I have decided to give you what you want. This week, I have made the decision to talk about job-seeking, my curriculum vitae and actual unemployment, woe and misery writes Henry Mackley.

So, I’ve been fiddling around with my CV and it has more holes in it than Swiss cheese.

As I mentioned in my first blog here, my career history is chequered. A bit of this here, some of that there and something of the other over there.

This does not make for sexy CV material. It’s not entirely my fault – in recent times, frankly I’ve been shafted, but try explaining that to a potential employer.

My background may be ‘eclectic’, shall we say, but it’s a good one – there’s coherence and I have a proven track record in having been pretty okay at having a job.

But if you’re going to employ me, what you need to see is that I can hold down a job for more than a fortnight and my CV doesn’t explain why I have been unable to do so. A covering letter might do this, but it’s a long shot.

Now, this is where I expect the virtuous and angry employed of Shropshire to start whingeing in the box underneath with quips like:

“The world doesn’t owe you a living, go and work as a cleaner.”

“I’ve worked nights in a dog food factory all my life and it’s never done me any harm.”

“Your correspondent needs to swallow his snooty pride.”

Etcetera, etcetera.

However, if I did this, my CV would only end up looking worse.

I may well be able to get a super position at the dog food factory (I haven’t tried) but I’m rubbish at cleaning, and employers would know that I’d still be on the lookout for a job more suited to me.

This would merely make for an even worse CV. Instead I shall persist until the funds run dry, in looking for work that suits me.

All work is honourable and no job is better than another, but I have a baby due in eight weeks’ time.

I don’t want to be saying to my child in years to come: “Daddy could have done so much better, but he settled for second best.”

• Henry blogs at This could be Ludlow or anywhere

Image by the Italian voice on Flickr.