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Newsletter – September 17, 2009 – France, Fish and Jobs
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Hi,
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France
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This newsletter is a bit late this week. We decided to get away to the South of
France for a few days of sunshine and sea before the winter sets in.
But the best laid plans……………………….
We have managed to pick the one week of the last several weeks where there has
been lots of wind and rain passing through.
So instead of lazing on the beach we have had to resort to doing touristy things
instead. Fortunately we are in an area rich in history and scenery (the coastal
strip just west of Provence) so there is lots to see.
And don’t forget the great wine and food.
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Fish
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I can’t talk about French food without a mention of a very special person.
It’s not often I do obituaries but here is an exception. At my age (a remnant of
the 1960s) I am used to seeing icons and contemporaries drop off the peg one by
one, and I have been mostly philosophical.
I was pretty cut up by the death of John Lennon back in the 80s, but then I was
certainly not alone.
However, I discovered someone else in the 80s, who, although nowhere near as
famous as John, has in his own way contributed hugely to my quality of life.
That man was Keith Floyd, who has just died from a premature heart attack at the
relatively young age of 65.
For those of you who don’t recognise the name, Floyd was one of the first of the
TV celebrity chefs, and for me still the greatest.
His TV shows of the 80s, “Floyd on Fish” and “Floyd on France” were turning
points in my life. I had believed the myths about France that were quite common;
the French don’t like English speakers; French food is complex, expensive and
“up itself” etc.
Floyd opened my eyes to many things; what a stunning country France is; how warm
and friendly the people are if you put away the Anglo-Saxon prejudices and how
totally wonderful is French provincial cooking – not complicated, not expensive,
just simply delicious.
He turned me from a person who could barely boil an egg to one who is at ease
with cooking and eating (and drinking wine!) in the French way.
RIP Keith – you will be sadly missed.
I hope the Food Police don’t use this sad death as more ammunition in the war to
get us off the perceived “nasties” in real food or mount further attacks on wine
consumption. I suspect Keith’s early demise was more down to excessive lifelong
smoking than his eating and drinking.
I guess he also had a very stressful life in trying to run successful
restaurants. I take my hat off to people who can do that. The daily unremitting
stress must be amazing. It makes my own job of IT Project Manager seem quite
gentle in comparison.
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Jobs
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A recent newsletter mentioned the current
pressures on the IT jobs market.
Here are some interesting statistics. We
conducted a global survey last year of one day’s job adverts using the job site
www.jobserve.com
We have conducted the same survey periodically
since. The results are:
Permanent Jobs
Country
August April July September
2008
2009 2009 2009
USA/Canada
6367
1815 1356 1278
UK
4440
1197 1220 1183
Australia
461
108
116
131
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Contract Jobs
USA / Canada 1932
861 495
787
UK
2209 827 878
810
Australia
309
131 105
88
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ALL Jobs
USA / Canada 8299
2676 1851 2065
UK
6647 2024 2098 1993
Australia
770
239
221 219
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A few conclusions can be deduced from this.
The pattern in all regions is similar.
One note of caution however. You might expect
the USA numbers to be much larger than shown, given the relative size of the
economy of the USA compared with the UK and Australia. This can be explained by
the fact that the job site we use for the survey is more popular in the UK and
Australia than it is in the USA.
The figures show good news and bad news. The
good news is that things are not getting any worse, leading to the conclusion
that the worst is behind us. The bad news is that things are fairly flat and
still way down on a year ago.
Total jobs in USA are still only 25% of last
year, UK 30% and Australia 28%. This means there is a lot of recovery still to
happen.
The odd thing is that there has not been a
similar free fall in pay rates on offer. The rates seem to have dropped
somewhat, by maybe 10%, 15% or sometimes even 30%, but you might have expected
much worse in the circumstances.
What this means is that the IT sector still
offers one of the best prospects of a long and profitable career. Those in work
are still doing very nicely indeed. As the recovery picks up there will be a
sharp rise in job vacancies to re-skill those organisations who have been
indulging in the “slash and burn” tactics of the last twelve months.
So the message is still the same. Don’t
abandon IT for something else, but use these difficult times as an opportunity
to re-focus or re-skill yourself.
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Many IT topics are discussed at length in our e-books. “Jack’s Guide to Lots
More Money”, available at
http://www.jacksguides.com/itjobs.html ,talks about how to really get into
the IT industry, how to get the right skills and, once you are in, to progress
to the best paid jobs.
And don’t forget our special offer. For a short time we have slashed the price
of this e-book. You can get the book now at only $16 – less than half price. You
can even get the extra value pack for only $24 – a massive saving. Get yours now
by following this link.
http://www.jacksguides.com/orderlmm.html
It won’t be around long at this price.
If you are ready to make the leap into a much
better paid job or contract, and be perfectly positioned as the recession eases,
see our website at www.jacksguides.com
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Previous newsletters.
In response to several requests, we have published many of our older
newsletters. You can find them at
http://www.jacksguides.com/news.html
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This newsletter is published by Kevin Ramsey for Jack's Guides.
Copyright (c) 2001 - 2009, all rights reserved.
No portion of this publication may be reproduced
or transmitted without the express written consent
of the publisher or contributing editors and or writers.
DISCLAIMER: We disclaim any liability for the use of
Any contributed information contained herein.
I hope you've enjoyed this issue of our newsletter.
Please let me know if you have any questions, suggestions or requests.
Enjoy and prosper in your chosen career.
Till the next issue.
Kevin Ramsey
Founder of Jack's Guides