So, Dinner with the Queen? Or a Dinner fit for a Queen!

I have got a FANTASTIC NEW JOB! We had decided to keep it quiet after all the stress of that other job at Easter, the job was advertised in the paper on a Saturday and I spent a weekend trying to revise my CV taking on board some of what Chalky had learnt at his careers session he had when we first moved to Oz. In the end it just didn't feel right to me and so I adopted some of the lessons from Chalky's session and I phoned the company, sold myself to the manager who was recruiting, got a copy of the Job Description and wrote the most 'in your face' application letter I'd ever done. Applications closed 10th July and I hadn't heard anything so I followed up with another phone call expressing how interested I was in the role and how right I was for the role...

Then on 2/8 I got a phone call - was I available for an interview 8/8/07 at 9am! I've always done well in interviews, especially interviews first thing in the morning. It was a very structured interview - panel of 3 all asking a question in turn. Very competency based and I needed to give examples of how I could demonstrate that I could do the job.

The final question - thrown in for a little fun was "You can invite 3 people over for dinner, alive or dead, who would you invite and why?" Before I could stop my mouth from moving the words 'The Queen' came pouring out...(then my mind registered what I'd just said and I was praying that none one on the panel was a republican!) so I continued saying how much I love the Queen, her discipline and strength of character and her humour and I'd love to meet her, my prospective boss then said "ME TOO!" so I breathed a BIG sigh of relief and thought 'this is in the bag, the job is mine!' In case you're interested I followed up with Jamie Oliver, so he could do the cooking and I'd have more time to chat with Queenie and I respect Jamie as he seems to have a very balanced life, he seems a good dad and husband, has a passion for what he does and also gives back to the community - characteristics that I admire. Finally since I would expect Chalky to also be at our table I chose Sir Steve Redgrave for him as it's one of his biggest regrets that he didn't go in 2000 and see him win Olympic Gold for the 5th (I actually said 4th but it's wrong) time and I know Chalky would love to meet him and be inspired. (Chalk has since told me that he'd be as happy if I invited Cameron Diaz to dinner but hey, it's me sending out the invites...!)

It was supposed to be a one interview session and they were going to make a decision quickly and if successful I should hear within the next few days. Driving to work on Monday I got a phone call on my mobile from a private number - I answered with my heart in my stomach and it was EnergyAustralia they started by saying "thanks for coming in for the interview last week, we were really impressed (at this point I was just waiting for the BUT!) instead came and we'd like to invite you back to meet the senior managers and to just further discuss the team and the role in a little more detail, was I available the next afternoon? OF COURSE!!!!

Going back the next day I knew quite quickly that I was going to be offered the job, I wondered if they could tell exactly how excited I was from the goofy grin I felt was all over my face!

So after a quick chat with the senior boss I learnt that the team is really under performing and that I would have quite a bit of work to do but the only way is up and they were really pleased to have me on board and I would have their full support for the job!

I was planning on just going straight home so I could tell Chalk face to face but I couldn't contain my excitement when I left and I phoned him straight away! I just screamed into the phone. Unknown to me he'd considered following me into the city and was planning on being in a pub near by so that when I phoned him I could just meet him and we'd celebrate straightaway but then he thought that if I didn't find out how would he explain where he was and it would make me feel under more pressure!

So as I walked in our front door I heard the clink of glasses and the pop of a champagne bottle! He'd made reservations at the Summit http://www.summitrestaurant.com.au/ - the revolving restaurant in Australia Square, we were going out to celebrate! After making a few quick calls to share the news with family we headed into the city, stopping off at Zeta Bar http://www.zetabar.com.au/ for a cocktail before walking down to the summit, neither of us could stop smiling and it was a perfect evening. The food was divine and our conversation was so positive and full of energy. Certainly a night I won't forget and so perfect that we celebrated straight away.

The view from the restaurant

I've handed my notice in at Sony and my last day there is Thursday 6th Sept, I've got a week off before starting at my new job on 17/9. My new job is in the city, down near Chinatown, I work a 9 day fortnight and have a team of about 12 to manage! I'm sure that I'll do another post soon to tell you more details.
Zeta bar is also in London next time you're visiting as for the Summit that's a Sydney only experience and certainly worth doing so be sure to add it to your itinerary!