Recruitment Consultant or Car Salesmen. Which are worse?

Having returned to Blighty recently and this time with a visa that enables me to work, I have entered the world of job hunting. 

What has surprised me is the hit and miss attitudes of recruitment consultants.

There are good ones. 

I know a few personally and they would kill me if I said they all were bad, so I have to say thank you to those that know what customer service actually is and have the honesty and integrity that makes a good recruitment consultant.  

But others... are downright rude, arrogant and possibly way to full of Generation Y's (a big sorry to the Gen Y's that I know !). 

There is now one global agency I will never ever deal with, and if I'm on the other foot I will never accept any candidates from them.

I also have established a rule that if someone doesn't return my call and blatantly ignores me that I will follow up until I get a response just to piss them off.

Going back to the good recruitment consultants.... 

In the post yesterday I received a surprise. A book from the agency Reed. I hadn't requested it nor was it expected but it was a pleasant surprise to receive something that wasn't a bill. It also shows the care factor that this company has for those candidates it represents.  Perhaps a few other agencies could take a leaf out of their book!

So what do I think in terms of whether the recruitment consultant is worse than the car salesmen... I actually think they fall into the same bucket. If you're about to delve into the realm of job hunting in Blighty then prepare yourself.

And meanwhile the job hunting continues...

Pub Review - The Foresters

Living in Kingston I am lucky to be at the door of many restaurants and cafes. While most are the typical chain based ones, there are a few hidden gems.

Located just over the bridge and in the heart of Hampton Wick is our favourite pub – The Foresters.

A small and quaint pub (which probably describes most British pubs) it's a place where you know you can get good food, wine and service. 

For entree we tried both the pea, broad bean and asparagus risotto with mascarpone and the pickled beetroot with goats cheese, toasted pine nuts and chardonnay dressing. Yum!

The main journey included seared scallops with roasted ceps (had to google ceps), sweetcorn puree and confit chicken. And rib eye steak with portobello mushrooms, cherry-vine tomatoes, caramelised onion, rocket salad and the signature... king edward thick cut chips (which I sneaked a taste on my plate). They do have the best chips!

Now for wine. I typically have an affiliation with Aussie wines only but because the only Aussie wines in Blighty are cheap and nasty, we decided to go with the recommendation by the waitress, which was a lovely light sangiovese red from Italy.

You would think we'd probably had enough food by now but seeing as we were enjoying the atmosphere, company and wine.... dessert had to be included. A lovely creme brulee and apple crumble with custard.

If you want to read more about The Foresters or perhaps book a meal, their website is http://www.the-foresters.com. They do have entertainment each Saturday so you have to book in early for those!

Cupcakes for Kids

This is my latest result as I delve into the world of cupcakes. 

I'm sure my nephews would love to get their hands on these, but I don't think they'd survive the 20 plus hour flight across to Oz. Sorry kids!

I hope you like them. If you have any ideas on a theme I can try next time, let me know...

Sun Pods

As Blighty gives out another blissfully cold day with weather warnings the focus on all news channels, I thought I'd share my new invention. 

The sun pod.

No these are not sun beds that aid a glowing tan and skin cancer. These are sun pods for the light we so lack and the vitamin D our bodies crave.

You know those outdoor portable heaters, well this is an enlarged version set up like a street light but they give out the necessary Vitamin D for our healthy bones (and minds).

The pods are so large a cafe can be set up under them and you can sit and enjoy a lovely cup of coffee in pure warmth and light.

Aaahhhhhh to dream.

Meanwhile the latest BBC forecast...5 degrees and steadily falling to about 2 overnight. Snow and flooding on top of it.

Please bring me snow and skip the rain....!

Surviving Winter

If I thought my glorious tan, which I had worked so hard to achieve, could withstand the midst of a really cold winter in Blighty then I was up for a shock.

My once tanned skin is so luminous that when I look in the mirror I have to pinch my cheeks a few times to get the blood circulating. I kind of look like a vampire without the fangs.

Makeup doesn’t help. And I refuse to succumb to the fake tan craze that the poms are renowned for. Yes I’m buggered and will be forever more a luminous whitey. I wish to god I had inherited some of my ancestors dark skin.

I could be quite cheeky and suggest that the lack of sunlight and vitamin D may attribute to the high proportion of red heads over here.... but there may be another reason for that!

Those skinny legs that I worked so hard to get brown are no more. The poor things don’t even get out much except when I’m at home in the comfort of a heated apartment.

Thermals are a standard item to be worn daily and after a while you totally forget what sexy was like.

Heels well what are they? It’s winter boots and trainers at the most and I reckon if I had to wear a proper pair of heels for a day my feet would die of shock.

Then there’s the bleakness of the sky that greets you every morning when you wake. You get a few of those days in Oz but they are soon forgotten when you have beautiful blue skies for the majority of the time. But everyday that I get up the clouds are hugging the trees, mr jack frost has been and if I’m really lucky it will be raining and windy on top of it.

brrrrrrrr

It’s completely unmotivating and I wonder how people get things done when really all you want to do on days like that is curl up and go back to sleep or read a really good book near a roaring fire.

Yes I am painting a pretty grim picture so you’d be surprised that I have only been back in the country since late January and haven’t actually had to survive the whole winter... yet.

I do want to reassure you that there is beauty amongst this bleakness of winter and a whole lot to be thankful for.

I’m now married and live with the love of my life. No more travelling 20 plus hours to visit one another on the other side of the world. Phone bills and travel expenses are definately down.

It’s a good excuse for hot chocolate and marshmallows.... yum!

There’s nothing more beautiful than seeing white fluffy snowflakes falling outside your window. They are yet to settle mind you, but it’s pretty exciting when you see it.

Slow cooker meals that warm up the whole house and smell so good. You definitely can’t do this in the summer.

As I sit here writing this post the latest weather forecast for the weekend is snow.... mmmmm looks like I might be wearing those thermals for a little longer!

ps... Yes I'm finally back writing in my newly designed blog page. I hope you like it, not sure if you've missed me but one things for certain.... writing helps maintain my sanity! Bye !