>> Well, sure. But you still gotta pick out the /right/ words. That's what
>> makes them KEY words...
>
> And if one set of words doesn't work, you try a different set (see
> above).  It ain't rocket science.

Incidentally... what's so hard about rocket science anyway?

>>>> I don't hate living here, it's my favourite place. I hate living WITH
>>>> MY MUM, that's for sure. ;-)
>>>
>>> Your favourite place from a very limited selection, admittedly.
>>
>> Like I said, everywhere else I've seen is really old and dilapidated...
>
> Dubai?  Minneapolis?  Sydney?  Switzerland?
>
> Surely you've seen pictures of those places.

Hell, I've *visited* Switzerland.

It's a pleasant enough place to visit, but I wouldn't want to /live/ 
there...

>> We've got Unisys, we've got the UK headquarters of the OU, we've got a
>> brand new building for Network Rail. Actually I know somebody who works
>> for them; she reckons that should be my next target...
>
> That's a good start.  Look at the job postings, see if she knows someone
> in the department (or knows someone who knows someone in the department,
> odds are she does if she doesn't herself) for a job that looks
> interesting to you.

I don't think she knows anybody in a hiring position. Basically she told 
me to go look at their openings and see what they want. Apparently 
they're in the middle of a multi-million pound expansion plan. (Which 
seems bizarre, when you consider that IT'S NETWORK RAIL!)

>>> What distance would you consider?
>>
>> Well, commuting time isn't proportional to just /distance/, but I'd at
>> least /look at/ anything within about 25 miles or so, I guess.

> 25 miles isn't very much.  My last full-time job (and possibly my next
> full-time job) has an office 45 miles away, but I telecommuted most of
> the time.
>
> Something to consider.

Well, yeah, it's the distance I have to travel that's important, not 
where their registered office nominally is...

>> (Or maybe *I* am weird, which is why everybody knows me.)
>
> You do have some /interesting/ traits that make you memorable.  Not in a
> bad way, either.

I'm very spessial. :-/

>> I can't imagine any way of "showing initiative".
>
> Find a job that looks interesting, contact someone you know at the
> company and say "Hey, I saw this job at your company, and I'm interested
> in it".  If you've previously interviewed there, contact the person you
> interviewed with and say "I know this other position didn't work out, but
> I found another one that looks like a better fit, could you give me a
> hand with it?" - especially if you did a screening interview with the HR
> department in the past.
>
> Persistence pays off.
>
> Sending a CV and saying "contact me if there's a good fit" - not showing
> initiative.  Showing that you know something about the company, finding a
> position, and then getting hold of someone you've talked to before there
> and saying "hey, this is something I'm interested in, and I'd be a good
> fit for it and here's why" (and then framing 'why' in terms of what they
> do - show that you know what they do) - that is a good thing.

IME, you apply to a company, never hear back from them ever again, the 
end. I'm not sure how you would "know somebody there". Even if you've 
been interviewed before, I'm not sure how you'd have the person's 
contact details.

>> I have a hard time imagining somebody being interested in a company for
>> any reason other than the money.
>
> Wouldn't it be fun, for example, if you found a company that worked on/
> with Haskell?  Sure, the money is an important thing, but working on
> something you find interesting - that's a reason to be interested in a
> particular organisation.

There are roughly 3 companies globally that pay people to code in 
Haskell. The one in the UK consists of 3 people, and their registered 
office is somebody's house. If they want a Haskell programmer, they have 
the entire global community to choose from, and therefore they will not 
be hiring me.

Sure, a tiny handful of people out there have really cool jobs. These 
are vanishingly rare. Us mere mortals have to accept that only the sucky 
jobs are open to us.

>>> Telling them "nobody else will hire me" makes them think "yeah, so
>>> there must be a reason for that so we'll just back away slowly".
>>
>> In my case, it's more like "I couldn't find anybody else to ask". It's
>> not as if job openings grow on trees...
>
> You just said unemployment is quite low where you are.

Sure. I've also said, many times, that *I* have great difficulty finding 
job openings. Surely they must be out there, but apparently I suck at 
finding them.

>>> You have to find something about what they do that piques your
>>> interest.
>>
>> Sounds infeasible to me.
>
> Maybe you need to extend your search beyond 25 miles from where you are,
> and consider that moving where you are might well be beneficial.

I am /not/ working in London. End of story.

>> I'm astonished. I never thought I'd meet somebody who ACTUALLY GETS
>> EXCITED about doing a job...
>
> A fair number of people get excited about doing a job.  Many people
> derive meaning in their lives based on the job they do, and it helps
> define who they are.
>
> For people who fall into that category, not being excited about the job
> is like not being alive.

Sure. But that must be a really, really small category...

>>> Ads are primarily Google's "product" as well.
>>
>> I've been wondering about that. I mean, it's no secret that Google is
>> hugely successful. The secret is WHO THE HELL PAYS THEM MONEY?! They
>> don't SELL anything!
>
> Subscribers to Google Docs - there is a business edition.  Ads.  I'm sure
> Darren could tell you all sorts of things they sell.

I thought they closed down Docs? (Or am I thinking of Google Wave?)

>> (People say "they sell advertising", but have YOU ever seen any of these
>> adverts that they purportedly sell?)
>
> Sure, I have.  AdWords is all over the 'net.

You say "adwords", but I've yet to see it...

Post a reply to this message