Time For A Change

[Kenickie]

I'm sorry, Hobbes. Good for you for going for it though.

Hope you hear soon, Morri!

[Princess Morripov]

No news yet! :mad:

My manager wasn't in yesterday (WFH) and she's in London today/tomorrow. She did say she'd let me know by Wednesday (and normally sticks to her word) but unless she does some kind of complicated arrangement to get me to go somewhere private to ring me on my mobile, I'm not sure how she can, as it'd be too weird to have the discussion sat at my desk, sat next to Shit Dave ear wigging :lol: and vice versa for him.

Unless I'm completely wrong and it'll be by email, but I'd just assume that if the news *isn't* good, she'd prefer to deliver it verbally.

[Beena]

Did you hear anything, Pov?

I need to get my act together. Since news broke of J moving away, I've been increasingly shut down at work - skipped over for compulsory training, sidelined from projects, not included in discussions, my emails go unanswered. Raising it isn't getting me anywhere and it's starting to undermine my confidence. I don't really know what to do.

[H1ppychick]

That sounds really shit Beena. How much longer are you there for, is it till the end of the school year? I'm wondering to what extent you'd feel comfortable kicking up a proper (formal) stink about it. Are you in a union, what's your line manager like (are they part of the problem)?

Pov I really hope you got a follow up and that Entitled Useless Male did not.

[Princess Morripov]

Nope! No news! :verm:

A BCC email was sent on Friday to apologise for radio silence, and say she'd not done all the round one interviews yet, and saying "so it will be a longer period of time before I am able to come back to you with the decisions on next steps" :vague:

[Beena]

No, Pov! It's horrible when things get drawn out like that.

That sounds really shit Beena. How much longer are you there for, is it till the end of the school year? I'm wondering to what extent you'd feel comfortable kicking up a proper (formal) stink about it. Are you in a union, what's your line manager like (are they part of the problem?)

I don't know how long; everything is so reliant on everything else - Bambs' exams, selling the house, finding work. We've a tiny 3 month window between her last GCSE and sixth-form starting and there's always the potential it'll go tits. There's a good chance we'll be living apart for the foreseeable.

The situation at work is very much indicative of the culture of the place. They make the machinations of a medieval court look like a hippy love-in at times. There's a restructure planned and I can imagine they're already counting me as a cost-saving. It's just not a nice position to be in.

[Princess Morripov]

Well, it only took a month to hear back :ella:

I didn't get the job, but I'm actually really ok about it to be honest. A lot seems to have changed in terms of what the role looks like, and basically it sounds fucking awful. :lol: And I didn't really want it anyway, but I definitely don't now! She hasn't found anyone for the role so she's going to advertise externally, and honestly, I don't think she'll get what she wants, really.

Basically she thinks the role will involve A LOT of facing off to her manager, our cross department manager, who is an absolute fucking wanker. She said she needs someone who won't get torn to shreds by him (so, err, probably no one) and separately, she's looking elsewhere because she can't work with him, and she also thinks he wouldn't back fill her role, so this new role would then just end up reporting directly to him.

In terms of feedback she said my interview went really well, I was the strongest candidate they interviewed and I'm definitely ready for a role at that level, she just doesn't want to chuck me to the lions for *this* role. Which I appreciate, because I don't want *that* opportunity. She said if we didn't have the "current management structure" :lol: that we do then it would have been a different story. She's going to put in an hour next week to run through specifics and help me look for other opportunities instead (which is nice but I actually don't think I can be arsed at the moment, as I've got a good number where I am*, and I'd hope if she leaves, she can take me with her! :lol: )

*Not all areas are so flexible with working hours/WFH. In fact our part of the team in Chester (8 of us) are the only ones out of our cross department with that flexibility. Everyone else in London where this guy is based have had to start coming into the office everyday because he believes in presenteeism, so there's an awful atmosphere there at the moment.

[Mayday]

Sounds like you dodged a bullet there Pov. Your manager sounds really good though.

[baargain]

That's the best outcome by the sounds of it! Well done :))

[Skips]

So it looks like I'm back to job hunting, it looks like I made a mistake staying here rather than the permanent position I was offered. My job role appears to be changing (which I guess they can so as I'm a temp) and the atmosphere in the office is appalling - everyone is on a real downer here and it's hard work.

My boss made a throwaway comment about my contract rolling over, but I spoke to HR and that isn't the case. I will still get paid, but I do need a new contract drawing up when mine expires on the 26th April (not sure how that works, but hey ho). I still haven't had any feedback regarding the girl I'm covering for; I don't need the details, but a heads up on whether she's due to come back or she is still on sick leave would be nice.

I've been applying for a few things but there isn't a lot out there (and it looks like I'd need to take a paycut) so we'll see what happens. I suppose at least I'm still getting paid so it could be worse.

[Beena]

I'm sorry to hear that, Skips. Hopefully something will come up soon. It must be galling having given up the offer of a permanent position, but there must have been reasons that it wasn't right at the time.

Things haven't improved with me. My mid-year review turned into a character assassination and left me tearful for about a fortnight, before I realised I wasn't the only one. It's gone to HR and the unions in some cases.

There's machinations afoot, I think. New performance targets were mailed out last week. If we were to meet all the criteria of our current job description to a high standard, we would still be labelled as failing. The expectation is to go above, beyond and then some. Some of the targets are insane ("nationally recognised for expertise" - seriously?) and wholly personality-driven. If you are not a certain type of person, you are totally screwed.

I suspect our roles are earmarked for downgrading and this is how it will be justified. I worry about the impact it will have on the mental well-being of some of my colleagues, but it seems to be the way my profession is going. J rang me from a conference last week, utterly dejected by discussions there.

I don't know. I could jump through the hoops, I'm perfectly capable, but I don't know if I want to. It's making me wonder if I want to stay in the profession full stop. A job has actually come up where we're moving and I'm dithering about applying. I have no enthusiasm.

[baargain]

Your work place has sounded awful for years. I would get out and burn it all down (I realise this is easy for me to say).

[Cosmopolitan]

Why would you not apply? It can't be any worse and at least it means you'll be together?

[Skips]

I agree with Cos, I'd apply anyway. Surely the plan is to move that way anyway? And didnt you say jobs don't come up that often?

I've an interview today. It looks a good place to work but would double my commute as it's Bristol way.

[Beena]

I'm just waiting for the house to sell before handing in my notice. I'm going regardless, I hate us being split up like this and having an out it's the only thing keeping me sane at the moment.

With applying for similar jobs - I'm torn between desperately hanging on to a career and taking the chance to do something new. I don't know whether it's the job I hate or the profession. There's bits of what I do that I really love, but I can't eat/sleep my work in the way that seems to be expected these days.

[Pippedydeadeye]

I really feel that your sector has become completely awful, Beena. Just following stuff on Twitter is affecting my mental health, it all seems so cut throat. That said, the jobs come up so rarely that you’d be mad not to apply if you need the work.

[Beena]

Cut throat is about right. There seems to be a culture that unless you are seen to be the shiniest star in the sky, you are stealing oxygen. It's no longer enough to be good at your job, you have to be seen to be good, to self-promote, to raise your employer's profile, do more with less. If you don't continually prove your dedication, you're at risk. Of course, everyone is vying for the same opportunities to standout.

My card is marked for pointing out the one initiative they are fangirling is a mental health crisis in the making. And another needs ethics approval.

Thanks for that though, Pip. No-one ever speaks out or complains; it makes you doubt your perception of the situation. I've been reading around vocational awe this weekend. I might suggest that as the next reading for the monthly CPD pseud's corner.

I'll have a think about the application again and speak to J.

[Squirrel]

Oh Beena that sounds horrible. I agree with everyone that you’ve got nothing to lose by applying. If you get the job and still hate it, you can still make the break and go for something completely new at a later date. I totally understand how you feel about wanting to jack the whole thing in though. I never went back (and won’t ever) to my pre-children career because that bad experience really ruined the whole job for me. I’d rather do almost anything else now.

So Mr Squirrel has started his new role. It’s what he’s always wanted and it’s a significant step up financially which we really need at the moment. But it’ll mean international travel, particularly in the next few months while things are insanely hectic at home. We’ve got to move again in June/July and probably doing a partial move with some stuff in storage and no kitchen. Then moving the rest of the stuff in a month or two later. All while the house renovations are still going on around us. And then the children will be on summer holidays.

Meanwhile my job is pretty basic, part time hours and correspondingly low pay. I enjoy it, I like working and the flexibility really works for me. But I feel desperate for some time off with everything we’ve got going on this year, and now I won’t have as much support at home either.

Mr S’s new salary more than covers what we’d lose if I quit. But I don’t want to quit forever! I’m self employed so unpaid parental leave (ie to cover school summer holidays) isn’t a thing, and if I told them I’m not working for 1-2 months they could give my job away to someone else permanently. The couple I work for are absolutely lovely and wouldn’t purposefully give me the heave-ho (I don’t think ), but ultimately they need the work done and it takes a few months to learn the job properly, and they are very anti getting a temp in in general, ever.

Please can someone wave a magic wand for me and conjure up a perfect solution?

Edited for context

[Squirrel]

Sorry massive essay , I’m just offloading as it’s all going round in my head.

[Beena]

No apologies.

Do you know what you want long term, once the children are more self-sufficient? Is there any flexibility in the hours you do or your workload? Could you negotiate reduced hours for a couple of months (if business is slower), keep your role open, but just go in enough to keep things ticking over? I don't know how feasible any of that would be.

(With mine, I think I'm just scared of falling back into the same rut, but by the sea with worse public transport. I'm obstinate and won't quit unless forced to).