Bag-a-job week

So, last night I managed to get sat down at the computer and start the search for a new job.

Again.

When I got made redundant around 3 years ago, I walked straight into my current job; but I have always seen it as a temporary measure. Since then I have - in spits and spurts - been looking for another job.

The problem is Catch-22:

In order to look for another job, I need the time to search and apply.

But I don't have that time because of how far away my current job is and the time I spend travelling to and from work.

I leave the house at around 6:30 in the morning (it's actually usually a bit later because I have worked out if I jog half way to the station I get an extra 10 minutes in bed) and don't get in the house until around 7pm. When you live on your own, have to cook and clean for yourself as well as do the ironing, the gardening (it is enough just being albe to keep the garden in a decent state, let alone undertaking any major project), do any DIY and any other projects which make demands on your time; it's rare to get 5 minutes to sit on the sofa, let alone search around for another job.

Last night I managed to get the grass cut; the dinner cooked and eaten; packed-lunch sorted; and the bathroom cleaned in record time to afford myself half-an-hour to sit down and scour the job sites. The only problem was that the major site that I use went down. I ended up flitting over other sites (which is annoying because you have to register, and then confirm, and then upload your c.v., and then upload your covering letter, and then actually apply for the job you saw some ten minutes before) to apply for half-a-dozen jobs.

The other problem is that those half-a-dozen jobs ended up all being through agents with whom I am already registered. And many of them are so rude that I will have to chase them repeatedly only to be told that I didn't accurately match the criteria they have for the role but which they - in their infinite wisdom - decided they were not going to include in the on-line job specification.

I really do wish that more of the firms seeking the employees would actually use the job sites themselves rather than agencies: firstly it would be cheaper for the firms as they would not have to pay the recruiter fee; secondly they would be able more accurately to describe the vacancy and the candidates; and thirdly I would have some idea to whom I have actually applied so as not to submit half-a-dozen applications to various different agencies for what turns out is a single vacancy.

What I could really do with, is using the spare time that I have at work to search and submit applications for jobs; but according to the guys in IT that is seen as rather bad form and they have to report you to human resources.