It’s been an interesting past few days. Tomorrow (Monday) was supposed to be my first day of work at Jigsaw, but there was an unexpected turn of events on Friday. Previously I had interviewed for two positions at University College Dublin (UCD) but was not selected for either of those jobs. However, a third opening at UCD in their Research Finance Office came up after my initial acceptance of the offer from Jigsaw, and they invited me to interview for it on Thursday. I honestly didn’t think the interview with UCD went that well… it lasted about 45 minutes and the three panelists asked fairly general/generic questions. I knew the director of the Research Finance Office from one of my previous interviews, which was a plus. At any rate, around midday Friday I received an email from the UCD recruiter saying that they wanted to invite me to “complete the next stage of the resourcing process.” In other words, I’m their top candidate, but before making an offer, they asked me to provide references, send them documentation about my most recent salary / compensation levels, and complete some other standard paperwork.
Meanwhile, I still had not received the final contract from Jigsaw… given that it was Friday afternoon and I was supposed to start on Monday, the process seemed very last minute. I had called the HR person earlier in the week to check in, after not having heard anything from her in a week, and was told the contract would be forthcoming soon. There were other times along the way that details had fallen through the cracks, so it wasn’t that surprising that I hadn’t received the contract yet. But now that I’m expecting an imminent offer from UCD, I was faced with a dilemma… it did not feel right to start work at Jigsaw as planned on Monday, only to quit once the UCD offer came through. I decided to call the Jigsaw HR person and tell her that something unexpected had come up at the last minute and that I needed to put things on hold, without providing any further details. The conversation went as well as could be expected; she was understanding but said she needed to update others about the situation and would call me back before 5:00pm (which she did not). We tentatively agreed to check-in on Wednesday of this upcoming week, at which point I hope I’ll have something more from UCD. It’s very unfortunate timing, but the UCD job would pay significantly better and would be much more aligned with my skills and experience, so I have to do what’s best for me. More to come!
In non-career related news, Dublin has continued to wake up from its long and sleepy lockdown. This is the first full weekend that outdoor seating has been open for restaurants and bars, and everywhere has been packed. Thankfully it’s been much calmer and civil compared to last weekend’s unruly crowds. The weather has continued to be warm and also fairly humid, with partly cloudy skies and highs in the mid 60s to low 70s F / mid 20s C. I’ve moved the fan I usually have running in my bedroom at night into the living room, which has been enough to keep the apartment comfortably cool.
A view of the Liffey lined with rainbow banners for Pride month:
The scene in Temple Bar has been busy but less chaotic with outdoor seating in front of the many restaurants and pubs:
The food truck we wanted to try, The Salty Buoy, is set up in the Dublin 8 district, not far from the Guinness brewery. I ordered the “Hake Kiev” with chips (i.e., fries) — it was very good!
Until next time….
