While I was at my last placement in Wales, Jeni forwarded on to me a link to a job vacancy in Frome. Now Frome is one of the places that quite appeals to me as a possible place to settle down – still in Somerset; within reach of my two offspring (who seem to be quite content to stay within the county boundaries, at the moment); not too far from my Mum; close enough to my old stomping grounds to keep up with friends and without being so close that I bump into unwanted people at every turn! plus it has a nice vibe to it these days – a bit green, a bit bohemian.
The job was a year’s contract doing Purchasing for a defence company – exactly what I used to do – and the salary would have come in handy, but I wasn’t really looking for a job. However, on the spur of the moment I cobbled together a sketchy CV and a covering letter and emailed them off to the HR Department. Several days later I started looking at my emails on a daily basis (not easy when you have to use your host’s computer) and on 30th November I checked the Junk box – only to find an invitation to interview for the following day! It would have been difficult but not impossible to get there from South West Wales so I rang to speak to someone in HR – there was no-one in, so I spoke to one of the guys who was supposed to be interviewing me and he said, “No problem! We can rearrange it for next week – any particular day suit you?” I said I could be there any day to suit him (well, you have to try and score Brownie points!) so he was going to get HR to send me a new appointment for Monday. Reluctantly, I said goodbye to my hosts and drove back to my Mum’s on the Sunday.
The job was a year’s contract doing Purchasing for a defence company – exactly what I used to do – and the salary would have come in handy, but I wasn’t really looking for a job. However, on the spur of the moment I cobbled together a sketchy CV and a covering letter and emailed them off to the HR Department. Several days later I started looking at my emails on a daily basis (not easy when you have to use your host’s computer) and on 30th November I checked the Junk box – only to find an invitation to interview for the following day! It would have been difficult but not impossible to get there from South West Wales so I rang to speak to someone in HR – there was no-one in, so I spoke to one of the guys who was supposed to be interviewing me and he said, “No problem! We can rearrange it for next week – any particular day suit you?” I said I could be there any day to suit him (well, you have to try and score Brownie points!) so he was going to get HR to send me a new appointment for Monday. Reluctantly, I said goodbye to my hosts and drove back to my Mum’s on the Sunday.
On the Monday morning I still hadn’t received a time for my interview so I got up early and dressed in the only ‘interview clothes’ that I had in my possession (well, it is 8 years since I last worked in an office!) and then rang, only to discover that, not only were HR absent, but so was the guy who was supposed to be interviewing me! I changed back into my old jeans and ranted a bit (my Mum is becoming almost unshockable when I use bad language, now!) and then sat back to wait for an apologetic phone call or email............and I waited...............and I waited. Finally, after several fruitless calls to their switchboard, I emailed HR on the Friday asking what was going on. On the Monday afternoon I received the reply that they weren’t rescheduling interviews from 1st December, after all. I was a ‘little miffed’, to say the least, and sent a very caustic reply, so I hope I spoiled her day for her! I now remember exactly why I left industry in the first place – it’s much less frustrating working for yourself – or WWOOFing in my case! I know that it’s an employers’ market these days, but when did they get so callous and rude? Jeni had a far worse case of this earlier in the year where she was actually unofficially offered the job and then kept waiting for a month for official confirmation, only to be told that head office had pulled the plug on all recruitment and she didn’t have a job after all! How cruel is that? And how rude and insensitive!
Rant over!
I am now having an extended Christmas break at my Mum’s and doing a few odd jobs – fitting draught excluders, new light fittings, mending roller blinds, that sort of thing and am going to redecorate the kitchen after Christmas before getting back on the road sometime in February. So far I don’t know in which direction to head – I still haven’t been to the South Coast counties or up the East Coast – perhaps I should adopt my daughter’s approach to travel – close my eyes and stick a pin in the map!
I would just like to finish this blog by wishing you all a peaceful festive season filled with lots of good things and a happy and productive 2012 – and for me? I’m just going to keep on WWOOFing!
No comments:
Post a Comment