• Notice regarding image hosts and attachments. See here.

The 2025 Bum Thread

Bassmansam said:
Were you job searching for all of that 6 months? If not, how long did it take you to find a job. Been just over 3 months for me and 4 interviews and have got none of them! Trying to work on my interview skills. I find it difficult to think on the spot about examples of work i've done but i'm now compiling a document of examples so that I am better prepared for upcoming interviews.
Click to expand...
No, I went travelling for a bit. I was job searching for 2 months. But I was lucky I had 2 competing offers come through at the same time for very good jobs (by today's standards) . I'm pretty good in interview and got offered them both. But other than that interviews for decent jobs were barren. I went to a couple of others but they were poor pay or too far to drive.

I did get offered all the jobs I interviewed for.
 
Last edited:
413x said:
No, I went travelling for a bit. I was job searching for 2 months. But I was lucky I had 2 competing offers come through at the same time for very good jobs (by today's standards) . I'm pretty good in interview and got offered them both. But other than that interviews for decent jobs were barren. I went to a couple of others but they were poor pay or too far to drive.

I did get offered all the jobs I interviewed for.
Click to expand...

Wow, 100% success rate then, very nice.What year was this?
 
Bassmansam said:
Wow, 100% success rate then, very nice.What year was this?
Click to expand...
Last July. 2025.

Ita grim out there. I used to be fighting off recruiters. Now I barely hear a peep.

I was hoping to do contracting full time. But if after 2 years my employer offers me perm. I will take it way world is.

Pension is great, I like the people (first time in a while) and it's a really nice environment and full time work from home.



I am extremely good at reading body language so I can mirror the environment, of it's casual, if it's formal (in an interview) . I'm realistic and fairly honest. Apparently one of the best pointa my manager said was when he asked me "do you see yourself wanting to stay after 1 year contract is over?". I said "I can't really say right now, but if I'm happy with the job and you're happy with me then yes".

Or something like that. I didn't just say "yes definitely" like others.
 
Last edited:
413x said:
Last July. 2025.

Ita grim out there. I used to be fighting off recruiters. Now I barely hear a peep.

I was hoping to do contracting full time. But if after 2 years my employer offers me perm. I will take it way world is.

Pension is great, I like the people (first time in a while) and it's a really nice environment and full time work from home.



I am extremely good at reading body language so I can mirror the environment, of it's casual, if it's formal (in an interview) . I'm realistic and fairly honest. Apparently one of the best pointa my manager said was when he asked me "do you see yourself wanting to stay after 1 year contract is over?". I said "I can't really say right now, but if I'm happy with the job and you're happy with me then yes".

Or something like that. I didn't just say "yes definitely" like others.
Click to expand...
Actually i think my last interview (last weds) went pretty well. I had prepared a few model answers so will see what the feedback is.

Your example reminds me of one question that I may have not done so well on which was " why did you apply for this job?" Answer: The job spec aligned with my previous experience and i want to continue developing my skills in BI, I was also made redundant.Maybe i could have expanded on that and includd why i wanted to work for that company specifically.

I've not applied for any contract roles but i do see a lot but its not worth it for me at the moment and my insurer has said i cannot apply for contract roles, only perm.
 
Last edited:
Been on vacation (well the Mrs technically, I was along for the ride).. back now refreshed.

So far I've been completely stone walled by the guy I had a call with before the break, even with a little reminder. Now that's quite rude.. I can only assume given I've demonstrated I'm able to do the role.. that it's either age gap related or he just didn't like that I could use AI to create software quickly (he explicitly stated he didn't like AI in the call). The older guy in the call seemed positive..

Anyways. I'm back now to work out how to get a job.. I'd started on the contracts but that's also a cave without an echo.
 
11 years in the same company, recent change of ownership and lots of cultural changes, so going for voluntary redunancy end of year so will enter 2027 without a job.

Market seems tough for finance.
 
Last edited:
MissChief said:
I heard they had fun and games? (Sorry)
Click to expand...

Well I applied for a role it matched through their site, and looking at the update page it says it couldn't submit the role. The role doesn't exist on the company web page. Looking further it's 2 months old. Changed the filter to 3 days.. and there's three roles, none are a match. I bet GnR didn't have that problem.
 
Last edited:
wingman said:
11 years in the same company, recent change of ownership and lots of cultural changes, so going for voluntary redunancy end of year so will enter 2027 without a job.

Market seems tough for finance.
Click to expand...

Seems particularly brutal due to the volume of competition. I'd be starting now and not waiting till Jan to start.
 
NickK said:
Seems particularly brutal due to the volume of competition. I'd be starting now and not waiting till Jan to start.
Click to expand...

All over it already, applied for many jobs and had a couple of interviews. My ideal situation would be to have Jan off and have something lined up for early Feb but of course if something comes up in the interim, I won't say no to it.
 
wingman said:
All over it already, applied for many jobs and had a couple of interviews. My ideal situation would be to have Jan off and have something lined up for early Feb but of course if something comes up in the interim, I won't say no to it.
Click to expand...

On the plus side it's the best time of the year for it as people inevitably quit/move right after bonuses are paid.

Absolutely no need to tell anyone you're being made redundant yet; as far as they're concerned, you're happily employed and merely considering your options.

If you're doing anything tech-adjacent in finance, then I'd suggest perhaps going to some meetups (people are actively looking to network at those things and someone in a growing team will often be happy to refer someone for an interview that they met at an event and think seemed quite sound) and also maybe trying some sort of side project(s). And reach out to old colleagues- anything to get your CV put in front of a hiring manager by some means other than the regular application process gives such a huge advantage.
 
Last edited:
dowie said:
On the plus side it's the best time of the year for it as people inevitably quit/move right after bonuses are paid.

Absolutely no need to tell anyone you're being made redundant yet; as far as they're concerned, you're happily employed and merely considering your options.

If you're doing anything tech-adjacent in finance, then I'd suggest perhaps going to some meetups (people are actively looking to network at those things and someone in a growing team will often be happy to refer someone for an interview that they met at an event and think seemed quite sound) and also maybe trying some sort of side project(s). And reach out to old colleagues- anything to get your CV put in front of a hiring manager by some means other than the regular application process gives such a huge advantage.
Click to expand...

Appreciate the guidance, good shout.

I am thinking of starting up Ltd company between now and the end of the year for a side gig in finance consulting, bit bored of typical PAYE employment now in all fairness but I guess many of us feel like that when we hit our mid thirties.

I'm more interested in data manipulation/PowerBI adjacent finance, so with the time I have now until the end of the year I'm going to teach myself as much as possible on that front.
 
Starting to gear up again. I've been away and I've also been focusing on *me* and health with bootcamps which have been going well.. I can now survive and not be laid out for the day. As a result I have more energy, the joints aren't falling apart, blood pressure dropping, and feel a little more positively motivated (the boot camp has goals too so it's pushing a routine and goals).

There's a few tweaks I can make to the CV, but I'm happier looking for specific roles. There does seem to be more roles appearing, although the caveat of competition still remains.

Incidentally the volunteering seems that the CEO/engineer doesn't like AI in any form, and so I've decided rather than attempt to steer him on the subject, it's better to look at options elsewhere. It was distracting and the guy never responded after the interview, even with prompting. He's even been called out by a fellow contributor when he gave his contribution a generic AI rebuttal. Wish him the best.
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: RxR
There's a possibility I could be posting as a bum after yet another round of consultations were announced last week. It's only been 15 months since the last round, and after investigation it seems there's no protection time limit between rounds.

I've been asked to put myself forward as a Rep this time, has anyone done similar previously?
 
Random ping out of the blue - seems an old colleague from a previous workplace is basically wanting someone to come in and sort out a problem, sort of "not got time to sort it" style of ask. So currently redoing the CV, the role he recognises is a little junior for me but at the same time he needs someone he can trust to address the problem... pay ok, and essentially he's sponsoring my application for it. There's some technical I need to get up to speed on but I would suspect it's less of a problem for this particular role (it's more oversight) so I can upskill quick.
Fingers crossed this seems like an interesting role to get back on the hobby horse.
 
NickK said:
Random ping out of the blue - seems an old colleague from a previous workplace is basically wanting someone to come in and sort out a problem, sort of "not got time to sort it" style of ask. So currently redoing the CV, the role he recognises is a little junior for me but at the same time he needs someone he can trust to address the problem... pay ok, and essentially he's sponsoring my application for it. There's some technical I need to get up to speed on but I would suspect it's less of a problem for this particular role (it's more oversight) so I can upskill quick.
Fingers crossed this seems like an interesting role to get back on the hobby horse.
Click to expand...
The best kind of ping! Good luck with it.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom