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!

Redundancy: My First Week...

Its now been a whole week since I was made redundant, and I've actually been quite busy!

Monday:

As this was my first "proper" day out of work, I needed to register with the Jobcentre as unemployed. However, it has been almost a decade since I was last in this position, so I first had to remember where I had to go!

I started out nice and early, to the area where I (vaguely) remembered it to be. This was not on the bus route from my house, so I walked for about half an hour. When I arrived, there was just this big empty building, with a sign in the window telling me that it had moved last year! It was now on the other side of town, in an area that would have been far easier to get to! So I turned around, and headed back in the opposite direction.

When I finally arrived, I saw a woman at the reception desk. I was hoping that I could get the registration process over with nice and quickly, then get advice on job hunting, available courses fro a new career, and available benefits until I got everything sorted out. How wrong could I be? All I was given was a leaflet with a phone number that I had to call, as apparently this is now the only way to register with them!

I returned home and made the call. By now the morning was just about over. I spent 20 minutes on the phone, being asked what appeared to be the same questions over and over again! At the end of the call I was given an appointment for Wednesday to actually talk to a real advisor. Finally!

Tuesday:

The day began with a call from my former employer. They had a redundancy agreement that I had to sign before I could receive any redundancy pay. I was also told that I would need to get legal advice. I went straight down to the office to collect this, then had to find a solicitor that would be able to produce a letter to state that they had advised me on the matter.

The afternoon was then spent tracking one down, and they gave me an appointment, also for Wednesday. This was going to be a busy day!

Wednesday:

I now had two appointments in the centre of town, 3 hours apart. Firstly, down to the Jobcentre. When I arrived, they asked for my name, and ticked me off a list. I was told to go upstairs, and wait in "area C". I was also given a tiny piece of paper, with a "C" on it. Did they think I would forget this by the time I reached the top of the stairs? I arrived at the top, and was greeted by another receptionist, who again took my name and ticked me off another list. She also took away my "C"! This was beginning to seem ridiculous!

While I was waiting in "area C", another member of staff approached me. Not surprisingly, she also ticked my name off yet another list, and told me someone would see me soon. I was beginning to wonder why the jobcentre had employed so many people with so many lists!

I finally was called over to see someone. This, I was told was the "Financial Assessor".She went through all the questions I was asked on the phone, and asked me to sign that my answers were correct. I then had to wait again to see the "New Claims Advisor".

When I was called over, the first thing I was asked for was my most recent payslip. I handed it over, and the advisor noticed a problem. The payslip stated that I was paid up to the end of August (this was the 26th). It turned out that they could do nothing for me. They were unable to register my claim until I was officially out of work on 1st September. No one had actually asked me that question! I had only been asked for the last day I actually worked. Therefore, my claim was cancelled, and I have to go through the whole process from scratch next week! What a waste of time!

This took a whole hour, and I was left with two more hours to wait before the next appointment. I walked into the solicitors on time, and was told that the person I was seeing was at another branch! I started to think that my whole day would be a waste of time, until it turned out that he was just running late! Luckily this meeting went according to plan, and I now have to wait for the solicitor and my former employers to sort out their paperwork.

Thursday:

I decided that with so much time on my hands, I could do the weekly shopping early. I may save myself the "trolley rage" of shopping on a Saturday (see previous post). Again, how wrong could I be? If anything, it was even more hectic than normal! Nevertheless, I got it out of the way, and came home with the local paper (Thusday is job day). However, there was hardly anything of interest this week, just one which was mildly interesting! I decided to think about it.

The other prioject I needed to complete was to produce a currect CV (Curriculum Vitae). The problem was, as I had been in my last job for so many years, I had trouble remembering where I had been before, and when! This process took ages, but I think I finally got there (a bit vague on the dates though)!

Friday:

Now that I had done just about all I could do (I felt a bit in limbo, as I couldn't quite get started with courses etc until I was officially unemployed), I decided to do a bit of job hunting on the internet. I also called about the one job in the paper, and agreed to email my CV.

Then I hit the next problem. Our computer, seems to have a mind of its own recently, and right in the middle of an application, it turned itself off! This is not the first time, and it's always annoying, but never more so than Friday! Once the computer goes off, it invariably takes ages before it will allow you to restart it. So, several hours later (try a few times, then leave for a while and try again) I managed to apply for a whole two jobs. Just have to wait and see about those, I suppose.

Saturday:

Priority job...

Catch up with my blogs (hence this post)!

Redundancy: The Pros and Cons...

My whole life changed the other day, as I suddenly became redundant. At first, this was a total shock. I was certainly not expecting it, after all I had been working in the same office for over 9 years! Now that the shock factor has started to diminish, I can now begin to consider my options. Is redundancy really a curse (as I first assumed), or could it actually be a blessing?

Admittedly, as I looked at it from a negative point of view, I am well aware that money may be tight for a while. With the state of the economy, and so many out of work, a new job may be hard to come by. Plus, even with two incomes, my household was already struggling, and had been for some time.

However, I began to realise that there were positive aspects to the situation. I will receive a lump sum as a redundancy payment. This will enable me to clear any priority debts, and keep the household going for a while. Also, my job was boring. Really boring in fact! For years I had toyed with the idea of doing something new, for example a course where I could re-train myself for a fresh career. The only problems were, I had so far been unable to afford it, and also I could never decide what course to take! With the lump sum on its way, the first problem has been dealt with. I now need to work out the second! The possiblilities are endless!