly. He reacts with arrogance, and in these times, I accept that I might not immediately receive what I merit, he believes that he deserves. Embarrassingly, he uses it as a weapon. I refer the reader to the chorus of Giving up the Gun by Vampire Weekend.

Your sword's grown old and rusty, burnt beneath the rising sun
It's locked up like a trophy, forgetting all the things it's done
And though it's been a long time, you're right back where you started from
I see it in your eyes that now you’re giving up the gun

I wondered why Designated Death Radio chose Mirror in the Bathroom by The Beat (do you have a good memory for faces?) and not You’ll Always Find me in the Kitchen at Parties by Jona Lewie.

I completed the reading of A Song of Stone by Iain Banks. I think that the theme of the story is that materials are immaterial unless meaning is applied to it. That meaning can be used to twist our feelings and our value of the material then affects our actions. In this downtime, I also digested Just Daft – The Chic Murray Story by Robbie Grigor. I had no prior experience of Chic Murray but I think I would have liked him. From the quotes and the passages of his stage act included in the book, I can sense his influence in much of the comedy that I like.

God has called five times and so it seems the future is temporarily decided.

Wincers Presaging Ignominy,

Looking for a job is a full-time job. The search is confusing as people offer conflicting advice. I started from an ambiguous position and it hasn’t helped my quest. Writing a thesis for a Ph.D lasts variable lengths of time and the stewdent may not be in control of how long they will take. The stewdent one year ahead of me was delayed by the receipt of data from a colleague. I could argue that I was delayed by the access to apparatus and then I underwent a somewhat prolonged period of verification with my supervisor. Other stewdents may be lazy and fail to write quickly. I was advised that companies would not take a risk upon someone who ‘was nearly finished’ as I was for months as I awaited my supervisor’s supervision.

There is the question of how to apply for jobs. Advice about the speculative application varies. I have not found this to be a productive route but I believe in being proactive. I have been told that 75% of jobs are not advertised. If that is the case, then for many people, 75% of companies do not exist. Part of my search has involved actually finding out about which companies are in the field. My own belief is that behind every brand is a potential vacancy.

A question I am commonly asked is about leaving university. For me, it is completely natural. The actual event was completely natural. I will discuss it some other time but it was rather symbolic in the manner it occurred. I’ve always been keen to see tasks completed well and on schedule. I did so whilst others flapped.

There was a time when I believed that I could do anything and my applications reflected that. I can do lots but now I’ve realised that other people cannot see that from a two page CV and my applications are now more focused. With the reports of unemployment, it’s easy to be swept up in the hype. I’ve consigned myself to patience and confidence in myself to eventually find my place. I’m searching for a job at the same time as mon frère and that’s an interesting contrast.

One of the major problems I’ve encountered is the slow pace of the application procedure. Sometimes it takes over 6 weeks for a reply offering an interview in a months’ time. In 10 weeks, outlooks change – that job may have become less favourable against another and the whole exchange becomes a waste of everyone’s time.

Interviews are something which do not faze me. I am not susceptible to nerves and it’s easier to see these as meetings or chats, despite the will to grasp the opportunity, rather than become stressed and erratic. Blunders will occur: in this life, I’ve had the incident when I hung up my coat whilst the employers were waiting to shake hands, the arguments and the jokes misunderstood. I’m sure there will be many more before I retire but being knowledgeable, relaxed and honest often overcomes most obstacles.