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October 18, 2006
Got a job!
Yep, the market is vibrant at the moment for software developers. You are guaranteed to get a job here in London full stop. I was a bit specific on the roles, I told the recruiters that I was looking for front office position in banks, preferably investment banks, hedge funds or other similar organisations. As London is one of the world greatest financial centres, there are lots and lots of investment banks here. Hedge funds are interesting organisations, the most successful ones have tons of money and they pay exceptionally well, or so I've been told by the recruiters. It has been a roller coaster ride, some days I was very busy answering phones, but when the quiet day came, it could be so frustrating waiting for recruiters to call you back.
Well the search has ended, I got a contract position with the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CIBC) World Markets. This is the investment bank arm of CIBC, one of the "big five" banks in Canada. When Nicoll Curtin rang me about this position, I knew this is what I wanted. Investment bank, not too big and big draw card is the front office system. Awesome! They work very fast and obviously with less than usual banks' red tape. I had the phone interview on Friday morning, called my agent straight away and told him that they want to see me on face to face interview at 4pm. They seem to like me and put the offer on Monday morning. My agent asked me to come in and sign the contract on the same morning. Good stuff, I'm liking this place already.
Posted by vhadiant at 03:54 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
London
I've been here over two weeks but haven't done much touristy stuff because I have been busy with the job hunting. I don't think I'll enjoy the constant interruption from the recruiters while strolling through museums/art gallery. It will be just as bad trying to receive a call in the middle of Picadilly Circus (not a real circus).
I am currently staying at friends' place in Chiswick, a rather leafy neighbourhood in west London. They've been living here for almost a year and - fortunately for me - they've been a superb localish guide for London. On my first weekend in London they took me to their regular Friday night dinner club. All 13 people in the table were Australian, from Sydney. This is awesome, doesn't matter where you are, a bit of home is always nearby :)
Last weekend was my first London tourist outing. We went to the Borough Market where I had my first taste of the English cider. The hip Leicester Square to watch The Devil Wears Prada which was quite entertaining. That's it, haven't really seen that much of London but I'm liking it already. Coming here I have a bit of a doubt whether I'm going to like it or not, or whether I want to stay longer than a year. We have to see, if I can handle the gloomy winter then I believe London has much to offer.
Posted by vhadiant at 03:33 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
October 06, 2006
Street Fighter: The Later Years
What happened to Zangief & Dhalsim after the world renown Street Fighter tournament?
http://www.collegehumor.com/video:1711287
Posted by vhadiant at 09:45 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
October 04, 2006
In London
After four months of travel, I've finally reached London. This time for a while. London, as expected, is super expensive, especially in Australian dollars. I haven't been doing that much of touristy stuff since I got here last Sunday, I have been catching up with friends over the past few nights and job hunting in the morning.
Currently staying at one of my best mates in Chiswick, which is a really nice area in west London. I'm really fortunate to be able to stay here for now, complete with internet access for job hunting. He has a nice setup here.
I'm planning to put a closing post of the travel within the next few weeks - that's if I can get my lazy self to do it! For now my faithful readers thanks for following my adventure for the past four months :) From now this will change into 'Living in London' blog.
Posted by vhadiant at 12:19 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
October 01, 2006
Vitoria-Gasteiz
My last port of call. Because of time constraint (and yesterday's hangover) I didn't have much time to see Vitoria. But I did manage to see the Artium, Vitoria new's museum of contemporary art, which has some interesting collection. It isn't big, but it's a good sized museum. I made an effort of waking up a bit earlier than usual this morning so I can walk around Vitoria for a bit, saw a lot of Basque nationalist posters.
I'll be flying off to London in the next few hours, there is only one airport bus at 1:15pm catered for the one and only Ryanair flight to London. That's funny, didn't need to tell the tourist office about my flight, she knew I'm flying Ryanair at 3:45pm. London here I come (again ...)
Posted by vhadiant at 12:16 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
