Operation: Big Ben - Pipe Dream???

[Abe Sargent]

Great info!!! Next question:

If I don't put prof, do I put rev? I am an ordained minster. Do I mention that? In America, that'd be a definite no. What about London?

-Anxiety

[AlexB]

Originally Posted by Anxiety

Great info!!! Next question:

If I don't put prof, do I put rev? I am an ordained minster. Do I mention that? In America, that'd be a definite no. What about London?

-Anxiety

Gotta be honest: don't know! I don't know about , generally I would think no, but if it's a long standing private academic institution, it may be different... Gut feeling job I guess: sorry, not much help I know.

[Abe Sargent]

I'm almost done with my application for the Senior Residences Manager for LSBU. It's the best job opportunity I've come across so far, so I've been very careful with the application.

These applications have all been very detailed (The LSBU one is 12 pages long!!). There's no sending in a resume and a coverletter and that's it.

I haven't taken a look at the new job postings today, so I'll do that in a bit.


-Anxiety

[Abe Sargent]

I found an interesting job at London Met - running an Undergraduate Office. I'm looking more into to see if its something I want to hop on.

-Abe

[Abe Sargent]

Sorry I haven't given an update in a little bit. I have had four floods to take care of this week in my halls, none of them clean, if you know what I mean. I've been super busy as a result.

Nothing new has happened. I haven't found any new jobs, nobody's called or e-mailed me. I'll give a fuller update later when I have a chance. I just got news that the water has been turned back on and that my custodial staff is now cleaning out the mess from the 15 rooms affected....

-Anxiety

[Abe Sargent]

I just sent off another Resume and Cover Letter to a gaming company in and near Seattle. Just to keep you up to date.


-Anxiety

[Abe Sargent]

Just checked U of L and the jobs site for new posting this week, and although I poured though a lot of new jobs - none are housing or student affairs related at all.

-Anxiety

[Abe Sargent]

I was having problems with finding another job hit. I'd been browsing all of the sites. Then, when I was almost done, I found two interesting hits back to back:

Brunel University: Traning and Quality Manager for Residential, Catering and Conference Services. With over 400 part and full time staff (I'm betting that's mostly students), this job would be to train these staff, and assess their performance. My guess is that it would include things like secret shopper, questionaires, activitites, program, pre-emplyoment training, regular updates to training, etc.

That sounds like fun. One of the things I enjoy most about the ACD position is personnel. This job description seems very focused on hospitality and dining, not so much on the residential side.


The other job is very different. This would be London Metropolitan University. The job is to run their undergraduate office. I apparently clicked on this link prior to today, so maybe I've already talked about it Basically, I'd hire the staff, train them, answer questions, do troubleshooting, that sort of thing. The office apparently is a support service for undergrads, including some academic advising, programs, and so forth.

I will do more research on these positions, and I may end up applying for one, the other, or both.


-Anxiety

[Abe Sargent]

Right now I am in the process of collecting references from all of the supervisors that I currently have in my various jobs (which is four).

-Anxiety

[Abe Sargent]

I am not going to apply for the undergrad office supervisor role. After doing further research, it seems out of my area of expertise.

However, the training and quality manager seems solid.

Earlier today, I sent out my application for the Senior Residences Manager position. They wanted a recommendation from all of my current supervisors, so I had to contact my editors at various institutions and get their permission. I secured the last one's permission earlier this afternoon and sent off my application.

One thing I notice is that all of these applications are quite work intensive. It takes a couple of hours to make sure you fill one of these 12 page applications out exactly and correctly. It's not like sending out resumes and cover letters out to every job. Hopefully that means there are less applicants. Unfortunately, it means I have to pick and choose the positions I apply for with care.

-Anxiety

[Abe Sargent]

Just for fun, I looked in the rest of the UK at that general jobs site (jobs.ac.uk) for any jobs in housing, and I couldn't find any that had been posted in the past three weeks. I thought that was interesting - there's been much more turnover in London than elsewhere.

-Anxiety

[Abe Sargent]

I started working on the Brunel Univ. Training and Quality position, and then I saw an essential qualification that I did not have, so I decided to not bother applying. In case you are wondering, that qualification was to be certified as a training specialist, and I have no such certification.

-Anxiety

[Abe Sargent]

I came across an event planner job for City University. It's not what I'm exactly looking for, but I may be willing to compromise.

-Anxiety

[Abe Sargent]

I am doing my typical Monday scouring of job postings. I opened up seven job postings oiver at jobs.ac.uk, and I am about to check out the individual job information. My hope is that at least one of these jobs meshes well with my skills and interests.

-Anxiety

[Abe Sargent]

Here are the six job postings I looked at earlier and what my decision on each is. There are six, not seven as mis-staed in the above post:

Job #1). Dean of Students - Huron University. Normally a jump from ACD to Dean would miss several intervening levels of hierarchy, but in this case, Huron as a whole is just 300 students, so its not as much of a promotion. It's still a promotion, though. Huron is an American institution. There's nothing in the list of responsibilities that I couldn't do. Another way to look at it is salry, which is just 26-28k. That tells me that is in my job range. In this case, they have listed no qualifications and don't have a form, they just want a CV (a resume) and a letter of application, which I assume is a cover letter.

This one may interest me.


Job #2). Head of Campus Services - Royal Veterinary College. I was hoping that this job would run a residence hall, but it doesn't. Instead it works with a physical plant to give services to various buildings and such at the college. This is a non-starter.

Job #3). Head of Building Services - Royal Veterinary College. If the first job didn't, work, I pulled up the second. This the same sort of job as above. These are both brand new positions - just created probably in some sort of reorganization.

Job #4). Community Development Manager - Brunel University. In American univeristies, the phrase "community development" is code for programming, events, dinners, and that sort of thing. I would be very good at that, and it would fall within my realm of expertise. In this case, however, the job's title refers to building relationships with the local community, businesses, and such. I had a lot of hopes for this job when I saw the title, but it's about something completely different.


Job #5). Campus Manager - Imperial College. I figured that this could be like the previous two jobs at the Vet College, or more like the sort of job I want. Unfortunately for me, it is more like the Vet jobs than my own. You run a few buildings, like I do, but they are non-residental, instead being medical buildings. That's nowhere near my area of expertise.

Job #6). Events Co-ordinator - City University. This one is much more along the lines of my expertise. For this job, well...here let me give you a quote:

"You will assist with the setting up, co-ordinating and supervising all events held in the University facilities. This includes client contact, customer care and assisting with marketing strategies and customer retention plans. You will be expected to build strong relationships and foster good team spirit with both clients and colleagues within the service and from other departments."


Here are the job requirements, copied and pasted for your consumption:

Person Specification


Essential


1. The post holder will need to display initiative, tact and diplomacy.


2. Educated to Degree level, preferably in a business-related discipline, or with demonstrable, relevant work experience

3. Computer literate, with experience in the use of a computerised booking system and familiarity with the full Microsoft Office Suite.

4. Ability to relate and respond directly to customers needs


5. Excellent organisational, interpersonal and communication skills with attention to detail.


6. Good at anticipating crises with positive attitude to problem solving.


Desirable

7. Experience of working within a service industry, hotels or venue finding agency


8. Experience of marketing strategies, sales targets and statistical analysis



While I don't have marketing strategies experience, I do have statistical training. I have everything else. This may be a job worth persuing.

However, I'm going to begin by taking a closer look at that Dean job.


-Anxiety

[Abe Sargent]

If you have any experience with higher ed, then you now that a large number of institutions prefer a large resume (called a CV in England, which I believe stands for Curriculum Vitae). These are large monstrosities four or five pages in length, and even administrative positions get these large resumes. A smaller group of institutions prefer a more business like one page resume. I e-mailed Huron and asked which they would prefer. I also asked if the cover letter and resume could be accepted by e-mail. (The posting is vague on this issue).

I will likely apply for the Dean position.


-Anxiety

[Abe Sargent]

Upon further review of the job requirements and description of activities, I do not believe that the events co-ordinator is up my alley. However, I am more than certain that I will apply for the Dean position after looking further.


-Anxiety

[Passacaglia]

Hey, just found this thread. It seems really cool, Anxiety, best of luck! Lurker and I talk about moving to London every once in a while, but who knows if we'll actually do it -- kudos to you for actually making the move!

Also, I think it would be hilarious if you ended up at Huron College.

[Abe Sargent]

Originally Posted by Passacaglia

Hey, just found this thread. It seems really cool, Anxiety, best of luck! Lurker and I talk about moving to London every once in a while, but who knows if we'll actually do it -- kudos to you for actually making the move!

Also, I think it would be hilarious if you ended up at Huron College.

Thanks a bunch for writing. In addition to posts on this thread, I've also gotten pms from a couple of people interested in moving as well. I think many of us in this life often think about moving, but we don't always know where to start or how to do it. I was inpired enough by my family's history and my own vacation to really search, but it was still hard to find a lot of this stuff. There's no one source for this information, so I hope that my collected works will prove helpful.

And that you'll keep reading, of course


-Anxiety

[Buccaneer]

Have you not had any progress with the positions you applied for previously?

[Abe Sargent]

Originally Posted by Buccaneer

Have you not had any progress with the positions you applied for previously?

Nope - none. And in job searching, no news is not good news.


-Anxety

[Passacaglia]

Originally Posted by Anxiety

Nope - none. And in job searching, no news is not good news.


-Anxety

I feel your pain on that one. I'm looking for jobs at the moment as well, in two different fields. I'm hoping that I can get a job for a company with offices in London, so I can transfer!

[Abe Sargent]

Originally Posted by Anxiety

I e-mailed Huron and asked which they would prefer. I also asked if the cover letter and resume could be accepted by e-mail. (The posting is vague on this issue).


-Anxiety

I received a response from Huron. They'll accept my CV and cover letter by e-mail and any size CV will suffice.


-Anxiety

[Abe Sargent]

My regular Monday update:

I check all of the sites and there is nothing worth mentioning at all. I'll work on my resume and go ahead and send it out to Huron, because there's really nothing else available right now.

I haven't heard one word from any job I've applied for.

-Anxiety

[Abe Sargent]

I received a personal e-mail back from Huron U letting me know that they received my resume and cover letter.

-Anxiety

[Abe Sargent]

I hit the websites again and found two new postings that might be of interest. I don't think that they will, but you never know. I've marked them both for a closer look later. One is a Policy Officer for a University non-profit organization of London universities. The other is called a "Front of House Manager" for Regents College.

Again, I'll take a closer look and see, but I have my doubts.

-Anxiety

[Abe Sargent]

I found out about a res hall director job available today. One of my contacts e-mailed me a job description. I e-mailed HR just now with this e-mail:


Dear ***** ********, Director of Human Resources:

I received an e-mail a few moments ago from an associate who was e-mailed by an associate and so forth through at least five or six different people. This is regarding an open posiiton that you have as a Managing Director for a residence hall in London.

By way of introduction, I am an area complex director here at Eastern Michigan University and I am wrapping up my fifth year here and my tenth straight year in housing. Unlike many of my colleagues who have degrees and training in higher education or student development, I have my Masters in Public Administration, where I was training budgeting, accounting, research and statistics, personnel, and organization. I have supervised between 20 and 30 staff each of my years here at EMU, as well as supervising the operation of several residence halls each year. I also have supervised our Assistant Hall Directors, who are working on higher degrees. We treat these staff as professionals, and include them in decision making meetings, let them run their own staff, and more.

I reviewed the attached job descripton and became very excited. I know that you would like my CV and cover letter sent to this e-mail address. I do have a few questions, however:

1). When would you like this information? Would early next week be alright? There was no deadline listed in the attached PDF file that I read.

2). Is it alright if I give my salary requirements in British pounds?

3). I have no working knowledge of UK charities. I'd be happy to study them and do research prior to taking the job. I'd expect to call up various local charities and set up lunches with them so that we could meet each other and develop local contacts immediately. Would this be accaptable? If not, then I appreciate your time, and just let me know.


Thank you for your consideration.


Sincerely,


Abe Sargent




Let's see what happens.

-Anxiety

[Abe Sargent]

Originally Posted by Anxiety

I hit the websites again and found two new postings that might be of interest. I don't think that they will, but you never know. I've marked them both for a closer look later. One is a Policy Officer for a University non-profit organization of London universities. The other is called a "Front of House Manager" for Regents College.

Again, I'll take a closer look and see, but I have my doubts.

-Anxiety

The second job is not down my alley and has numerous requirements I fail to meet.


Job the first isn't really that bad, and it would have been the sort of thing I would have been interested out of grad school, but I am now overqualified, I doubt it would give a work permit, and it's not that much money - that's three strikes too many.

-Anxiety

[Abe Sargent]

I just got back an e-mail replay:


Dear Abe,

Thank you for your interest in the Managing Director position with IES.
Please send us your cover letter and resume as soon as possible,
possibly early next week is great - even if you do not have experience
with UK Charities. Also, it is acceptable for you to send us your salary
requirements in British pounds.

Again, thank you for your interest in IES.

Human Resources


-Anxiety

[JonInMiddleGA]

Maybe they're just being nice, but I like the vibe of this most recent reply.

[Abe Sargent]

Originally Posted by JonInMiddleGA

Maybe they're just being nice, but I like the vibe of this most recent reply.

I hope so...

I got a good vibe from Huron, personally. They ended the job posting today, so I hope to hear from them next week. Emphasize hope

I think these guys above are a bit desperate. They sent out emails to all of their housing contacts saying that they didn't get good applicants their first time around, and one of my associates forwarded it on to me. They posted on an American job site, and some of the information contradicts itself. In that job posting they say that this is a Masters degree required position, but in the job descrption it links too, it says Bachelor's degree.


-Anxiety

[Buccaneer]

I am familiar with that type of response. It probably means one of two things: the need a pool of qualified candidates to justify EEOP rules or that they are eager to fill the position (which may work against you since hiring you would be more costly and time consuming).

[Abe Sargent]

Originally Posted by Buccaneer

I am familiar with that type of response. It probably means one of two things: the need a pool of qualified candidates to justify EEOP rules or that they are eager to fill the position (which may work against you since hiring you would be more costly and time consuming).

So, either they won't hire me, or they won't hire me, eh?

-Anxiety

[digamma]

I don't know if you have the means, but have you thought about booking a trip to London and adding to your cover letters, "I will be in London from x to x and would love the opportunity to meet with you then."

[Abe Sargent]

Originally Posted by digamma

I don't know if you have the means, but have you thought about booking a trip to London and adding to your cover letters, "I will be in London from x to x and would love the opportunity to meet with you then."

I'm not sure that is something I could do during the school year. I don't want to say "I'll be in London in May." That's too late. I hadn't thought about it until you mentioned something, so thanks for that

-Anxiety

[Abe Sargent]

I have several major job developments:

Firstly, I sent out the resume and cover letter to IES just now. I hope that will bear fruit.

Secondly, I checked the sites today and couldn't find anything of interest.

Thirdly, I was contacted and set up a phone interview for tomorrow afternoon. Ironically, it was not from a London university but from one of those two gaming jobs in Seattle that called.


-Anxiety

[Abe Sargent]

My phone interview was rescheduled for today. I'll let you know how it goes.

-Anxiety

[Abe Sargent]

Originally Posted by Anxiety

My phone interview was rescheduled for today. I'll let you know how it goes.

-Anxiety

I was told there are three phases:

1). Talking to this guy on the phone is the first phase
2). Talking to a panel from the company for the second phase
3). Face to face interviewing


I had the first phase today, and he told me on the phone that I will get a call back to schedule the second phase.


-Anxiety

[Abe Sargent]

Nothing new in the last couple of days London-ward, but the gaming company has scheduled me for a second phone interview on the 21st.


-Anxiety

[Abe Sargent]

I was doing my typical Monday cruise through websites and I came across something interesting:

Assistant Bursar, Commonwealth Hall
University of London

19-22k

The post is residential (single room) with a 5% reduction in salary. I would assist with the running of Commonwealth Hall in London.


The good:

This is in my field, it is exactly what I have experience with.


The bad:

The pay is low
I don't know if a lower job like this would allow a work permit
The room is only a single, which may no longer be enough space
This would be a serious step down in the ladder, and taking this job would serious damage my ability to get housing jobs in the future.


Still, I wanted to display the fruit of my labor.


-Anxiety

[Abe Sargent]

Nothing new for the mid-week. No comments about the job posting that I found on Monday eh?

I don't blame ya. It's not a very exciting prospect.

-Anxiety

[AlexB]

Originally Posted by Anxiety

Nothing new for the mid-week. No comments about the job posting that I found on Monday eh?

I don't blame ya. It's not a very exciting prospect.

-Anxiety

I read the salary, and my immediate thought was if the salary doesn't begin with a 3, it's not worth your while, either in terms of likelihood of getting a visa, or in quality of lifestyle that will provide in London, unless housing is thrown in for free.

I'm about 30 miles west London, was about 100 miles north previously, and the bare minimum I could see working for me, as a single bloke with not too expensive tastes, is about £28-£30k, plus car. That would give me enough to live pretty comfortably, but not anything to save in pensions, etc.

In London housing and general costs of living are much more, and I would have thought you'd need to add at least 10-20% to that figure, or have housing provided for the position to be worthy of consideration.

[Abe Sargent]

I checked major sites today and nothing new to report.

-Anxiety

[Abe Sargent]

I was doing my Monday job search and came across this job posting:

Associate Director
Student & Programme Affairs
Sloan and Executive MBA Programme Office

Useful Features

* Send me jobs like this
* Email job to a friend
* Back to Home

New Search

Keywords:

Keyword Matching:
Match All Match Any

Salary: £45,000 - £50,000 (dependent on experience & qualifications)

Closing date: Friday 24 March 2006

London Business School's Vision is to be the pre-eminent global business school, nurturing talent and advancing knowledge in a multi-national, multi-cultural environment. The Sloan, Executive MBA and EMBA-Global Programmes (the latter run in partnership with Columbia Business School in New York) are three of the School's high profile degree programmes. The Sloan/EMBA Programme Office is responsible for the strategic direction, marketing, admissions, and delivery of these programmes.

The new role of Associate Director will develop a strategic and operational programme management plan and lead the Sloan/EMBA programme management team in its implementation. (S)he will act as deputy to the Programme Director in all aspects of student and academic affairs for each of the three degree programmes and their four streams. The Associate Director will provide oversight of the needs of each individual student constituency whilst looking for synergies between the complex structures of the degree programmes.

Candidates for this position will need a first degree, and preferably a postgraduate degree, ideally an MBA. You will need to have gained significant, ie a minimum of eight years, experience at a senior level in higher education or a corporate training and development function.

Other skills/personal qualities required include:

* People management skills (responsible for managing a team of four Senior Programme Managers, each of whom have a direct report).

* Budgetary management skills (responsible for a budget of £1.2m).

* High level communication and relationship building skills.

* Excellent organisation and planning skills.

* Strategic thinking.

* Commitment to customer orientation and service.

* Innovative approach with proven problem solving skills.

Salary commensurate with the role, skills and experience. Benefits include generous holiday entitlement, season ticket loan, contributory pension scheme and excellent recreational facilities, including on-site swimming pool, spa pool, sauna and fully equipped gym.

To Apply: Send a CV and a covering letter, quoting ref. AD to:

Human Resources,
London Business School,
Regent's Park
London NW1 4SA

Alternatively you may email your application to [email protected]

A job description and more information on London Business School can be found at www.london.edu

London Business School is an Equal Opportunities Employer.


It's not exactly my cup of tea in terms of experience, but it does have a lot of things that I like, beyond a livable salary. It'd be a work permit-able job I feel. It'd be something I could easily do. Who knows? I'll take a closer look in a bit.


-Anxiety

[Abe Sargent]

I have sad news. Today brought the following e-mail to my box:

Dear Mr. Sargent,

The Search Committee met recently to make a final decision on the shortlist for
the post of Dean of Students at Huron University USA in London, for which you
recently applied. I am sorry to tell you that, in this instance, your
application was not successful.

Thank you again for your interest in Huron University USA in London.

Sincerely


Office of the Provost


-Anxiety

[3ric]

Too bad. Was that the best job in this thread you've applied for?

[Abe Sargent]

In London, I thought that I had a real shot at LSBU's Senior Residences Manager. I applied for that job prior to my application being sent in to Huron, so I suspect that I didn't get shortlisted for it, either.

-Anxiety

[Abe Sargent]

*Sigh*

I haven't updated this in while, and let me fill you in as to why. I had applied for a job as the Community Manager of HeroClix at WizKids. This would be a great job! The Brand Manager contacted me and we set up our first interview. I made an initial cut down to about 5 or so canddiates in the pool.

He told me during the interview that he wanted to call me again, this time with some additional people interviewing me. This took a week and a half to set up. At the end of the second interview I was told that I had made a cut down to two candidates for the postion.

I was amazed and stunned. For the past week, my heart pounded whenever I thought of the job, and I didn't have the strength to look for other jobs that might be available. Therefore I didn't post here.

Just a few moments ago I received a call from the Brand Manager. He told me that they are putting the position on hold for at least several months. I asked him if he would circulate my information among other open positions at the company, and he agreed that he would.

So, I'm back to square one. I'll go off and take a look at job opportunities that are available in a few minutes and post my results here.

-Anxiety

[Abe Sargent]

The first place I head to is the classic jobs.ac.uk website. I discover a fine job.



"Residence Manager (Residential Post)
Residential & Catering Services

£23,843 - £28,462 PA

We seek an experienced individual to take responsibility for the effective operation of our Dante Road student residence, which consists of just over 400 bedrooms located in self-contained flats.

You will assume responsibility for the effective operation of the site including meeting service delivery standards, co-ordinating cleaning and maintenance, monitoring health and safety and working within financial targets. In addition, you will perform on-call duties on a rota basis. In return for this responsibility, a rent-free, self-contained flat is provided.

You will have at least 3 years' experience in a management/supervisory capacity within student accommodation or similar. This should include responsibility for soft facilities management. You will also have a hands-on, customer focused approach and excellent organisational and people management skills.

As well as attractive working conditions, 26.5 days annual leave and a final salary pension scheme, we can also offer you excellent opportunities for training and personal development."

-Anxiety

[Abe Sargent]

That job is the only real one that I find on the jobs.ac.uk site. I start hitting the individual colleges and I notice something odd. The jobs are really poor. I finish my search with Middlesex Univ, the last University in my list.

I would have been really discouraged if I had been actively searching these past couple of weeks. I'll apply for the LSBU job above for sure.


-Anxiety