Some Major Life Changes in 2009...

Hello again all!

I know it's been a while since my last post, but I've been struggling to find the time recently. However, I'm back in business now! In the past few months my life has changed dramatically, and there are still (hopefully) more positive changes to come...

Firstly, 3 months ago I was made redundant from the job I had been doing for the past nine years. This has been both a curse and a blessing. On the plus side, I had been longing to do something different for a long time. Suddenly I had the opprtunity to find something new, along with (again, hopefully) enough redundancy money to last until then. Also, the money would enable me to pay off a few debts & finally get married after years of living with my fiance.

I soon discovered the downside though. Due to the "credit crunch", there were more people than ever in my situation, and less and less employers hiring staff. So far, there seems to be hardly any decent jobs out there, and far more applicants than ever before! In the past 3 months, I've only had 4 interviews, although with 2 more on the way.

Then there's the blogging. I thought I'd find more time for this being out of work, however I spend so much time job hunting that I rarely find the time these days. In fact, I feel guilty when I'm not searching for work, particularly as the redundancy money is getting low, and Christmas coming too!

The other big change is that I am now married. Our wedding day was Saturday 7th November, and we had a wonderful day. This was the last Saturday so far this year with perfect weather, and despite our worries about all that could go wrong - absolutely nothing did! Even our two families (who had never met before) got along like they were old friends!

As we'd aimed to get married as cheaply as possible (it was still more expensive than we'd planned in the end!), and only allowed ourselves a couple of months to arrange, my outfit was a bit of a mix and match affair. The bridal shop told me that the only way I could get a dress in time was to have a bridesmaid's dress and have it delivered as an express order. Apparently, people tend to order their dresses as far as a year in advance! As far as the accessories, they came much more cheaply from ebay, and I had to hope that they were going to match! I found the most amazing boots...

and bolero jacket...

In fact, I was told that the outfit looked like it had been hired or bought as a set, as everything went together so well!

The only thing I'm finding difficult is the change of name. This seems to take weeks for the bank, Job Centre etc, leaving me in a state of limbo while I wait for the change to take place. Imagine phoning a company, being asked your name, and finding the answer really difficult! It tends to be a case of "you know me as..., but I'm not anymore. My name on your system should now be... Did you know that?" It gets to a point (particularly as I'm now dealing with several agencies and employers) where I can't remember who I've told, and who I haven't! This can start to get confusing after a while! Mind you, everyone seems to get over excited when you tell them you've just got married! Hopefully this should start to get easier soon.

Now for the next hurdle to overcome. Christmas shopping on a budget!

The Job Hunting Nightmare!

I've now been unemployed for almost 2 months since my redundancy, and I'm now realising how much I'd underestimated how hard the search for a new job would be. The last time I was in this position was a whole decade ago, and times have certainly changed since I was last in the job market, so to speak.

Last time, it was relatively easy. Sign on with the Job Centre, then sign up with an agency or two. Then take on a bit of temp work and wait until the next permanent job comes along. This took me about a month, then I was sorted out for the next ten years or so, and was pretty painless. OK, so I did end up being really bored in my last job, and longing to do something different, but at least I was being paid!

Therefore, I started out this time assuming things would be the same. How wrong could I be! I started with the Job Centre (see my previous post on the subject). The advisor at the time told me I had really good skills and experience, and she couldn't see me being out of work for very long. That was reassuring. She even made a note on my file that for the next 3 months, I would be able to turn down any job that didn't pay as well as my last. I thought then that the job hunt was going to be easy, and I may well end up with a much better job than before.

Next, I decided to try the agencies. The first one I went to were happy to sign me up. Again they told me how easy it would be to get me a job, and how impressed they were with my CV. Also the results of my typing test proved well above average. Now confident in my abilities, I decided to try some more agencies. This was where I hit my first snag, although I didn't realise at the time how much of a problem this would prove to be.

The second agency were again impressed with my credentials, however in order to register with them they needed what I didn't have - ID. I had no passport or driving licence, and the only other thing they would accept was a birth certificate. I hadn't seen mine in years!

I assumed this was an iscolated incident, the exception rather than the rule, so I continued applying for any suitable job I could find. However, this was where the second snag occured. There seem to be so few suitable jobs out there at the moment, and most of them seem to pay very little, while expecting so much from potential employees. I've spoken to so many agencies now, and whilst they all want to offer me work, they simply have nothing available! The woman at one agency I spoke to told me that the only thing on offer was 1 week's work and even she was on a temporary contract!

During my search, I have been asked several more times for my birth certificate, and even though I had managed to locate the short version of mine (for the purpose of my upcoming wedding), I was told that this wasn't good enough! This has now led me to pay to order a copy, in order to stand a chance of being employed. Employers these days seem to require so much proof that I am eligible to work in the UK, even though I can prove that I've done so for the past 20 years with no problems! The world's gone mad!