I got an email this afternoon from the HR Manager at Orion, another energy company, regarding the Commercial Analyst role I applied for the other week. He wants me to call him to arrange an interview. Exciting, eh?
Len was on the phone at 5pm tonight, so I didn't get the call, but the guy from the recruitment agency I spoke to earlier today about Ravensdown, the fertiliser company, left a message to let me know that they want to proceed with my application so the next step is the psychometric tests. Someone from the company that deal with it should be in touch with me tomorrow, I am led to believe. Good news, eh?
Oh, and I forgot to mention, yesterday when we were in the city I found a place that sold pearl tea. I love this country!
This morning I had a 55 minute call from the recruitment agent dealing with the Ravensdown job, as I mentioned the other day. It seemed to go well, I think. I do hate those competency-based questions though. "Can you guide me through step by step what you did during a project that you started, progressed and then saw through to the finish?" "Can you describe to me a time when you weren't able to source some information you required?" Pfff.
The guy gave me more info on the job too and it all sounds rather interesting. Basically, in a nutshell, it seems that the company are keen to develop their sales and marketing teams so that they're more commercially aware and focussed. One way they see that happening is through the development of a 'standardised suite of core business analysis to support the sales and marketing teams and drive improvements in business productivity and profitability'. The role will mean getting down and dirty with analysis and data sourcing and working with IT on the information exchange and transfer systems as well as being involved on the Sales and Marketing Management Committee aiding in the decision-making process. I think I'm quite keen on the role, actually. It does seem like a good fit, and being a new role, should provide a great opportunity and an interesting challenge.
In terms of the company, they're an old-fashioned, family-type company (they still provide morning tea for the head office staff each and every day!) with an active social programme. All in all it sounds like a winner. All I have to do now is wait to see if I've been shortlisted. The next step are some psyc tests followed by an interview with the general managers of the sales and marketing departments, if I make it that far.
Regarding other irons in the fire, on the job front, the recruitment consultant dealing with the Meridian role likes the look of my CV and wants to see me on Thursday morning at 10am at her office. Can do.
So, only a couple of days left in Auckland now. It's been so nice and relaxing, but in a different way to Leigh. Yesterday Len, Val, Joanne and I went out for brunch before taking a drive along the harbour front (the one day I forgot to take my camera!) and then in the evening I knocked together another banana crumble for dessert. Tonight I think Joanne's two step-sisters, Emma-Jane and Becky, are over for dinner, and then tomorrow is something I am really looking forward to. It turns out that there's a churrascaria here in Auckland. Can't wait to see how it compares to Rodizio Rico or Fogo de Chao.
As lovely as it is to see Len and Val and spend some time with them, and I know Joanne is enjoying seeing her dad, I think I'm ready to head down to Christchurch now. I just wanted to get things moving. I feel like I'm in limbo and just want to get settled.
A couple of hours today were spent wandering round the Food Show. We didn't need any lunch. From Turkish bread to Cadbury's chocolate, from biltong to gingerbread icecream, from beetroot chutney to raspberry and apple juice, there was a very wide range of foods and drinks to try. So we did. Just sampling a bit of New Zealand culture and heritage, I reckon. It was all in the name of assimilation and no gluttony or self-indulgence at all, oh no.
Another couple of hours were spent trying to get to the bottom of quite what bank accounts and credit cards we're going to sort out for ourselves. It's a right con here, you know. The banks charge you for having accounts and credit cards with them. As if they don't make enough off you by earning interest off the cash they hold for you or by charging you interest on money they lend you, they then charge you for the priviledge. How does that make sense, eh?
Emma-Jane, Val's eldest daughter and Joanne's step-sister, nipped round to see us this afternoon, which was nice. She's hopefully going to come round on Sunday for dinner with her sister Becky to give them and Joanne a better chance to catch up. It's weird to think of Joanne having all this family (four sisters and one brother if you count the three step-sisters and one step-brother). For most of the time I've known her it's just been easy to forget that she has all this family back here. Does that make sense?
And speaking of family, Joanne phoned her sister, Rissy, on the Gold Coast, yesterday evening, but she was out. She still managed to chat to all of her nieces and nephews though, from Leon on to Xavier to Renee to Sarah to Koby (who's only two and a bit, I think). Not sure when we're going to head over to Oz to see them all, but hopefully sometime before Christmas, although that of course depends on work.
And speaking of work, there's some news regarding the job hunt for me. The employment agent dealing with the Ravensdown analyst role got back in touch with me and we've arranged an initial phone call for Monday morning at 9:15. Ravensdown is the largest supplier of fertiliser in Nuzziland.
Also I noticed a role on the Seek website for a data analyst last night tha I seemed to have the skills for. I got in touch today with the recruitment agent dealing with the role and found that it's with Meridian Energy who are the largest state-owned electricity generator in New Zealand. Interestingly, they operate nine hydro-electrical power stations and a wind turbine and wind farms too. They only generate using renewable sources and are the only energy provider with certified carbon neutral electricity, which is nice. And they're a shareholder in Whisper Tech, the company Joanne's going to be working for. Small world, eh? I'm in the process of arranging a meeting with the recruitment consultant. She wants to see me next week so hopefully we can sort something out for Thursday morning, once we're down in Christchurch. Fingers crossed, eh? It'd be nice to get something sorted. Everyone keeps telling me not to stress and to enjoy the time off, but I don't like the idea of Joanne going out to work and me sitting at home. I'd rather be working too, I think. I'd kind of feel guilty otherwise.
First off, happy birthday, Mum. I hope you have a great day! The card is in the mail, I'm just not sure how long it will take to arrive from here.
I'll tell you one thing, I'm glad we decided against moving to Auckland. The traffic is mental. At just after 4pm this afternoon as we got the bus home from the city centre the traffic was already queued up all over the place. Having to spend an hour a day each day each way in traffic for work would get too much for me quite fast, I think. Sure the tube in London is hot and sweaty and packed but it works (most of the time) and means you don't have to endure traffic jams. Traffic would get tiresome rather fast.
So yeah, we went to town today and spent hours traipsing round one bank after another tracking down all of Joanne's many and scattered bank accounts changing the name on the account to her married name. But at least it's done now. We just have to decide which bank to use for our current account once we start getting paid. And who to use for savings accounts. And who for credit cards...
We also went in to the AA building and got forms for me for converting my UK driving licence, got Joanne's expired driving licence renewed, joined me as an associate member to Joanne's AA membership and also bought me 'The Road Code', the Kiwi version of the UK's Highway Code, so that I can swot up before my driving theory test that I have to pass to get an NZ driving licence.
We also had coffee, muffins and lamb shawarmas.
We nipped into Vodafone to check out mobile phone packages while we were passing too. And then Telecom. We thought they were the only two options. As Telecom don't do sim-cards it means there is actually only one option. Talk about a monopoly. So, if we want to get NZ sim-cards to go in our phones we have to go with Vodafone. And, as you might be able to guess, no competition means it's not cheap. Also it seems the guy in the shop reckons Vodafone has just got rid of their bottom three tiers of gprs data access packages, meaning the minimum level is 200MB a month, way more than I'd use. The Vodafone website would beg to differ, however. It's most confusing.
Being out and about Joanne and I also took the chance to check out cars as they drove past. We were thinking of a Mini for the city run-around, but we now realise they only do 2-door models. And we remember when we had the Hyundai Accent what a pain it was at times only have a 2-door car. So the Mini idea is perhaps out of the window. Discussing it last night we thought about maybe a new-model VW Beetle, or perhaps a Ford Ka. However, it seems, judging by today's empirical observations, that both of those only come in 2-door flavours too. Pants, eh? So now the current thinking includes a VW Golf, a Mazda 3 or a Honda Jazz (following in the footsteps of Matt & Kazumi, Derek & Phong and Davin & Irene!) We'll have a look around once we get to Chch though, and take a few for a test drive or something.
One thing that amazed me today, being out and about in down-town Auckland, was what a high percentage of people there were of Chinese decent. It seemed every second person, especially of those under 35, were either Malaysian, Singaporean or Chinese. I had heard all the stories about the number of young people from these countries coming over here, but it still surprised me to see it today. I don't know why, but I always imagined the NZ population to be mainly Maori and European in origin. In Auckland, at least, there's more to the jigsaw than two pieces.
Finally today, there's bad news on the work front for me. I had gotten impatient waiting for my ex-boss to get back to me regarding that spreadsheet project he had said he'd put my way so I emailed him last night. I got up this morning to find an email from him saying that his partner in the project has discovered that there may well be interal expertise capable of building the spreadsheet model they need after all. Oh well. It was a nice idea, I guess.
So, we're back in Auckland now, at Jo's dad's place. We arrived at about 9-ish and it's been a pretty relaxing day not doing a lot, which is nice. I'm having to use Len (my father-in-law)'s computer while I'm here as he doesn't have a wireless router I can tag on to. Unfortunately that may limit how much I get to write on here.
We don't have an awful lot planned for our week here, other than spending time with Len and Val. Tomorrow we may take a bus in the centre of town and have a wander around and do a few admin-y things like getting me added on to Joanne's AA membership. And then Friday Len, Joanne and I are probably going to check out The Food Show. As the website says "this event is huge and it showcases the products of nearly 300 exhibitors spread over a whopping 10,000 square metres of space". I thought it might be a good way to sample a few Kiwi food brands. I think the first time we go grocery shopping down in Chch may well be a time-consuming experience.
And while we're thinking about food, another Cadbury's bar in the 'Dairy Milk Desserts' range is Banoffee Pie. It's probably even nicer than the Fudge Brownie stuff.
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