Well I am now bilateral that is I now have a BAHA for each side of my head. I just have a demo unit for now but am hoping to get my own in the near future. I have definitely noticed an improvement in sound quality and I no longer have to worry about which side I have to sit or walk on in order to hear people. I have had a bit of issue with a metallic like feedback that just comes from the demo BAHA but I assume that the volume is just a bit too high on it.
In terms of other stuff it's been a bit up and down in terms of the job situation, there seem to be quiet periods were there are very few relevant jobs being advertised and other periods when I am spending lots of time preparing for interviews. Unfortunately I've still had no solid offers for jobs. It is very frustrating given that I am getting interviews, I feel the interviews go well (and I certainly have learnt a lot and am much more prepared than I was when I first started having interviews) and I am getting great feedback. Unfortunately in many cases the competition is so high and the feedback is that someone else had more direct experience.
I had applied for a job before Christmas and I was invited in for a chat about it, unfortunately I was later informed that I hadn't got it but that competition had been high with a total of 76 people applying for the single position, many of them with PhDs like me. During a quiet period when there were few jobs appearing and nothing much happening I decided to go back to the person and ask if there would be an opportunity to get some experience in the laboratory. The person very generously agreed and allowed me to come and spend two days in the lab. This was great as it allows me to show employers that I have been productive, it has given me recent lab experience and it has also given me experience of a commercial lab i.e. one outside of a university setting. The company are currently very busy but the person running it has generously offered for me to come in for a longer period at a later date and gain more experience. It shows that people are not all bad and it's certainly not a case of me working for free given that the person I was working with had to take time out of their own work schedule to show me how to carry out the complex process that they do on a daily basis.
I am currently waiting for feedback from two big interviews I did unfortunately it seems they are very quick to reject you but not so quick to provide feedback. It is very quiet in terms of jobs becoming available at the moment but I'm hoping that will change soon or I will hear back about some of the many jobs I've applied for in the past months (and am definitely qualified for!).
Thanks for reading,
James
