Source: (consider it)
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Thread: All new job search support thread
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MrsBeaky
Shipmate
# 17663
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Posted
My husband didn't get the job.
They said his CV was good, he interviewed well although he had a tendency to wander off topic but in the end he has too much experience ( for which probably read too old) He is handling the disappointment well. Back to the drawing board but the age factor does not bode well on the employment front.
for all you job seekers- stay strong!
-------------------- "It is better to be kind than right."
http://davidandlizacooke.wordpress.com
Posts: 693 | From: UK/ Kenya | Registered: Apr 2013
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Piglet
Islander
# 11803
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Posted
quote: Originally posted by MrsBeaky: ... the age factor does not bode well on the employment front ...
A friend (aged 60) who recently lost her job to the much younger person she'd trained told me that the careers adviser she spoke to had suggested not putting dates on your CV, and being much more vague about the length of your experience. At 55, I'm seriously considering taking her advice.
When I completed my secretarial course and was probably better-qualified than most (I had Highers, while most of the people applicants for such jobs only had O levels), what the employers wanted was experience (which of course I couldn't get until I got a job).
Now that I've got it, they don't want it, but they'd quite like me to have a PhD.
You can't win.
-------------------- I may not be on an island any more, but I'm still an islander. alto n a soprano who can read music
Posts: 20272 | From: Fredericton, NB, on a rather larger piece of rock | Registered: Sep 2006
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MrsBeaky
Shipmate
# 17663
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Posted
I agree, Piglet
We had already removed most dates from the CV and I think that's why they called him for interview. However they had also asked for a copy of his passport and other documents to be brought to prove he was eligible to work in the UK- which of course had his birth date on..... Hey Ho
-------------------- "It is better to be kind than right."
http://davidandlizacooke.wordpress.com
Posts: 693 | From: UK/ Kenya | Registered: Apr 2013
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Piglet
Islander
# 11803
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Posted
Well, exactly. Even if you don't tell them your age, they're bound to find out, whether through checking your certificates (which obviously have dates on them) or getting your National Insurance number or whatever.
Anyway, what's wrong with 20-something years of experience?
-------------------- I may not be on an island any more, but I'm still an islander. alto n a soprano who can read music
Posts: 20272 | From: Fredericton, NB, on a rather larger piece of rock | Registered: Sep 2006
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Lamb Chopped
Ship's kebab
# 5528
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Posted
Trust me, Piglet, they don't want you to have a PhD. I did my best to undoctor myself for just that reason...
-------------------- Er, this is what I've been up to (book). Oh, that you would rend the heavens and come down!
Posts: 20059 | From: off in left field somewhere | Registered: Feb 2004
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Pigwidgeon
Ship's Owl
# 10192
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Posted
quote: Originally posted by Og, King of Bashan: I have had it drilled into me that a hand-written thank you note should always be sent a few hours after an interview or networking meeting. Yes, it sounds completely archaic and a bit forced, but it's in every American university's career service office's handbook.
I just came across this -- while looking for something totally unrelated, of course.
-------------------- "...that is generally a matter for Pigwidgeon, several other consenting adults, a bottle of cheap Gin and the odd giraffe." ~Tortuf
Posts: 9835 | From: Hogwarts | Registered: Aug 2005
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Ian Climacus
Liturgical Slattern
# 944
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Posted
Fascinating. A Thank You note would never enter my mind.
Nor no prophet's follow-up email with a better answer; I've pondered it -- always think of a better response -- but never had the guts.
Files this away in my mind should I ever find myself in need of a job in the North Americas...
Posts: 7800 | From: On the border | Registered: Jul 2001
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Lamb Chopped
Ship's kebab
# 5528
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Posted
I've always sent thank you notes but typed since this is business after all. It's manners (which tends to shock people and hopefully they remember you out of the herd)
-------------------- Er, this is what I've been up to (book). Oh, that you would rend the heavens and come down!
Posts: 20059 | From: off in left field somewhere | Registered: Feb 2004
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no prophet's flag is set so...
Proceed to see sea
# 15560
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Posted
Perhaps against the grain, our last 2 hires are over 50 and I think one is probably over 60. But I would never ask such a thing (even if t'were legal).
All I can say as advice on interviews: make good eye contact, show good nature (usually not leading into outright humour), and ensure you have a question or two yourself. Displaying nervousness or lack of focus aren't good things. We're usually not interviewing about qualifications, we're interviewing because you have the qualifications (you made the cut), and we're going to talk to your references in any case to confirm. We want to know if you're going to fit in, and if we will find you a reasonable colleague.
-------------------- Out of this nettle, danger, we pluck this flower, safety. \_(ツ)_/
Posts: 11498 | From: Treaty 6 territory in the nonexistant Province of Buffalo, Canada ↄ⃝' | Registered: Mar 2010
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MrsBeaky
Shipmate
# 17663
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Posted
Two more jobs in the offing which my husband is going to apply for- this time with the added complication that he would much prefer one over the other but there is a week's delay between the interviews....and the less attractive job is the first one so he now has to figure out what he does and says IF they offer it to him.
Hey ho!
Hope all is well with all you other job seekers- it's stressful isn't it?
-------------------- "It is better to be kind than right."
http://davidandlizacooke.wordpress.com
Posts: 693 | From: UK/ Kenya | Registered: Apr 2013
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Piglet
Islander
# 11803
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Posted
Best of luck to Mr. Beaky!
-------------------- I may not be on an island any more, but I'm still an islander. alto n a soprano who can read music
Posts: 20272 | From: Fredericton, NB, on a rather larger piece of rock | Registered: Sep 2006
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Jengie jon
Semper Reformanda
# 273
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Posted
Mr Beaky needs to remember that job interviews are as much about him deciding whether he wants to work for that company as much as it is about them employing him. Therefore, I am praying for clarity after the first interview.
Jengie
-------------------- "To violate a persons ability to distinguish fact from fantasy is the epistemological equivalent of rape." Noretta Koertge
Back to my blog
Posts: 20894 | From: city of steel, butterflies and rainbows | Registered: May 2001
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Sioni Sais
Shipmate
# 5713
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Posted
After 5 years supply teaching on the strength of a 2:2 in Biochemistry and a PGCE, Eldest Son has decided to get the heck out of teaching before it does him in.
He's had a good number of interviews following long-term supply assignments but failed to impress at this stage, only to be called back to cover for the appointed teacher who has either gone sick/on maternity/not shown up at all which while providing work and wages, doesn't provide security for his family. He's got irons in the fire, but prayers and suggestions are welcome.
-------------------- "He isn't Doctor Who, he's The Doctor"
(Paul Sinha, BBC)
Posts: 24276 | From: Newport, Wales | Registered: Apr 2004
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Zappa
Ship's Wake
# 8433
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Posted
Thanks for the prayers, by the way. I'm also trying to gain a Diploma in Conflict Resolution. I'd have to say, though, that my dismissal last year, even though I was later vindicated and reinstated, has knocked whatever confidence i might once have had (as against bravado) out of the universe.
(tear for self - selfish but honest!).
-------------------- shameless self promotion - because I think it's worth it and mayhap this too: http://broken-moments.blogspot.co.nz/
Posts: 18917 | From: "Central" is all they call it | Registered: Sep 2004
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Doone
Shipmate
# 18470
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Posted
Oh Zappa, I'm not surprised
Posts: 2208 | From: UK | Registered: Sep 2015
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Zappa
Ship's Wake
# 8433
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Posted
In the last couple of weeks i found myself some of the time starting to believe there could be life again ... it's sad how much of believing in being alive is tied up with being employed.
So I'm rehashing my CV for a couple of school positions ... I doubt I'll get the university job as they tend to be in-house, and my qualifications are slightly tangential to what they're after (NT Theology with life experience, they want Pastoral theology woth or without life experience!). It's the other end of the country, too, and only part time.
The pub job fell though (as did a truck driving job, a hospice pastoral care coordinator job, a book shop job, a city council communications job ... )
So ... there's a couple of school chaplaincies floating around. We'll see how they go. One, that I'd prefer, is secondary and full time, but 250 kms away (nice package though ). The other, that Kuruman* would prefer for me, is nearby, and primary ... with the disadvantage that I'd have to be licensed by the Very Nice Bishop who fired me.
* infrequent around the Ship these days, but She With Whom I Share A LIfe
-------------------- shameless self promotion - because I think it's worth it and mayhap this too: http://broken-moments.blogspot.co.nz/
Posts: 18917 | From: "Central" is all they call it | Registered: Sep 2004
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Piglet
Islander
# 11803
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Posted
Zappa
-------------------- I may not be on an island any more, but I'm still an islander. alto n a soprano who can read music
Posts: 20272 | From: Fredericton, NB, on a rather larger piece of rock | Registered: Sep 2006
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Zappa
Ship's Wake
# 8433
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Posted
quote: Originally posted by Zappa: The other, that Kuruman* would prefer for me, is nearby, and primary ... with the disadvantage that I'd have to be licensed by the Very Nice Bishop who fired me.
Rejected on that one - and that is the one I had the best chance at. Just a little too fast for me to fail to detect a whiff of Very Nice Episcopal™ interference.
-------------------- shameless self promotion - because I think it's worth it and mayhap this too: http://broken-moments.blogspot.co.nz/
Posts: 18917 | From: "Central" is all they call it | Registered: Sep 2004
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Caissa
Shipmate
# 16710
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Posted
Have you considered suing the SOB, Zappa?
Posts: 972 | From: Saint John, N.B. | Registered: Oct 2011
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Pangolin Guerre
Shipmate
# 18686
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Posted
Looking for a bit of advice.... I'm going to be applying as editor/translator to a very millennial firm, international "solutions", meaning marketing, branding, restructuring (none of these words would they use) from a very tech savvy perspective (they're big into speculation about the internet of things at the moment). If space speaks to the interior (design as metaphor)... they're in a very swank loft in a late 19th century warehouse or factory. I'm about eight years older than the CEO.
The work is potentially fascinating, but I seem to be a culturally odd fit. My instinct is to play up the differences rather than trying to feign similarities. I am by nature sceptical of technology, certainly of the enthusiasm for it. Their overarching approach is what they call anthropological - and it is, mostly - and I'm comfortable with it, but my background is history, philosophy, and finance, which I think that I could easily integrate with their vision, though I suspect they might not think so.
If clothes make the man, my instinct is to wear one of my more fashionable summer suits (off-white, dark blue shirt, yellow/blue tie, matching pocket accent) - definitely outside the office style. I suppose that I'm positioning myself as office flaneur.
Thoughts?
Posts: 758 | From: 30 arpents de neige | Registered: Nov 2016
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Amanda B. Reckondwythe
Dressed for Church
# 5521
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Posted
Try to find out what other employees, men approximately your age and similar in rank to the position for which you are applying, wear. Then dress as they do, only somewhat more conservatively.
And everything must match, fit you perfectly, be clean and pressed, and shoes polished. Check the soles -- not new, but not worn out either -- no holes, definitely!
Absent that, dress conservatively: dark business suit (never brown), white (only!) shirt, red conservatively patterned tie, black socks and shoes (again, never brown). Again, everything spotlessly clean and pressed.
-------------------- "I take prayer too seriously to use it as an excuse for avoiding work and responsibility." -- The Revd Martin Luther King Jr.
Posts: 10542 | From: The Great Southwest | Registered: Feb 2004
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Lamb Chopped
Ship's kebab
# 5528
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Posted
I could be totally wrong, but from your description I'd say the opposite--to be a bit free-er in dress than the complete conservative suit stuff. But then, I'm in America, so take with a wheelbarrow of salt, okay?
I've had two interviews with millennial-heavy companies in the past year and gotten both jobs, and in both cases I--er--dressed like a millennial. Or at least like a person-of-my-age who nevertheless knew what millennials were wearing and tipped my hat to it while not making an absolute fool of myself (I'm old enough to be their mother).
One was a major financial firm, the other a tech-heavy nonprofit. [ 20. June 2017, 03:00: Message edited by: Lamb Chopped ]
-------------------- Er, this is what I've been up to (book). Oh, that you would rend the heavens and come down!
Posts: 20059 | From: off in left field somewhere | Registered: Feb 2004
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Caissa
Shipmate
# 16710
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Posted
I think Pangolin is in Quebec based on the location. I would tend to agree with Amanda's advice but maybe wear a coloured shirt.
Posts: 972 | From: Saint John, N.B. | Registered: Oct 2011
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Leaf
Shipmate
# 14169
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Posted
And bright socks, possibly papal red. Get thee to Harry Rosen!
Posts: 2786 | From: the electrical field | Registered: Oct 2008
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Zappa
Ship's Wake
# 8433
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Posted
quote: Originally posted by Caissa: Have you considered suing the SOB, Zappa?
But he's Nice™, and yeah, been there, done that, got the tee-shirt but can't show anyone.
Went for a stiff walk with the dogs (could equally post this on the depression thread) and feel I can move on but it was a kick in the guts. Predictable, probably, but I've never claimed to be the brightest knife in the sandwich and I have this naive belief that reconciliation is a thing in Mother Ecclesia.
-------------------- shameless self promotion - because I think it's worth it and mayhap this too: http://broken-moments.blogspot.co.nz/
Posts: 18917 | From: "Central" is all they call it | Registered: Sep 2004
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Lothlorien
Ship's Grandma
# 4927
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Posted
quote: Originally posted by Zappa: quote: Originally posted by Caissa: Have you considered suing the SOB, Zappa?
But he's Nice™, and yeah, been there, done that, got the tee-shirt but can't show anyone.
Went for a stiff walk with the dogs (could equally post this on the depression thread) and feel I can move on but it was a kick in the guts. Predictable, probably, but I've never claimed to be the brightest knife in the sandwich and I have this naive belief that reconciliation is a thing in Mother Ecclesia.
Dogs are good in situations like that, Zappa. Walks are also good for you.
Reconciliation? Tell me about it. Or perhaps don't. I have found that constant hashing over ithings for every Tom, Dick and Harry is not always a good thing, but exercise helps, especially with the dogs. [ 20. June 2017, 20:54: Message edited by: Lothlorien ]
-------------------- Buy a bale. Help our Aussie rural communities and farmers. Another great cause needing support The High Country Patrol.
Posts: 9745 | From: girt by sea | Registered: Aug 2003
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MaryLouise
Shipmate
# 18697
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Posted
Zappa
-------------------- “As regards plots I find real life no help at all. Real life seems to have no plots.”
-- Ivy Compton-Burnett
Posts: 646 | From: Cape Town | Registered: Nov 2016
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MaryLouise
Shipmate
# 18697
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Posted
Good luck, Pangolin -- a bright shirt or tie sounds good to me but I'm terminally untrendy.
-------------------- “As regards plots I find real life no help at all. Real life seems to have no plots.”
-- Ivy Compton-Burnett
Posts: 646 | From: Cape Town | Registered: Nov 2016
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Amanda B. Reckondwythe
Dressed for Church
# 5521
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Posted
You do not want to call attention to yourself. You do not want your clothes to be a distraction -- either up or down. It is you who are being interviewed, not your wardrobe.
-------------------- "I take prayer too seriously to use it as an excuse for avoiding work and responsibility." -- The Revd Martin Luther King Jr.
Posts: 10542 | From: The Great Southwest | Registered: Feb 2004
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Leorning Cniht
Shipmate
# 17564
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Posted
quote: Originally posted by Amanda B. Reckondwythe: You do not want to call attention to yourself. You do not want your clothes to be a distraction -- either up or down. It is you who are being interviewed, not your wardrobe.
But perhaps your wardrobe is part of your image. It depends what you're interviewing for.
I think the overarching consideration is to dress appropriately for the job. And if the job you want involves you dressing in a fashion-forward, flamboyant fashion, that's what you do for the interview.
Only it's a job interview, so you turn it up a couple of notches in formality. Basically, wear what you would wear if you had got the job you're applying for, and are asked to speak in public on behalf of your employer.
(My place of employment has a decidedly casual dress code. "Average" dress for people like me would be jeans and a shirt. When I interviewed for my job, I wore a suit. When I interview people for jobs here, I expect them to wear a suit. I'd be surprised if someone turned up in jeans to interview for a job, and it would probably count against them, although it would be rare indeed for us to have two candidates so closely matched that their choice of interview dress was a deciding factor. Something more like a blazer and khakis would be fine, though.
When I give "external" presentations, I wear a suit.)
Posts: 5026 | From: USA | Registered: Feb 2013
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Brenda Clough
Shipmate
# 18061
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Posted
My husband is a computer geek, which means any clothing at all is suitable as long as you are not actually nude. (A wide latitude is given to people who can make large data systems dance; also the computers have to be kept cold so in fact people bundle up.) However, when he applied for his current job, he did wear a jacket and tie. All his friends there (he knows everyone in this corner of the industry) cried, "Oh, you didn't have to dress up for us." But he said it was necessary, even if the interview was a mere formality.
-------------------- Science fiction and fantasy writer with a Patreon page
Posts: 6378 | From: Washington DC | Registered: Mar 2014
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Pangolin Guerre
Shipmate
# 18686
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Posted
Amanda! You shock me! Such a conservative approach!
If I am granted a conversation, I have decided to go the "southern gentleman" approach. (I'll expect them to provide the mint julep - I don't think that I should walk in with one in hand.) White suit, blue shirt, yellow/blue tie, brown leather shoes, brown socks with blue and yellow flecks, and a decidedly sceptical attitude toward technology-enthusiasm. I shall report back.
Zappa, you are in my thoughts and prayers. As one of our First Nations writers says, Be brave, Stay strong, Wait for the signs.
Posts: 758 | From: 30 arpents de neige | Registered: Nov 2016
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Welease Woderwick
Sister Incubus Nightmare
# 10424
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Posted
The last time I was interviewed for a job it was one in which, if I got it, I would be expected to be a little outrageous so I dressed what I thought was appropriately, sort of semi-formal [pressed trousers, subdued shirt, colourful tie - I think it was a Warner Bothers one but BRIGHT!] - it was fun and I got the job.
I spent a few years after that being outrageous, it was fun! Nothing is quite like upsetting the blue rinse brigade - and getting paid for it!
-------------------- I give thanks for unknown blessings already on their way. Fancy a break in South India? Accessible Homestay Guesthouse in Central Kerala, contact me for details What part of Matt. 7:1 don't you understand?
Posts: 48139 | From: 1st on the right, straight on 'til morning | Registered: Sep 2005
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MrsBeaky
Shipmate
# 17663
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Posted
My husband got neither of the other two jobs that I mentioned above. However through his volunteering in the charitable sector he has picked up some temping work with one organisation and there is a future possibility of a part-time admin post in another organisation if the funding comes.... Meanwhile due to budget cut backs my old school is only occasionally using me for teaching cover.
Trying not to worry! It's tricky isn't it?
-------------------- "It is better to be kind than right."
http://davidandlizacooke.wordpress.com
Posts: 693 | From: UK/ Kenya | Registered: Apr 2013
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Sandemaniac
Shipmate
# 12829
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Posted
Well, I received an email on Friday from an agency. I'm not actively looking at the mo (though sooner or later I will have to try for more money, cheaper commute, or both), but I was a bit startled by what I read.
12 hour shifts, own transport essential as not accessible via public transport, degree or industry experience essential.
All for £8 an hour. Minimum wage for 21-24 year olds, which I guess is the age group they are fishing for, is £7.05 at the moment.
Seriously?
AG
-------------------- "It becomes soon pleasantly apparent that change-ringing is by no means merely an excuse for beer" Charles Dickens gets it wrong, 1869
Posts: 3574 | From: The wardrobe of my soul | Registered: Jul 2007
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Sioni Sais
Shipmate
# 5713
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Posted
quote: Originally posted by Sandemaniac: Well, I received an email on Friday from an agency. I'm not actively looking at the mo (though sooner or later I will have to try for more money, cheaper commute, or both), but I was a bit startled by what I read.
12 hour shifts, own transport essential as not accessible via public transport, degree or industry experience essential.
All for £8 an hour. Minimum wage for 21-24 year olds, which I guess is the age group they are fishing for, is £7.05 at the moment.
Seriously?
AG
You have described the kind of work young people from Eastern Europe are coming here for. [ 03. July 2017, 13:28: Message edited by: Sioni Sais ]
-------------------- "He isn't Doctor Who, he's The Doctor"
(Paul Sinha, BBC)
Posts: 24276 | From: Newport, Wales | Registered: Apr 2004
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Sandemaniac
Shipmate
# 12829
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Posted
That is probably very true. Meanwhile, young people here aren't going to be paying off £27000 of tuition fee debts an time soon at that rate.
I guess I shouldn't be surprised - my salary peaked in 2009, I lost my job in 2010 and again in 2015, and I'm still nowhere near where I was in 2009 - and now I have a mortgage to pay as well.
Nice to know that people are getting rewarded for training and expertise.
AG
-------------------- "It becomes soon pleasantly apparent that change-ringing is by no means merely an excuse for beer" Charles Dickens gets it wrong, 1869
Posts: 3574 | From: The wardrobe of my soul | Registered: Jul 2007
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Brenda Clough
Shipmate
# 18061
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Posted
Applied for a job! Don't think I'll get it, but if I do it will be a major life renovation since it is not around here.
-------------------- Science fiction and fantasy writer with a Patreon page
Posts: 6378 | From: Washington DC | Registered: Mar 2014
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Brenda Clough
Shipmate
# 18061
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Posted
At the suggestion of a friend who works there, went in and prinked and fluffed up the application yet more. I have now done my best, and am going to put it entirely out of my mind in the interests of mental stability. However, all good wishes appreciated.
-------------------- Science fiction and fantasy writer with a Patreon page
Posts: 6378 | From: Washington DC | Registered: Mar 2014
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Huia
Shipmate
# 3473
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Posted
Fingers and toes crossed Brenda
Huia
-------------------- Charity gives food from the table, Justice gives a place at the table.
Posts: 10382 | From: Te Wai Pounamu | Registered: Oct 2002
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