How can I say this........to say I'm embarrassed is an understatement, how could I possibly have got it so wrong????
Yes, I got the date of my first signing on wrong and missed it by several days! How could turning up for one simple task escape me? There's no reason other than I got the wrong date locked in my head........ My insider with direct experience of DWP couldn't believe it! 'You've organised teams, run departments and juggled more projects than most people have had hot dinners - and you couldn't turn up for one appointment' I lambasted myself...... She advised I say I was away looking for work, but I wasn't comfortable with that - thats not something someone in my position with my experience and skills would do, so I stuck to the truth and picked up the phone for a second time....
One other thing I did learn from my insider is that the appointments system for arranging the initial interview can be changed by the call centre staff - this is not what I was told when I started the process (see first post). Call centre staff say they can't change the appointment so they don't have to deal with the callers who don't want a 9.30 appointment as they 'don't get up till 11'. I must admit I was gobsmacked that this is the state of play. So rather than challenge claimants to get out of bed and stick to a routine of being available during daylight hours staff in the call centres duck the issue and pass it onto their colleagues in job centres - this can't be right. OK enough said I'll get off my soap box.
So I phone for the second time and its confirmed my first claim is closed - I feel so guilty as it means another half hour on the phone answering the same questions with the same answers all over again. I explain the reason but the voice on the end of the phone this time is not so warn and friendly, and like an automaton gets to the end of the questions with efficiency but nothing else.... My second 'initial interview' is organised for 9.30 and of course I can get out of bed for that so I agree it and duly programme it into my phone and laptop as well as a post it note on my desk..........I'm so paranoid now I'm thinking of the date and time every day until it happens.
This time I don't wonder what to wear, I focus on turning up (getting the basics right is important!). I walk through the door to the reception desk say hello and give my name. This time I don't get a smile or a hello, just a 'take a seat over there and wait to be called'. I suspect that there was an * by my name on the list with a footnote saying I'm the ex senior well paid manager who couldn't even get her first signing on date right.
I sit, I wait and finally (well after 9.30 I might add!) I speak with Pammy, who can't raise a smile and complains she has a cold - I shuffle my chair back a bit, the last thing I need is a cold from the Job Centre. I explain my mistake and say I'm deeply embarrassed - she fails to empathise, so I save my breath for the the rest of the interview. Luckily my details were on the system and all saved so it was a short monosyllabic conversation in what seemed more miserable surroundings than last time - perhaps it was because it was grey and dull outside. Perhaps she too has the * footnote on her screen, perhaps the * footnote will follow me around, we'll have to wait and see.
With all the dates and times programmed in, I actually turn up for my inaugural signing on. This time I get to go upstairs, the decor is cleaner and I think my * footnote hasn't reached this altitude yet! I have a perfunctory conversation with David who explains to me that he only has 5 minutes with each applicant - I don't need 5 minutes, I'm already clear that JC+ can't actively support me. I get the feeling that David feels he needs to pace himself and if he goes too fast he'll have to do more work than 1 applicant every 5 minutes so I play along. Its not so easy playing along with a 20 something when I'm a 40 something with so much more experience and insight. But its not his fault he's what he is so I resist the temptation to challenge and tease by promising myself a latte at Waitrose afterwards. I sign David's piece of paper, and he signs mine - my record of job seeking activity. He suggests I give myself a day off from job hunting when I explain that I'm online every day checking out recruiters and networking. Interesting advice from someone who's most probably got targets to meet, so I don't disagree with him and say I shall try but having worked full time solid for nearly 3 decades its a hard habit to break.... I pop up the road and its latte heaven in Waitrose. I thank John Lewis for putting a Waitrose close to JC+ at least I get a smile and hello there - I'm sure my * footnote cannot cross the threshold of Waitrose, so sanctuary at last!
By the way I've changed the names of the (well they aren't innocent but you know what I mean) staff. One, because once I've finished speaking to them I don't remember their names and two it wouldn't be nice.
Wednesday, 7 September 2011
Sunday, 21 August 2011
ONWARDS AND ALONG A BIT
So I've got one the initial hurdle relatively unscathed.... The day before I'm due to turn up to Job Centre + (JC+) I start to wonder "what should I wear?" Usually a question reserved for job interviews and meetings with chief executives......but it niggles for a while until I decide its a stupid question! I turn up very early the next day in jeans and a "nice top", a compromise to the question that continued to niggle even though I knew it was stupid!
On my way up to the front door a young woman is heading towards me, croydon face lift, tattoos and a pit bull look-liki dog on a heavy chain........I try to appear un-phased but the overwhelming thought is, "this is my future!" She doesn't look at me and I try not to stare at her. OK I'm through the front door and there's three employees, two look suspiciously like security without the peaked caps, the woman behind the lectern searches for my name on her list - but fails to raise a smile to my cheery "hello", perhaps I should have tried another greeting - oh well there's always next time...
After about 20 minutes I'm repeating all the answers I gave over the phone to weary looking Carl and surprisingly it takes exactly the same amount of time to do it face to face as it does over the phone.... thats got to be an important statistic for some government mandarin (or at least an assistant cumquat) somewhere! I then get to wait some more and notice a meeting room with flip chart - ahhhhh familiar territory. Perhaps they could employ me to train people on how to interview and present themselves, oh thats right I used to do some of that before I was made redundant...
So its onto the final hurdle another conversation this time with Carla, a lovely woman who seems a bit uncomfortable that "we're not really geared up to help people like you" is her most frequent comment to my qualifications, experience and salary level. I sign lots of forms, she folds lots of forms, I come away with a nice plastic wallet full to the brim with folded forms, I must keep them safe. So thats it, I'm no longer a JC+ virgin and I remain un-traumatised by the experience - so far so good.
Having worked full time solidly since I left college I'm used to supporting myself, if I didn't earn it - I didn't get it. Now I'm 'entitled', and its a strange feeling, in my head I know I've paid, most probably, hundreds of thousands of pounds in tax over the decades, but in my heart I feel that surely I should be supporting myself with my savings and redundancy money - as it is definitely a 'rainy day'. 'Entitled' is a word I'm not familiar or comfortable with when it comes to money, but my friends and family persuade me that its the least the government can do for me. As long as signing facilitates my income protection policy paying out then I'm happy - yes I've been responsible enough to insure against redundancy, more self support, I hope I never have to rely on government support......I have a strong feeling it would be torturous.
On my way up to the front door a young woman is heading towards me, croydon face lift, tattoos and a pit bull look-liki dog on a heavy chain........I try to appear un-phased but the overwhelming thought is, "this is my future!" She doesn't look at me and I try not to stare at her. OK I'm through the front door and there's three employees, two look suspiciously like security without the peaked caps, the woman behind the lectern searches for my name on her list - but fails to raise a smile to my cheery "hello", perhaps I should have tried another greeting - oh well there's always next time...
After about 20 minutes I'm repeating all the answers I gave over the phone to weary looking Carl and surprisingly it takes exactly the same amount of time to do it face to face as it does over the phone.... thats got to be an important statistic for some government mandarin (or at least an assistant cumquat) somewhere! I then get to wait some more and notice a meeting room with flip chart - ahhhhh familiar territory. Perhaps they could employ me to train people on how to interview and present themselves, oh thats right I used to do some of that before I was made redundant...
So its onto the final hurdle another conversation this time with Carla, a lovely woman who seems a bit uncomfortable that "we're not really geared up to help people like you" is her most frequent comment to my qualifications, experience and salary level. I sign lots of forms, she folds lots of forms, I come away with a nice plastic wallet full to the brim with folded forms, I must keep them safe. So thats it, I'm no longer a JC+ virgin and I remain un-traumatised by the experience - so far so good.
Having worked full time solidly since I left college I'm used to supporting myself, if I didn't earn it - I didn't get it. Now I'm 'entitled', and its a strange feeling, in my head I know I've paid, most probably, hundreds of thousands of pounds in tax over the decades, but in my heart I feel that surely I should be supporting myself with my savings and redundancy money - as it is definitely a 'rainy day'. 'Entitled' is a word I'm not familiar or comfortable with when it comes to money, but my friends and family persuade me that its the least the government can do for me. As long as signing facilitates my income protection policy paying out then I'm happy - yes I've been responsible enough to insure against redundancy, more self support, I hope I never have to rely on government support......I have a strong feeling it would be torturous.
Tuesday, 2 August 2011
SAGELYLIFE - DAY 1
I'm a 'virgin' when it comes to blogging, but as my life has changed almost completely in recent weeks, I really had to blog about it - its a parallel universe, I suppose I'll get used to it, but for now its bizarre, and I'd like to share this with you.
Surprise, surprise I was a public sector worker and I'm now redundant. I decided several months ago that I wanted to be made redundant having worked solidly since finishing college over 25 years ago... The process was grim for so many of my workmates with family commitments, but for me it was simple, sell my home, move to the seaside and start from scratch debt free (perhaps the only person in the UK who is debt free currently!). So here I am with some savings to see me through the next 18 months or so, and the need to engage with the gamekeeper now I've turned 'poacher'!
On my first official day of being unemployed I felt joyous, I said to myself I should be feeling awful......oh f*%k it I feel joyous! And I've felt that way pretty much ever since. I'm only slightly niggled by the vague feeling that I should be worried about my new circumstances, but I'm not. I keep checking how I'm feeling and its definitely joyous!
So a few weeks ago I take the momentous leap and google job centre plus......oh the direct gov website is so well meaning, but really not set up with the customer in mind. So I have a lovely conversation with a woman in a call centre somewhere nebulous and giggle when she says - 'sensitive question coming up' then asked me if I'm pregnant - which I'm not. Is it me or is it just too tempting to try and get the woman to go off script - naughty I know but it does add a bit of humanity to the day - more so for her than for me, well that just my view.
All the questions answered, and its the last part of the phone questionnaire, an appointment to have my first face to face interview at my local job centre plus. This is where I start to laugh out loud, not at the employee who was a lovely woman with a warm northern accent, but at the IT systems she has to wrestle with to get her job done....She has to wait while the other IT programme gets up a head of steam, to be able to make the appointment. Of-course the questionnaire programme and appointments programme don't talk to each other - this is public sector at its all too familiar 'best'.
She tells me a date and time for the interview that I know I cannot do. I ask if I can have an appointment the following day? Her reply was classic, I'm still reeling.... she can't offer me another appointment, the system won't let her - the computer that really does say NO! She advises me to 'give it a couple of hours' and phone my local job centre plus to rearrange the appointment. You know where I'm going with this don't you? Of course I should have known better, I've been a public sector worker for so long why on earth would I expect anything to be straight forward, customer focussed and done in one go!
We finish our phone call wishing each other well - I think I've made someone in a really dire and potentially depressing job smile - so I'm happy.
Surprise, surprise I was a public sector worker and I'm now redundant. I decided several months ago that I wanted to be made redundant having worked solidly since finishing college over 25 years ago... The process was grim for so many of my workmates with family commitments, but for me it was simple, sell my home, move to the seaside and start from scratch debt free (perhaps the only person in the UK who is debt free currently!). So here I am with some savings to see me through the next 18 months or so, and the need to engage with the gamekeeper now I've turned 'poacher'!
On my first official day of being unemployed I felt joyous, I said to myself I should be feeling awful......oh f*%k it I feel joyous! And I've felt that way pretty much ever since. I'm only slightly niggled by the vague feeling that I should be worried about my new circumstances, but I'm not. I keep checking how I'm feeling and its definitely joyous!
So a few weeks ago I take the momentous leap and google job centre plus......oh the direct gov website is so well meaning, but really not set up with the customer in mind. So I have a lovely conversation with a woman in a call centre somewhere nebulous and giggle when she says - 'sensitive question coming up' then asked me if I'm pregnant - which I'm not. Is it me or is it just too tempting to try and get the woman to go off script - naughty I know but it does add a bit of humanity to the day - more so for her than for me, well that just my view.
All the questions answered, and its the last part of the phone questionnaire, an appointment to have my first face to face interview at my local job centre plus. This is where I start to laugh out loud, not at the employee who was a lovely woman with a warm northern accent, but at the IT systems she has to wrestle with to get her job done....She has to wait while the other IT programme gets up a head of steam, to be able to make the appointment. Of-course the questionnaire programme and appointments programme don't talk to each other - this is public sector at its all too familiar 'best'.
She tells me a date and time for the interview that I know I cannot do. I ask if I can have an appointment the following day? Her reply was classic, I'm still reeling.... she can't offer me another appointment, the system won't let her - the computer that really does say NO! She advises me to 'give it a couple of hours' and phone my local job centre plus to rearrange the appointment. You know where I'm going with this don't you? Of course I should have known better, I've been a public sector worker for so long why on earth would I expect anything to be straight forward, customer focussed and done in one go!
We finish our phone call wishing each other well - I think I've made someone in a really dire and potentially depressing job smile - so I'm happy.
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