The other job is

Sales Manager - Mining Supplies.

Not what I want to be doing really. In charge of a bunch of salesmen who are either good, and making money, and want to be left to do things the way they always have, or are demotivated, and happy to just tag along. Either way, not a good situation.

If I leave my current job, I think it would be to get out of sales. Been doing it for a long, long time, and don't really have that "thing" anymore. Or at least, I do, but don't want to. Sales is hard going. Targets increase exponentially year on year, but salaries don't. Customer base is actually decreasing with the growth of service providers of one type or another coming on stream.

Business is driven solely by shareholder expectations, to hell with the fact that the client actually expects something for his money. Good is never good enough. Statisticians say the market is growing at 12% per annum, so you boss expects the same of you. Fair enough, does this mean I can expect a 12% increase then?

Then, as a manager you have to put up with resignations, 7000 different excuses for poor performance, you have to fire people, hire people, motivate increases, meet the boards expected growth year on year, and fuck the fact that no-one is buying. Aah, to hell with it. I don't think I want to do that. Too much like work..........

Salagatle!

THAT call.....

Everyday, some where, someone gets THAT call. In different countries around the world, THAT call means different things, but generally, I suppose, THAT call could / would be one to tell you that someone near and dear has passed. We all have got them, and will get them, and you almost expect it, sometimes.

However, In South Africa we have a broader option when we talk about THAT call.
It's the school asking you to come and see them for something your kid did.
It's your security company to tell you that your home has been broken into.
It's your wife to say her car's been stolen outside the mall.
It's a friend to say so-and-so has been mugged / robbed / hijacked / raped / murdered.

Or, it's a family member to say "We're emigrating"!

I got that call last night. For those of you who don't know, Seaman R.Bay is my little brother. http://seamanrbay.blogspot.com/
He works for a large multinational company, and on their internal net he found an advert for a job in Australia. He submitted his CV and stuff, and yesterday was successful with the telephonic interview. He's made the shortlist. Now they are going to fly him and his wife to Oz to have a look at the town they will be living in, and the place where he will work. All this at the company's cost. If he likes it, and is made a firm offer and accepts, they will assist him with all the mandatory, like applications / work visas, etc. They will also pay for his move, and stuff.

It's a massive opportunity for him and his family, and as excited that I am for him, it will also break my heart. But he must go. He owes it to himself, his family, dammit, he owes it to me. We must be all that we can be. And if others must pain for some to succeed, well then so be it.

I love you boet, you know this, and I will dearly miss you and your family, but I will never regret telling you to go.

Salagatle!

No Ops Man. job for me

OK, so the idiot ops manager who's position I had sent in my CV has withdrawn his resignation. Shyte. But, the position he was going to, at a competing company, that of Sales Manager - South Africa is still vacant. I have the contact details of the director responsible, and may submit my CV to him instead....

Salagatle!

Writer / Poet / Author / Dunce

This weekend was spend doing a some of the maintenance that goes with being a homeowner. I'm always surprised at how much can get done if you put your mind to it, and at how much I am capable of (handyman stuff) which other people pay good money to have done.

It also gave me a lot of time to think about various things, not least of which was my friend Ross's blogg. (I linked it in one of my previous bloggs, and its CNUT in my list of Links)

His latest offering was about a relationship he had, and how it went kind of squiggly on him. Now, we've all had good / bad relationships, but how many of us have the ability to make a riveting story out of it? How many of us can capture the minds of so many readers, for more than a few minutes anyway? He's such a great writer.

Anyway, so I went through some of my relationships in my head, and I couldn't string together more than a couple of lines of anything interesting for any one of them. Is it because I have a poor recollection, or are my experiences just less interesting (no question about that), or is it just that I am not a good "story teller"?

Whichever, I know that I can't pull this one off, so I'll stick to my "Explosive" poems, which may never get printed, but damn well are a reflection of my inner self, and possibly my soul.

Well, I like to think so anyway.......


Salagatle!

My CV is out there....

Last night I gave out my CV. I have been approached for the position of Ops manager for a firm specialising in mining solutions, very much technology driven, and based on safety. A friend is one of the owner / partner / directors, and said I would fit the bill. When he collected the CV from me he was more than impressed. On a short discussion about salary, he indicated that what I was earning now was not a problem for them to match.

So, with some luck, I may be out of this place in a month or two (or three) and into a new position, with new challenges, and opportunities. It's been 11 years since I joined this company, and I've seen a lot of changes. It's not the same place anymore, and the "fun" of working here is no more.

Here's hoping that if I do get this other job that it will be rewarding, and financially beneficial to me and my family.

Salagatle!