Job Chevron – Sharp Bends Ahead!

Creag Dhubh (Craig Dhu) from Glentruim to Monadhlaith Mountains

Twenty-0-nine: September, unforgettable day
Employment cut; redundancy, cheque, bye-bye!
An arduous tenure, a decade earning every penny;
Instant garden leave - IT policy, no friendly goodbye,
Timely communication to boot, 4 days, and a birthday!
Sad and angry, so abrupt and uncaring: professional irony.

Pick ‘yourself’ up, plentiful cash: Carpe Diem - seize the day!
Applying for roles I knew I could nail, and pressed to introduce
All my experience in several strong fields; I’d soon B making hay!
Countless cover letters and CV edits; few replies, what to deduce?
My approach, age, education, nationality, or stigma of redundancy...?
Two years on, confidence, cash, severely stretched: not even deuce!

Twenty-ten: Added knowledge and skills, employers wanted to buy,
Streams of applications with wider scope; a few phone interviews
Twenty-eleven: Day, month, year; lost track of time, still no hay!
Daunting prospects; unemployment rising - challenging times.
I can’t compete.  And, after careful lifestyle deliberation I say
I’m heading north with Highland aims, and to die for views.

Twenty-twelve: Another year of survival, too soon & here.
A new application, for a well-suited post, may be my last
Post Olympic effort; I wait for interview results to hear.
If not, there is always next year! But how long can it,
I,
Last? - TPH

Looking NE of Newtonmore (BR) to Cairngorm Mountains

Looking East of Newtonmore to Grampian Mountains