The Why Don't You Get a Job Thread

[Bellenda Carlisle]

Can I have your subtitling job ?

 

My plan while looking for work this time round was to only apply for decent jobs I wanted to do. It was going great at first, I got to an interview and second interview with two jobs I'd really like to do, unfortunately I was too confident so I decided to stop looking for other stuff. Two weeks later and I haven't heard back from either of them and I won't be able to pay rent next month.

[Briefcase]

Not sure if this is the right place, but if you have been asked to work elsewhere doing exactly the same job (e.g. We need you to travel one hour to work at Costa Coffee) then do those count as 'working hours'? 

 

So if I were to work 40 hours elsewhere but had to travel an additional two hours a day for five days then would that count as working time bringing me up to 50+ hours?

 

Can't seem to find a definitive answer on this?

[WyattSheepMask]

Not unless your employer specifies it as being such. 999 out of 1000 you'll only get paid from when you clock on, the travelling is down to you

[gbacon85]

Unfortunately it doesn't count but there should be something in your contract about being asked to cover other locations/work from other locations which are reasonable distances. I would challenge IT, especially if it's outside of your control.

 

I think there was a law change in Spain around this so you never know what will happen!!!

[Undefeated Steak]

A mate works at William Hill and was asked to do some shifts in a town about 15 miles down the road. I know he gets money towards travelling there but he doesn't get his hourly rate for it. It works out about a half-an-hour drive each way.

 

It'll vary from company to company and your position there, but you'll be lucky to get anything towards it. You should be able to decide whether or not to work the shits at the other location, without being 'punished' for saying no. You might be as well to do it and then look at asking for a pay rise before the end of the year (remember minimum wage has just gone up if you're paid above that already.)

[Bellenda Carlisle]

I turned down a decent job a few months ago because it involved travelling a lot to different sites as part of the job but travelling time and costs weren't paid. I could handle the cost not being paid but there was no way I was spending 3 hours going all over the south of England every day and it not counting towards my working week.

[Mr_Danger]

At Royal Mail we get paid from when we leave our normal place of work. So if I leave my depot at 8 and arrive at another depot at 9 then i'm paid an hour before I even start work. We don't even have to start on time at the other depot I don't think just as long as we leave from our depot at the right start time and we can make sure we finish and get back to our 'home' depot for the correct time if we have to. You shmucks need to unionize asap.

 

Thats partly why I cycle to work, so they can't send me elsewhere.

[Zebra Kid Mark]

I turned down a decent job a few months ago because it involved travelling a lot to different sites as part of the job but travelling time and costs weren't paid. I could handle the cost not being paid but there was no way I was spending 3 hours going all over the south of England every day and it not counting towards my working week.

I'm the opposite, I think not getting my travel cost paid would be the deal breaker. You did the right thing in turning it down though,

[Juan Manforce]

Well I've gone and fucked things up again. I'm 3 weeks into a uni course I wasn't sure if I was going to enjoy before I started it, and having had a nervous breakdown this morning, I've just started applying for full time work as I've pretty much convinced myself it was a mistake going back. So far I've only applied for things in the media sector (where I have qualifications and experience) which kinda feels like a waste of time, I've not been able to even get an interview for most things like that I've applied for in the past. I went back to uni so that I could actually get the chance to work in the media industry and not have to bounce between temporary/dead end jobs, now I'm looking at dropping out and probably having to go back to that life. Fuck fuck fuck.

[bAzTNM#1]

I wouldn't just drop out. Your life would be filled with regrets. Give it a big old sporting try, if you can.

[Slapnut]

Why exactly do you want to leave Juan?  Is it just because you're not enjoying it much yet?  I almost dropped out of Uni a few weeks in because I hated the course, but I gave it a bit more time and found I started to enjoy it more.  There were still some shitty aspects, but I kept thinking if I dropped out I would probably just end up working at Tesco and be a miserable sod for the rest of the year.  I'm chuffed to bits that I stuck with it because I got a lot from it in the long run and I would have hated myself if I'd packed it in.

 

Give it a little longer and see how it goes.  As bAz said, you'll regret it if you don't.

[Bellenda Carlisle]

Only apply for jobs that are legitimately worth leaving the uni course for and keep going to uni. That way if you do manage get a job it will be a good one and and a worthwhile reason to drop out, if you don't get any interviews at least you're going to uni and you know you're doing something productive about finding a good job at the same time. I always end up in shit jobs though so I'm not sure why you'd listen to me. How long is the course?

[Juan Manforce]

I originally applied for 3rd year entry to Filmmaking and Screenwriging at the end of last year, having an HND in a similar subject at grade A I figured I'd be sorted and could get my degree in a year. Come March I was rejected with no explanation so I took a boring job. The contract ended the week clearing opened and the course had slots available so I applied again and got an interview. In said interview, the course leader gave me a flimsy bullshit excuse for not giving me an interview previously and admitted that I should have a slot in 3rd year, but was only willing to offer me 2nd year entry. So from the start I was forced into doing another year that I neither wanted or needed to do.

 

There are 6 modules this year. 4 of them are identical to modules I did in my HND course, and one of the other 2 is called "Introduction to Screenwriting" - I've been screenwriting for over 10 years, so the whole thing feels like a giant step backwards and I'm having a hard time getting motivated. One of my first assignments is a short documentary on someone with an 'interesting' job or hobby, so I've been trying to contact wrestlers and comedians that I know, everyone is either too busy to help on such short notice or is completely ignoring me. The finished product has to be submitted by next Monday, and my group doesn't even have a subject locked in because of this.

 

My group, by the way, is 27 year old me and 3 18 year olds who have come from a radio course, so they have no idea how to make a film. The lecturer as such wants me to teach them while we work. I'm paying to do this course out of my own pocket, I should be getting taught, not teaching. Only one of the kids seems to be trying to get something sorted on the same level that I am but doesn't have the amount of contacts I do so is also having no luck. I had a nervous breakdown this morning and have spent the whole day in bed, which has taken another day off this crazy schedule and is only serving to stress me more. They're nice enough kids but they're kids. I feel a total disconnect to everyone else in my class because I'm much older than most of the rest of them, and because they've all come from 1st year on this course, or different courses at different colleges and all sorts, they already have their little cliques. It takes me a while to get used to new people and become friendly, but it already feels like no-one wants to talk to me unless they have to.

 

For the past couple of weeks I've been struggling to sleep, constantly tired, tense, sore, having tension headaches and just generally stressed to fuck. I have really bad anxiety issues and could feel something bad was brewing all week, so having a simple nervous breakdown in my own company feels like I dodged a bullet. I'm just feeling like I made the wrong decision by starting the course. Even before starting it I was calling it "the best bad option" because it was either that or take another shite job that I'd have hated and probably quit by now. It's gonna be too hard to motivate myself to essentially do a repeat year I've been told I shouldn't have to do, just to get to the point where I *might* want to be at a year later. Plus all the lecturers keep mentioning an honours year to me, as if they're expecting me to do a further year on top of that. I was very clear when I first applied I wanted to do one year, but I've been forced into doing 2 and they already want to make it 3.

 

I just really feel like I'm wasting my time, but I know there aren't many better options out there, which is why I've only been applying for jobs I'd actually want to do. I feel like I've wasted my time even applying for them though, if past experience is any indication I'll be lucky to get a "thanks but no thanks" from half of them. And I'm so stressed out because I don't know what I should really do. I'm considering speaking to the course leader about how unhappy I am in this year, but 3 weeks into the year, even on the off chance I did manage to convince him to let me into 3rd year I'd have a bunch of work to catch up on that would likely stress me even more. Everyone is telling me the same as you guys, but I... I just don't know what to do.

[Ulf ist Gut]

Talking to someone at the uni would probably be a good idea from the sound of it. The Programme Lead would probably be the best bet in the first instance even if you've made up your mind to leave (about which i'd echo everyone else in saying it would probably be a bit premature this early on)  - they can either try and help allay your fears about the course, maybe give you an extension to the deadline/help with some contacts or ideas of their own  or possibly give you some pointers as to how to move forward if you do decide to leave.

 

Another option could be having a chat to someone in the uni Careers Service to help you work out whether it's worth sticking around or helping with an exit plan if you are determined to go. They may not have all the answers but they'll be someone away from the course to bounce some ideas off of and might help give you some direction.

[bAzTNM#1]

I always thought Uni Lecturers were rather distant. Nothing like college or school teachers. Uni lecturers always gave me the impression of "I'll talk, you listen, and don't ask me fucking questions". Not pleasant.

Edited October 13, 2015 by bAzTNM#1