I haven't posted in awhile as it's been crazy since I moved here...getting the kids into school...job search and all that!
I just wanted to pop in to say that I got a job. In the grand scheme of things, I'm guessing that 5 months to find a job after leaving my US, rather high level job, and moving here with no contacts or UK higher education experience, wasn't too bad. However, I applied for about 40+ jobs and got rejected for all but one of them. Getting rejected so many times, was incredibly hard on my self-esteem and made it difficult to keep looking. The job I accepted is with University of Warwick, in the business school (I worked for ASU in the b-school in the US), so it is where I want to be, but a MUCH lower position than I had. After a couple of months of applying to jobs at my former level, I started applying for entry level positions in the areas I wanted, and found I got a lot more interest that way. I am at a much lower level of pay (about half) than what I was at in the US, but I am hoping to learn the systems and processes here and then start working my way up again. It's also nice to have a job that I can leave at work and don't have to "take home" with me.
So, out of about 40 applications, I got 5 interviews, and 1 offer. I started my job 2 weeks ago. Have to get used to being paid monthly again!
But the benefits are fantastic: 30 days paid holiday, plus 8 national days, fantastic sick leave, and for the 5% I put into the pension plan, UW matches 10%. Also, 36.5 hour (enforced!) work week.