In which Will reviews last week*EDIT*

First of all, the obligatory OD6 comment. I like it. Couple of quibbles about it. For example, why is it only the people using the WYSIWYG editor who get an autosave/draft feature? And how do you put the pictures you’ve uploaded to the pictures section into your diary?

But overall, I like it.

So. Last week, the place that the jobcentre sent me to sent me on a course called Routes To Work. Frankly, I wasn’t expecting much from the course, and that’s exactly what I got.

We played silly games that had some mysterious meaning, wrote a lot of lists and that was about it. One of the things we did was find out what our learning style was be marking statements that we agreed with and then scoring them. I came out as an Activist. Then I read the description of an Activist and burst out laughing. This is it:

Activists:
Thrive on the challenges of new experiences and like to be fully involved. They revel in coping in crises but, once the excitement has died down, they like to move on because they get bored with implementing systems and processes. They enjoy working with others but tend to hog the limelight.

Learn best when:
There is a wide range of new experiences, problems and oppertunities to tackle.

They are thrown in at the deep end with a task they think is difficult.

They are given free reign to generate ideas.

They have the opertunity to lead and organise others.

Learn less when:
They have to listen to long explanations of how things should be done.

They have to work on their own a lot e.g. reading or writing lots of notes.

They are asked to take a back seat and not get involved.

They have to follow instructions to the letter with little room for manoeuvre.

So, lets see in how many ways this is wrong.

They enjoy working with others but tend to hog the limelight.

I will work with others if I really need to but if I do I prefer to take a back seat.

They are thrown into the deep end with a task they think is dificult.

I hate being thrown into the deep end with no time to think.

They are given free reign to generate ideas.

Only for stories. Otherwise, don’t bother.

They have the opertunity to lead and organise others.

I can barely even organise myself, never mind others.

They have to work on their own a lot e.g. reading or writing lots of notes.

I want to work on my own. I love working on my own.

They are asked to take a back seat and not get involved.

The further back the seat, the better as far as I’m concerned.

So, that was that. At the end of the week I had a mock interview which I aced. Mainly because the person interviewing me was one of the trainers that had been working with us all week so I wasn’t as nervous as I usually am. (The main reason I interview badly is because I hate meeting new people and it usually takes me about 5 minutes to warm to the interviewer. Before then, getting me to answer questions is like getting blood from a stone.)

Then on Saturday, I moved house. Finally, I’m out of that hellhole. I carried most of my stuff round myself (as the person who was supposed to be helping me had his car break down that day) and my new housemate/landlord helped me with the rest in his car.

And then on Sunday I got a text from my old housemate asking if I had locked my bedroom door. I said yes and he informed me that it had been kicked in.

So, that was my week. Couple more things before I go.

First of all, I’m still looking for your questions for my 1500th entry.

And secondly, inspired by the download to PDF option in OD, as well as Wil Wheaton, I’m thinking about downloading all of the short stories I have posted in here and self publishing them in PDF format. There are a few things I need to work out (for example, editing PDF’s after they have been turned into PDF’s), get in touch with as many ODers as I can who have left notes on the stories to see if they mind the notes being published (as the download without notes option doesn’t work for PDF), possibly ask the Diary Master if he minds as the content may be mine but the formatting is his and see if I can find someone who would be willing to design a cover for me for no more payment than a 1 year OD+ subscription.

But what I wanted to ask is: do you lot think that I’m being Loony McInsane and should slowly step away from the keyboard? Or is this something you might actually buy? (I’m looking to keep the cost as low as possible, the lowest that I’ll be allowed to if I can.)

Let me know what you think.

Will

*EDIT*

So, because I did so well on the course, they’ve moved me into intensive jobsearch. So, for 2 hours a week I have to go to Pertemps and look on the jobcentre website for work. Which is what I do everyday from home anyway so I’m failing to see the point of it.

Oh yeah, they’ll send out my CV and a covering letter for me. Which I can do from home. So, still not seeing the point of it.

Today I had to fill out an online application for Barclaycard to work in their call centre. I swear, I left shool just before my 16th birthday and this application was the most pathetic I’ve ever experienced.

It started with this thing they made me do to help me decide if the job was suitable for me or not. (Incidentally, even if it turned out that the job wasn’t for me, they still encouraged me to apply.) This was a series of questions with three possible answers. There is a way to do this so that you give the answers they are looking for but, as there is nothing stopping you applying even if you ‘fail’ there really is no point.

One of the questions it asked was “How would you prefer for others to think of you?” The three options were:
That you are reliable,
That you like to make others laugh or
That you are genuine.

I took option three only to be asked how it would feel if people said that you were reliable and always followed through on your promises.

Hang on a second? So what they are saying is that being genuine and being reliable are mutually exclusive? If you are one you can’t be the other? Really?

And it gets better. I start the application proper and get to the educational history section. No problem. All they wanted to begin with was my school records. Now, as most of you know, I am from Scotland. So, the qualifications I left school with were Standard Grades. I filled out the first subject, looked on the pull down menu. No option for Standard Grade. I had to type it in. 7 frakking times. (Or I would have done if I hadn’t got bored with it and used copy/paste.) Even better, I’ve just checked and they have 2 call centres in Scotland. So people applying for a job there do not have an option for the type of qualification they have.

Next up was the section for further/higher education. Now, I’ve done a few courses since leaving school. There was only space for entering details for one course. Never mind, once I’ve done that one I’ll be able to submit another one. Right?

Wrong. Apparently everyone does one course at further or higher education and absolutely no more.
<BR>
Employment history. Fill out the details for Garlands, use the pull down menu to say what year I started work there and…

Hang on. 2019? Have I suddenly become a Time Lord or something?

Personal details. Here we go. I’ll be able, as well as saying what my hobbies and interests are, mentioning my time as an officer in the Boys Brigade, etc, I’ll be able to say exactly what my educational history is. Y’know, the bits I had to miss out but may explain why I left one job to go to uni despite the fact that I have apparently only studied at Aberdeen College.

What’s that? They only want to know my age, ethnicity and gender. OK then. This is strange.

And then the situation test. This is where they ask you to put yourself into a situation and give you three options as to how you would resolve it. Or, as I call it now, the bit where they suggest you can see a customer being angry over the phone.

They turned me down. I’m glad. I’m not entirely sure I want to work for a company where the application seems to have been designed by a 5 year old monkey.

And now I’m going to do some writing. Or, at least, some editing.

Will

P.S. Still looking for advice about the above. And questions.

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