Hows and Whys

Looking for a usable map that shows the US eastern coastline and Bermuda...not found it yet.

I get rather a variety of distances from NC depending on the source - here is one: Bermuda lies about 570 mi (920 km) southeast of Cape Hatteras, N.C., U.S.

This is a pretty schematic map of the nation. There is one airport - referred to as Hamilton, but it is the one in red up there near St. George/St David's. Cruise ships come in to St. George, into the Naval Dockyard area on the opposite end of the island from, and into Hamilton's terminal along Front Street of the city proper.

My temporary abode is in Paget Parish, basically due south of the dot shown for Hamilton, practically on the southern coastline. (If you are looking at the scale on the map, you get some idea how close that is.)

A couple of Bermuda-local media sites (don't expect the NY Times): www.royalgazette.com, and www.bermudasun.com. (Finally figured how to embed links!)

And here is one on Paget Parish: http://www.bermuda-online.org/seepaget.htm

Answer to one not-uncommon question: How did I find the job? (i.e., How can I find a job there, too?) The job was posted on the American Planning Association's jobs listing website (http://www.planning.org/jobs/search/). I'd applied back in maybe February or March, got a letter notice (oddly exciting to get mail in envelopes stating "In the Service of Her Majesty") that I'd made the first cut - and heard nothing for months.

Now, senior jobs in the public sector often take just ages to process thru the steps - I'd say an average of 2 months from closing date to when you hear if you made a first cut, and another 2 months to go thru the winnowing and interview process. (Having said that, some have processed inside of a week, and others have called for the first serious contact 6 months after the closing date.)

The processes can be practically on-the-fly or (more often) multi-stage. Some involve multiple sets of essay questionnaires to the ever-winnowed pool of potentials, an on-line personality/management style test, a phone interview, a video-conference interview, then be brought into the jurisdiction for a 1 to 3 day process. Some places (to my mind rather unaccountably, given that the positions were not entry level) required college transcripts as part of the initial application; several required essays on a series of set topics; almost none required letters of reference or work samples. A few requested not fewer than 15 references with full contact information by specific category - community, co-worker, supervisor, those supervised, other departments, friends outside of any work environment. (For those of you who have served as references, thank you for your patience and kind words!)

With Bermuda, after a long period of hearing nothing (April until August), I got an email asking if I was still interested in the position, and once they got the set of interviewees organized it processed quickly. I had a phone interview of sorts, then a panel interview by phone (those are inherently disconcerting), and found the position would be offered if I wanted to accept it, a sort of 'you-first, no, please, you' scenario. The panel interview/tentative offer all happened quickly.

The offer had to be approved through the hierarchy, of course, altho this took rather longer than I'd previously found to be typically the case. I kept being told things were fine, dont worry, this is just how the process works, which helped but didnt still my concerns - because once I agreed I was also to stop my job search. (This is because there is a lot of time and work involved in getting the work permit - given that I was being hired into the government, the fast-track process is about 3 months - and they didnt want to have to do it again.)

The application for the work permit required a lot of materials - police records report, school transcripts, written letters of reference, a chest xray, a doctor's medical evaluation, clearances for security checks, etc.

I have email saying Immigration has approved me for the actual permit; that the paperwork has gone to the Governor; that once he has signed off (presumably this past week) Immigration will jump on the 5-day process to actually release the landing papers if not the formal work permit. We will take care of the contract signing and that part of things once I've arrived, which allows the actual work permit to be issued. (They really really want me to get started! And, yes, I have read the standard materials used.)

Ergo, I am apparently being met at the airport by my boss-to-be, with landing papers in hand. (Wonder how that will match up with the practically royal reception in St. Petersburg?) It will be nice to get the final paperwork and feel 'real'!