I guess I can go ahead and post this now, this was my experiences and feelings from a very wet day back in July of this year. I’ve changed some details and specifics in the story below as I have signed an NDA, other than those details this remains unchanged from the 24th July 2015.
Parked in visitor parking and approached the building. Pushed intercom to gain access through revolving door. Find name on sheet and sign in, also had to read and sign nda. Waited on seating for event to start. Looking at the waiting area I start to doubt that this is where I want to be. (Nerves) I considered leaving. There are four of us at this Event.
Taken up two flights of stairs to a boardroom where a short talk is given about the Associate Position. Details (where given about pay and company benefits including overtime pay and holidays). Next we are given an interviewer and split into individual ‘interviews’. Starts with documentation which they take and Photocopy, and also keep till after the session is complete. One question is asked from the interview sheet which was ‘What are the key points to creating a Safe Working Environment?’ I answered reading and understanding rules and regulations and communication as being key points.
I was asked which shift I would prefer if successful, I chose the night shift. I was asked which days I would like to work, I think I chose Wednesday to Saturday, which gives me Sunday, Monday and Tuesday off work each week. Shifts are 10 hours in length. I gave a brief history of the Job I
am(was) doing now and an account of my work previously. I asked what the company was like in terms of staff moving around and the answer was exactly what I wanted to hear. Yes, this is actively encouraged that and one of their current chiefs of operations started in the position I was going for not so long ago. People also move over to completely different departments as well.
I told the interviewer that I’ve worked Jobs before, and now my target is to get a career, interested in advancement. This was noted down. After this stage was done, we were taken on a walk through the place of work. Teams of people gathered around computers having briefings throughout the building, then as you go in you have different sections of the operation spread out throughout the massive operating space. After the tour, we are returned upstairs and asked to sit in the other room. Shortly afterwards, two of the four people are taken back into the main room while the remaining two of us are told that we have been successful and got the job, with an offer being given in the room. Myself and a younger girl from Italy were successful. I believe talking about wanting to start a career at this stage of my life may have swayed them to choose me. I am making it sound a lot easier than it was at the time.
And then… Then it rained, all day. Soaked, tired and wet, retired to the hotel. MK43 as a place to be / live / shop is a nightmare. I need to research housing and how the hell I can afford this now.
From that point back in July I have stressed and struggled to figure out a way for me to be able to afford to get there, and I have on perhaps three different occasions convinced myself that it is not going to happen and that I would have to let this opportunity go. The first issue was the start date. Originally it was to be two weeks after the offer was given. As much as I would have loved that there is no way financially I would have been able to move and get sorted within that time period. So in the spirit of “don’t ask, don’t get” I contacted the company and asked if they offered relocation assistance, an advance in wages or really anything they could do to make this possible for me. In the end they offered to delay my start date, but not indefinitely. I asked for two months. – I got it!
This was to give me enough time to continue working at the current job I had, which I’d really only just started and so that I could start to build up some savings again. This took me to the end of September 2015. As this time approached again I went through this ‘can I afford to take this job that could be for me the start of something good?’ dilemma. I couldn’t afford it after this two month period either. I asked again if there was anything they could do, and this is where the company involved really surprised me. They offered to defer my start date to the end of January 2016, well past the original end date of the initial contract.
Jump ahead to now and finding myself again by the wayside and out of work, I look at this decision to have the start date pushed to January and think, was this the right decision to make / take? One one hand yes because it gets the incredibly busy times out of the way and allows me to have the time to really give this the best I can give it, it gives me time to prepare physically too. But on the other side looking for work now, needs to really be another insecure temporary job to last till the end of January. Does this stop me from applying for many other jobs because I am now committed to this offer for the end of January?
At this stage it would be fair to say I am really confused and in serious need of talking to somebody about this mess of a situation which my life has become. – I am over the moon at securing this January start date for this position, I am looking forward to starting. IF I can get there physically & financially, and truthfully, I don’t know if either is possible.
(On the plus side, I could always go deliver telephone books).
