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Sep 2013
6:10pm, 13 Sep 2013
118 posts
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PerfectOrganism
So....I got the job at Worthing! When a call came through yesterday from a blocked number I started uttering "please, please, please" and then answered it. Sure enough it was a lassie who had interviewed me and she told me that she had some good news and that they would like to offer me the post! My face went really hot, and my heart started beating fast, and I tried to sound cool and calm, but that probably failed entirely! So, they're going to get some contracts written up and sent out to me and hopefully I'll be starting within the next few weeks. That's the one thing that is holding me off from celebrating 100% as until something is signed and I start, anything could happen. A friend of mine recently was offered a post at a hospital and then a few days later they called to tell her they were withdrawing the offer. So until something is signed, I won't be completely relaxed. But similarly, it would be a rare and unusual thing for that to happen.
It also means a few other secondary things. Firstly, I can actually start to think about a future in Brighton. I've been here for five years now, all of which were taken up with my pharmacy degree and training. Now that has finished the next step was obviously to find a job if I wanted to stay. I think this is a fairly popular area of the country to live and with there being no land to the south the job options are in a way effectively halved so I knew that competition was high, and places in hospitals were fairly rare (one vacancy has been advertised that I could commute to in the 8 weeks since I finished my registration exam). I really do love it here and have an amazing girlfriend so I always wanted to stay. Now I can start to actually think that I can! Secondly, I can worry a little less about cash flow which is always nice, and as a result of that I can start to think about getting back home to Glasgow to see my family and friends. Having just enough money to only pay the bills was keeping me rooted here. Lastly, I don't have to think about looking for any more work (just yet - I'll probably also do some weekend locum work from time to time to get a few more pennies) and certainly don't have to consider working for "experience" for reduced pay (or worse) with that ops director again! Happy times! Needless to say, I got a little drunk last night. Somehow I also agreed to go clubbing with Laura tonight. I think that I'm desperately trying to prove to myself that I still have it in me, but i'll probably be home by one! Anyway, it's all part of the celebrations!
Thanks everyone on this forum for your support and kind words when things were going rubbish. It's a real tough slog job hunting and in many ways is harder than the work itself! Constant rejection is hard to take, and picking yourself up from that to attempt to impress in subsequent interviews is even harder.
Spiced Apple I'm glad to hear that you're keeping a positive outlook. Even if an interview is not a success it is, as you say, all good experience in preparation for others. Also, can I ask, are you Scottish? I couldn't help but notice the "Ach" in your last post!
Wobbling, good work on your interviews! Hope you manage to get a second one and nail it! That "challenge back" sounds infuriating!
Squirrel, I had thought exactly what you were thinking. I'm just trying to make a bit of money and I did a good job for them. Ultimately for whatever reason it wasn't enough for him and he felt that he had to not only let me know I wasn't going to get any more work, but also to lay into the work I had done for them by telling me that, in his opinion, he felt they had paid me too much for the work I was doing! That was just nasty. We had agreed on my rate at the start and that's what they're going to pay me regardless of whether in hindsight he thought it was too much. It achieved absolutely nothing to say that except to make me feel devalued and a bit shit about myself. Saying that, I haven't received my pay from them yet so I will be keeping an eye on it to make sure that it is what we agreed. Anyway, I feel good because I don't need to crawl back to beg for more shifts or experience!
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Sep 2013
6:30pm, 13 Sep 2013
9,264 posts
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ChrisHB
Only a lurker on this thread, I'm very pleased to read the above.
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Sep 2013
10:57pm, 13 Sep 2013
11,658 posts
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Red Squirrel
Fantastic news PO! I imagine you'll be waiting by the letterbox for the next few days. 
Hope everyone has a relaxing weekend, although I expect we'll all be hard at it hunting and applying (apart from PO).
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Sep 2013
1:23am, 14 Sep 2013
7,282 posts
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SpicedApple
Great news, PO. Congrats! (Are you back home after clubbing yet? ;-))
No, ahm no' Sco'ish. Have been here a while though. And am originally from a country where we say 'ach', too - albeit with a different meaning (Germany).
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Sep 2013
10:27am, 14 Sep 2013
2,741 posts
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Wobbling
Well done PO! That's excellent news.
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Sep 2013
4:09pm, 15 Sep 2013
119 posts
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PerfectOrganism
Thanks guys
SA, I excelled myself after a prolonged absence from the club scene! I was only going to go until I felt tired and was going to leave the instant I did. I expected that this would be at around 1-2am. I was still there at the bitter end of 4am and got back home (where I immediately crashed out) at 4.30! I've proved to myself that this approaching-mid-30s fella can still hack it with the young team! Ha ha! That'll be me for about another six months though. It's now Sunday and I'm still knackered! The recovery time certainly gets longer the older you get.
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Sep 2013
1:43pm, 17 Sep 2013
182 posts
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Funky Chicken
Well done PO on the job offer and surviving the clubbing experience!
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Sep 2013
5:15pm, 19 Sep 2013
11,838 posts
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Red Squirrel
Hi fellow job-hunters
I’ve had a terrible day.
Last week was really hectic and I struggled to get some minutes done. I completed them today.
I work in a team of 3 administrators within a larger team which we support. Both of the other administrators (senior to me and best friends) have told me I’m too slow transcribing minutes. Next time I will take the minutes home and do them in quiet time, so they’re ready for the next day.
Anyway, I had to take this job at a lower level than I’ve worked for years just to stay in work after my last contract ended. The pay is terrible and I’m sinking into debt.
I’ve been really disempowered because I’m not allowed to use any of the systems I gained expertise on in my last role and I find myself making silly mistakes, I’m assuming because I’m so tense. I check and re-check my work and still make mistakes. I don’t know what’s happening. I used to work confidently at a much higher level and hardly make any mistakes or if I did, minor things that I usually rectified straight away. I’m really scared that the 2-pronged attack of the ‘colleagues’ is turning me into a terrified amoeba. I guess I should go to the Union with a list of areas of concern, shouldn’t I? The nit-picking is effectively bullying, whether the perpetrators know it or not. Scary stuff to confront. I came into the dept and they jumped on me immediately, so effectively I have no allies within the dept, although I get on well with everyone.
I am so miserable and I felt I had to get this on paper or I would go mad.
Yesterday I completed a document for another team member and when I went back into it; someone had it open already (one of the ‘colleagues’). This happens a lot. Surely it’s not good form to check people’s work like that? I’ve never had that before.
Sorry this is a bit disjointed – I’m bashing this out before I go home. Any helpful comments or shared experiences will be gratefully received.
Thanks for listening.
C
x
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Sep 2013
6:08pm, 19 Sep 2013
2,776 posts
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Wobbling
RS - that all sounds terrible for you, and I can understand why it makes you tense. And no, it's not right to for a colleague to immediately go into a document you've compiled for someone else.
I'd suggest three things - one, as you say, go to your Union. There may have been other people who've had issues with these two and taken their concerns to the union. Two, speak to HR. Your employer is obliged to provide you with a safe environment to work in and if you're being bullied, they are failing in this obligation. They need to know you feel you're being bullied tho, so arrange to have an 'off the record' chat. Explain the situation just as you've outlined it above, including your financial worries. As it's 'off the record' it shouldn't go on your personal records, but the organisation is now aware of the issue and is obliged to look into it. And finally, have a chat with your boss (I'm presuming neither of these women are your boss) and again explain that their constant nit-picking is making you tense and therefore leading to mistakes. Explain that you don't want your colleagues monitoring your every move, that's what you have a manager for!
You've had a rough few months, I wish there was something I could do to make it better for you.
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Sep 2013
7:38pm, 19 Sep 2013
11,840 posts
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Red Squirrel
Thanks Wobbling - that's a nice clear list of what I need to do. My direct line manager is one of the 3 of us but she has a boss. As soon as I was given the role, the other girl was promoted. I was led to believe that we'd both assist the line manager, but then the other person was made up over me.
I was taken off working on these bloody minutes by line manager to do other things, but Girl 2 got on my case about it. They pull me around like a human tug-of-war rope.
Anyway, that's beside the point. I've kept a journal, so I'll set up an appointment with the union tomorrow.
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