The Why Don't You Get a Job Thread

[Up Chuck]

Hadn't looked at Birmingham much because I'm fairly certain the commuting costs would be prohibitive at this point, but I do look within a pretty big radius. The one I had the interview for was in Nottinghamshire.

 

Got a call this morning to tell me that an application I'd presumed had quietly died is, in fact, still active, as the deadline for applications isn't for another week. Reasonably confident of an interview there. Despite my moping, things are moving in the right direction.

[mickfan]

Marketing folk, I have an interview tomorrow for a marketing asst position at a local agency. Always seem to choke at interview stage so fully prepped up with answers to any of those weird 'trick' questions and going to relate all answers back to the job/person specifications. Any other hints or tips anyone can pass on?

[Loki]

Relax. And treat every interview as a two way process - you're finding out about them, and whether the job is right for you, as much as the other way around.

[PowerButchi]

Topsy turvy that mother fucker.

[Thunderplex]

As Loki says, relax and remember the only reason they are spending any time at all with you is due to the fact that they have seen something on your c v or your application that they really liked. A good question for you to ask is what attracted them in your application to give you an interview. Best of luck.

[Joe Snow]

For those who suffer from anxiety in interviews, have you ever considered using beta blockers?

[Scott Malbranque]

8 of us just got made redundant - or at risk of redundancy - by email, as they're closing this office in the location it's in. Fuckin' stinger!!!

Aw man!

Sicky feeling in ma belly. Sad face.

[Rey_Piste]

Fuck, man that's some shitty news. I've been there getting canned from my job of 7 years back near the beginning of last year. Best thing to do is to get prepared to fuck the job off before they fuck you off. Just spend as much of your work time as you can updating your CV and posting it on relevant job sites and using the company phone to phone around prospective employers. Just try to get a job lined up so you get that boost of cash from your redundancy money to get a couple of weeks off work before starting your new job.

[Surf Digby]

Sorry to hear that Malbranque. Are there other companies nearby that do the same kind of work?

 

if it cheers you up any, Brancott wines keep advertising on my FB wall, and every time I see the word Brancott, my brain brings up the Branqueknot picture.

 

I'm still having fun and games with the local JC+ as they can't handle how someone as workshy and idle as myself keeps needing travel expenses for interviews and keeps signing off after short amounts of time because I've found work. Admittedly it's usually short term agency work and I have to sign back on a week or so later, but work's work and the competition for the (theoretically) permanent jobs is huge.

 

Highlights from recent weeks include:

 

JSA payment stopped for failure to attend, despite attending.

Notifying staff of a possible scam job, which they rewarded me with by secretly issuing me with a Jobseekers Direction, claiming I'd agreed to apply for this job.

Only listing half the things required to claim back travel to interview expenses, so that my claim was rejected when I submitted it.

(These three happened on one appointment, and by logging the JSD it meant that the failure to attend was reversed quickly and easily, and there was no need to raise it with management or mention it to anyone else if you wouldn't mind that'd be great thanks glad I could help you today).

 

Closing a claim because I'd accepted a short term position. Instead of closing it, they cancelled/withdrew it, meaning I wouldn't have been paid what was outstanding. In their usual "It's our fault, but it's your problem" approach, they gave me a JSA1 (form for claiming retroactively) and told me if I wanted what was owed, then I'd better go away and sort it out.

I should have expected problems with this one as the woman on the phone suggested I withdraw it completely, and when I declined claimed that I'd said it was pointless and not worth my time in coming in for the interview. When I went in for the interview, it had been cancelled due to the claim being withdrawn, and she'd put that it was both part time and full time, and both less than and more than 5 weeks.

 

Being told I wouldn't be allowed to request a call recording be pulled as the personal information in the recording (ie: my own) is protected by DPA. Heaven forbid I hear myself saying my own date of birth and the first line of my address. I could send myself a birthday card and then whoosh, complete breakdown of society.

 

I had one advisor continuously talk over me, even when trying to answer questions he was asking. When I eventually said, "Do you mind, I'm still speaking", he responded with "As am I, and while I'm talking, you'll remain silent".

 

Having a complaint rejected because even though my version of events was accurate, and it was agreed that the member of staff had failed to follow procedure (which she was experienced enough to know) and failed to provide the expected level of service, because she'd not actually looked up what I asked about, from her point of view she was correct in saying that the information didn't exist. Or something.

 

And this very morning, I've found that when I signed off for a position a couple of weeks ago, the member of staff knocked a day off and had me as starting work a day earlier than I was. Maybe she should have made her written notes match the dates she inputted.

 

Oh well, got a couple of months away from there now.

[Scott Malbranque]

Thanks lads! Still a bit in shock, but have an interview with some other mob lined up tomorrow for 11am, so fingeys crossed.

Just a shite time, 1 year old baby, missus is a stay at home mam, gaff to pay...I know there's people worse off, much more so, but at the time all you can think is how you failed your oul family. An awful feeling.

You're a great man, Surfy D, you actually did cheer me up with that Brancott/Knot thing!

 

Fuckin heck, Diggers, that's a septic situation there!!! If it makes YOU feel any better, you're a fabulous looking specimen! With a wonderfully smooth, yet crisp, bottom.

[SpursRiot2012]

I don't understand how you haven't beat the shit out of some of the people there.

[wandshogun09]

I don't understand how you haven't beat the shit out of some of the people there.

 

Yes. Especially this prick;

 

I had one advisor continuously talk over me, even when trying to answer questions he was asking. When I eventually said, "Do you mind, I'm still speaking", he responded with "As am I, and while I'm talking, you'll remain silent".

 

You must have the patience of a Saint, Surf Nonce. He sounds like he's in need of a short, sharp kick up the twat.

[Scott Malbranque]

I had one advisor continuously talk over me, even when trying to answer questions he was asking. When I eventually said, "Do you mind, I'm still speaking", he responded with "As am I, and while I'm talking, you'll remain silent".

 

You must have the patience of a Saint, Surf Nonce. He sounds like he's in need of a short, sharp kick up the twat.

Diggers should have done a Tyler Durden/Narrator and beat the shit out of himself and got a mass payout. That's what I'd do...had I the stones!

What an awful, horrid cunt that little prick is to say that.

[Kookoocachu]

I was supposed to have my (don't give)ATOS assessment in september so they can literally just tick a box next to my name for the rate of ESA I should be on. I was told that they already have all the evidence for the rate and it's what I will be on but they still need to see me in person to be able to "tick the box".

They now owe me over

[Rey_Piste]

Oh the world of job hunting and its many annoyances

 

I went for a medical yesterday for a job (the woman with the rubber glove was surprisingly gentle! ) with a occupational health woman

 

Got through all the hearing tests, sight,, all that bollocks, but she did not pass me purely because of my weight and physical appearance of my body (9 stone 2) as they said it could affect my stamina and well being

 

This is a job i have done for nearly 10 years off and on as it is seasonal work (gardening for local council) and i have always been slim and itsn ever been an issue for me, i am fit as a fiddle and more than capable (lets face it, it isn't rocket science!)

 

My case is going further to a referral to a contracted out council doctor on Monday

 

Regardless if i get the job or not, do you think i have a case for discrimination? i do not feel someones weight can solely judge the ability to do a job and i feel very discriminated against

Are you a member of the GMB or whatever union your council's workers are a part of? If not get onto the rep and sign up ASAP. I did Gardening full time for my local council for 7 years and I nearly got fired because of the amout of time I had off work in one continuous length of sickness due to a trapped sciatic nerve in my back. I had my rep fight for me and kept me in my job, because it's a physical job there was no chance I could do since I could barely walk or bend my back to plant flowerbeds. As long as you are physically capable of doing the job your weight shouldn't play any part. The council employed a few women and apart from being able to lift some of the heavier equipment like Rotavators or Lawn mowers, they were still able to maintain and use all of it. One of the bigger of the local parks was maintained by 3 women, any of the equipment that needed moving they;d just pitch in to do it between them.