The Process II - All You Need is Luck

After the eventual disappointment at the end of the first instalment of The Process, here comes the inevitable sequel (all big money spinners get a sequel, part one got 100 views!).

It's risky writing something like this again, because if I don't get the job again... well, I look like an idiot. 

So, the opportunity.

It's a good'un!

Wednesday 22nd April

I'm sat in a very bright room, with 17 people crammed round a table made for 14 (yep, an oversubscribed event, who would have thought it), and suddenly I hear a phone vibrating. Now mine is nearly always on complete silence so I ignored it and assumed it was someone's phone in their bag on the floor behind me.

About half an hour later during a break in the event, I checked my phone. Missed call and a voicemail.

I groaned. Recruiter. 

I loaded up the voicemail and was struck by two things immediately. First, an amazing South African accent. And second, the word 'Boots'. My brain engaged.

I had applied months ago for a marketing role there and nothing came of it, so it was a bit out of the blue. The voicemail wanted to know if I was interested still, which of course I was and I quickly emailed as such.

Wednesday 6th May 

Nothing. Literally no word. After the rise and then disappointment of the FutureLearn opportunity, I had written this one off. 

Then I get an email. 

Really sorry about the delay, can you come for an interview on Friday? It's for the Assistant Marketing Manager position for No7.

Friday!

Short notice but you bet.

Friday 8th May

Real time reflection begins now.

I've just got back from my jaunt to Nottingham and it went well.

Way better than I thought.

I've spent most of this week thinking pffft, no chance. Why would a company the size of Boots want to give me a job when I've found it so hard to get jobs at much smaller and less sought after companies? 

I was in such a negative mindset I didn't really start prepping for it until 8am this morning - the interview wasn't until 11am. I try and be as positive as I can with most things in life, but last week hit me pretty hard. I managed to snap out of the negativity cycle, loosened up and took on a what-have-I-got-to-lose mindset. I set about some pretty intense research of Boots and No7 and set off for Nottingham.

Admittedly, my expectations going in to the interview were still low. It's hard to completely go again sometimes. But I eased in and had warmed up sufficiently in time to answer the competency questions (which are always way harder than you'd expect). 

I got on really well with the would-be manager, and we seemed to have a lot in common in terms of background and traits. She said 'good answer' a few times which is good for the interview confidence meter!

So I've come out feeling pretty positive. 

The job itself would be frigging amazing, so fingers firmly crossed. 

Monday 11th May 

I asked on Friday when would I hear from them... early next week. So, here we are!

Pretty certain I'm looking for a phone call, I think any 'unfortunately...' response will come by email. 

3pm - nothing yet.

Just before 5pm, ring ring ring. Second interview!

I've been set a task to review No7 in-store, as well as my thoughts on what is good about the brand, where they could improve and ideas for going global. All for Friday please.

I asked how many people were through to a second interview... Two.

TWO!?

Bloody hell. 

Time for a run I think!

Tuesday 12th May

Right, I've slept terribly. My brain won't shut down at all, which sucks short term. But at least I have some ideas now.

It was suggested I put together a PowerPoint presentation which I can only assume was relayed to the other applicant. So that means I not only have to make a shit hot PowerPoint (content and aesthetically), I need to do something else to go above and beyond reasonable expectations.

When I got my current job, I had reached similar levels of despair during fruitless applications and interviews, then I got a second interview. A chance to do something a bit different. So I made this daft poster thing with loads of 3D raised boxes about the company and me. It was very visual and it was obvious I had worked hard on it. I've decided to do this again.

The bit about me is fairly straightforward, a bunch of photos that I can talk around with words like 'determination' and 'confidence'. The No7 side is a bit more difficult. Maybe values if they have any specific to No7..?

I've also asked a few friends to tell me what No7 means to them to start off the presentation... just a few sentences, nothing too strenuous. 

I went to the flagship Derby store at lunch today and took a bunch of photos of the No7 counter, the 3D displays and the associated marketing - and had a nice conversation with one of the advisors, who was such a massive help. If by some miracle she ever reads this, thank you!

Wednesday 13th May

I remember why I don't actively do these poster things very often. They take FOREVER.

I've managed to move the presentation forward relatively well today, with great thanks to my massive team of support. I've lured them in with the promise of No7 freebies if I get the job and eternal love if I don't... so win, win for us all!

Struggling a bit with critiquing and the going global plans, but there is still time on the clock so I'm relaxed. It'll get done.

Thursday 14th May

Right, there's significantly less time on the clock now and I've still got loads to do.

I've been doing bits on the presentation throughout the day, to allow more focus on the poster thing tonight. I've decided to sack off doing it on No7, simply because there doesn't seem to be any explicit values for them, so I'm going to do Boots and their values. I reckon I can talk around them and link them back to me quite well.

Pretty happy with this. 

Presentation is nearly done, I'll finish it in the morning.

Friday 15th May

D-Day.

I am proper nervous. More so than I normally am. Normally I'm pretty calm and all under control. This morning my stomach isn't having it.

So, the presentation done - it's here if you're interested.

I've had to borrow one of my sisters' massive plastic art folder things that everyone lumped around school in Year 9 to carry the poster.

But it was worth it. I presented the poster and explained it straight off the bat and it seemed to go down really well. The would-be manager said she had never seen anything like it before (in a good sense, I think!) so that was a encouraging start. 

The presentation seemed to go down really well too, with lots of good feedback, whilst my suggestions for future development seemed to be in line with what they think already. So that, again, is encouraging.

During the interview I did think "I've got this" at one point, and whilst that is premature (the other interview isn't until Monday), I do feel quietly confident. My instinct says it would take something special to beat that...

Or for someone to already be a Boots employee.

But I've done my job, and I'm happy with that.

Find out Monday.

Sunday 17th May

This is no fun at all.

The wait. The seemingly never ending wait.

Over the last 36 hours or so, I've gone from being 70/30 in favour of getting the job, to 40/60, and now back to about 55/45.

I seem to be thinking about it all the time. It's impossible not to.

If I get the decision I'm hoping for, it massively changes my career and life both now and for the next ten years plus.

Monday 18th May

9.04am - Bloody hell, this is torture.

Normally I'd love a long weekend, but this one has felt longer than any and not in a good way.

Slept terribly.

All comes down to today.

Doubt I'll hear much before 3pm.

11.22am

1.54pm - This is all kinds of horrible.

I reckon between 3.30 and 4.

3.53pm

4.45pm - ...

9.15pm - No word. It's not been a fun day.

Tuesday 19th May

9.03am - A few days ago I said I was yo-yoing between being confident and not confident. Last time I mentioned it, it was 55/45 in favour of confidence.

I'm probably at 20/80 now.

11.10am - Who bloody knows whats going on.

1.40pm - I've rang the person I've been liaising with at Boots HR, no answer. So I've left a voicemail. Gulp.

3.41pm - I don't think this call is ever coming.

Wednesday 20th May

Gave up with that time lark.

I didn't get it.

Great feedback, loved the presentation, would be a fantastic member of the team... in the future.

The job was given to a current Boots Assistant Store Manager... with No7 experience.

I had no chance.

Sigh.

*** I probably wont do another one of these Process type entries for a while, when they don't end well - which, let's face it, is going to be most times - they aren't much fun. But hopefully it is a relatively interesting read and an insight into what I'm trying to do. We go again. ***

The Process

I've been thinking about doing something a little different with a blog post for a while now. 

The idea here is to map the progress of an application. From first seeing the job advert to either being successful or unsuccessful. I've had to wait for an opportunity that had some legs in it. The vast majority of my applications end after the first interaction. And that wouldn't make for much of a read now, would it?

With that said, getting a job is bloody hard. So I'm well aware that this may well ultimately end in disappointment. 

Context

Firstly, some context. About a year ago when I got the first pangs of wanting to get a new job I sat down and spoke to a good friend who is a couple of years ahead of me in life, career, etc. Always a wise person to speak to, Charlotte recommended this new website she'd come across called FutureLearn - a provider of free courses online. 

I quickly signed up to a few 4-6 week programmes, one on innovation in business, another on brands and it got my mind ticking over again after three years completely out of the learning game post-MSc.

We always felt it would be an amazing place to work and, as such, kept an eye open on their Twitter and the careers page on the website.

The Process

Friday 10th April 

Another week done, and we're now firmly in to the second quarter of the year with each month seemingly going quicker than the last.

My phone lit up with a message on WhatsApp.

"FutureLearn want a marketing executive!!"

Bingo.

This was perfect. 

The application required my CV, a cover letter and asked for 500 words on my favourite marketing campaign and why.

If you are a regular reader of these pages you'll remember I was asked this question during a phone interview and it absolutely stumped me. 

NOT THIS TIME! Playstation 4 and Oreo. 

Thanks very much.

I applied within an hour and felt pretty good about things.

Wednesday 15th April

In the midst of seemingly endless applications, this had slipped from the forefront of my mind.

Then I received an email from FutureLearn inviting me for a phone interview with them on Friday later that week.

Good news.

I felt with my CV, the storming answer to their question and, arguably more importantly, my background of working for a leadership development company that I had a good chance of getting through the first stage of the process.

And I had. 

Now, the hard part.

Friday 17th April

Now that it's got to this point I will start adding entries to this in an almost 'live' sense, shortly after today's telephone interview and anything that occurs after that.

***

Well I think that went well.

You can never really tell for sure during a structured telephone interview but I had answers for everything they asked and I managed to ask a few good questions which showed my existing knowledge of the company and desire to know more about them and the role.

We'll see.

They said next step would be during the week commencing Monday 27th April so it sounds like they have a lot of people to interview.

Monday 20th April

Interesting.

They've got back to me a week early to invite me to come down to London for a face-to-face interview.

Now I either ticked all the boxes on the phone, or there wasn't as many other people being interviewed as I expected.

Train tickets booked for a week on Friday.

Friday 1st May

I'm currently sat in the cafe at the British Library.

Yep, quite impressively, FutureLearn have their offices at the British Library.

I've never been here before and it is amazing. It's also a stones throw from St. Pancras station so no tube drama for BQ yet today!

The interview went as well as I could have hoped for. Interestingly, the interviewers (Head of Marketing and Marketing Manager) weren't even present for the first half an hour. Instead, I was introduced to the social media person first, and then the copywriter. I had a nice conversation with both and I think I positioned myself well for the inevitable 'what did you think?' question that they will have been asked when I left the building.

The interview proper was basically an extended version of the telephone conversation, and again I am pleased with my responses. I don't think I could have done much more to persuade them that I am the right person for the job.

It sounds like I will hear from them on Tuesday next week... so we'll see.

Whilst I think I have a good chance of a positive response, I also don't know who else they interviewed. As this process has reminded me on countless occasions so far, there is almost always someone with a little more experience or who is a little more suited to the job spec than me.

Que sera, sera.

Tuesday 5th May

D-Day.

(Probably).

09.29 am - Been at work an hour now and checked my email about eight times. No word. I'm very aware that I'm heading quickly towards a crossroads with this whole job thing. In the last few weeks I've barely applied for anything, my daily emails from job boards send a shiver down my spine and my motivation continues to drop off. If, as the odds would dictate, I don't get this one... what next?

10.06 am - My money is on an email between 2 and 3 pm.

11.46 am - Haircut.

1.51 pm - Powercut. Bloody hell. 

2.58 pm - After a good hour, we're back. And as predicted, I had an email at 2.36 pm. Immediately my eyes don't read the message as they would a normal email, they scan for word like 'unfortunately' and 'sorry'. 

Sure enough, the second word of the second paragraph is 'regret'.

Balls. 

***

So that's that. 

I really felt I had a chance with this one.

I go again.

EDIT: Friday 8th May, 4pm

The much vaunted feedback!

"Dear Ben

Sorry for the delay in coming back.  The over arching feedback was really positive from both xxx and xxx and you would have been a great fit for the team.  You were just pipped to the post by the successful candidate as they had more relevant experience in the education arena."

Valuable.

Cheers.

Expectations vs. Reality

There is a constant toing and froing between expectations and reality.

It could be a normal Wednesday at work, a much anticipated film, a first date with a girl you like, a game of football. It could be anything.

How often are expectations and reality aligned? Rarely, I would argue. 

But still, as humans, we continue to frame our expectations about a certain situation as a form of subconscious preparation. 

How often does reality meet or exceed expectations? Rarely, I would argue.

I had a whole bunch of expectations when I decided the time was right to get a new job. I knew it would be hard, but I thought with three years experience in a marketing role backed up with good grades and good interpersonal skills, that I would be pretty employable. 

The reality is that I've applied for nearly 70 jobs, met with four recruiters (spoke to many, many more), and had one face-to-face interview with an actual company with the bottom line being: I am absolutely nowhere. 

Well, not absolutely nowhere, that's overly dramatic (who, me?). Throughout these interviews and conversations I have been fortunate in that I've been able to fine tune, in my own mind at least, the kind of job I want to go in to, the kind of organisation I'd like to work for and how much money my experience and knowledge should be paying.

Before an interview I had with a creative agency a couple of weeks ago, my expectation was that I would work pretty much anywhere and in any form of marketing. The reality is that I don't see myself in a small agency-type setting (little progression opportunities and minimal learning opportunities from a marketing manager, for example) and I don't want to work somewhere which is an absolute nightmare to get to (A roads, A roads, A roads).

I guess this knowledge will help to form my expectations for future roles I go for. So it isn't all bad. 

I had a great conversation with a recruiter last week about what would pretty much be the dream job for me. My expectation was that I had to get an interview, surely? Everything added up, I was perfect for the job. I had the experience, I had the industry knowledge, the passion, blah, blah, blah. But the reality is, we're nearly two weeks down the line and I don't have an interview.

Now that might change (I really, really hope it does), but it goes to show how big a chasm there is between expectations and reality.

So what should you do? Adopt a far more stringent self-preserving attitude? If you never expect anything then you'll never be disappointed.

Maybe.

But on the flip side, if you do that, surely you lose the passion and drive that, in a process of tiny margins, might just set you apart from everybody else.

In other, more exciting news... The Derby 10k happened last weekend and the records tumbled! Last year, I came in in 49.53. This year, borderline world record pace of 46.05! 

Whaaaaaat?

Before Sunday I had never dipped below 48 minutes, let alone a tick over 46 minutes. So I was dead happy. Also, quite worried. That's an average pace of 7.29 min/mile which is FORTY-THREE seconds quicker than my Reading Half pace. I know it is only over 10k, but that is pace I didn't think I had. I'm worried because I am going to be bloody knackered if I do a Half in, say, 8 min/miles which seemingly is not that unrealistic.

Gulp.

Big congrats to Rob who was preparing to invoke the 'I won't run for over an hour' clause and then smashed a 53.07, the increasingly lean and mean Dan who PB'd it with a 53.26 and Shaun, who a year ago swore blind he would never ever run, came in miles under the hour with a 56.43. Top work chaps! And Julie, I'll have you next year!

In terms of the Project running target, I'm at 262 miles currently. Approaching 50% well ahead of schedule so that's good. We're just about entering the tricky mid-year period where I have no more races to aim for until September's double whammy. Which might prove to be a problem as my motivation levels to push on are massively higher when I have something relatively soon to aim for.

Oh, and as an aside, RunKeeper told me I have ticked past 1000 miles in total since I started just under two years ago. 

I finished Book #9, 'The Devil's Punchbowl', a few weeks ago. Part three of the Penn Cage series and much like the first two it was great. The longer the series goes, the more underlying stories are being weaved in and around the individual books which adds another layer of intrigue.  Book #10 is the absolute monster fourth installment, 'Natchez Burning' which is 850 pages long. I'm about half way and it is the best of the four so far. I'm pretty sure it's the last one to read (that's published anyway), so who knows what Book #11 will be!

The clock is tick-tocking its way towards May and flight booking time which is exciting. The English over in the West Indies at the moment look to be having a fantastic time on the current Test tour so I'm excited to start the countdown to getting on the plane.

That's that for another week, here's to keeping expectations inline with reality and applying to jobs. 

It's great fun.

Pigs to Market

So, lets talk about recruiters.

They're a strange bunch.

I've probably spoke to ten recruiters now, give or take a few, and my overriding feeling is one of disappointment. 

For an industry that is fundamentally based on human beings I find it bizarrely impersonal. Rather, you are treated as a piece of paper. A piece of paper with lots of little square boxes and lots of little ticks. 

During that initial discussion you are taken through line after line of boxes to tick, and judged immediately against other pieces of paper with ticked boxes. 

You are told how the company is there to help get you a job and to help you progress. But in reality, the process is no different to farmers taking pigs to market. 

The absolute bottom line is the cut of money the recruitment company are entitled to when they have filled a position. The spiel about "caring" about the people they represent is lip service at the very best and complete rubbish at one's cynical worst. 

And to be honest, I get it. It's business. It's all about the money. Just don't pretend to be something that you are not.

In my experience of recruitment so far I have been told I was "too professional" (yep, really.) because I didn't slip in to the brusque and colloquial manner that was so wonderfully showcased on the other side of the table to me. 

I've been talked up like the candidate-elect, only to never hear from the recruiter again.

I've been talked down to with a definite tinge of you-really-should-do-what-I'm-saying-here-no-matter-what-you-think.

I've been flat out lied to. (Remember the Oxford gig, yeh that.) 

And so I've been left with a bitter taste and a reproachful dose of distrust.

Not great for two reasons.

1. A good 95% of jobs advertised online are done so through... yep, recruiters
2. I still don't have anything approaching a new job

Now, as a disclaimer, I'm sure not every recruiter is a knobhead. It's surely scientifically impossible. 

I have had conversations with recruiters who come across better but I'm finding it impossible to shake the impression that has already been formed by those who have been before.

So what do I do?

Suck it up, ride it out and hope it'll ultimately be my turn to be the lucky pig sold at market.

Or do I take the significantly harder road and try and circumvent recruiters entirely. 

I don't know.

FYI, this shouldn't be seen as an all-guns-out attack on recruiters because it isn't. It is merely an honest opinion. So if you're a recruiter reading this, don't feel the need to blacklist me. Surprise me, and actually be better than what I've experienced so far. 

Cheers.

In other news, the running thing is going well.

In a wave of positivity after the Reading Half Marathon I decided to sign up for the Nottingham Half Marathon in September again. Yay. So this means I will be running the Great North Run on 13th September and then the Robin Hood on 27th September. With about eight million people running the GNR, it'll be hard to beat the world record pace of Reading, so I'm eyeing up Nottingham to go low.

As the Reading run sheered my feet to pieces I rewarded myself with some shiny new Nike's. The green Nike's have joined the Hall of Fame and will live a lovely quiet life in the bottom of my cupboard until I think of a better way to celebrate their lives. 

As an aside, if anyone ever wants any new trainers or any new gear then I massively recommend SportsShoes.com - it is the only place to go. 

With having two half marathons in the space of 14 days in September I will be doing some fundraising for them as a pair... Possibly for Macmillan but I welcome any suggestions.

Signing off on the running update, I am now THIRTY-SEVEN PER CENT of the way to 600 miles. This is dead good and a big motivator.

Oh, and the Derby 10k is in a couple of weeks so currently pushing hard to speed up. Managed five miles at 7.33 min/miles the other day which was hard as hell but encouragingly shows what is in the tank. 

Book #8, and part two in the Penn Cage series, 'Turning Angel' has been ticked off the big 25 list and it was very good, I flew through it. A current day murder/drug/conspiracy shebang set five or six years after 'The Quiet Game' and nice prelude to Book #9 'The Devil's Punchbowl' which I will finish in the next day or two.

Nine books in less than three and a half months. Pretty sure before the back end of last year I hadn't read nine books in the previous nine years.

All things are moving nicely with regards to South Africa - I will be booking flights in May which is exciting.

And finally, with the cricket season starting this month, I have decided to stop playing. Which is probably good news for the continued success of Project 9626 if I'm honest.

After five A&E trips in two years, two broken fingers, one dislocated finger and a tooth knocked clean out I am done. Through a combination of perhaps bottling it, confidence being shot and life simply being too short to still be troubled by these things 9+ months later, it just isn't worth it anymore. 

So good luck to the mighty Etwall CC, I will no doubt be down the ground a lot for more sedate games like boundary bowls and drinking loads of beer in the sun. 

Until next time. 

Blistering Speed

Andddd relief.

After 1 hour, 49 minutes and 27 seconds I experienced the biggest wave of relief that I've experienced since the last time I dragged myself up the 13th mile back in September last year.

I thought I would do a little diary-like entry for yesterday. So, stay with me. 

The first decision of the day was Red or Green.

Big decision.

Kind of like in the Matrix (I know it was blue or red...). And Neo took ages over that one. 

I went green. 

I've done the bulk of the 350-odd miles since September in them and felt they deserved their moment in the sun. 

And they have a fair bit more cushioning. So congrats, chaps.

The race was meant to start at 10am, but come 10.20am it still hadn't so I had time for a quick pre-race photo!

Finallllllly, it got going around half ten and I tried to set off at a good pace. In September, I went out at a slow and very cautious 9.22 minutes for the first mile. I struggled to get the pace back up and the end result was an average pace about 15 seconds slower than in practice.

So this time I BOMBED the first mile in 8.17 which gave me time to play with later on. I knew I needed an average of not much over 8.20 to go sub 1hr 50 so things started well.

Before the race I heard the organisers say the course was much FLATTER and FASTER. At 3 miles, the biggest bloody hill I have ever seen lay in front of me. 

It went on FOR EVER.

People were walking and stumbling by the end of it. Whilst thankfully I wasn't that bad, it hit me (and my pace) hard. In fact mile 3 was the slowest of the race.

The route went on through Reading University at about 5 or 6 miles which was nice, then through Reading town centre. 

I've had two nights out in Reading before so I spent a good mile and a half/two miles thinking 'I've been there' and 'TWO JAGERBOMBS FOR £3 THERE!!!' which was fun.

At 8 miles there was another hill. But this one wasn't too horrific, and I caught sight of the 1hr 50 pacemaker about 300 yards in front of me which was good news.

For the next few miles I put in 8.03, 8.06 and 8.09 minute miles to reel in the pacemaker. Throughout this time I was running next to a guy who must have been 70, easily. He was in full running club gear and was flying. So, I sat on his shoulder for a bit and marvelled in what he was doing. Big ups, man. 

I hit 11 miles and felt immediately shit. The energy gel I'd taken a few miles earlier was only just kicking in and I think the push in pace to get up to 1hr 50 took its toll. 

Once I passed the pacemaker I felt better and managed to drag myself up the boring dual carriageway route up to the Madejski Stadium. I had enough in the tank to sprint the stadium part and came in with about 30 seconds to spare.

YES.

So made up.

Shaved a full 6 and a half minutes off September's time and didn't feel like I was going to pass out. So that was a good improvement all in all.

For those who care, the splits...

And the elevation blah blah. Just look at Mount Everest at mile three. 

Christ. 

So job done. The medal is amazing, the pain today isn't too horrendous and the 200 mile mark is up on the 600 mile challenge.

Well done to all who ran, especially the lego men, the lunatic with a concrete mixer on his back, the man pushing his friend in a wheelchair and my friend Rhianne who smashed it on her half marathon debut. Top work.

I'll leave you with this little treat. It's a beauty.

Things are A'Changing

Things are definitely changing.

After a miserly one positive response from my first 35 job applications, I have now had five positive responses in the following 18. 

That's gone from 2.9% to 27.8%. 

That's MAD.

The positive responses from the last five are all possible avenues of interest.

1. Marketing Officer at Nottinghamshire County Council - the recruiter has put me forward for consideration
2. Assistant Brand Manager at a hitherto unnamed Derbyshire FMGC company - I've got through the initial recruiter phone conversation, meeting the head recruiter on Wednesday next week
3. Assistant Marketing Brand Manager at the company that owns Bicester Village - the recruiter has put me forward for consideration
4. Marketing Executive at Liverpool Football Club (yep, really) - the recruiter has put me forward for consideration by the HR department at the club
5. Marketing Executive at a procurement software company in Oxford - this is the one I mentioned in the last blog about the recruiter being dead keen then disappearing off the face of the planet. Seems there might be some legs in this one yet after going direct to the company

What's strange is I'm applying to the same sort of jobs with basically the same CV. I've added that I am enrolled on the Squared Online Digital Marketing course, but surely that doesn't make that much difference one month in to the course? 

Maybe it does.

Maybe it's just a coincidence that the responses are steadily more positive of late.

I also had a call from a local events company yesterday who found my CV online and were interested enough to ask me over for a chat to see where I am with my thinking for my next move.

It makes a nice change from getting emails from companies or recruiters where the word 'unfortunately' stands out like a flashing red light. 

You needn't read much else after that. It's a no.

This recent flurry of more positive responses is important for my state of mind I think. When you get one positive response from 35 job applications it isn't much fun. The ideal of making sure I take the right next step and not jumping in to the first job that gets offered was becoming clouded. 

It's important I don't let that ideal slip.

I'm streetwise enough to know that even though I haven't had the dreaded unfortunately... from the above so-far-positive-responses yet, that doesn't mean I'm down to the last four or five applicants. There will be a huge number of applicants for the Liverpool gig especially, and I'll be staggered if I get to an interview stage. The same may well be applicable to the other possibilities (on a relatively smaller scale), but it's nice to know that the CV seems to be attracting a level of interest now. 

In other news... I have made an introductory video for my course. It's a compulsory project, not just me being super vain. 

It's a remarkably hard thing to do. You have no idea. My main aims were not come across as a complete tit, or struggle too much with 'th..' words. 

Hopefully it works ok.

We're now only four sleeps away from the Reading Half... and I am as ready as I'm going to be! I'm pretty sure I'm a step up in terms of preparation compared to last time after running 12 miles in around 1hr 40 on both of the last two weekends. 

I have two aims:

1. Beat my PB of 1hr 56 from the Robin Hood last year
2. Go sub 1hr 50

On recent pace, the second aim is very much on. So hopefully no dramas between now and then and I can give that a good go. 

If I manage it, I'm going to spend the afternoon on the Hooch and wearing my LION medal. 

In terms of the 600 mile challenge I'm on 182 miles so far, a monumental 30%! Progress will definitely slow once I get Sunday's 13.1 miles out the way, that I can absolutely assure you. 

I have manged to finish Book #7 which was 'The Quiet Game' - I really enjoyed it. The story follows a prosecutor turned novelist returning to his hometown after the death of his wife to solve a race murder conspiracy that dated all the way back to 1968. 

It's so good I ordered the three other books in the series and I am flying through Book #8 'Turning Angel' at the moment. 

All this reading makes me want to write a book. What about I have no idea, and I don't know whether I could deal with the book bombing after spending so much time on it. I feel sorry for authors who that happens to. Pour their life and soul in to something and then the critics say 'rubbbbbbbish!' and give it two stars. Must be bleak. 

As we approach flight booking time in May/June, I'm keeping my eye on the cost of flights to SA... anyone fancy paying a tick over £500 to fly with Ethiopia Airlines? A solid half price cheaper than other airlines... No? 

Suit yourself. 

That'll do for this lunch time. See you in 13.1 miles...

You're Square

Do you remember in Year 8 when some spotty little creep in your English class sneered 'you're square!' because you got a good mark for your homework or were asked to help the teacher do something?

I remember thinking, 'God, I don't want to be square', like it was something really bad and not forgetting, endlessly uncool, to be doing well at school.

To be honest, that underlying fear of being considered square was probably half responsible for me ticking over at school at such a steady, unextraordinary rate. Not overly excelling in anything too much (bar English A* at GCSE, boo ya!) and not flunking too badly (apart from a quite horrific 11% in a Year 9 Maths test. So bad that my Mum wrote in asking the teacher what on earth had happened. At least I got 11% is all I can say).

So, some 13 years later I'm square again, but this time I want to be. Tomorrow marks my return to being a student (kind of). I have signed up for Squared Online, a Digital Marketing Course from Google. 

Late last year I had a meeting with someone I hugely respect at a local marketing agency who we do a lot of work with and I asked him 'what is the most important thing you need to be a success in marketing today?'. Without hesitation he said 'digital'.

Digital marketing exploded in to the consciousness of businesses and marketers about the same time I finished my Masters. Which, wonderfully, didn't have a digital marketing module.

So armed with the knowledge that digital is only going to get more influential (and nearly every job I apply for explicitly mentioning it), I've decided to start learning again.

The course isn't cheap, but I managed to get a 'part-funded award' which saves me 20% which is nice. I'm excited about starting, and I am excited about going to Partners and buying some new pens and paper. Maybe even a folder. 

*Yes, I am aware of the irony of buying pens, paper and a folder for a digital course. 

Time for a quick job hunt update and it is slow going. I have now applied for 35 jobs and I don't have an awful lot to show for it. I had a positive call with a recruiter about 10 days ago, but frustratingly nothing since which is disappointing. But who knows, it might still be a possible lead.

In the ever boring world of running I am really ramping up my preparation for the Reading Half which is in less than three weeks now. The problem with ramping things up is that I remember how painfully dull it is to run for over an hour. I ran a tick over 11 miles on Saturday and I felt like my brain was falling out of my head. Physically, I feel significantly fitter than I did three weeks prior to the Robin Hood half in September. So that's good news.

I'm also at a sort-of-incredible 135 miles for the year after a 70 mile push in February. 22%! 

Books. Books. Books. I'm getting pretty good at the reading now. I've convinced myself my reading speed has upped from that of a 12 year old to that of a 15 year old. Book #6 has been vanquished, all 680-odd pages, and it was good!

'N0S 4R2', or 'Nosferatu' - the German word for Vampire - it's not really about a vampire in the Buffy Summers sense, but it is about a creepy old bad guy who steals children and kills their parents for one reason or another. It's well written and a good story that I enjoyed. Think I gave it four stars on Goodreads. 

Book #7 is 'The Quiet Game' which I have been recommended as very good by a good friend. And so far, it is very good. So kudos to you sir. 

Finally, not too much happening on the get-BQ-to-South-Africa front. Apart from me reconsidering spending a fortune to watch England be absolutely pathetic at cricket. 

Not really, it'll be good to watch AB de Villiers hit the quickest ever Test triple ton and get drunk on £1 beer in the sun come January!

Until next time, which may or may not be before I drag myself round 13.2 miles in Reading, cheers.