2017 The Year Of the Jobs

As most of you know I've been struggling with searching for a job now really since I left college last June 2016, which is nearly a year. Granted I only really started looking properly since about September 2016, as before I was looking for apprenticeships which as you know in the creative industry are non existent. I have had so many ups and downs to do with work in the last year and it has been so emotional draining to be honest. I didn't work when I was at college strictly because I wanted to invest as much time as I could into my work, and with the subjects I was doing a job as well, would have just been impossible. So whilst I was looking for apprenticeships I thought right, I need an actual job now like I need to have money. So I was looking for about a month or so applying for absolutely everything, and then I think I had about 5 interviews before I got a Christmas temp role, which was in fact my first job, which people might think I'm quite old to only be having my first job but there was many contributing factors as to why i was so far behind.

This first job that I took was full time as obviously i wasn't doing anything else and I really really got into it and thoroughly enjoyed it. All the girls I worked with were so so lovely and really did enjoy the 4 months I worked there. Now obviously I wasn't blogging very much at this point in time as I was working full time and I was super busy all the time. So if I was blogging I probably would have written about this lol! So i was taken on as a Christmas temp and I left after my Christmas temp contract in January.

After I left I had so many interviews shortly after which was really surprising and one day I had three interviews in one day, and I got one of the jobs! I was so happy and so shocked that I got the job straight away after leaving my Christmas temp job! It was a 9-5 job so I thought in an office and in marketing which I was really happy to get into and find a carer in, potentially. This was definitely not the case at all! So even after the induction day they still we're over complicating the role trying to make it out like it was something it wasn't. the next day after the induction was a watching day and not even joking I was like what the fuck is this. So we started at 11am, had an inspirational talk and everyone practiced their pitches, which I was first confused about because no one said we were actually approaching people. Then at like 2pm ages after we had got there, we drove from 45 minutes to an hour and a half away, to spend until 8:30 knocking on peoples doors, yes doorknocking, not professionally marketing people's products like they tried to make it out to be. It wasn't even like we were "trying" to sell products and not getting any sign ups, 1 we were selling sign ups to charities, yes I was that person, and 2 I would only get paid on commission, so if i actually managed to persuade someone that signing up to this charity was a good idea, so I could get paid for walking around in the freezing cold and dark for hours! Then after you'd knocked all the doors in the area, you'd then be able to go home, but then we had to drive an hour home and then I had to get the bus from old town as well so I wasn't getting home until about 11:30! which is ridiculous considering I was walking in the freezing cold all day! I lasted a week and 2 days off that I called in sick because surprise surprise I got ill because of it! I am going to name and shame this company because I really did feel like they do take advantage of young people in particular and I think the whole way they do things is so wrong. The company is called RedSeven marketing in Swindon, I just want to warn everyone against it and like I said I was on commission and I earned £0 the week I was there which is just ridiculous!

I left that Job the beginning of February and was just back on the searching grind again, trying to find something or anything! And I just wasn't getting anywhere! I was applying for all sorts of different hour positions just to try and earn some money and also do something. Something came up for River Island for a 9 hour role around about the begging of March and I thought I'd apply because you never know when you get there, and say your availability they could increase your hours. I got an email saying I had to book an interview which I thought was weird as I've never had to do that before, but I was really happy and really excited because obviously I love fashion, I love River Island, what can go wrong right? Went to the interview which was quite weird as well to be honest. It was a group interview and the women didn't really know what she was doing and she never asked us any personal questions at all! But it gave it my best and I came out feeling fairly confident. I got a phone call saying I got the job and they wanted me to work Friday's and Saturday's which I of course said yes as I'm not doing anything else. The first day I showed up, I was feeling really anxious as it was and I went to the desk and said it was my first day and there was no managers there at all, the girl at the desk showed me where to put my stuff and gave me a lanyard but that was it. I had no clue what to do and no one was there, or even bothered I was there. I should have taken my first day as an indication because that's how the whole time there was basically like. I was promised that there was going to be so much opportunities for me to have overtime over my 9 hours and it was safe to say they never ever did. I had already booked to go and see Kid ink on one weekend that I was suppose to be working on but i had already booked it months before! The shift i was meant to be working was only 4 hours and I thought I wont call in sick I'll try and swap my shift first as its only 4 hours. I messaged my manager asking her about the date two weeks before and also asked for my pay slip as no one had give me one. She swiftly replied saying to contact one of the other managers as she was on holiday. So I did. I messaged one manager the same message, waiting 3 days and no reply, so I thought okay i'll message the other one and guess what no reply either. The next time i went into work no one even spoke to me about the message i had sent them or even spoke to me at all in fact. I was working the next day and after my shift I went and found the manger who was working on my shift and asked her if I could move my shift and she said absolutely not as it was Easter weekend. I said that I had booked it before I started and tried to message them about it two weeks ago but she said there was nothing she could do. I said okay and I knew I just wasn't going back There was no way I was missing my concert for this shitty 9 hour job. They treated me so so badly! So I called my manager a few days later and said I wasn't coming back and she just said "okay Bye" So that was all back in April which seems like so so long ago now.

Moving on to my next job which I started working for on 6th May so about a month after I left River Island. After the same again applying my ass of for every job possible I just thought you know what I'm gonna apply for a pub you know. Now I never ever wanted to work around food or drink, I'm not interested in it whatsoever but I was really at a low point and thought I've got a wedding to pay for and if i really want to start getting my life somewhere I need a job asap! So i got a response from a pub which was local to my house so i thought oh that’s great not far for me to get there etc and all good yeah? How wrong could I have been omg. If anyone knew me through the months of May- August I was a mess. I was so so so overworked and exhausted I cant even tell you. When I first started I wanted a nice and normal 35-37 hour week and that was it. I thought it was quite obvious that I didn't want to work all the closes in the week and a typical sunday-thursday night close would probably be out by around 1:45 which seems so crazy to me now I think about it, and that's after starting at about 2,3pm. It was safe to say the more I worked the more they took the piss out of me, and looking back on it now I shouldn't have bloody put up with it because it was insane. Even to be aloud to have my holiday off which was one week, they made me do 5 closes in a row in which some were 11:30am-2:30am which is mad. And on that previous saturday I worked 2pm-3am which was they're cheap excuse of a festival but unfortunately so many people turned up it was just relentless. I non stopped worked that day and was told none of us were even aloud to have a break to eat. I think I spent about an hour that day just trying to get a chance to go to the toilet because I couldn't hold on any longer. and then after that had to do 2 more closes after doing three. I messaged one of the many "assistant managers" about it and they just responded with "well that's working at a pub for you" But i thought it was pretty funny how no one else was doing it to be honest! But i didn't complain because I was going on holiday the following tuesday which they then forgot and put me on the rota for anyway! After I got back from holiday in july things just got worse and worse. I was barely seeing Kieran as I was working basically all day and night and we weren't living together, so I would then be going home afterwards. Our relationship was falling apart and I do blame the job and it was making me a horrible person. I'm anemic as well so not having any sleep was making me so so ill and when i wasn't at work I was sleeping and i'm sorry but what kind of life is that? Most weeks I wasn't even getting two days off a week and I'm sorry but when your that exhausted what on earth are you meant to do on your one day off apart from sleep. Things quickly came to a head for me and I started opening my eyes up to what was really going on around me. One of my colleges walked out one night a couple of weeks before and said he wasn't coming back, but after a few days later one of the managers managed to twist his ear and he came back but only doing 3 days a week instead of full time. The funny thing was is that about 1-2 weeks later they slowly started putting his hours back up and then was back to where he was before doing the same amount of hours and hating it. I knew then that even if I did have a chat with someone about reducing my hours they just was no way going to do it because let's be honest they didn't give two shits about me, they just wanted me there because they knew I'd put up with it and take everyones shit! Not to mention that when my college reduced his hours, guess who got all his extra without being asked! YUP ME! One day it just hit me, there was me and one other on shift, we were trying to manage the bar and food between us and it was hell. I was run off my feet and I had customers having a go at me and then I walked into the kitchen and the chief started having a go and I was like thats it. I broke downnnnnn! I just said i’m going for my break which was an hour right because usually we'd only be aloud half an hour if we weren't busy lol! And my mum came over and got me and I went home. There was no way in hell I was going back because after that I started having a panic attack. After half an hour of me having my break I got a text from my college saying you need to come back from your break. I said that I felt ill and went home because I was in no state whatsoever to go back there. That was a wednesday I believe and I went back in the next day and I got ignored by everyone that was there and I knew then that I was staying much longer so the next day I called in sick and I took the weekend off for myself to think about it. They didn't once say hope you feel better or show any concern for me whatsoever and I thought to myself that whole time what if I was actually really ill! But they didn't care as long as there was someone there pouring pints so the managers could do fuck all they didn't care! The monday after I came in and handed my resignation in. I didn't even think twice there was no way I was getting treated like crap anymore. They made me feel like I owed them my bloody life or something all the time. There's only so long you can put all your effort into something just to get treated like shit all the time for and it just wasn't worth it and I was on the lowest pay I had ever been on as well! After I handed my resignation in was a barrel of laughs. Obviously they tried to make me feel guilty about it of course! But I stood my ground and held my head up. Got ignored and bitched about for about 3 days after and then everyone was alright with me then and I soon found out why. One of the managers had a word with me and asked me if I'd work an extra two weeks after my one week left, as otherwise him and another guy would have to work 60 hour weeks and I was doing 47-50 hour weeks at that time. I wasn't rude but i basically laughed in his face because I couldn't believe he was even asking me that, of course I don't want to do that or why would i be leaving! I will never forget my last friday night because everyone was literally getting on my last nerve and I was loooooosing it! I finished early that night at 11pm lol, and never looked back! I texted someone the next saturday and said I wasn't coming in my last two day and they bar'ed me lol! Which I don't care about at all because I will never set foot in there again anyway! Through those 4 months of working there I nearly lost my relationship, my personality, and everything in life I actually enjoy and leaving that place was the best thing I have ever done!

Now for the good part of the story! What I'm doing now! I can honestly say I've never been more happier in my job and that makes me get a bit teary to be honest because this whole journey has been so so hard for me and I'm finally in a stable place where I feel like I can actually, potentially make something of. After moving in to our first house on the last week of September I had an interview with a retailer which is well known and i was a bit worried as it was only an 8 hour position and would end up like River island and also the fact that we had just moved in and our lives were everywhere so I didn't really want to waste my time. But i went to the interview because I never want to miss one just incase and i just knew straight away. The manager was absolutely lovely and I could tell we got on straight away. I just had a feeling about it for some reason and I think when you know you know! I was very honest with her straight away and said i'm looking really for 35-37 hours and she was very honest and said look we won't be able to do that for you but we have a lot of opportunities for over time and I explained to her about River island so she was aware that if it was like that I'd be gone (i hadn't even got the job yet btw lol) I then emailed her about 4ish days later asking if there was any updates as i was keen and she said she'd ring me back for a second interview, which she then did and had and went great, like a dream even and she called me the next day to tell me I had got the job and that I'd be on an officially 12 hour instead of 8 which was better already. I started off my first week doing 20 hours which soon then went up to 35 which was obviously over time. On my third day a girl who was on a 20hr contract actually left and on my 2nd week they offered me a 20hr contract and a permanent position! I actually couldn't believe my luck and I was so happy that my hard work was actually getting recognised! Then of course since everything has been going so good and even better in fact when about 2/3 weeks ago I got offered the job as supervisor and permanent 35 hour contract and on more money that I've ever been on in my life. I feel so blessed that I'm in such an amazing workplace now. Everyone I work with is so so lovely and would never dream of treating me like the way i have been treated and they want me to succeed. I can finally say that I enjoy going to work and doing my job and I'm always learning new things and i really want to be able to do well. And it’s not even my job I've been loving my youtube and blog so so much at the moment because I'm having a normal work timetable and being able to do things i love. So whenever you feel like you can't do something this is just proof to say you can. Nothing worth having is ever easy and you really do have to work hard but it’s so so worth it

#jobs #jobhunting #struggle