Well another week has come to an end, and it has been a distinctly unproductive one. I had hoped that following the bank holiday season the job market might have improved but this has proved not the case.
My summary for the week is very disappointing and I am beginning to become more concerned for my current situation and the job market as a whole.
So far this week I have received one rejection before the interview stage, and have received confirmation that there are two employers who are still considering my applications in order to forward to the first interview stage.

Looking through the job boards I notice that there have been no new vacancies advertised for two or three weeks, and the ones I have already applied for have fairly long closing dates.
The vast majority of my online applications have been through recruitment agencies of one form or another and unfortunately a large proportion of these agencies will not continue to communicate unless I chase them up. A notable exception to this is an online organisation called Blue Octopus, who send me a weekly update of my applications with a full explanation of the current status. However other recruitment agencies who I have only dealt with following their approach to me, then fail to follow-up with any further news on my application status unless I contact them, then there is usually some excuse or other offered for the lack of communication. What they don’t seem to realise is that in the majority of cases they each offer the same excuse, which becomes slightly monotonous and demonstrates the lack of professionalism of some of these agencies.
I look forward to the day when I have an input from the other side of the desk, I certainly know which of these agencies I would not deal with again.

I have also made an application this week which was totally a change of direction. The position, which I found on the job center website, is for an auditor working for an international travel company. I submitted my CV and cover letter on Wednesday, and although I have yet to receive a reply, I am confident that my letter demonstrates that my past experience would transfer well into the role.

I live in hope, and continue to scour the job boards.