Persistent Inconvenience

[Fellowshipper]

A common trigger for getting annoyed for me, is the fact my job is a very rigid Monday to Friday, bang on standard UK working hours one, which brings me so much inconvenience in that there is virtually nothing I can do for appointments, admin stuff and especially virtual meetings with kids' school staff, and just recently I got a letter from DWP informing me I have to pay back over a year's worth of child benefit as children are not living with me!

Initially I took it in my stride and was relatively fine about it, but then I remembered their telephone lines are always busy and have to wait in a queue etc and then I started getting angry because I can't wait long in their poxy queue as I have to go to work! One could squarely put it in the bracket of jumping through hoops which often gets talked about here, but the fact that the system makes it hard for me even just to organise repayments for money I owe, could easily ruin my day even before it's begun.

To top it off, I hate my present job and desperately want to quit, but I can't apply or chase for jobs while I'm working during normal working hours with no flexibility at all, it's a catch 22. I dislike the manager as well, for various reasons. It's a family business which makes it this way, unfortunately. Any tips for how to look for a new job with these barriers I've described? I just want any menial job at this rate, the more autonomy the better.

But I really would like to put this all finally to a counsellor, because it's hard to work a normal job with all this added stress the lot of us are going through on a daily or regular basis. Not being able to organise the most basic repayments to the government because of its outdated telephony system is just a load of crap though, isn't it..

 

[Qwerty123]

Afternoon mate, appreciate you wrote this a few weeks ago but I’ve just stumbled upon it now.

I’ve been in an identical situation before where I hated my job but I didn’t get enough free time to be able to do anything to change the situation, just building further intolerable feelings of resentment.

My way out was using my evenings to overhaul my CV and apply for jobs, which gave me a pretty decent feeling of accomplishment as it was a tangible move to better my situation- even though nothing had yet come of it.

In terms of responses to applications, your situation isn’t unique, something hiring managers are all too aware of, so they can always exercise some understanding and flexibility as far as telephone interviews go (can you do a telephone interview in your car/a short walk away from work at lunchtime? In the 20 mins before work/after work.

For face to face interviews, I’ve always applied to multiple positions and scheduled interviews in for the same week and then taken it as annual leave which has helped me catch up on the annoying admin stuff you’ve mentioned, too. I believe in a law of averages, so if I schedule 3 interviews in for say a 5 day week, I’d like to think I’d be successful for at least one of them. If you are successful, depending on finances you could possibly diarise a gap of a week or so between each job to give you chance to pause/relax, catch up on admin stuff etc. Sucks to use a week’s AL for it, but speculate to accumulate and all that.

Good luck!

 

[Fellowshipper]

Afternoon mate, appreciate you wrote this a few weeks ago but I’ve just stumbled upon it now.

I’ve been in an identical situation before where I hated my job but I didn’t get enough free time to be able to do anything to change the situation, just building further intolerable feelings of resentment.

My way out was using my evenings to overhaul my CV and apply for jobs, which gave me a pretty decent feeling of accomplishment as it was a tangible move to better my situation- even though nothing had yet come of it.

In terms of responses to applications, your situation isn’t unique, something hiring managers are all too aware of, so they can always exercise some understanding and flexibility as far as telephone interviews go (can you do a telephone interview in your car/a short walk away from work at lunchtime? In the 20 mins before work/after work.

For face to face interviews, I’ve always applied to multiple positions and scheduled interviews in for the same week and then taken it as annual leave which has helped me catch up on the annoying admin stuff you’ve mentioned, too. I believe in a law of averages, so if I schedule 3 interviews in for say a 5 day week, I’d like to think I’d be successful for at least one of them. If you are successful, depending on finances you could possibly diarise a gap of a week or so between each job to give you chance to pause/relax, catch up on admin stuff etc. Sucks to use a week’s AL for it, but speculate to accumulate and all that.

Good luck!

Thanks for your response mate, it's never late for this really! What you said about using your evenings to look for work and also to make applications I've been doing too, it's the only way it can really be done in this kind of situation. I am trying hard to look for warehouse operative work for a while, but the problem even now is that most companies are still only filling their pool of recruits for what is meant to be a busy season ahead (because summer holiday period is plop basically!) and they "can't guarantee" work etc. The other problem I've been experiencing is that I've had to tweak around my CV yet again, rather dumb it down to reflect the profile and the needs of the roles I am applying for! These days employers will immediately think your over qualified and that you're going to leave the job within weeks or several months after joining, so they discriminate and go on to the next applicant who looks more likely that he'll stay longer, just because he comes across as a thicko, hence the need to amend my CV.

 

[Windmill51]

My advice is similar as I have been doing this myself for life admin as opposed to job hunting:

- Use evenings/weekends
- Use your breakfast and lunch time breaks to actually do any life admin/interviews/anything Teams related over the phone in the car/quiet spot.
- You could line things up on a single day and use your annual leave of one day as opposed to scattered days.

DM me if I can help with anything mate.

 

[Qwerty123]

Thanks for your response mate, it's never late for this really! What you said about using your evenings to look for work and also to make applications I've been doing too, it's the only way it can really be done in this kind of situation. I am trying hard to look for warehouse operative work for a while, but the problem even now is that most companies are still only filling their pool of recruits for what is meant to be a busy season ahead (because summer holiday period is plop basically!) and they "can't guarantee" work etc. The other problem I've been experiencing is that I've had to tweak around my CV yet again, rather dumb it down to reflect the profile and the needs of the roles I am applying for! These days employers will immediately think your over qualified and that you're going to leave the job within weeks or several months after joining, so they discriminate and go on to the next applicant who looks more likely that he'll stay longer, just because he comes across as a thicko, hence the need to amend my CV.

Hi mate, I get that completely. I’ve taken degrees of my CV before to make me a ‘better’ fit.

Have you tried applying through an agency? Just go in, fill out a form, say you’re available immediately and you’ll probably be starting the next day.

Don’t know if it’s your bag, but if you get your CSCS green card (about £60 and valid for 5 years) then you will always get work on site etc (although a warehouse op may be more preferable at this time of year given it’s indoors!) and the application process is virtually non existent, hiring managers have so much of a job getting people to turn up in the first place that it completely negates the need for a formal interview process - best of luck, sometimes a change of environment is all you need to get things on the up again.